Costumes

Halloween 2000--Nell and I won best Mother-Child costume at MOMS Club for our Hester Prynne and Baby Pearl costumes, from The Scarlet Letter. (It's hard to see, but I'm wearing an embroidered red A on my chest.)

My finished homemade suffragette costume. I'm going to wear it all day, wherever I go, and then out to trick-or-treat with the kids tonight .

All homemade, no purchases required--the hat is crocheted from stash yarn; the shell is a roll of foam rubber, spraypainted and held together with duct tape; strapped on using some old AFO velcro straps. Costume was inspired by the snail character in the "Frog and Toad" books by Arnold Lobel. Todo hecho en casa, ninguna compra necesaria - el sombrero es de punto, la concha es un rollo de goma espuma, y se mantienen unidos con cinta adhesiva; atado con correas de velcro. Traje se inspiró en el personaje de caracol en la Rana "y el Sapo" libros de Arnold Lobel. This photo appeared in the Knithacker blog, 1/22/11: knithacker.com/2011/01/22/handmade-snail-costume/ This costume was one of ten finalists in the Heidi Klum/patch.com "Little Pumpkins" creative costume challenge 2011.

I crocheted this for myself this year, starting with the hat in March. No pattern, obviously! Just freeform and hyperbolic and some beading. There are starfish and sand dollars visible, the rest is more abstract...

I crocheted this for myself this year, starting with the hat in March. No pattern, obviously! Just freeform and hyperbolic and some beading. There are starfish and sand dollars visible, the rest is more abstract...

Crocheted and worn by me, 2012.

Crocheted and worn by me, 2012.

Recycling the accessories from my Halloween costume last year, for "historical figures" day at school today. Turned out, her teacher also dressed as a suffragette! We spent our walk to school talking about the suffrage movement, and how there are still places where women can't vote yet. Teachable moments. Sign and sash are homemade. Sash is three lengths of ribbon assembled with lots of masking tape as backing, and iron-on letters.

I'm crocheting a rainstorm costume for Halloween. This is the second photo, from May 2013, showing how the headpiece has gathered more clouds... I don't think I can keep using the webcam for these photos! Like my tree costume last year, it's getting too big to photograph at arm's length.

I'm crocheting a rainstorm costume for Halloween. This was the first photo, from March 2013, showing the central cloud of the headpiece.

It's fun to wear in un-Halloweeny places.

Crocheted hat, the rest was made or found at swap-o-rama-rama, ReDiscover Center, 10/14/12.

Mostly made at the Kids' Swap-o-Rama-Rama, ReDiscover Center, 10/14/12. (Hat was crocheted ahead of time.)

Mostly made at the Kids' Swap-o-Rama-Rama, ReDiscover Center, 10/14/12. (Hat was crocheted ahead of time.)

Crocheted, with felted wool leaves. Photo at ReDiscover Center, 10/14/12.

Crocheted, with felted wool leaves. Photo at ReDiscover Center, 10/14/12.

Crocheted, with felted wool leaves. Photo at ReDiscover Center, 10/14/12. Literary trees include the Ents in Tolkien, and Yggdrasil in Norse mythology.

The headpiece has more fall foliage now... in felted orange and dark green cashmere. And is one of those leaves striped? Like a felted sock, perhaps? There's just a peek of the tunic section in this one too. Just a couple weeks now, until I can take some actual full-length photos of the whole thing together.