What You Can Be For Hallowe’en: Thirty-One

Lindsay's Hallowe'en Costume 2006: A Monster of Love.

This costume came together because of a few things. I love the idea of a furry hat with ears. I love faux/fun fur. Pink fur was double half price off at Fabricland. And, Leonard Cohen has a way with words:

What is a saint? A saint is someone who has achieved a remote human possibility. It is impossible to say what that possibility is. I think it has something to do with the energy of love. ... He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love. - Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers (1966)

So I decided to combine them all.

Saturday afternoon, I sat down to make my costume. I'd found this tutorial, which helped me to begin. (I ended up having to make a number of adjustments to it, as it seems to be intended for a much larger head than my own.)

It was a good idea to line the head with another material (I used a sheer piece of pink material used to make saris that I picked up in Vancouver awhile ago. I figure you can use anything - anything is better than the itchy wrong side of faux fur.)

Before I knew it, the head was together. However, it was much, much too big, so I pinched it in the top middle and folded it in, taking out a triangular piece about 3" at the base and then folding it up some more to enlarge the face area. It fit better after that, but I still had to wear a toque underneath to prop it up enough so I could see. This turned out to be good for keeping it in one place, too - satiny inside plus too big equals slipping around while I dance.

Then I made some horns. I used a white satin that was also on sale at Fabricland. It was a little bothersome to work with - I had to make a few horns before I got it to cooperate. I cut a little slits in the headpiece and poked first my finger, then the horns (which were about the same diameter) through. Since the horns had that neat circle at the end, they kind of stayed in place on their own. When I made the ears, I sewed them close tothe horns and through some of the circle part to give them a little extra stability. (I forgot to take pictures of the ears, but they're pretty easy. I made them up, though; I didn't use the ears (which look more like elf ears or something) from the pattern.)

I also forgot to take pictures of the monster mitts. Here's what I did, in case you want to make some for yourself. I traced my hand, cut out pieces of faux fur to fit, and sewed them with the right sides together with a fold (i.e. not a sewed edge) at the fingertips. I then put three little slits on each end and poked claws (made from triangles of the same satin used for horns) through (point side down, so when I turned it rightside out, they'd be going the right way) and sewed along the fingertip/claw edge. I turned the mitt rightside out and cut a slit in the paw for my thumb and fingers to poke through so I could hold things (e.g. my beer). Done!

There was a Hallowe'en party on Saturday night, and I've got to say - my costume was quite a hit. A lot of people thought that I was either a pink cow or one of the monsters from Where The Wild Things Are (now there's an idea for a group costume that would be fantastic... all you need is a Max in pyjamas and a crown, plus a bunch of monsters), but you can't blame them, considering I made this costume up.