We are nearing the end of World Folktales and Fables Week (March 17-23), and in honor of that, I’ve coerced my spokesmonsters and some other local residents to star in retellings of two stories. Credits are at the end, so without any ado, today’s story!
The sorcerer’s apprentice was left alone with instructions to have the floor clean before the sorcerer’s return.
So, you know how I said the sewing for my costume was no more than 90 minutes? Well, I made up for that with costumes for Stumpy and Cirrus (formerly known as Anonymous Light Blue Monster). Ta da!
They were Ashur and Ishtar, important ancient Assyrian deities. Something I read said they were husband and wife, but I never found that piece of trivia again so I suspect it was suspect.
I got advice from my friend Eleanore (“Fringe. Lots of fringe.”) and a page on Assyrian costumes. Getting an appropriate geometric pattern with (relatively) accurate colors required dyeing fabric (before and after shown above, though unfortunately not in the same lighting – that’s the same fringed trim in each shot). I scaled the shawl measurements in the Fashion Era link by 1/9, cut them from muslin, and then adjusted the proportions, since after all monsters are not humans.
Fortunately, monsters are fairly patient and easy-going, because we had some long fitting sessions. The tunics I had to design from scratch and they are far from historically accurate, but I had to adjust for the fact that humans are proportionally smaller front to back and also have necks that are quite a bit smaller front to back than their chests. The tunics have a front and back panel (really two in the back), with insets along the shoulders and down the sides under the arms. I was glad I made a muslin first because it was a wee bit snug.
And let’s not forget their accessories! This is unlikely to be the last time you see them in wigs.
The picture up top was taken during a long outing by the river. When they got home and out of costume they needed a good brushing, both for fluffiness and for removal of bits of the great outdoors. More photos will shortly be posted on Stumpy’s Facebook page.
Our Halloween is all but over now, since the parties we typically go to both happened last night, so I thought I’d go ahead and show you my costume.
I was a clothesline! It was a lot less elaborate than last year and three years ago. I sewed, but a total of no more than 90 minutes. On me you can see a tank top, towel, and pair of socks (though they would not even fit baby feet; they just look sock-shaped). There’s also a bird clipped into my hair. I made everything from scratch, freehand, though I did use rulers and aim for symmetry. There were two pieces that didn’t make it onto the line in the moment:
The skirt is out of leftover fabric from the slip of my paper doll costume and the tank top is tie dye left from my bird shirt remodel; the rest is stash fabric that hasn’t been seen here.
The pictures above also hold a lesson in freehanding: Yes, a pants piece is basically a tapered rectangle with a half a U cut out, curve of the U at the crotch. BUT the half-U has to have its top at the waist. If you cut it with the top of the U at the cuff you get some seriously bandy-legged pants!
Matt’s costume was hard for people to guess. Imagine him making a goofy face and telling you jokes. (I like to say, he went as himself.)
