craftee mcgee: what i wore wednesday: halloween edition

i'd know that silhouette anywhere!

Mary Poppins!

yes, it's true. i'm linking up for my very first what i wore wednesday over at lindsay's lovely blog. i keep meaning to link up but clearly i have a blogging problem (in that i don't blog) so here i am! when i saw a picture from this post floating around the internet somewhere (probably pinterest) i knew that this is who we needed to be for halloween! mary poppins is my favorite movie of all time. i have the whole thing memorized and could watch it over and over. my mom used to rent the movie AND a VCR so that i could watch it because i loved it so much. between mary poppins and the sound of music, julie andrews was my hero by the time i was 8! i can't believe i have never thought to dress as mary before!

Photo credit: Disney via imdb.com

when i first saw the inspiration photo i thought this would be an easy costume because so much of mary's outfit (and bert's) are staple wardrobe pieces. i had black tights & shoes, the white shirt and a black coat. i happened to have a vintage grey wool skirt that i had picked up at goodwill a while ago that fit the outfit perfectly! brandon already owned a black shirt & pants and a vest. easy.

the thing i had forgotten about were all of mary's many accessories. you can't be mary without a black hat or a carpet bag. and the parrot! i searched high & low for just the right black hat and couldn't find one! this hat was a big, wide hat that i cut down to be the perfect size. i glued on the ribbon and some berries (spray painted) and daisies from the dollar store.

my original plan for the gloves was to bleach the gloves i wore to prom, but they didn't bleach. so instead of wearing green gloves, i found these wool gloves at the last minute at goodwill.

"to carry carpets in?" "no, made of"

carpet bags are very hard to find! i ended up finding a bag just the right size and shape at...where else...goodwill! and the fabric was from an earlier thrifting trip. i killed me to cut the piece i got in half. the roman numerals on the selvedge tell me this gorgeous fabric is from 1965. i was able to cut it directly in half and attach it temporarily to the bag so i could use it again. not sure what it will be, pillows maybe?

the bow tie was a simple little red piece of ribbon. i glue a safety pin on when i glued the center strip. that helped me pin my ruffly shirt closed to look like it had a high collar.

and of course i couldn't stop there! i needed a scarf. a real, lacy, open mary poppins scarf so i ordered some perfectly shaded yarn & started to crochet. unfortunately i didn't start until a couple days before halloween and tiny hooks & lace weight yarn take forever. my scarf was much narrower & shorter than i would have liked but it definitely looked like mary's! i think i'll add to it since i still have two cones of yarn!

and last but not least the umbrella! i was kicking myself for not buying the umbrella when i went to the broadway show in chicago last year, but since i didn't i had to make my own! i found a plain black umbrella for $5 at walmart. (yes we really only have walmart and goodwill up here. also a kohl's, but it was out of the halloween budget!). i grabbed some felt from my stash and cut out this little parrot based on a sketch i found online of the original movie prop. i sewed it together and stuffed it with a handfull of fiberfill. he got stuck to the umbrella handle with electrical tape and then i added the beak, eyes and feathers with more felt. this guy might be my very favorite part of the whole costume!

here we are! my handsome chimney sweep and i! i think he should wear that hat all the time! we went to the lion's club party in town but arrived just too late for the adult costume contest. sad. the sweet old guys from the lions liked our costumes so much they gave us bags of candy! we enjoyed the rest of our night trick or treating with some friends & their kids and then finished the night at a party. halloween should not be on a monday!

practically perfect!

on ~~hubby~~ bert:
newsboy hat: goodwill, $1.99
black shirt: structure
grey vest: the suit he wore to prom
black pants: suit from his best friend's wedding
red scarf: simply vera (kohl's) by way of goodwill, $1.99
{i had to rip off a bunch of ruffles & roses)

chimney brush: ace hardware

on me mary:

black hat: goodwill, $0.98

white ruffly shirt: already owned

red bow tie: made by me

white gloves: goodwill, $1.99

scarf: made by me

carpet bag: bag +fabric all goodwill, total $4.99

umbrella: walmart, $5
parrot made by me
grey skirt: goodwill (long ago), $3.99
(dyed a darker shade)

black coat: kid size winter coat from walmart! $20

(yes, really, walmart! love this coat! not as heavy as my crazy wool peacoat but perfect for our cold cold autumn!)

i think julie would be proud! and i might have to start wearing this on a regular basis. or at least carrying the umbrella!