Nowadays, it feels like even the preschool event requires hiring an outfit from the Royal Shakespeare Company! God bless all those teaching assistants and overworked teachers, who have assembled a class set of Nativity costumes which can be fetched out each winter and assigned to the cast. I checked back to 2014. I made 7 angel costumes, 7 shepherd outfits - and "camel humps and bodies" to go with the heads which the TAs had retrieved from the cupboard.
If you are handy with a machine, it doesn't take long to knock up an outfit though.
Rather than use my usual
'three rectangles' pattern I just cut out a front and back T shape with sloping shoulders.
The neckline is a simple oval with a slit. And I put one belt loop in a side seam. The side seams end in 10cm slits for easy movement. I used the check patch to cut two rectangles for the head-cloths and two long straps as tie belts. The waistcoat is a 45x90cm rectangle. Fold it in half at the shoulders. Cut a centre slit and curved neckline, and sew side seams to the armhole.
Finally stitch a loop of elastic or stretchy fabric 55cm long, and attach to front centre of the head cloth [75x45 - like a teatowel!] Tutorial
HERE. All done and dusted. Ready to go off to Manchester
TOP TIPs- Aim to make costumes easy to put on, and generously sized to fit over regular clothes. If it is cold, children may want to wear tshirt and jogging bottoms underneath.
- Are you dressing the child, or will the TA have half a dozen tots to get sorted? Make it easier for the dressers - the loop means you can ensure belt doesn't get separated from the robe, and Leo doesn't get Theo's sash.
- Likewise, the attached strap makes the headcloth easy to pull on, and shouldn't come adrift mid production
- Shepherds are pretty rustic characters- so don't fuss too much about hemming and use non fray jersey
- If anybody complains that your angel does not have wings, explain politely that in the Bible they are never mentioned as having wings - it is cherubim and seraphim who have them. [Exodus 25, Isaiah 6]
THANK YOU to everyone who has made a donation to our Cornerstones Christmas Tableau- either cash in the pink pot hanging by the display, or online. We have raised around £200 thus far, which is truly wonderful!
I'm sad that this year, our KS1 are not properly staging the nativity as we are having roof work done on their building and there was a worry they'd have to decamp to the hall and use it as their classroom if intense work was going on so they didn't wNt to have to cancel last minute. Instead they are singing all the songs I've taught them with a bit of a link sentence between. All our costumes have gone walkies again though!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame - no play, and missing costumes
DeleteYour tutorial is a great idea. I do have a purple stripy duvet waiting to be cut up for something!
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DeleteWe got into trouble for using maniples for holding the wise men's headdresses on. Our church used to be very 'high' but that was a long time before and none of us knew that they were part of the vestments worn by the priest for celebrating communion. They are a sort of embroidered loop, like a cuff, that he (definitely not 'she' back then!) puts over his wrist at certain points in the liturgy. Well, we all know now!
ReplyDeleteOh dear...
DeleteI remember being a shepherd in the Nativity Play at junior school so many years ago. I wore an old shirt belonging to my Grandad, it nearly reached the floor so my Gran cut the bottom off with pincking shears and a tea towel on my head. I carried an old wooden walking stick with a curved end as a crook. I thought I looked great. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteDid you have a toy 🐏 sheep to cuddle?
DeleteSadly no but one of the teachers made a quite believable sheep out of a three legged stool covered with a sheepskin rug and cut out black paper ears and eyes! This was in the 1950s. Sue H
DeleteI love the idea of a 3 legged sheep!
DeleteI was wafted back in time reading this post, almost 60 years, when I sewed my own costume - Archangel Gabriel, quite a long speech. It was an old sheet folded in half then cut into a T-shape with a slit (neatly hemmed) at the neck. It was the mention of wings that really got me: I can see the robe and halo quite clearly but I cannot remember if the angels had wings. Happy days.
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DeleteOne year not long before I retired, I spent the whole October break making new Nativity costumes for the school. Fortunately, I had asked the janitor to get them out of storage to discover many little mouse families had set up a village in the boxes. Everything into the bin as per Council’s H and S instructions and Rentokill dealt with the rest! I found the pattern in a magazine and managed to secure most of the fabric from charity shops/ dyeing sheets. Well done to you for providing two outfits from your stash and sending them to Manchester in time for the boys’ nativity. Catriona
ReplyDeleteOh that's terrible!! I made a set of play costumes for an end of term production. After the show they were packed into black bin bags and stacked neatly in a store room. In the holidays, the store room was emptied for building work (more shelves I think) and somebody threw 50 costumes into the skip...
DeleteI know someone whose wedding gifts were put in black bin bags and they wound up at the tip. Luckily the mistake was discovered quickly and they were able to retrieve them. The moral is : if you want to put something in a plastic bag to store it, make sure it is a clear plastic bag so you can see the contents. Of course, you then risk the contents fading because of exposure to light! Perhaps using clearly labelled opaque plastic crates is the best bet. They should be easier to stack as well and are more mouse proof.
DeleteI keep my costumes in lidded plastic crates in the loft, out of the sunlight. And definitely LABEL THINGS!!!
DeleteMum and Dad were leaders of our church Sunday school and Mum was heavily involved in costume making for the annual nativity play. When making the crowns for the wise men she covered cardboard with aluminium foil and stuck on wine gums for jewels ☺️
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
Sunday school teachers are usually excellent at finding budget friendly costumes
DeleteThis was such a fun post to read about Nativity costumes! Thank you all for the fun, creative ideas.
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DeleteYes, our Mums went through a lot of tea towels and pillowcases when we were at school for the nativity plays. One year when my youngest was in primary school we went through a lot of cardboard boxes, the head teacher had some funny ideas ... and all the stars of the show were Christmas present shape!!
ReplyDeleteHow unusual
DeleteNatalie once played The Wicked Queen in a school play, and as I helped painting scenery, make up etc, I got asked to help make costumes. I had a terrible job making the cape collar stand up. In the end I used 2 wire coat hangers squared off, made a cover to go over them and then sewed them to the neck of the cape. It lasted for the three performances anyway. Xx
ReplyDeleteThat's very creative.As you say, as long as it lasted for the 3 performances...
DeleteI'm sure your grandsons will enjoy wearing the costumes you made for them. :)
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DeleteAs a thank you for your blog and because you and Bob are so involved and committed to the hospice I’ve made a direct donation to PBL.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all you posts
Jill
That is so kind of you Jill.
DeleteYour Nativity costumes look great. It was interesting to read how you put the costumes together.
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