I feel like I’ve just finished the Toddler Challenge on Project Runway for Dummies, but Julia’s Halloween costume is finally finished. I hope she’ll actually wear it. Julia’s love for fish this year has bordered on obsession. “Fish!” was one of her first words, and she spent the first half of summer diligently searching for them in the pool. It seemed fitting, then, that come Halloween she should be a fish, and with fond memories of the costumes my mother made for my brother and me, I set out to make a fish costume for Julia. What I didn’t focus on (and what is now clear to me, of course) is that my mother knows how to sew, and I don’t.
Armed with this sketch, I went shopping: at Mood fabrics in New York for orange wool for the body of the tunic, shiny silks for the scales and chiffon for the fins, plus some stiff interfacing for the tail; at M&J Trimming in New York for ribbon, thread, fasteners and fabric glue; and the Bridgehampton K-Mart for an inexpensive Singer sewing machine –with a picture of Martha Stewart on the box, what could go wrong?
Quite a bit, actually, when one’s total sewing experience is limited to watching two seasons of Project Runway. Still, I muddled through with plenty of trial and error (and, fortunately, extra fabric).
I measured Julia, made a pattern and cut the fabric.
Cut the stiff, two-sided tail out of interfacing and stuck silk onto both parts with fabric glue.
After finishing the edges of the body, I sewed on the scales in rows with the sewing machine.
And attached the tail with fabric glue. (My sewing skills (and possibly my sewing machine) couldn’t handle something so stiff and heavy.)
The flipper cuffs were simple to sew together after all of that. I made it work.
Now it’s Julia’s turn to work it. I think she’ll be able to move freely in the tunic-like garment. (She’ll wear a black turtleneck and leggings underneath.) I also think she might appreciate the lack of a mask or headgear. I know I will. I think I had to wear last year’s bunny ears for about an hour before she would let them near her head, and there will be much less drama over keeping the outfit intact for photos.
I’ll post one on Facebook and Twitter after Halloween.
