A costume from safety pins, a blanket, and a touch of fairy dust

After yesterday's post, where you all went on in the comments about how sweet my little girl is, I'm tempted to write a post about how crabby she is in the morning, or how she won't share certain toys, or about how she is not yet very good at saying please. But I won't... I'll just bask in the glow of her sweet moments.

Instead, I'll share with you more adventures in Halloween Costumes. I mentioned in a previous post how The May Queen was going to be Cinderella, and I was going to make my own Fairy Godmother Costume out of a blanket. I bought a blue fleecy blanket a few weeks ago, and set it aside. Then last Tuesday I got a reminder in the e-mail about a Halloween Party the following Thursday. Whew! I thought, Good thing I have the blanket. I planned to spend a few hours on Thursday turning the blanket into a robe. The fleecy quality of the blanket meant I would not have any need for hemming, since fleece doesn't fray. I had looked up some ideas online, and had planned to make it very simply... A big circle with a neck hole and cut up the front... tied with a pink ribbon, then attach a hood, which would be the hardest part, but I found simple instructions for a half circle hood online, and thought it would be no big deal. 2 hours, tops.

Are you beginning to snicker at my arrogance yet? Go right ahead.

On Thursday morning I pulled the blanket out of its plastic casing. Then I measured myself from ankle to neck, to see what the radius of the circle needed to be. First problem. There was no way I could cut a circle big enough out of this blanket, despite the fact that it was king size. So I thought about it a bit. I consulted my daughter's plastic fairy godmother figure, which would become my inspiration or pattern of sorts for the rest of the day. I came up with a plan. Make a skirt, and then a little jacket sort of thing with a hood. That would actually look more like the shape of the robe from the famed cartoon, and I could do it with the fabric I had. I measured for the skirt, and cut it out. I cut the waist hole a little large, but I could easily pin it to myself with just a few safety pins. I was feeling smug. I think I took a break to blog.

Then I returned to the remaining fabric. I turned it this way and that, trying to figure out how to make a coat out of it. I pinned it, and checked in the mirror. It looked great from the front, but not the back. I tried again. Weird billowing on the sides. I tried again. Too short in the back. I tried and tried and tried. Hours passed. I nervously snipped and pinned fabric. I was beginning to contemplate running out a buying a sexy Hogwarts outfit. OK, not really. I finally had something I thought resembled a jacket, with just the right triangular type sleeves. Then I measured my head, and cut out the half circle for my hood. I tried it around my head, and it seemed way too large, so I trimmed several inches off. But then when I went to sew it on I realized that the extra inches were so that it would have a hoodish shape in the back, and not just lay on top of my head like a scarf. I debated sewing the piece back on, but decided to try it this way first, and then see. I sewed it all together by hand, literally cutting and changing it as I went. I sewed the pink ribbon on 6 minutes before I had to leave to pick up the May Queen from school. I was still in my pajamas.

I rushed to get ready, grabbed a wand from the dress up box, and rushed out the door.

I'm actually quite proud of my creation, and was pleased when everyone recognized what I was immediately, even if Cinderella wasn't at my side.

We got to wear our costumes again today at a Trunk or Treat event. Thank goodness it cooled off this week - wearing a blanket in October in Louisiana is a hit or miss idea. On the way home we could spy the full moon rising. "It's a Halloween Moon" the May Queen exclaimed, "it even has a tree in front of it."

It sure did. A Halloween Moon. Here's hoping you have a magical Halloween.