Yes You Can Costumes

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DIY Pillowcase Biblical Costumes – Part 2

October 10, 2019

*This post contains affiliate links.*

Alrighty! Let’s wrap up these Biblical costumes! In Part 1, we made the basic tunics. In this post, I’ll walk you through how I embellished them and made the headdresses and belts.

In this photo, Elliott is holding the one dollar pillow sham that became his vest, and Emma is holding the brown pillowcase that became his headdress.

Here, you can see the pillow sham laid on my work table. I planned to make the shorter side the front, and the longer side the back of the vest.

To mark the front center line, I folded the sham in half, vertically, and marked the fold with a pin. Then, I marked the spot with my trusty, purple Dritz Disappearing Ink Marking Pen.

How on earth do I figure out how to make things without a pattern? I cheat. All the time. For example, I used one of Elliott’s T-shirts as a guide to determine how wide I should make the front opening of his vest. All I had to do was to mark and and extend the lines down the front with a ruler, before cutting.

Next, I zipped around the new front opening of the vest with my serger and took out the decorative stitches that were down the sides of the pillow sham. (They would get in the way of the armholes that I was about to make.) I measured down from the shoulder to mark the length of said armholes.

As you can see, I still couldn’t find my seam ripper! I opened the side seams of the pillow sham with these little scissors. Bias tape for twenty-five cents? Yes, please! I selected this brown bias tape to trim the neck opening and armholes.

Need double fold bias tape but only have single fold? That’s okay! Just put the edge you want to encase in the center of the bias tape, and fold the sides down around it.

Trims have a tendency to creep and stretch while sewing, so I like to wait to cut the trim to length until after I’ve sewn it most of the way down. So, I began by pinning the bias trim at one end and continuing around, waiting to cut it until after I sewed it. These photos show how I fold and tuck the raw ends of the bias tape to conceal raw edges at the end.

Here, you can see the steps even more clearly, as I trimmed the vest armholes.

And…Ta-da! Finished vest!

Now, we’re going to switch over to how I made the headdresses, belts, and trims. First, I took the brown pillowcase and chopped it up! The top panel became Elliott’s headdress. The bit I removed from his vest pillow sham became the center of the headdress head tie. The material I removed from the hem of his tunic became additional tie length. I used more of the brown pillowcase material for Elliott’s tie belt. It has a stripe of brown bias tape running down the middle of its length, in addition to burgundy top-stitching. The top stitching is decorative and also makes the belt sturdier.

I used blue, striped, canvas-like material for Emma’s headdress. The “right side” seemed a bit too bright, so turned it over to show the “wrong side”. I trimmed a bit for her belt. Then, I did a stitch line about a half inch from the front and back edges of the headdress and on the ends of the belt. I unraveled the material up to the stitch line, which created a lovely little fringe. It’s all about the texture! There was a bit more of the brown pillowcase material left, so that became the tie for the headdress, along with a bit of vintage trim.

So, as you can see, all it takes to make a Biblical headdress is a rectangle of material with a long tie sewn in the middle of one of the long edges, with a bit of the tie left free on each end for the, well…tying!

And now…For the moment we’re all waiting for…(or, at least I was waiting for)…The trims! I decided that Emma’s tunic should tie in the front. I stitched some narrow, vintage trim on top of the bias tape that went around her neckline. Then, I added vertical stripes of bias tape down the front and backs, and more vintage trims from shoulder to waist. 1970s earth tones, anyone?

To keep Elliott’s tunic a bit different from Emma’s, I decided that his should tie in the back. I used some leftover bits of fabric and trim to create a geometric design at the front of his neckline.

That’s it! Here’s a look at the different costume components. Emma:

 

Here are Elliott’s costume pieces:

In my next post, I’ll show you pictures from our photo shoot along the Columbia River. For now, here’s another teaser…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Filed Under: History with the Hemingers Tagged: Biblical Costumes, Church, Church Play, DIY, Easy Costume, Pillowcase, Upcycle

DIY Pillowcase Biblical Costumes – Part 1

September 19, 2019

*This post contains affiliate links.*

I can’t see you, but humor me and raise your hand if you ever wore a Biblical costume in a church play! Did you do it? Both my hands are raised! Well, I thought it was time to make Emma and Elliott a set of Bible costumes, too. These were made almost a year ago, in preparation for Classical Conversations Cycle 2, which focuses on Ancient World history. Yes. I made these a year ago and am just now posting about it! Welcome to my life.

These costumes have already gotten lots of use, and have been loaned to many other home school families. They’re a good, staple costume set to have around, so let’s dive right in!

It all started with two pillowcases I found at one of my favorite thrift stores. I chose them for their neutral color, the subtle stripes, and the piping trim. In my opinion, subtle textures really elevate what could otherwise be very plain costumes.

Here it is, folks! This is a spread of nearly all of the materials I used to make these costumes. The pillowcases were fifty cents, each. The striped pillow sham was a dollar. The trims were all bargains that I snapped up on my various thrifting adventures. I’m tellin’ ya! Grab those trims when you find them. Buying new trim gets expensive, ya’ll! (I went to college in Oklahoma, so I can say y’all from time to time.)

Next, I washed and dried the pillowcases. I always recommend a good soaking in OxiClean, and/or a natural product I also love: Rockin’ Green. It’s truly amazing/horrifying to see all the funk that these products can remove from clothes and linens! Then, I measured and marked how deep the arm holes would be, along the side seams.

Snip, snip! I can never find a seam ripper when I need one, so I used these little scissors to snip the stitches out of the side seams to make the tunic armholes.

I reinforced the side seams right at the base of the newly-made armholes, so the stitching wouldn’t continue to unravel.

One of the pillowcases had a worn spot at what would become the top of the shoulder. So, I pulled out my favorite “fixer”: Fray Check! I also ran a bead along the newly created armholes, since the bias trim I intended to use wouldn’t encase the raw edge.

While waiting for the Fray Check to dry, I turned my attention to the neckline. I used one of Elliott’s T-shirts as a guide for how big the neck opening should be. I used my favorite, purple, Disappearing Ink Marking Pen to mark the width and the depth of the vertical, T-line for the neck opening. I cut along these lines.

Before this next step, I had the kids try on their pillowcases to make sure their giant heads fit through the neck openings! Then, I sewed narrow bias tape along the vertical slit in the neck opening, by stretching it into as much of a straight line as possible as I sewed along.

Stretching creates a smooth stitching line and reduces fabric puckering, but it creates a U-shaped neck slit, instead of a sharp point. So, I folded the neckline slit edges together and stitched a small dart to taper the slit opening back into a point. There! Isn’t that prettier?

To finish binding the neckline, I stitched more of the bias tape around the top edge of the neckline, leaving extra tape at each end for ties.

Now, it was time to relieve this sea of beige with some accent colors! I trimmed the armholes of Emma’s tunic with brown, vintage, bias tape, leaving about an inch-and-a-half at each end.

I mitered the ends of the bias tape so that raw corners would be concealed and encased more easily when I folded the ends of the tape together.

Aaand…Here is the folding process. It takes a little patience and practice, but this is just one of the ways you can finish the base of the armhole.

I did the same for Elliott’s tunic armholes, only I used tan colored bias tape, this time.

Since pillowcases are long and rather narrow, I wanted to make sure the kids had some leg-room. This was achieved by opening parts of the tunic side seams to make leg slits. As with the armhole openings, I re-enforced the side seam with some extra stitches.

I gave Emma’s tunic one, longer side slit. As with the neck opening, I encased the edge with bias tape, stretching the slit completely open as I went. Then, I sewed a small dart at its top, to make the slit finish in a sharp point and lie smooth.

Next, I decided that Elliott’s tunic should be a bit shorter, so I removed the lower band and decorative piping from his pillowcase. I saved these scraps of material for later use.

Then, I gave his tunic two, shorter side slits and finished them just I had with Emma’s. I gave the bias tape a bit of decorative top stitching with burgundy thread.

At this point, both pillowcase tunics were ready to wear, with the edges all finished. However, they were very, ummm, beige. Time to add more trim and accessories! I’ll show you more in Part 2. See you soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Filed Under: History with the Hemingers Tagged: Biblical Costumes, Church, Church Play, DIY, Easy Costume, Pillowcase, Upcycle

DIY Newsie Costumes – Alley Photo Shoot

May 15, 2019

Well, Friends, Newsies closed on Saturday night. The strike and cast party were on Sunday. What on earth? I’m a bit in shock, and definitely nostalgic. So many happy memories are flooding through my mind. After eight years and five babies, I got my booty back on stage and got to sing and dance alongside my husband. Such euphoria. Is this really my life? However, I still feel like I should practice the tap dance sequence I learned for the “King of New York” number. It took me so long to learn…I don’t want to forget it. Just in case the show isn’t really over.

What’s not over is this blog! I am stoked to have more time to spend on other avenues of creativity, and with our kids! So, please bear with me while I slowly work Newsies out of my system with a few more related blog posts. We took too many cute pictures to cram them into one edition. These images are from our second location. It’s an alley behind the temporary home of our public library, while the actual building undergoes a major remodel.

I stumbled upon this location as the kids and I were leaving the library and couldn’t believe my luck! I mean, look at the architectural features! There’s awesome brickwork, arched windows, a fire escape, and “Wenatchee” painted on the wall! Are you kidding me? As you can see, Emma was influenced by the amazing dancers that were in the show. Many of them attend the same dance studio as our children. It was really inspiring for our kiddos to see their friends and mentors rocking it!

Around the corner, there were these awesome window alcoves. Now, if we could just get Annika to join the fun!

There she is! Now, if we could just get a Newsie cap on her…Annika is starting to give Eliza a run for her money in the expressions department!

I loved taking portraits of each of our little waifs in the window alcoves. Here’s Oliver.

Our character actress: Eliza.

Too cool for school.

Found a feather.

Alley scamp.

Elliott boy. My goodness, I love these sweet pictures of him!

Here’s our big girl and the ring-leader of our pack: Emma! I put her hair in two braids and pinned them on top of her head. In the whirlwind of activity, I almost thought she was Elliott, a couple of times!

Next, we took some fun action shots!

Prep and leap!

Jumping for joy!

Cartwheels!

Dance party.

I’m going to wrap it up with these cute shots of Emma. Daydreaming…

Want a pape?

Alright, next post I will plan on showing how I put these Newsie outfits together. Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 


Filed Under: History with the Hemingers Tagged: DIY, Easy Costume, History with Kids, Kid Costume, Musical Theatre, Newsies, Upcycle

DIY Pilgrim Pants from Khaki Pants

December 13, 2018

Breeches don’t usually fall from the sky, like the pair that I used for Elliott’s Pilgrim pants. So, what are we to do? Well, look no further than your child’s old khakis.

Oliver is modeling such a pair of outgrown khakis with one of his favorite cars and a “coon-skin” cap that he has appropriated as his lovey.

I played with where I wanted the breeches to land and placed a safety pin to mark the spot. (I knew that I would also be adding an under-knee cuff to this length.)

I planned on also using these breeches as part of Oliver’s Alan a Dale rooster costume for our Disney’s Robin Hood-themed family Halloween costumes. This rust colored hoodie was also destined to be part of his Halloween costume. I was trying to kill two birds with one costume fitting!

I measured the excess material that I planned to eventually cut away. Then, I wrote this measurement down for later reference and removed the safety pin.

What did I do next? I dyed the breeches, of course! I know, I know. I have been dyeing a ton of stuff. It’s addicting!

I had some dark green powdered dye on hand, so I went with that. I decided to use only half of the packet and to pre-mix it in hot water before adding it to the washer.

It’s times like these that I am especially glad we have a laundry sink RIGHT next to our washer!

Swirl and mix! It’s always interesting to see the different pigments that are part of the dye.

I needed to dye several things green, so I threw all of them in the washer with the green dye. Doesn’t the new, natural-looking green of the breeches look nice?

This definitely looked like a green that could have been produced using dyes that would have been available to the Pilgrims. It also suited Alan a Dale’s outfit.

Now it was time to remove that excess material from the pant legs! I matched the front and back of the pants together with pins at the hems. I marked my cutting line with my Dritz Disappearing Ink Marking Pen. *Disclaimer* I am an Amazon Services LLC Associates Program member. Any purchases made through my Amazon links will earn me a small commission. I am careful to only promote products that I personally use and love!

Snip, snip!

Next, I cut open the excess material from each pant leg along one side seam.

I measured around the widest part of Oliver’s calf to determine how long each under-knee cuff needed to be, plus 1/4 inch seam allowance. Then, I marked and measured the length and width of each cuff.

Each of the cuff pieces were squared during the cutting process and then serged.

I folded each cuff in half, length-wise, and sewed each into a cylinder.

I gathered the breeches into the cuffs and stitched them together, matching right sides. Then, I turned the cuffs right side out and folded the cuffs over and into the breeches. Top-stitching the cuffs was a slick way to cover the seams on the inside of each breech leg while giving a finished look.

Here are the finished breeches! I have so many costumes planned that will incorporate this very versatile piece! This is a good front view of the finished breeches.

And here is a rear-view!

 


Filed Under: History with the Hemingers Tagged: DIY, Easy Costume, History with Kids, Kid Costume, Pilgrim Pants, Pilgrims, Thanksgiving, Upcycle

DIY Pillowcase Pilgrim Skirts – Part 2

November 27, 2018

Ready to dive back in? We’re going to pick up at the point where we have finished selecting and preparing our pillowcases for sewing…Except, first we’re going to take them apart!

*Want the skinny? Scroll to the bottom of this post for a bullet-point list of directions to make these skirts.*

Each of these pillowcases had one side seam and a top seam. I used a seam ripper to open all of these. I opened the seams all the way to the edge, even though that meant that I had to undo some of the stitches holding the finished hem together. I love to save these easy steps for the evening so that I can hang out with Jeff on the sofa and watch TV while I work.

Frequently, pillowcases are merely serged together, to combine the steps of binding raw edges and seam sewing into one. Picking apart serging is more time-consuming than opening a standard seam, because there are more threads. This was the case with these pillowcases. So, in the process of opening the seams, I was also taking apart the stitching that protected the raw edges from raveling. At this point, I could have left the edges raw, but I chose to serge them to prevent them from fraying over time. I pinned the opened pillowcases to each other, wrong sides together. Then, I stitched the side edges together to form the new side seams for the skirt. Then, I folded the original hem back up and stitched it back down.

Next, I chose some elastic from my stash. I prefer a width of at least 1 inch for waistbands. I folded over the top edge of the pillowcases to find the width I needed to form an elastic casing. I included a bit extra for seam allowance. Then, I marked the width along the top edge of the skirt using a purple, Dritz Disappearing Ink Marking Pen. I’m a big fan of these. I use them in nearly every project! I stitched around the folded, top edge of my skirt to form a tunnel for my elastic. I left a small opening at one of the side seams so I could insert the elastic. *Disclaimer* I am an Amazon Services LLC Associates Program member. Any purchases made through my Amazon links will earn me a small commission. I am careful to only promote products that I have personally used and love!

If you haven’t already, here’s where you’re going to need to stop and take the measurements of whoever is going to be wearing this skirt!

I had Emma find her waist for me. I had her tip to the side and put her finger where she felt her torso fold. THAT is where the natural waist lies. It’s around the bellybutton line, not the hips. (Kids these days!) Then, I measured Emma’s waist at this point. I pinched the tape together with a finger between her body and the measuring tape. This helps to build a little bit of ease into the measurement so that I don’t make the waist too tight. I wrote this measurement down and went on to take a length measurement.

I placed the end of the measuring tape at the same waist point that Emma found. (You may need to ask your model to tip to the side, again, to find it.)

Then, I had Emma hold the tape to her waist while I stretched it to the floor. I decided that I wanted her skirt to hit her about ankle length. I wrote that measurement down.

With the measurements in hand, you can determine how much elastic you need for the skirt waistband! Use the exact waist measurement plus however much you plan to overlap your elastic. You can include a little extra in your overlap so that you can let out the elastic when your child grows. Don’t worry about adding too much, though, because most children grow more in their length than their width. Now that you’ve cut your elastic, safety pin one end of it below the opening you left in the skirt waistband. Put a safety pin through the other end of the elastic. This is the end you are going to feed and scrunch through the elastic casing.

Keep inch-worming your fabric over the safety pin. You may need to finesse it a little bit through the side seams, as the seams can sometimes get folded in and catch on the safety pin.

Finish working the safety pin all the way through the casing, remove the safety pins, and overlap the ends of your elastic the desired amount. Make sure you don’t have a twist in your elastic! There are several different ways to stitch the elastic together. I prefer to do it in a big square or rectangle. This provides a lot of surface area that is anchored together with stitches, plus it is smooth. I also use fairly large stitches in case I want to adjust the waist at a future date. It’s a pain to try to remove tiny stitches from elastic. It’s easy to accidentally snag and cut the elastic itself if the stitches are too small. Tuck this elastic back into the waistband casing and stitch the casing opening closed.

Now, all you have to do is hem your skirt to your preferred length! These king-size pillowcases were quite a bit too long for Emma. I didn’t want to cut the pillowcases to length, though, because that would prevent her from wearing the skirt when she gets older. (For this reason, avoid cutting costume hems to shorter lengths whenever possible!!!) I did need to make the skirt a lot shorter, though, so I began by folding its current finished edge over on itself and stitching that down. This made a deep hem. I knew this would give the hem some stiffness that would help the skirt stand out and look fuller. I considered this a plus! Then, I began the simple but tedious process of measuring, marking, pinning, and sewing two, large growth tucks. This takes a little bit of calculating (Sometimes I have to do math. *sigh*) so you get the finished length right and so that the tucks end up spaced apart from each other and from the hem in the way that you want. Do you see my lovely calculations on that bit of scratch paper, above? The first time I tried tucks on a project, over five years ago, my tucks ended up closer together than I intended. Even here, you can see that I spaced my tucks differently on each skirt. I think I prefer how they turned out on Eliza’s. Once you get those tucks stitched how you want them, press those puppies flat!

Here’s Emma’s finished skirt…

…and here’s a rear view of Eliza’s skirt.

If you really want to be an over-achiever, you can make 2-3 petticoats, in the same manner, to go under these skirts. I skipped that step, this time. However, I am hoping to gradually make a collection of historically-accurate undergarments during these next few years. Correct undergarments do make a big difference in how top-layer garments look and in how they affect the posture and movement of the wearers. This is really important for educational purposes and for actors who are refining what their characters can physically do on stage!

The Skinny

  • Find/Buy two matching pillowcases
  • Dye pillowcases if necessary
  • Open side seams
  • Serge raw edges (if desired)
  • Sew new side seams
  • Sew elastic casing, leave a small opening
  • Take waist and length measurements
  • Cut elastic
  • Pin and feed elastic through casing
  • Stitch ends of elastic together
  • Sew the casing closed
  • Hem skirt to correct length. Use tucks if necessary.

You’re done! This project might get a little tedious, but you will thank yourself when you complete it. You are going to use this versatile skirt a LOT!


Filed Under: History with the Hemingers Tagged: DIY, Easy Costume, History with Kids, Kid Costume, Pillowcase, Thanksgiving, Upcycle

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