I’ve mentioned before that my mother sewed for us. Some of that sewing was for Halloween.
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- I was four, and I *think* Mother must have made this. It’s much nicer than the inexpensive store-bought costumes that were available.
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- I’m positive she made this gypsy costume. I remember trying it on for fitting. And isn’t Little Red Riding Hood cute.
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- I don’t think Mother made this cute prairie dress. It seems like it came in a box of hand-me-downs (repurposed clothing) from cousins.
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- We were recyclers before recycling had been invented. Now it’s my turn to hand out Halloween candy and JoAnne’s turn to wear the prairie dress.
Following her good example, I made costumes, for one reason and another, for Kevin and Jeremy.
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- Two-year-old Kevin wanted to be an elephant for Halloween. There was no elephant pattern in the books at the fabric store. So I got a generic one, and improvised.
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- The next year, when I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween, he looked at me as though I was nuts, and said, “An Elephant!” He’d grown quite a bit, and I had to add about three inches to the legs and sleeves.
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- Jeremy was also an elephant, a few years later, but he didn’t really like that trunk. And Kevin wore the magician’s hat and cloak that my sister had given him, along with several magic tricks, for his birthday, way back in February.
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- Some costumes took a little more work and ingenuity, like Spiderman.
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- Others were easy.
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- We recycled lots of costumes, like Kevin’s Snoopy for Jeremy, and Kevin’s magician’s cape for a wizard.
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- Huck Finn was easy, but Jeremy had seen “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” too many times and wanted a ghost costume from an old sheet, like the Peanuts kids.
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- Kevin was the Act 1 Tin Man in a school production of Wizard of Oz. That’s him on the right. His friend Jason was the Act 2 Tin Man. Jason’s mom and I made the poster board bodies, and I think the boys made their axes. Those are real metal funnels on their heads. We dyed shirts and tights gray.
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- At church, the request was for biblically-related costumes at the Halloween party. Jeremy went as David with his sling, and Kevin wore this gold top I had made for a school play. He went as the Star of Bethlehem.
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- Another year, Jeremy repurposed the Tin Man costume and added a foil-covered Tupperware cake cover as a hat for a robot costume. Kevin added gold strips to to the gold outfit to become Halley’s Comet.
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- The gnome costume was mostly stuff around the house (except for that cool beard). And Jeremy said, “I’m going to be a soccer player for Halloween,” and wore his soccer uniform.
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- For a Favorite Story Book Day at school, Jeremy wanted to go as Max (from Where the Wild Things Are), and his friend Peter was an actual Wild Thing. Easy costume–light jeans, Kevin’s white school sweatshirt worn wrong side out, and I only had to make the hood.
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- And the magician’s cloak came out again for the Viking costume, as did the gnome beard, which was still in the costume box (and, Kevin says, is now in the costume box at his house).
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- “I want a striped prisoner’s outfit, for Halloween” said Jeremy. And it was crafted brand-new, from a pajama pattern, and never worn again.
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- Jeremy said, “What can I dress up in for Halloween?” And David, who is loath to get rid of anything, dug around and found his almost-never-worn Air Force uniform (he wore his khakis all the time).
Keeping up the tradition. It’s what grandmothers and parents do.
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- For Peter’s first Halloween, April thought he should be a cactus. So that’s what I made.
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- The next year, Peter had a new coonskin cap. April made a fringed vest out of an inside-out Trader Joe’s bag. Ta-dah! Daniel Boone
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- This year–Kids at Peter’s school have a Storybook Parade, so his costume works for the whole Halloween celebration week! And how easy is a Christopher Robin costume!
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- Christopher Robin & Winnie the Pooh, in case you’re unfamiliar with the literary reference.
Before long Paul left Athens and went on to Corinth where he found a Jew called Aquila, a native of Pontus. This man had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had issued a decree that all Jews should leave Rome. He went to see them in their house and because they practised the same trade as himself he stayed with them. They all worked together, for their trade was tent-making.
Acts 18:1-3 (Phillips)
When Jeremy was 5, we were at Glorieta Conference Center for three weeks. I was teaching 4-year-olds each morning in the Preschool Building, and he was down the corridor in the Kindergarten room. At lunch each day, I’d ask Kevin (who went to class with school-agers in another building on campus) and Jeremy about their sessions, what they did, what they learned. “What was your Bible story today,” I asked Jeremy. “Oh, some people with funny names.” “Funny names?” “Yeah, you know.” “No, I don’t know.” “Well, it’s those people. You know, sewing boy and sewing girl.” “Priscilla and Aquila?” “Yeah! Them!”
But it is nice, isn’t it, for us sewers, to know that we have a good, hard-working, God-loving example of Bible people who did the kind of work we do.
Link to Where the Wild Things Are, just in case you’re not familiar with that reference, either.
I love the Halloween pictures of Kevin and Jeremy. It’s hard to picture them as little boys. I am so thankful that I get to see Peter in his costumes. He was the cutest Christopher Robin I ever saw. I really enjoy reading your blog.
Thanks for reading each week. And yes, I do enjoy looking back at old photos, too. I heard that your own grandkids had cute costumes, too.
Great stuff….Megan made a Charlie Brown ghost for Jace this Halloween.
Thanks. Those ghost-out-of-a-sheet outfits are not as easy as you would think. You have to make sure it’s not so long as to trip them. And, getting those eyes holes in the right place is challenging. Hope you’re posting photos of the kids so I can see the finished product.
Philip was Tin Man (4th gr) and Rachel was Dorothy (1st grade) one year when we had a Fall Festival at church. I was determined they would win the costume contest. Philip has never forgiven me for that one…..it’s not cool for your costume to be connected with your younger sister. They were adorable, but I don’t remember if they won or not.
Oh, I’d love to see those costumes! Mine never wore duo costumes, too far apart, I guess. Kevin told me about a friend at church whose grandkids are going as “A House Divided,” with one in purple TCU clothes and the other in green and gold Baylor things. But I don’t know how old they are. They live here in Waco, so I guess we could go prowling around various events and see if we could hunt them down. And ask Philip, I bet *he* knows if there was an award.
So glad I read this one, albeit it late. All the pictures and memories of fun Halloweens are delightful. I just saw the text of Peter on piano & enjoyed it …adorable! Hope your foot is improved and that you are not planning on cooking Thanksgiving Dinner. Julie and I will most likely be transporting stuff to her new house on the 26th which is just as well since it is not only Thanksgiving but the anniversary of our wedding…55 years ago. Keeping impossibly busy is a good antidote! Thanks for the walk down memory lane! Let me know how you are. Love, Suzy