My Grandmother and Mom Hand-Stitched Halloween Costumes - but the Tradition Ends Here ~ health and fitness,celebrity news,fashion blog,beauty women,whole foods,quotes about love

mardi 29 août 2017

My Grandmother and Mom Hand-Stitched Halloween Costumes - but the Tradition Ends Here

Some of my favorite memories as a kid are getting dressed for Halloween. For me, it wasn't just a one-off day when I got to dress up as a superhero or princess. There were many years when I watched for weeks as my dad or mom would assemble and laboriously sew my costumes.

From a homemade Minnie Mouse to a medieval-caped assassin that Arya Stark would be proud of, most of my costumes were created by hand, not purchased from the store. While there were the random obsessive years when I exclusively dressed as a ninja turtle - Leonardo, of course - I also got to know what it was like stepping out onto those streets having something entirely unique and homemade.

Apparently this is not a new thing in my family. My grandmother, who I never got to meet because she died young, used to make all of my mom's costumes. My mom's favorite was when, in the second grade, she went as Pinocchio's blue fairy. My mom can still recount how its sequins, which were placed by hand, sparkled in the sun and all the other kids beamed with jealously.

While I love this family history of making costumes, it's not a tradition that I plan on continuing with my child.

I'd love to blame my basic sewing skills, but I know that if it was something I actually valued, I could manage to improve and learn. It's not the cost of the machinery, since I already have one new-ish sewing machine and a couple more that are collecting dust in the basement.

I just don't want to spend weeks at a time making my son's costume.

There are so many other things I'd rather spend my time on - like reading, writing, drawing, exercising, watching TV, or doing nothing. I already spend every hour of the day thinking of that kid; the last thing I need is a frustrating craft project, which I know will never be done entirely correctly.

I loved my costumes, just like my mom loved hers, but it definitely takes some of the spontaneity out of the holiday. Costumes would have to be planned well in advance and always with the understanding that it had to be something that my dad was able to make.

I spent years manipulating my medieval costume, long after the dress had stopped fitting, in part because I didn't want to waste my dad's work. That cape went from princess to Robin Hood to a caped crusader with an all-black outfit underneath.

My Minnie Mouse costume sneaked its way into my daily wardrobe because it was there, it fit, and after hours of my work, I was going to get some wear out of it.

I love my costumes, but I want my son to feel free to pick out his own look. We can assemble them together or go shopping at the store for them. I don't really care how he crafts his perfect Halloween look; all I know is that I am not going to be sitting at the sewing table for weeks to create it. I'm not as good as my parents were in this respect, and that's OK.

mardi 29 août 2017