Pure elation! Do you see it? And I thought I’d have a little
pirate girl, or a piggy, or a little cardboard robot girl with a
polka-dot bow. No, Charlotte was very clear that she wanted to be a mermaid. And
somehow the timing worked out well this year, so I went all out!
I created the tail texture by running gathering stitches in a fanned-out pattern. Huge relief that it worked as planned! The
skirt is supposed to be the ocean, but I didn’t quite get to the
seaweed and fish I had in mind. I love the color variegation there
though – makes for great interpretive water.
I
made a removable plastic sleeve for the fin so Charlotte could enjoy
her Halloween without being barked at about dragging her tail. It
worked out swimmingly — though the tail stayed off the ground anyhow
as she pranced around in just about the same pose as you see in this
photo. Crazy cute!
I drafted the pattern for the bodice and went a bit nuts with
ruffles and trim. At one place in the sleeve seam there’s something
like 12 layers (a couple sets of doubled ruffles & piping, trim,
& the usual stuff). I had to outfit Charlotte with a sleeved dance
leotard underneath to keep her little arms comfortable. And dance she
has, in full regalia, on Halloween and every day since.
Isaac’s contribution was the crown. I handed him the materials and said, "Go for it!"
He responsed, "What’s wrong with this one?" (The original plastic crown underneath all of the goop).
"Nothing’s wrong with it, but it could be so much more mermaid-y."
"Ya, I guess," he said, but then proceeded to spend the next thirty
or forty minutes deeply enthralled, improving in every way my original
plan. He even got out the drill so the button shanks on the back of
the crown jewels would nest into the plastic just so. I mean he really
got into it. He’s proud of that crown.
He went a bit crazy with the wand too. Got burned in the process : (
Besides the hot-glue burns, we had extra-fun this year. It was
Charlotte’s first Halloween where she understood what was up – costume,
candy, costume. What a joy to see the magic in her eyes! She’s really pretty caught up in her underwater fantasy.
And obviously, Elijah’s still got the magic. Thank heaven Jedis
lead a simpler, less-layered, unglittered existence or I might not have
made the deadline. Love my twirly, big-eyed dreamers.
