the joy of felt

I've been giving some thought lately to Halloween costumes. Especially as I attempt to create my costume well in advance of Halloween for once. My philosophy has been that homemade is far superior to factory-made. Perhaps not in appearance. But certainly in the fun involved and the memories created. My children haven't always agreed with this.

When they were babies, I couldn't wait to make their first Halloween costumes. The first costume for each of them consisted simply of a bib and a hat constructed from felt. They looked adorable. And I was quite pleased with myself and my costume-making skill. But then, they grew older and began to develop Halloween costume opinions of their own. Which didn't require my considerable talent with felt. After all, could I construct a Spiderman costume that anyone would recognize? Probably not. So for many years, to my dismay, store-bought costumes usually won the battle over homemade.

But sometimes . . .

Sometimes, a Halloween season would come along when the stars aligned and a costume was desired that could not be purchased from a store. Not any store. Not anywhere. Commercially speaking, it didn't exist. In these situations, the only way to obtain the costume was to create it. And suddenly, I found my costume-making talents in demand. It was time to dig out that bag of leftover felt from the back of the cupboard. Time to get to work. Time for some cutting. Some gluing. Some tossing out of felt and starting over. More cutting. More gluing. And finally, it was done.

The resemblance was uncanny. Instantly recognizable of course. As an Eldar Warrior from the Warhammer 40K universe. What else could it be?