I am, perhaps, feeling a bit giddy. We've had 36
Trick-or-Treaters so far tonight, and it's not even 8 pm.
Before the record breaking candygoers, I must admit to
feeling a little relieved that the day is here, and the
costumes are done and out in the world. No more last
minute requests for snoods, nor fussing with gunbelts,
nor thoughts of Tardis blue journals. Done and done.
And, I am very, very pleased with them.
Merida's dress was the biggest challenge for me.
I couldn't find a pattern I liked in the correct size for
Little e. My Mom ended up helping me alter a pattern
in a smaller size. It was quite educational, and I'm
very glad I made a muslin out of an ancient sheet.
The dress is made out of a polyester that makes the
most delicious sound as she moves. There's a small
part of me that wants to make a dress like this for me,
just so I can shush-shush around the house in it.
River Song, or Sweet G as she's known in her day job,
was a bit easier to put together. I used a play dress
that has had previous incarnations as a Earth Goddess,
a crone, and who knows what else. Someone, somewhere
wore this dress as clothes, but not for about 15 years.
I did a lot of shaping to create a waist, cut quite a bit
off the bottom, and removed the sleeves.
The accessories were the fun bit to make. River Song
has a very distinctive belt that she wears in a couple
of episodes, and it was really important to G that I
try to replicate it. I used my crop-o-dile to punch
the holes in the suede material and a combination of
antique shirt studs and studded buttons. The main
closure is hidden velcro, as only the last row of studs
(the gold toned ones) are functional.
Big E painted the nerf gun for me, after I disassembled
it. Putting it back together was challenging, because I
managed to pick up an extra spring from somewhere.
Merida and River both had successful candy gathering,
so the costumes must have worked well. I wonder
what they'll come up with next year.