A last minute costume fix with felt

[caterina]

Hello!
My daughter has to dress as an anglosaxon goddess on Friday, and we did not want to spend buying new stuff for her costume. Actually, her teacher said that we should use whatever we had at home and not spend money on it.
So, I was really in a fix: I do not know much about ancient anglosaxon culture, as I grew up in another Country, and I did not know much about anglosaxon clothes! Luckily, my daughter studied her lessons at school, and pointed out the goddess Eostre, goddess of Spring: I googled her and she seems often depicted as dressed in green and/or yellow, with a flower crown or headband, and her symbol, the hare.

That was perfect for us: I have this dark green dress that will be ankle-length and loose on my daughter. We have the flower headband and a couple of toy rabbits to add to the costume. The only issue was that my dress is V-necked and the front is way too open for my kid to wear as is.

So, I took some hours in the weekend to make her a sort of open top to wear with a belt over the dress to cover the front and lighten the dark dress.
www.dropbox.com/s/rh90ieggmdhmxff/IMG_20230206_162933.jpg?dl=0

I was inspired by the sort of tunics that apparently were used by ancient anglosaxon girls over a longer underdress, open to the sides and held closed by a waist belt.

I made it using merino wool that I recovered from another project that had not gone too well: it was a tangled mess of greens, so perfect for this top. I was happy to find a use for it, mixing it with some white merino top to make it go further and lighten it.
www.dropbox.com/s/9ioi5m6ny3o91zo/IMG_20230205_101719.jpg?dl=0
It took me a while to mix it with my pet brushes.

I used a very simple resist, and embellished both sides with swirls of eri silk and some tufts of yellow merino.
www.dropbox.com/s/dvyfsye3jo75jit/IMG_20230206_162947.jpg?dl=0

My daughter is quite happy with the result, and she is looking forward to Friday!

www.dropbox.com/s/9fr3fxe1vuk8vsv/IMG_20230205_110329.jpg?dl=0

[caterina]

I forgot to say that I used a cloud lay-out by necessity, because I was using that recovered merino that was already partially felted over, and mixing it by hand with the white merino tops with pet brushes. Of course, the fibers were already tangled and messy.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

I don't know how we used to manage without Google!     Well done Caterina, it looks great.  You are obviously a great mum to your daugher.  I hope she has a great time on Friday .  

[caterina]

Feb 8, 2023 21:08:30 GMT Ann @ frabjous fabrica said:

I don't know how we used to manage without Google!     Well done Caterina, it looks great.  You are obviously a great mum to your daugher.  I hope she has a great time on Friday .  

Thanks, Ann.
Well, it was actually my daughter's learning at school that has saved the day this time, she already knew what she mostly needed: the rabbits! 🤣

I remember when we used to research on encyclopedias and old reference books, and often integrate with our parents' help and our imagination. We used to cut images to glue on our homework, or painstakingly draw and copy images from our reference books. Everything seemed kind of older and dustier and further away!
My daughter has had to dress as ancient Egiptian, and Greek god (she wanted to dress up as Zeus) and Roman, and now as Anglosaxon goddess: it's much more hands-on, in a sense.

[MTRuth]

Wow, Caterina, last minute costumes are a challenge for sure but you really hit the mark. Plus, I would think that felt might have been fabric that was used in that time period. And your daughter will surely be the embodiment of a spring goddess. Well done!

[Shepherdess]

What a great job and outfit. Learning is so much more hands-on and interactive now. I would love to see a picture of her all dressed up with her rabbits.

[lyn]

Wonderful! The felt top looks just right - good job the neckline of the dress wasn't a suitable fit otherwise you would not have been inspired to make this.

[caterina]

Feb 8, 2023 23:22:24 GMT MTRuth said:

Wow, Caterina, last minute costumes are a challenge for sure but you really hit the mark. Plus, I would think that felt might have been fabric that was used in that time period. And your daughter will surely be the embodiment of a spring goddess. Well done!

Thanks, Ruth.
Starting to felt really helped with this last-minute costume business!
I was able to needlefelt a beard and a lightning bolt for the Greek god costume, and we used again the beard with shepherd costumes and such.

[caterina]

Feb 8, 2023 23:27:08 GMT Shepherdess said:

What a great job and outfit. Learning is so much more hands-on and interactive now. I would love to see a picture of her all dressed up with her rabbits.

Thank you, Ann.
I am proud of her looks with the dress and headband and rabbits all, but I am not comfortable with sharing her photo, because I always worry about consequences in the future: those images remain in the net forever, and I am just not sure where they are going to end up 20 years from now. Maybe a lighthearted decision today may cause her grief tomorrow, who knows.

[caterina]

Feb 9, 2023 7:10:41 GMT lyn said:

Wonderful! The felt top looks just right - good job the neckline of the dress wasn't a suitable fit otherwise you would not have been inspired to make this.

Thank you, Lyn.
You are right, I needed the challenge! It was fun to think about it and make it!

[afiberartist]

Very cool! I’m sure it was a hit.

[Shepherdess]

Feb 9, 2023 11:41:00 GMT caterina said:

Feb 8, 2023 23:27:08 GMT Shepherdess said:

What a great job and outfit. Learning is so much more hands-on and interactive now. I would love to see a picture of her all dressed up with her rabbits.

Thank you, Ann.
I am proud of her looks with the dress and headband and rabbits all, but I am not comfortable with sharing her photo, because I always worry about consequences in the future: those images remain in the net forever, and I am just not sure where they are going to end up 20 years from now. Maybe a lighthearted decision today may cause her grief tomorrow, who knows.

No problem. I understand.

[caterina]

Feb 9, 2023 12:52:08 GMT afiberartist said:

Very cool! I’m sure it was a hit.

Thank you! :-)