Zombie Pineapple Costume

Yesterday was Halloween. I went out in Lincoln.

I had to wear a costume, because that is what one does on Halloween. Typically people dress for this momentous occasion by wearing whatever costume they can think of... covered in blood. Last night we saw the Teletubbies, covered in blood; Snow White, covered in blood; some angels, covered in blood; and many a nurse, covered in blood (though I suppose it doesn't have to be Halloween for a medical professional to be covered in blood).

And I dressed up as a pineapple... covered in blood!!

The brilliant thing about dressing as a pineapple, is that you don't have to do it authentically. People think of pineapples as bright yellow with brown criss-crosses (which is really really easy to do), but they're actually a greenish-brown with a sort of scale pattern on them and spikes (and this is not very easy to make, or draw). Anywho, you only need to give the impression of pineapple for your costume to be convincing. And that's why this was fun to do, because I got to make it just how I felt like doing it at the time. 

I bought two yellow polo shirts; one medium and one extra large (because those are the sizes they had in the shop). I did try to buy a yellow dress but I couldn't find one, so I decided to wear a top and a skirt instead.

To make a skirt, I cut the XL shirt horizontally just under the sleeves, like so:

Then I turned it inside out and hand stitched across the open ends and cut off the original seams (so I turned the thing around 90 degrees and made the top and bottom into the sides and I made the sides into the top and bottom).

I ironed a hem and a waistband then stitched them in place. Then I ran the whole thing through the sewing machine and unpicked my hand stitches.

I pinned the skirt to a cardboard box to keep it stretched, and I found my fabric pastels. I drew lines like this: first lightly with the brown, then the same but with more pressure, then I drew on top with yellow.

I kept moving the skirt around on the box until I'd drawn all over it.

The I made the top. I cut it up like this:

And I drew on it like I did the skirt. Then I ironed both pieces under brown paper to heat seal the pastels.

I finished the skirt by feeding a piece of elastic through the waistband. We do this by putting a safety pin on the elastic and pushing the pin through.

I decided to make my hair be the green bit that sits on top. I bought some green hairspray (which I had to get off the internet because apparently they don't sell the green in real shops, even at Halloween), and I tied my hair up in a high ponytail then I sprayed it.

All that was left was to cover myself in fake blood. 

Jack-O-Lampshade

Look at this lamp!! It's not Halloweeny enough. I take off the lampshade. I'm going to make a new one.

I am pretty much making this up as I go along. I want to make a Jack-O-Lantern shade for it.

FUN FACT: Jack-O-Lanterns were originated from the idea of putting a candle in the window to ward off evil spirits and welcome good ones. Historically they were made using turnips (because the Pagan faiths originated in Britain) and after those people migrated to America they started to use pumpkins because they were easier to carve (being bigger and softer than turnips).

So anyway, I found this orange clear plastic sheets. To make it into a sphere-ish shape I made a ball of paper and wrapped the plastic around it.

Then I wrapped sticky tape around the plastic to make it hold its shape. Of course I left a gap in the tape so that I could take the paper out again. After I removed the paper, I used the tape to close up the gap, then I wrapped the thing in another layer of plastic (like a present).

After that it was time to make some holes in it. With scissors. I made two eyes, a mouth and a hole in the bottom so I'd be able to sit it on its lamp.

I tidied the holes up by folding small strips of tape over their edges.  But I didn't photograph this as I didn't see the point. Finally, it needed a stem. I rolled up a piece of green felt and taped it together like so:

Then I made a little hole in the outer layer of orangeness and sat the stalk inside it. But it didn't look right so I unravelled it a little, which I don't think is very authentic but it looks better and that's what's important.

And here it is on its lamp.

I'm not too sure if it's finished. I'll have a look for my sharpie and outline the holes to make them more defined. 

 That's better :) All done!