The Good [Kids'] Stuff: Happy Halloween (maybe just a tad late.)

We had a grand Halloween this year.  My entire family congregated at my parents' house and we took our kids around the old family neighborhood.  Many of our neighbors are the same, and were surprised to see all of us back at their front doors, begging for candy 15 years later.  It was fantastic!

Because my time is limited in having complete control over Pete's costume, I wanted to do something sweet and kind of old fashioned, you know, before Pete insists on being Thomas or Diego or a power ranger.  I worked at the Beinecke Rare Book Library, which houses the James Barrie papers. These papers include Barrie's manuscripts, stage notes, costume designs, and sketches of his most famous play, Peter Pan.  This collection captures the imagination of anyone who spends time browsing its contents--Barrie's Neverland is truly magical.  Here are a few favorites:

This is the original Peter, made famous in Finding Neverland.

Having a little Peter of my own, I thought I'd try to figure out how to reinvent Barrie's Peter Pan with my very limited sewing skill set.  Not to mention that I ordered this pattern too late, and had my very nice friend ship it to me, arriving two days before Halloween.  And as I was in California, in an apartment we were renting for a month, I had only one pair of scissors that were mini scissors in a travel sewing kit.  I drove around lost, looking for the fabric store, but managed to find Joann's. Thank goodness my sister let me borrow her sewing machine!  October 29, the stars aligned and with pattern, tiny scissors, fabric, and sewing machine set up at the kitchen table, I spent the first few hours doing this:

Now, I didn't swear, but I was spouting threats like nobody's business.  As my husband was innocently sitting on the couch I was saying things like, "Oh man, in one minute, I'm going to swear." "Seriously, I'm going to swear", "I'm just going to GO OFF!" My husband said it wouldn't be a night of sewing with Becca without a few grumbles, moans, and swears under my breath.  I can't argue with that.  But, after a lot of all that, I got something figured out, and although it was nothing too impressive, it kind of resembled my original vision, and, well, I was just glad that Pete was able to wear something.  My perfectionism flew out the window long before the final fitting, and when Pete's head was too big to fit through the neck hole, I was perfectly happy to cut the collar at the neck to make room.  And, despite all the doozy mistakes that came with this project, Pete was perfectly happy with the final product.  I think he wore it for three days straight.  Way to validate your mama, Pete!