Sew What?! The World's Biggest Munchkin: A Tale of Defeating Stereotypes

THE WORLD'S BIGGEST MUNCHKIN!!!

I have never had a store-bought Halloween costume in my entire life.  It comes as no great surprise that neither of my parents are Halloween enthusiasts; my dad could take it or leave it and mom would just as soon leave it entirely.  Because my mom disavowed any true participation in Halloween, our costumes were always of the "homemade" variety that started with clothes from her closet and ended with a mustache drawn on with an eyebrow pencil.  Year after year, I wore almost-identical costumes with only a change in title - pirate, gypsy, artist, etc.  On the odd occasion, we managed to eke out a clown costume and for a couple years running, I was a scarecrow.  As a child, I was none the wiser.  As an adult, I am actually grateful that imagination, thrift, and ingenuity were thrust upon us.

For years, I have made Mary's Halloween costumes.  This year I was perplexed.  She has been Lucille Ball, Willy Wonka, Dame Edna, a pirate wench, a glamorous witch, Jean Harlow, and others that I just can't seem to pull from the recesses of my addled brain at this moment.  I was toying with the idea of "Scary Poppins," a macabre interpretation of the classic, Mary Poppins character, but in the design stages, it became too reliant on props; nobody wants to carry a carpet bag full of Jane & Michael's severed heads around all night!  

In thinking of things that were a little on the lighter side but still mildly-ironic, I decided that Mary (at 6' tall) could be The World's Biggest Munchkin!

A quick design sketch

The best part of this costume is that I had EVERYTHING I needed on hand.  Sometimes it pays to be a hoarder!  From the fabric to the notions to the discount placemat that I used to create the hat, it was a joy to avoid multiple visits to the fabric store during the Halloween season.  I "frankensteined" several patterns and ended up having to draft some of my own pieces.  I made the green, circle skirt a separate piece so she could incorporate it into her regular, post-munchkin wardrobe.  The bodice/apron is all one piece and unless she gets really brave, it will probably be cast to the back of her closet - the costume graveyard. 

The finished product.
I'm rather proud that the outcome very closely resembles my original design.

I played with the idea of forcing the perspective even more by having her in heels, but with a hat of almost 18", she already had to duck to get through doorways.

Would you have guessed that the hat was a repurposed placemat?
Well, if you would have, you're not alone.
A few people figured out that it was indeed a placemat.
It was already fluted/scalloped, I just folded it and wrapped it around
a foam cylinder (to hold the flowers) and affixed it to a buckram
hat frame.  I used the leaves and stems of some silk flowers and
took the red & white striped fabric used in her bodice/apron
to make yo-yo flowers with button centers. 

Mary shows off her layers of pink petticoats and pink stockings.

I had some serious ideas for a great photo shoot including miniature houses, horses, and people.  The coordination of those people, places and things was just too impractical at this time of year.  If and when it happens, I will be sure to post the photos!

After all, height is just a number, right?

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! Going Yo-Yo!

I am on the verge of being a fully-fledged hoarder.  As someone who sews and is constantly working on a project, I find myself drawn to remnants – and better still, yardage - of vintage and vintage-reproduction fabric.  Anytime I see a piece of material that looks a little “old timey,” I squirrel it away for some future design project.  Some might call that a collection…but it gets worse.  Having borderline, pre-hoarding tendencies, I have a very difficult (read impossible) time letting go of even the little scraps that are left behind from cutting out a pattern.  You might ask, “What are you going to use them for?”  Serious hoarders will give you some vague response about the Halloween costumes they intend to make for their cats.  They will mumble about the various fabric techniques one can implement for bundling that mountain of National Geographic back issues that is taking over the living room.  They will eagerly explain their ambition to train the cockroaches but insist that they need the fabric for the leashes.  With only a toe dipped into the abyss of “hoarderdom,” I have found a project that can turn the bits and pieces of my mania into something both functional and endlessly time consuming – yo-yos!!

Fabric yo-yos

According to the Alaska State Museum website, www.museum.state.ak.us, fabric yo-yos are thought to be a creation of Filipino fabric artists who developed the technique at least 100 years ago when inspired by the primitive (and not yet trademarked) yo-yo toy.  Since then, yo-yos have become a staple of American textile design, reaching their peak of popularity during the 1920’ – 1940’s.  These were the early days of wacky tacky when women found yo-yos easy to make in mass quantities and even easier to take with them as an alternative to knitting and crochet.  Moreover, during The Depression and in wartime, thrifty women found it wasteful to discard anything that might be useful.  They, I will remind you, were not slandered by the term “hoarder,” rather they were bestowed with the honors of  “frugal” and “patriot!”

 A vintage yo-yo clown toy dating from the 1930's-1940's

Initially, I failed to think much beyond the exercise of turning the scrap fabric into yo-yos.  After making so many, however, I realized that instead of flat scraps of fabric, I was now the proud owner of hundreds of these crazy rosettes that were begging to be turned into something bigger, something better.  Not having done much research on the subject, and pretty certain of my genius, I set out to create the world’s first yo-yo quilt!  Little did I know that yo-yo quilts are probably the most ubiquitous of all yo-yo projects.  Nevertheless, the yo-yo quilt project has begun!  Too deep into it to give up now, I recently calculated that based on the size of the finished yo-yos, I will need approximately 2595 to reach my goal – WINNING A BLUE RIBBON AT THE COUNTY FAIR! (not really)  I have been making these things for a while now and I am currently at 523.  I have decided that instead of a completely random assembly of the yo-yos, I would make 3x3 squares in a checkerboard pattern with a border of black in between - similar to a granny afghan.  

If you squint you can see Big Sandy, Jeff & Ashley.

Most of the yo-yos are made of cotton prints that I've used to make dresses.

Never having been the brightest bulb, Mary tries to tap into the brilliance of electric light.

A30's style ensemble made with a crazy fabric I found in the dollar section at the local fabric store.

Am I more like your grandma than you may have previously thought?  Probably.  Have I entered into the early stages of dementia?  More than likely.  Will you come running to me when you are in desperate need of a wacky tacky blanket that provides little-to-no warmth?  You betcha!  I’ll see you in 2019 when the quilt is done.

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny