Call me a pagan - but Halloween has always been my favorite holiday of the year. Well, at least it used to be my favorite holiday -- until the pressure of the sewing of Halloween costumes overtook my sanity.
I will admit the hatred of costume making is largely due to my procrastination. My kids generally have their costumes picked out in the spring - I'm not kidding. I guess I've instilled in them such a great love for Halloween that the planning generally begins around Christmas time - with the final decision being made around Easter (if only I could instill such a strong love for housework or pulling weeds). So, if I were a smart one, I'd commence with the sewing around Memorial Day weekend. Surely, by doing this I'd have the time and energy to sew 3 costumes (minus the burning of the midnight oil).
When my kids were younger, my mother warned me against sewing costumes. She told me that as they got older - the costumes would get more difficult. I ignored her and had my fill of cute little panda bears, a mermaid, an elephant, rapunzel a flower, and a bee among others. Those were the days. And now my mother's prophecy is coming true. But truly, it's not the costume patterns that have gotten more difficult - it's just my kids are so much bigger - and it takes so much longer to make these larger costumes.
Last year, the twins were Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. J was a spa girl - which involved only buying her a robe and green face cream - easy peasy! Of course, the week before Halloween, I spent many a late night getting those costumes finished. I even informed the kids that they would be being Luke and Leia this year (of course, in the Spring their request of being a ninja and a witch didn't seem like such a big deal).
This year, I actually bought the fabric and patterns in September. I was so proud of myself. Then my 12 yr old informed me she wanted to be a go-go girl. I tried to beg off on even making her a costume - I mean she's 12 for heaven's sake - but through the power of tears and "but you haven't made me a Halloween costume in 3 years - she won. Things would've still been okay if I would've started the sewing in September - but in mid-October, I had a craft night in my ward that involved me cutting out a bunch of wood - and stressing out over. So the fabric patiently waited in my craft room (the kids waited not so patiently).
With the craft night behind me, I finally felt like I could begin the sewing. I stayed up till midnite Monday night, 2 am Tuesday night. Went to Idaho for a funeral on Wednesday and returned home Thursday at 10 pm. Stayed up til 3 am Thursday night - so the ninja could be ready for fighting at the school Halloween party on Friday (might I also add that sewing costumes in the wee hours of the morning is not recommended - when Mr. Ninja tried on his costume on Friday morning - one sleeve was 4 inches longer than the other, the ties on the front of the costume didn't match up - and his pants ripped out about 2-3 inches in the side seam during recess). Luckily, the 2 witch capes I made (one for my niece and one for my daughter) - were much easier to handle - and so far nothing needs fixing for the witchy poos.
That leaves me with today. Tonight is the trunk-or-treat - and I still have 2 yards of hot pink vinyl calling my name. And yet - here I sit, blogging, procrastinating the day of my repentance - and still planning on cleaning my house before I begin the making of the costume. When will I learn my lesson? Maybe next year. As for now, maybe I'll change my favorite holiday to a low-key one like Veteran's Day or Labor Day (at least until my kids are out of the making of the Halloween costume phase).
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