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24 Shevat 5759 - Feb 10, 1999 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family
Baalebusta Betterment : Purim Paraphernalia Preparation
by Chaya Roizy Vorhand, Household Management Consultant

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.

 

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