Day 26: Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious

I'm thinking maybe I didn't spell that right, but spell check didn't ding me, so I'm going with it.

Our family is representing the cast of Mary Poppins for a Halloween party, and guess what?  I made the costumes.  It's a little much to blog about 5 different costumes, so I'll cover the highlights.

In the previous costume post, I discussed repurposing and how to pick a couple key elements to make the costume believable.  This of course is also true for Mary Poppins, because she is

Practically Perfect in Every Way!

So, when considering a home made costume, start here:  what are the key items that are necessary to pull off the costume, and how can these items be obtained or made?

I rely on three basic places for costume pieces:

• our closets
• my sewing machine
• the local thrift store

I decided I must have these items for Mary, Jane (the little girl), and the chimney sweeps:

• a parrot umbrella, carpet bag, and hat (Mary)
• a hair ribbon, long dress, and knee high socks  (Jane)
• newsboy caps, red scarves, and brooms (chimney sweeps)

You can look at this post for information on how I tackled a parrot umbrella.  The carpet bag is just going to be a large hand bag with a scrap of upholstery fabric attached.  I bought the hat at a thrift store along with a couple silk flowers for the brim.  I am using a thrift store white shirt under a tweed jacket from my own closet.  I sewed a long black skirt with some fabric I found at - you guessed it - a thrift store (alternatively, you just thrift a black skirt or use one you have).  It was hastily and poorly made, but it will work fine for a costume.

Jane's dress was an Etsy find, but the Little will be able to wear it for a long time.  Socks and ribbon were also regular closet items.

And the chimney sweeps?  Well, they took a little more planning.  I bought dark suit coats at a thrift store, along with newsboy caps for Husband and the Bigs.  Scarves were also purchased at the thrift store, along with the makings for chimney brooms.  I went with what I could find and tweaked them to make them work.  Two just required a coat of black spray paint, but the third was just a regular old broom.  I cut off the bristles and glued them onto a cardboard circle with a rectangle shaped hole.  I put an identical cardboard circle on the top.  When it dried I fit it over the end of the broom, where the bristles used to be.  I spray painted it all black, and it turned into a passable chimney broom.

You'll just have to wait and see how the finished product turns out.  Mainly because I lost the pictures of the making process in a computer mishap, and we haven't yet all tried on our costumes at the same time for a picture.  I have to be in the same country as the rest of my family for that to happen.  I think I'm not supposed to admit this kind of thing when blogging, but, hey, how else will you get to know home made's charm in its imperfection?

if this is your first visit, welcome!  Be sure to check out my other 31 Days to Home Made posts, by either clicking here or on the button at the top of this page.