Belated Halloween

(L-R)Alice, Dorothy, Queen of Hearts

Thanks to Neville Gawley for the photograph

Thanks to Neville Gawley for the photograph

As some of you might remember from last year I love Halloween, and this year was no exception. I was quite pressed from time which meant I was designing my costume in my head for the weeks coming up to it, but it was only the few days before that I managed to squeeze in some costume making time into my schedual. I dressed up as the Queen of Hearts, and my house mate Cecily was Alice in Wonderland.

I altered this red skirt that I originally made as an exhibition piece, I just needed to shorten it and take out 2 of the 5 hoops. I also added poofy sleeves and a stiff white collar to a black corset waistcoat that I had. After that I just had to accesserise with a crown and a pink flamingo croquet stick. I made the croquet stick from felt, then stuffed it and attached to a black pole, I made two so Alice could have one too. The crown was a bit trickier, Beth from Magpie and Button was nice enough to give me some tips. I got a plactic bowl, cut out the bottom of it, turned it upside down and covered it with gold ribbon. I then made a red velvet cushion for the centre piece, adding a painted red foam heart. Lastly I added the cut out of gold paper to give it the crown finish, I sewed the piece onto a hairband and clipped it onto my head...and crossed my fingers and prayed it would stay on for the night!!

I was lucky enough to win the prize for best costume(ever), I had attended a party a the printmakers, so my prize was a beautiful etching from Tommy Comerford, which I'm totally delighted with as I've always loved his work.