Awesome Halloween Sew-Alongers, Vol. 4 - Jessie & Amy!

Happy Halloween, readers!

As I announced late yesterday, my Halloween Costume Ball has been rescheduled for this coming Saturday, November 3rd.  Therefore I've decided to extend our Halloween Sew-Along.  This means three extra days of Halloween costume-making fun: beads, chiffon, and glitter eye shadow -- and that's just the dogs!

Today I'd like to highlight two more awesome MPB Halloween Sew-Alongers, Jessica M. & Amy Z.

Friends, my relationship to current pop culture is very tenuous. I can give you the scoop on Lana & Ty, Debbie & Eddie, even Farrah & Lee, but anything past 1980 or so is lost on me.  Many of you are more deeply grounded in the present, however, so I know you'll appreciate what Jessie and Amy have been working on. 

Let's start with Jessie:

Q: Jessie, how did you decide on your costume idea -- what inspired you?

A: I love old video games, grew up on them, and love the game Chrono Trigger very much. My character is Ayla, helpful because she can double as a generic cavewoman if you don't know the game.

Meet Ayla.

I chose my character in particular because I'm kind of contrary. Every year around Halloween, there's the whole "slutty costume" trash talking thing. And for the most part, I actually agree; I think it's
weird and unfair that there's such a disparity between men and women's versions of the same costumes, and I think that awkwardly shoehorning innocent objects like watermelons into a "slutty" format is just kind of... well... awkward.

But I also think people have a really bad relationship with their bodies, for the most part. I know I do a lot of the time. But we shouldn't -- humans are beautiful creatures! So I decided to be Ayla
the prehistoric chieftan queen. She's physically the strongest character in the game, and her character is very joyful and powerful, all about equality and respect and love of life.

I wanted to see what would happen if I made a costume that was revealing without being provocative. No cleavage, no makeup, no high heels, just... not a lot of cloth. All natural me, on a very unnatural holiday. It's been interesting so far, observing various reactions. Many people do seem to get what I'm trying to say, which makes me really happy, and I'm expanding my boundaries by accepting the
negative feedback. Leave it to a pretentious college student to turn a costume into social commentary, huh? But mostly, it's just fun, I swear.

Just don't call it a "fur-kini".

Q: What challenges (if any) are you experiencing?  What's the hardest part of making it?

A: I've not done a lot of costuming before, and spent all my money on fabric instead of patterns. A self-drafted swimsuit bottom is kind of hard, but it's hidden by the skirt thing anyway. The hardest part, though, is keeping the costume true to character while making sure it stays put, strapless anything being difficult for me to not jump out of. I've not made complicated shoes before (I'm not done with those, so they're not pictured, along with her bracers). And the color was hard. I ended up custom dyeing the fake fur with sidewalk chalk and just kind of winging it. Never worked with fake fur before, either; it's been an experience!

Q: Where are you going to go in your costume?

A: I've worn it a few places already, in various stages of completion. A dinner party, a house party, an outdoor concert...  my friend even borrowed it for her ultimate Frisbee competition! She pinned the scarf in place to make a strap and wore tights underneath. There are actually four other costumes that go with mine, but I couldn't get everyone together for photos/they're not as close to done yet.

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And here's Amy!

Q: Amy, how did you decide on your costume?  What inspired you?

A: I love The Hunger Games trilogy, and I read all the books, and I saw the movie the day it came out.  I walked out of the movie and declared “I’m dressing as Effie Trinket for Halloween this year!”  This was in March.  The idea sat on the back burner for a bit and then in August, I saw the movie again at the budget theater and that sealed it.  Her outfits are incredible.  I bought fabric and started working on it immediately.



Q: What challenges, if any, are you experiencing?

A: Well, the fabric, for one!  It’s basically plastic.  It’s slippery and frays like crazy.  I figured out that I could melt the raw edges with a lighter, and that seems to have solved that problem.  The outfit is two pieces, a jacket and a skirt, and the slippery fabric makes it keep coming untucked.  Also the belt slides around like crazy.  I solved that by putting a few pieces of Velcro on the waistband.





Q: Where are you going to go in your costume?

A: Tonight I’m going to a friend’s annual costume party.  My friends are all super into Halloween too, so there are always really imaginative and creative costumes.  Everyone goes all out and it’s really exciting to see what they come up with!  I’ll probably go out again on Saturday too, and we were thinking of having cocktails at a friend’s house and then walking to a bar.  Really, I would dress up on Halloween day, the weekend before, and the weekend after if I could.  I love dressing up!



 You can read more about Amy's costume on her lovely blog, Sewing Through the Motions.

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I'd like to thank Jessie and Amy for sharing their Halloween sewing adventures with us.  The last video game I played was Pac-Man and The Hunger Games is what I call my daily squabble with Michael over who makes dinner, but I know this has had meaning for many of you.

I wish all of you who celebrate it a very happy Halloween.  For those who, like me, have been forced by Mother Nature to postpone Halloween a bit, onward and upward!

Have a great day, everybody!  Any special plans for the holiday?