Crazy Owl Costume

CRAZY OWL COSTUME

I believe that I started a tradition last year of hand making a costume for Mila for each Halloween (a tradition I may regret later).

This year, as Cat and I were discussing costume ideas I was disappointed at my complete shortage of creativity. I had no idea, no inspiration, and no motivation. I had too many things on my plate (while not being a very good juggler). Perhaps many of you know this feeling?

I thought of things that I like…… a hamburger, a donut… a cake… a big wedge of cheese. I passed these ideas by my husband and his response made a lot of sense. He said, “Why make Mila into something she won’t understand? Make something that she will recognize at once, like an animal.” Ugh, I hate when he’s right.

So I thought about the animals that she knew by name. A cow… hmmm… that’s going to be difficult. A dog… too common. A cat… not crazy enough for this mother. AN OWL!!! She loves owls. She knows its name in both Chinese and English and she says, “hoo hoo” every time she sees one. That big head, those big eyes, the layers of feathers! I was immediately excited, “obsessed” is a more accurate word. I researched owl images all night and sent so many of them to poor Cat in the middle of the night.

I began by thinking about the costume structure. If I make a feathery body and an owl head as a hat, Mila would just yank the hat off and she would end up trick-or-treating as a headless owl.

I had to think about a headpiece that would stay on, well at least a few minutes before I would have to beg her to put it back on again. So I came up with the cape solution.

Mila received this great poncho from a friend in Japan. It fits perfectly, so I used it to create a general pattern. I drew an outline of the poncho shape onto a large paper bag.

Then I used the pattern pieces as templates for cutting my fabrics. I didn’t want a literal owl translation with accurate colours, so I used a colour palette that I thought was really fun. Also if people don’t recognize that the costume is of an owl, I can fall back on the excuse that I took artistic license and created an abstract interpretation.

I had this great gray Italian fabric from last year’s Christmas stocking project and used a bright green fabric as the lining. I also dug into my scrap bin and found complimentary pop colours.

I wish that I can show step-by-step instructions on my costume making process, but it got so complicated I wouldn’t know how to explain myself, as well as hide my embarrassing goof ups. This is my first time sewing something on a sewing machine. This owl developed over many nights and many mistakes. Before this attempt, my sewing experience consisted of mending holes and reattaching buttons. So I just have to skip to the end results.

Here is the cape/owl head. I purposely left the seams on the outside because I simply don’t know how to make clean and neat seams. Also the raw and slightly frayed edges remind me of feathers.

And here it is with the bottom dress section. I made a bubble dress and stuffed it lightly with batting. I used fabric scrap circles to create the feathers on the body.

And this is my Mila monster in the costume. She started hoo-ing right away when I put the costume on her. I was so please that she recognized what it is.

Here is a view from the side.

And here is the back.

Mila is such a busy body, I could not get her to stop pulling off the cape (uh-oh) nor stay in one place. So I turned on the music and asked her to dance, which she loves doing. So I snapped some more photos.

Next, I'm hoping that I have time to make her a matching trick or treat bag. Look HOO's trick or treating.

The "I'm Not a Boy Hat"

It's true I don't dress mila like a girl. I prefer her in the soothing shades of blue, grey, black, brown and an occasional muted purple. I opt for tunics and pants over dresses any day. For my baby shower and Mila's first birthday I specified on the invitations, "please nothing pink."

And I'll be the first to admit it. She looks like a boy. I'm ok with it. She has close to no hair (unless you call that peachy fuzz on top of her head hair). There is no discernable difference between the shape of her body and that of a one year old boy. And she doesn't have those delicate features that make some babies undeniably girl like thick long lashes, cheruby rosy cheeks, nor long wispy hair. When I put her in a dress, she looks like a boy dressed in a Halloween costume. So I let her true proud-to-be-active-tom-boy-crawl-all-over-the-place-don't-let-a-dress-slow-me-down personality come through in her clothes.

Everywhere I go people say:

"Aw what a cute boy"

"I just love him"

"Like father like son"

"I can tell what you will look like as a young man"

And my favourite is, "Hey there Joey!"

I'm never offended. I get baby genders mixed up all the time. I just feel bad when they look embarrassed as I announce that Mila is a girl.

They usually say something like, "Oh I'm sorry. She's not in pink." or "Oops the blue tripped me up."

So I created a solution. Since I'm not about to invest in shiny pink items, I thought of the next best thing.

I present the "I'm Not a Boy Hat"! This idea comes from the hat I made for Mila's "Crazy Octopus Costume" last Halloween. This was so easy and I'm more than thrilled with the results. Variations are endless. Here I will show you how to make the "I'm Not a Boy Hat with Fun Bouncy Rosettes".

Start with a pair of tights. I went with a size larger than what Mila would actually wear to fit her big old head. This is a very good way to recycle tights from an older sister, holes or runs not a problem. Since Mila doesn't have any siblings I bought these tights specifically for this project. These were size 4 but I think I could have used a smaller size.

Tie knots at the start of the leg openings.

Make small loops with the length of the leg and sew them to the knot. Start at the base closest the knot and work your way to the toe. Wrap the thread around the loop and be sure to secure each loop by making a stitch or two before moving to the next loop.

Continue until you get to the end of the leg. Tuck and sew the toe part in. Repeat with the other leg.

I really like the way this looks, as is. I like the loopy numbs but I intended to make these into rosettes, so rosettes are what I'll make. Cut through every loop at the center.

Ta da! I'm so glad I stuck to plan. Because I love these rosettes! This hat ended being a bit big so I folded up the lip.

"Excuse me, how old is your little boy?"

"Oh pardon me, I can clearly see she's a fun, strong willed, active, and bouncy little GIRL."

And behold - the "I'm Not a Boy Braided Hat"!

Of course my Mila monster, like Nolan, loves nothing more than ripping the hat off.