One of Flea’s favourite extra-curricular activities is a stage school which she attends on a Saturday morning and this month saw her first big show – in which she played an owl.

We’ve had several weeks of practice and learning of lines, and at the last rehearsal before the big show, I bumped into the nice lady who runs the stage school.

We chatted briefly and it was explained that the stage school had managed to buy costumes for all the characters except one – the owl.

“I could only find one owl costume, and it looked a bit sinister,” she explained. “Would you mind making one?”

Given that I am to sewing what McDonalds is to healthy eating, you might be surprised to know that Flea attended the show, one week later, in a MARVELLOUS owl costume.

Want to know how to make an owl costume of your very own? Here’s a simple tutorial:

You will need:

  • 1m of lightweight black fabric
  • 1m of lightweight gold fabric
  • 1m of lightweight white fabric
  • white thread (loads)
  • 1 sheet of cardboard, A5 sized
  • 1 large bunch of flowers, various colours

Step 1:

Using scissors, round the corners of the cardboard until it resembles a filled-in U shape.

Step 2:

Using the cardboard as a template, draw around the U shape on the white cloth, and cut out the resulting shape to make a single feather. Use special scissors to make crinkly edges, so the fabric doesn’t fray.

Step 3:

Take the fabric, including the single ‘feather’ round to your Mum’s house. Explain that you need approximately 200 of the feathers to be cut out of both the white and gold fabric, and stitched onto the black fabric, which needs to be fashioned into a cloak.

Step 4:
At this point it is CRUCIAL that you give your Mum the flowers.

Step 5:

Leave for approximately three days, and return to your Mum’s house to find – hey presto – an owl cloak. Perfect.

 

PS – Thanks, Mum 🙂