Like Mother Like Daughter

Here was me about 2 1/2 weeks ago at the Vineyard's Christmas party for our community:

Here's my mom when she volunteers in Florida:

You all knew I had it in me to be silly, goofy, clownish (is that a word?). But did you know where that came from? Now you do.

(Pickles and Sweet Patootie - my mom)

I've done some face painting in the past but it's such an artistic thing and I need a lot more practice to be confident. So then I tried balloon sculpting (it's so much more than animals) and I loved it! I used to be really jumpy when it came to balloons, but one class and I'm over that. (Thanks Chuck. LOL)

We have more opportunities at church to do clowning, so I decided I need to get a real clown costume and a clown name. So of course I asked my mom for help with both of these. She made her entire costume herself, without a pattern. It's a great costume, but it took her 3 months and much frustration to get it just right. I think it's perfect for her. And her clown name? Sweet Patootie. (Just a side note - she has a page in a clown coloring book!)

Jason and I are flying to Florida next week to spend some after-Christmas time with my mom and step-dad. We'll be there five full days and Mom and I think we can get quite a bit done on a clown costume for me. The hardest part - deciding on what kind of costume I wanted to go with.

I searched several clown costume websites: Costumes by Betty, Mooseburger, and various other google searches. I discovered that there are many different types of clowns. Though I love the Pierrott clown look (see types of clowns link), I decided the best for me was the Auguste clown. (Pierrott - elegant, artful, skillful; Auguste - bumbling, stumbling, slapstick.)

I wanted to go with the dress style of outfit instead of a pantsuit/jumpsuit style. I definitely do not want a belt around the middle (ugh) so the best type would be the rag doll or baby doll look. Here's the style I decided I liked the best:

I looked at that a couple of times and realized that looked a lot like this...

Seriously? I picked exactly the same costume as my mom? Yes. Yes I did. So I emailed my mom and asked if she could do another costume just like hers for me. Her answer in short was "oh goodness no" and explained that it would be a lot faster and easier if we worked from a pattern. She did say she was glad she was sitting down when she read my email because she couldn't believe that I picked the exact same picture that she used to make hers.

Yup, this apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

So I've picked out two patterns and may end up getting both and using both for my costume.

I like the 1st one but it's a one-piece jumpsuit with a pinafore. Not practical if you have to ever go to the bathroom. Love the 2nd one but no clown flair like the first one. (I believe if you click on the picture it'll take you to the Simplicity website where that pattern is.)

Still trying to decide on the fabric and colors, but that will probably be decided by what we can find. I'm thinking some bright polka-dots on white for the dress and bright pink for the pinafore. Still trying to decide if the pantaloons should be white or the same color as the pinafore. (What do you think?) Also, my mom pointed out that both patterns are sadly lacking pockets, so we'll definitely have to add those.

I'll keep you updated on our progress! :)