it's 1912

I've been MIA for a few evenings. It was for a costume.  Bee had an assignment to present a talking book report in character.  It was to be 1-2 minutes, first person, with no script to read.  Her school does not do Halloween, but shortly after, they do a big costume book character celebration.  They do a costume parade and everyone is in character.

At first I thought, seriously... this is first grade...  no script?  But, she did it.  They all did it.  Every 1st through 4th grader in the school did.  Apparently I did not have my expectation set high enough.  She chose Finding the Titanic, which is about the first ship to find and explore the wreckage of the Titanic.  The middle of the story is about Ruth Becker, a 12 year old girl traveling on the ship with her mom and younger siblings.  Bee chose it, I was steering her towards Ramona Quimby or something less consuming of an elaborate costume.  No luck.

 I thought she'd wear her Christmas dress from last year, it sort of had a 1900's look to it, but she said no way.  She decided this Tuesday before the Friday costume day.  On to plan B. After the kids were in bed, I went through my box of patterns.  I found the perfect 1986 pattern that could be adapted for this project. I think it was in the boxes from my great aunt.  They continue to be a treasure of goodies.  Hoarded goodies.

 Wednesday morning, I let Bee pick from my fabric stash.  I had several pieces of several yards of outdated florals that I got at a yard sale once.  The white 'lace' is the edge from bed skirt fabric from my neighbor.  I've used it to make curtains and Bee's Easter dress.  I used the pattern pieces, but found the directions to be so foreign, I tossed them aside and figure it out on my own.  There were markings on this pattern and verbiage that was super confusing!  I know it's not exactly right, but I did learn a few new techniques.

I got most of the work done on Wednesday and finished it up on Thursday.  We worked up the felt wraps for her ankles to make her black church shoes look like boots and printed off a boarding pass we found in google images.  She had the cute mini steamer trunk in her room to hold doll clothes and we thought it added a nice touch.  She changed her mind at the last minute and didn't carry it in the parade.

Lou and I went and watched the parade.  There were lots of really cute outfits. Most seemed homemade rather than store bought.  There were several Abraham Lincolns,  princesses, and a number of Clara Bartons.  There was a cute Molly Pitcher, several cowboys, a neat Davey Crockett, and a few Soul Surfers. Lou said his favorite costume was a shark and Ruth Becker.