Sewing Up Some Fun

Halloween around here is kind of a big deal. So, I was excited to find a book of how to make costumes in a nearby library; I just bought it at Better World.com, because it's the coolest book ever. It gives straightforward directions for making about 75 different costumes, some of which are pretty darned complicated.

I feel like Harry Potter must have felt when he started to use the Half-Blood Prince's potions book - suddenly, I'm making complex things like tunics and hats, with ease and very little clothes-making knowledge! I'm a quilter, so I know my way around a sewing machine, but any clothing I turned out before this book came into my life was unwearable. Truly.

However, I'm not the only one making costumes this year! Luke browsed for a while, chose to be Robin Hood - and asked me to teach him to sew.

I only realized later how much I'd been hoping that at least one boy would want to learn this skill... I'm not going to have any daughters, and sewing is such a cool thing to be able to do in any case that your gender shouldn't matter.

He did really well, and loves it - no surprise, since there is a small element of danger in using a sewing machine. Plus, it has similar appeal to some of our outdoor tools (it's a Huskvarna, and they also make things like chainsaws), and it has some pretty cool features that Luke got to try out, like making different stitches, winding a bobbin, and going in reverse.

Finally, at the end of all his hard work, he's got the important parts of a Robin Hood costume! I did one seam on the hat, because it was a complicated bit of sewing, but besides that, Luke did all the sewing and helped with the pattern pinning and cutting. Independence in a nine-year-old is a nice thing, that's for sure!