Done

Is it just me or is there anyone else out there who is just dragging their feet on this time change??? I am SOOOOOOO tired.

I'm happy to report that this year I actually finished the costumes the day before Halloween instead of an hour before trick-r-treat time on Halloween day.

I was pleased with the outcome of each outfit but have to admit that I'm most pleased with Dustin's. Out of our family he is the one who loves to dress up the most. Once he is in an outfit he "believes" he is what he is wearing. I was so excited for him. Dustin and Logan were knights. Dustin was a black knight and Logan was a white knight. Real knights. Jenni researched actual armor and she was the mastermind behind the original design. Each piece were actual pieces a knight would have worn, such as pauldrons for the arms, cuisses for the leg, helm for the head, and a cuirass for the body. When I was making Dustin's I ended up staying up until midnight because all of the sudden I got these creative ideas and just didn't want to stop adjusting and manipulating the design. The more I worked on his costume the more excited I was for him to wear it. I thought the boys looked great!


Dustin the "Black Knight"

Logan the "White Knight"


The boys trying out their powers.

The biggest challenge was dressing Dustin. It was a process which would have been much easier for an adult than a 5 year old boy. Having him stand still was almost impossible and he whined the whole time. I reminded him that a "real" knight would have taken much longer to get in his armor so he should count himself lucky. I did however warn him to go to the bathroom before we put it on and if he needed to go later on he would need to give me a lot of notice because there was no way we would get this outfit off quickly.

Kat, Daria, and I went as Renaissance ladies. I have to toot Kat's horn because she sewed her own costume...again. I remember when she was 10 and she sewed her own pioneer dress. Amazing. I don't think there are a lot of 12 year olds who can sew this well. Her dress turned out fabulous! Jenni went as a commoner or peasant lady. Now someone who knows how to sew is Jenni. Ken went as an average man of that era.


Daria as a maiden

Kat and Daria as maidens

All of the girls

My dress turned out well, although it felt HUGE. I was gently reminded that the style back then was intended to have a lot of material and be HUGE. I suppose walking around with 5 yards or more of fabric on your body would make anyone look like a pillow. The model on the front of the pattern did NOT look like she was wearing a comforter or a pillow (darn marketing techniques). The sleeves were a challenge in themselves but I really liked how they turned out.

First we attended the trunk-r-treat up at church. All 7 of us (Ken, Dustin, Daria, Jenni, Kat, Logan, and I) one 1st prize for costumes. That was pretty cool. I admit I felt a little uncomfortable as an adult because I wasn't dressing for the contest. I was dressing up to have fun. I didn't want to steal attention away from the kids since that is who the trunk-r-treat is for. After the trunk-r-treat we came back home, ate tons of pizza with a bunch of friends, then went around the block for more trick-r-treating. All in all it was a very fun evening.


Daddy and Daria ???????

We worked hard on these costumes for two reasons. To dress up for Halloween but more importantly we want to attend the Renaissance Faire, and going in "Renaissance Garb" will be so fun.

Karie and Jenni, I liked our smiles in this picture better

This picture shows the detail on the dresses better