Do you have any tips I should know before I start working
on Purim costumes? Any ideas for easy costumes? I'm only
mildly friendly with my sewing machine. I need to dress up
several children. Help...
Rosh Chodesh Adar is the traditional time to really get to
work with your children on their Purim costumes. It's true
that some women have been busy at it for weeks already. Those
who plan to create their costumes from scratch and aren't
professional sewers, would do well to start extra early.
However, it's very likely that you couldn't start until now,
because your children have been changing their minds back and
forth a dozen times. And they continue to do so until the
zero hour. You can decide that two weeks before Purim IS the
zero hour and pin them down to one specific idea. Then start
working on it. Simple, yet creative costumes can easily be
done in the time that's left until Purim.
Begin by taking out your box of Purim costumes and seeing
which child gets what. You can personalize and refresh an old
costume with a simple change of accessories. Share with
neighbors; create something of your own, or pick up an
inexpensive accessory in a toy store.
And do get to the stores early, before they become impossibly
crowded with little children buying capguns [Ed. suggests you
OUTLAW all mock weapons and dangerous noisemakers for
chinuch as well as safety's sake. Put down your foot
and that's it!] .
With all the emphasis often put on making costumes original,
imaginative and beautiful, it's important to give plenty of
thought to making them comfortable. If you want your child to
actually wear his costume all of Purim, or at least a good
part of it, make sure he can do his usual activities with
reasonable ease. This means he should be able to sit, walk,
eat and relieve himself without too much assistance from you
or interference to himself. Otherwise, you'll find yourself
taking the costume on and off all day, and someone will give
up at some point.
On the other hand, older children who insist on wearing very
bulky costumes are usually prepared to maneuver around them.
They often don't want to stay costumed all day, in any case.
They're also surprisingly creative, and will often take care
of their costumes on their own, with only minimal assistance
from you.
Following are some ideas for costumes for the younger set:
kindergarten and school age children enjoy, and can
comfortably handle, a long dress or full length coat. To
prevent tripping, hem the outfits several centimeters from
the floor. Besides the costume itself, your child will want
to wear something on his head and hold an appropriate
accessory in his hand. Small children usually loathe masks of
any kind. Do their faces with makeup instead.
If you want to dress up your baby or young toddler, keep him
in normal baby clothes with some small, added pieces for the
Purim spirit. Sleeper-based outfits are ideal, especially
since they are comfortable and familiar to them. They'll play
happily in them for as long as you want them to. They can be
a base for clown or animal costumes of all sorts. Keep them
simple.
Of course, you can also dress them as the opposite gender.
For those looking for a specific idea to get your creativity
going, here are the steps to make a quick but charming bunny
rabbit costume, appropriate for children up to four.
1. Start with a pastel colored sleeper<196>pink, yellow or
solid white. Add a cotton ball tail. 2. For ears, attach two
white cardboard ovals to a light colored hat. If you have a
pull-on hat, the kind with an attached neck warmer, all the
better. Draw pink ovals on each ear to look more authentic
and if you like, glue cotton all around. 3. Use makeup to
draw whiskers and a pink nose and cheeks. 4. For an original
touch, hang a large carrot on a string around the child's
neck. He may even want to nibble on a real one - better than
all the junk food. Make a hole near the top with a knitting
needle or clean screwdriver, and thread a length of ribbon or
yarn through. 5. Protect the bottom of the sleeper for
outside use by having child wear cute slippers or boots. Add
a bow or pom pom to the toes.
And now<196>to all those ambitious mothers who create
costumes from scratch. If you're starting now, you're on the
ball!
One artistic friend who enjoys creating very imaginative
costumes, uses Chanuka as her starting bell. She begins
collecting ideas. By Rosh Chodesh children will have had to
finalize their decisions. Bit by bit, in her spare time, she
gathers the parts for her costumes until her masterpieces are
ready, with no all night sessions.
The only drawback is that by Purim, the children may become
bored of their costumes because they've seen them for so
long. You can remedy that by hiding the work between
sessions.
And now for the tips:
Our first one comes from Golda Hessa, a professional sewing
teacher who created and runs a Purim costume gemach.
It seems that Am Yisroel has a gemach for
everything, doesn't it?* She sews all the costumes herself
<196>150 so far<196>and tells us that it pays to invest in
good, washable fabrics only, even for once- a-year costumes.
The shiny fabrics that stores sell especially for Purim beome
hopelessly creased and limp after just one washing<196>and
you can be sure that after Purim, they need it. A pity for
all your hard work. Although a genuine satin or cotton-diolen
blend costs more initially, it'll pay for itself down the
line when you reuse the costumes over and over again.
Felt fabric is fun to work with. Because it doesn't
ravel, you can skip all hemming and seam treatments. The
bright colors are especially beautiful for fruit and tree
costumes. It washes well<196>by hand <196>although it may
need ironing. You can give your costume more body by applying
iron-on interfacing (locally known as frazaline) to
each piece. Purchase felt by the meter in crafts stores.
Sole, a soft craft material in a rainbow of colors,
is also easy to work with and very durable. Its advantage is
that while it has a certain amount of stiffness, it's
comfortable for children to walk around in. Large pieces of
sole are available in crafts stores.
Small accessories for a full fabric costume can also be made
in sole. Add a wavy-edged collar and a polka-dot tie to a
clown costume that is built around a pair of (pillow-
stuffed) brightly colored pajamas. Bird beaks or duck feet
are easy to make in sole. The feet are uncomplicated to do
when you make them from a flat piece cut in the web-shaped
outline. The child wears them flapping loosely, right on top
of his shoes. Attach narrow elastic to each of the costume
pieces that make them easy to slip on and off.
Glue pieces of sole to each other with rubber cement. It
sticks! And should the costume get dirty, it's nice to know
that sole is very washable. Clean it like you would wash a
dish, with soap and a sponge.
And another encouraging tip from Golda. She advises us to set
small goals. Create only one costume each year and borrow the
rest if neessary. She says that over the years, your
collection will slowly grow, until you might even decide to
start a small gemach of your own.
Before we end, a word of caution: Do Not Use Highly
Flammable Materials anywhere on a costume. Be especially
careful with wigs and beards, since flax or cottonball can
ignite from a tiny spark. OUTLAW guns and all kinds of caps
and explosives.
Note: Golda is happy to advise on costume-making. Her
creations are on display at her home, but don't even ask to
be on the borrowing list. This is filled half a year before!
She can be reached at 02-5817759 and lives at Michal 13,
Sanhedria.
* If you are not familiar with your local clothing
gemach, now's the time to get acquainted with: Flowery
skirts, wigs, long coats, gowns, robes, sleepers, headgear of
all kinds, and sometimes jewelry. One visit will surely set
your imagination afire.
Chaya Roizy Vorhand is a Home Management Consultant and
can be reached at 02-651-0025 evenings between 9-10.
