Last week's project

Our son's school had sent ahead a list of events the students could participate in for the "cultural fest" scheduled for the third week of October. Since the kiddo loves dressing up, we signed him up for the fancy dress competition. Imagine our surprise when we got a note last Monday, just when he had finished his first term exams, saying that the competition would be conducted on that Friday itself. Result - doting Mama scurrying around for a costume that would fit in the theme of "Harvest festivals of India".

What would I do without the internet? I had already decided that he would be representing the Lohri festival of Punjab, but I had no dress. Frantic calling of city costumers ensued - all of them said they didn't have the requisite costume in child size and if I gave them a week, they could get it made and rent it to me. Not enough time. That's when I thought of making it myself. So out I went shopping. A few hours of stitching later - here's what I came up with.

(Please disregard the shoes, he was supposed to wear his uniform afterwards and I didn't want to carry back his footwear.)

Of course, I bought the kurta readymade. I made the "lungi" from a dupatta of mine and bought green material that matched the lungi's borders to make the overcoat and turban. The fan I made with buckram covered in green. I knew I would not be able to wrap the turban at school, so I wrapped it around my son's head the previous day and stitched the layers together while he was wearing it. I did poke him with the needle a few times, but at least I was sure that the needle was going through all the layers! I can tell you that it made the dressing much easier on the D-day!

He is missing a beard and mustache in this picture that was snapped just before we left for school. I saved the "painting" for later as I did not want the outfit messed up with black streaks. Everything went as planned and he came away from the stage with his costume intact - around which time I let my breath out finally.

Lessons from this craft:

1. Always buy matching thread with the material - never ASSUME you would have matching thread at home! :-)

2. Start searching for costumes when you get the first whiff of competition!

And no... we haven't got the results of the competition as yet. I will tell you when we do. But I am totally satisfied because he wore the costume without any mishaps!