I thought that this year, ith the house in tumult, I would take a break from my usual tradition of crafting from scratch a unique Halloween costume for my daughter. However, after seeing the poor excuses for fabrication of the ready-made items at retailers, I decided to go ahead, buy a pattern and fabric, and put it together this weekend while she and her dad are up in Wisconsin enjoying the Fall colors and visiting an indoor waterpark in the Dells.

I popped into my local JoAnn fabrics and spied a fantastic stretch-velvet in black that is covered in cobalt blue glitter spiderwebs. It was on sale and so I decided to find a basic dress pattern - long, fitted bodice, long flared sleeves - and create a goth *Spider Queen* type of gown for her. I think somewhere upstairs in the attic I already have a basic black cape made. I will also secure a coordinating bright blue wig (if she wants; otherwise we have a dark brunette wig) and a spider pendant, and black corset-type belt.

The trick with costumes around here is that by Oct 31st it is usually quite cold at night, so the item needs to be something that works with layers underneath. This gown she can wear over a black turtleneck and leggings, perhaps even borrowing my black leather gloves if needed.

Once the workmen leave tonight, I will start cutting the pattern and fabric.

The hardest part of this: convincing my daughter, who did not explicitily choose this costume idea, that it will be fabulous!