Rainbow Dragon and Ninja Halloween

Ninja and Rainbow Dragon

These are my fellas in their Halloween costumes: the all-colorful Rainbow Dragon and the Invisible-Like-the-Night Ninja. They were both pleased as punch with their costumes.

Rainbow Dragon

This Rainbow Dragon costume is a great triumph for me. I sprayed with fabric paint a white sweat suit (used for last year’s Hedwig the owl costume!). It was slow-going with little pump-spray bottles and I did it over many days to let all the sections dry in between.

Rainbow Dragon

The day of Halloween — heaps of work and a family wedding prevented me from doing this any sooner — I sewed the tail, spine plates, and wings from a yard and a half of rainbow batik cotton. It was quite a feat of engineering for me and I was very happy to be able to show my design plan to my dear Ritsa, a magnificent professional costumer, and get her OK and encouragement. I feel like my spatial thinking and ability to plan in 3D is somewhat lacking.

Anyway, the tricky sewing parts for me were 1) threading the machine (as always), and 2) figuring out how to sew the spines into the single dorsal seam of the tail so that all the fabric was right side out. The spines/plates are stuffed with wool to make them puffy. To make the tail stand out from Asher’s body, I bent a coat hanger into an oval to set against his back with a long wire to hold the tail up. Thanks for the suggestion, Ritsa! Then I stuffed the tip of the tail with wool roving and the rest with plastic air pillows that are used for shipping. The result was full and delightfully lightweight, and I love that the tail curls at the end. The whole rig just ties around his waist.

Rainbow Dragon

I did a fair amount of inelegant hand-sewing, too. The wings are tacked on in four places each with sloppy stitches.The spines on the back of the sweatshirt are attached by running stitches almost an inch long. I really had to hurry to finish! I painted the mask with my trusty craft acrylics and stuck on sticky rainbow jewels. I literally finished this costume 20 minutes before we had to leave for our visit to the Pumpkin Path.

Rainbow Dragon

We had just enough time to get a few photos before leaving. I was so thrilled to see that Asher loved it!

Ninja!

Lucas had mentioned several times over the last year that he wanted to be a ninja for Halloween. As we got closer to the date, that decision wavered a few times. We looked at costumes in the Halloween store and he felt they were all kind of creepy. But then we found the ninja kit: Lucas got to buy a kit with a plastic sword and sais, a throwing star, and a fancy hood. We cobbled the other pieces of his costume together from his wardrobe and the thrift store. Ian dyed the belt blackish on the stovetop. I tell you, in the night, that kid disappeared!

Pumpkin Path

The Sacramento Waldorf School Pumpkin Path this year was fun as always. The children went on a quest to find the pirates who had stolen King Neptune’s treasure. Along the way, they encountered mermaids, the Lady of the Lake, sea dragons, an explorer, a shark, and more. Some of Lucas’s and Asher’s classmates were in our group, so that was fun.

Pumpkin Path

At each story station, the kids received a gift, such as a gem or a bit of soap or a seashell. There are few things in the world cuter than a bunch of kids in costumes.

Jack

The path was lined with jacks of all types and paper luminaries that glowed in the dusk. There were yummy treats to eat at the end.

Trick-Or-Treating

Then we met up with Grandma and our newlywed aunt and uncle and some friends and trick-or-treated in our neighborhood. Lots of neighbors get into the spirit of Halloween and decorate with lights and creepy things. We finally visited a giant Frankenstein statue that Asher has been obsessed with for weeks. Yes, it is indeed a giant doll. Only a doll.

Trick-Or-Treating

Trick-Or-Treating

Sweet X was a shiny, sparkly dragon. Two dragons and a ninja!

Sleepy Rainbow Dragon

The kids scored loads of candy, which we will soon be giving up to the Halloween Fairy. Asher couldn’t walk all the way home and fell asleep on Daddy’s back and shoulders.

The Fellas Jack

We were greeted at home by our three Jacks and fell into bed, satisfied and happy.

[Shared with Saturday’s Artist on Ordinary Life Magic.]

4 Responses to “Rainbow Dragon and Ninja Halloween”

  • Janelle
    November 3, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    So Awesome. Or should I say “sew” awesome? Hey – just *in case* no one has ever suggested this sewing machine “cheat”, here is my solution when using an unfamiliar machine – or even mine if it’s been awhile since I last used it. Before removing/replacing the thread already in the machine, gently pull a loop or two *from the spool* (don’t let any of the thread pull up from the machine!) cut it off, then tie on the thread end of your next spool before fitting it on the spool spike. Very gently tug the end of the old colored thread that is still hanging out the end of the needle, pulling the entire old colored thread – tied to the *new* colored thread – through the entire threading maze until the knot hits the eye of the needle, et voila’! Your machine is magically threaded CORRECTLY no muss, no fuss, no swearing! (Plus – if the knot is small enough – you might even get the bonus free-threading of the needle!)

    Or you could always just buy HUGE spools of thread, (I suggest white), use the same spool until it runs out, then ask someone who knows how to thread your machine do it for you. ;). Congratulations on your costuming successes – you are a STAR!

    Reply

  • Liz
    November 3, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    Awesome pictures & story. Brava on the mom-costumer job, they look great!

    Reply

  • Stephanie
    November 6, 2011 at 6:50 am

    Love that glittery pumpkin photo! 🙂
    The costumes turned out great! And using air pillows for packaging was a brilliant idea!! That was truly inspired!

    Reply

  • Roseanna
    January 5, 2012 at 7:32 pm

    Thanks for this piece, really insightful.

    Reply

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  • About Sara

    Thanks for visiting! I’m Sara, editor and writer, wife to Ian, and mother of two precious boys. I am living each day to the fullest and with as much grace, creativity, and patience as I can muster. This is where I write about living, loving, and engaging fully in family life and the world around me. I let my hair down here. I learn new skills here. I strive to be a better human being here. And I tell the truth.

    Our children attend Waldorf school and we are enriching our home and family life with plenty of Waldorf-inspired festivals, crafts, and stories.

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    “Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.” —Ursula K. LeGuinn

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