Did I say Obsessive?

Big O has declared that he is done with costumes for halloween. I think that will change as we get closer to it. But I am off and running on Little O's.
Last year Big O wanted to be a Charlie Brown Ghost. We compromised on a more traditional ghost, as CB's ghost had holes cut out all over it, and My anal Martha tendencies could not really handle that. Little O was a pirate, a la captain hook, and it thoroughly traumatized her mexican relatives that she went as something so...so BOY. My baby rocks, and if she wanted to be a pirate, I'm doing my job right. She got her choice of TWO foam swords from big lots, AND a hook, AND a pirate coat--If we're supporting girl pirates, you KNOW she's gonna be the Captain!
I'm dying to post the photo of them, but I have sworn to the Honey that I won't post the kids on my blog.
The best part of the pirate coat was that I was stuck on the stewpid fancy cuffs, and Little O got a hold of my sewing scissors while I jumped into the shower. She came in and told me she was helping...Two about to be three and she's helping while I am in the shower. aawww, she's picking up her toys!
Not.
She had cut her coat to ribbons. It looked like Captain Hook AFTER the croc. (Momentary pause to thank all the powers that be that nothing worse happened with my extremely sharp scissors) The honey says just throw it away---EXCUSE ME? I just spent days--weeks even, getting this thing to this point. No way in hell she is not wearing it. I stitiched it back together with a few careful patches...You couldn't even tell until you got a closer look at her poor little franken-coat.

whew!

So this year my vow was to get a much earlier start on her costume. This year she is going as a butterfly. I am building her giant black felt wings with cutouts for her choice of pretty pink girly fabrics. Okay, MY choice. She likes it, I swear.

My mom could sew anything. I am such a total cross between my folks. My mother's stubborness and my father's cheesy-over-the-top enthusiasm. Mom's sewing ability? Not so much. There is so much that my mom did for me that I don't do for my kids. But I CAN fake a cheesy costume out of felt. I inherited a decent sewing machine from my Gramma B, but it intimidates the hell out of me. I sew it all in my crazy hand stiches. My mother laughs her ass off every time, because I have a machine and I insist on doing it by hand. Maybe it's residual guilt--This is the one thing I do for my kids, and I want it to always be WOW.

I knew the marriage was really over when the ex took Big O down and got him a storebought skeleton costume--that was WAR. Dumb cluck bought it too small and bubby blew out the seat of his pants halfway through his school carnival--he couldn't have cared less. Third graders don't much care about tidy witeys showing if there's a bounce house to tackle. I kept telling him his tailbone was showing--he didn't get it.

Anyway, Wings are a work in progress--I made a sample pair for Piggy to figure out the logistics--we don't need no stinkin' patterns (my father again).