[needlewoman]

J’s mum; that sounds a fantastic plan for the ‘volcano’; just a thought – would a long bubble dress with a hoop in the hem work so that the volcano looks ‘planted’ on the ground? Probably not very practical for walking in I do realise, but what the heck!

Dear Robin, my mother’s favourite bit from AH is where Woody Allen suggests scaring the lobster from under the fridge by holding a dish of melted butter on the ‘other side’. Do you remember that? No, I don’t think your 7 year old would ‘get’ Diane Keaton’s costume, charming idea though it is. Maybe you could start educating her about ‘vintage films’ now for Halloween costumes in the future.

[Lightning McStitch]

Robin, did you see this little Annie Hall from the Film petit flickr group?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/78860619@N08/9439674002/in/pool-filmpetit

It’s such a cute outfit and you’re right the Art Museum pattern would be perfect

[Robin]

Okay, where would one start with ‘vintage film’ education? Sophie is 7. She’s seen “Wizard of Oz”. I’m going to be creating lists all day. Open to suggestions.

Shelley, that’s fantastic!

[Jess M.]

I’m being a slacker this year. Maria is going as Alice again this year, in the dress I made using fairy-tale dress.

[Mama_Knowles]

I would love, love to make the Alice in Wonderland costumes off the newer movie but my kids will not agree to it. I would love to make the Mad Hater outfit!

[with love Heidi]

Robin, what about the musicals? Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Singing In The Rain? My friends watched these as a family and the 7 and 9 year old enjoyed them.

[needlewoman]

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Mary Poppins were two of my favourite films in primary school – my brothers and I knew all the words to the songs – especially to MP which I saw when I was 8. 101 Dalmations was one I remember from that time as well, although it ‘scared’ me. These ‘stories’ have also been revived in recent years/retold so kids might be familiar with them, and of course, fairy tales are always a good source of ideas.

[Reeni]

I’m finally going to sew up the costumes I planned last year — Sandy hit and we lost electricity, so that effectively cancelled them last year. I’m good, but not so good as to sew a ninja and a Cinderella outfit in less than an hour when the power did come back at 5 pm on Halloween, or hand-sew by candlelight!

DD has been invited to a party on the 19th, so that rachets up the deadline on hers, based on the Fairytale dress but with a scoop neck and small puff sleeves with long knit sleeves underneath.

DS’ will be based on the lap-bodice of the hopscotch top, but lowered so it looks like a wrap but isn’t. The Nature walk pants are already done, and he’s making his own sword-sheath.

Also, a co-worker wants me to sew a peplum top based on the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, and a dickie so her cousin can go as the Mad Hatter.

[Sarvi]

3 parts down (one purchased), 3 to go!

[Sarvi]

Oh, Robin, I missed your question about films. My kid is a lot younger than yours, but so far we’ve gotten into some vintage Disney (Dumbo, Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood), Rankin/Bass (Mad Monster Party, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer), Charlie Brown (It’s the Great Pumpkin), and musicals (Singin in the Rain, Sound of Music, Mary Poppins). We do watch contemporary stuff as well, like Despicable Me (which I could happily never watch again) and Fantastic Mr Fox (which I could happily watch many more times). We tend to work around themes, like films with dance sequences, films with stop-motion puppetry, films with a quest/challenge theme, etc.

How vintage is vintage, for your purposes?

[Robin]

Hi Sarvi! Great to get input from a film expert. Rob introduced Sophie to Ghostbusters because he thought that was “vintage”. I’d like to watch the musicals with Sophie this fall. Did you need to break them up into shorter sections? Can’t wait until she’s old enough for Casablanca!

[Sarvi]

Ah, what a treat it’ll be to watch that together for the first time! We actually took her to see Chaplin’s “the Kid” for her first in-theater movie (at a family film matinee) and she made it through a solid 40 minutes. Now that she’s older she doesn’t get bored as quickly. Some films like Mary Poppins work really well because they’re not long-form plot-based films she has to keep track of, they’re really more like a series of vignettes, and this is true of most classic musicals. She doesn’t watch them the way an older kid does — she’ll play with something else or wander off if she loses interest, or request certain sequences (like when they jump into the chalk drawings) to be repeated. I just follow her lead. I’d suggest picking up on whatever catches Sophie’s eye and following that thread — if she likes Gene Kelly (And Singin’ in the Rain is a gorgeous history of film, within a film), follow him around from picture to picture — if it’s the dancing she likes, you can go from Gene Kelley to Rogers & Astaire. Don’t forget to plug the great line about Ginger Rogers doing everything Astaire did — but backwards and in high heels!

[meleliza]

Well, I’m supposed to be deep into Halloween costumes this weekend, but I’m exhausted. All week I’ve been baking and decorating like crazy for K’s tea party birthday yesterday. All while fighting a cold, so all I want to do is curl up and binge watch Greys Anatomy.

[ducktape74]

My daughter (3yrs old) wanted to be a dragon. Not only a dragon, but a “pink dragon with purple bows.”

[with love Heidi]

A pink and purple dragon with bows sounds so cute!