The Ambivalence of Halloween

Halloween provokes the very definition of mixed feelings in me.

On the one hand, I love it. Fall is my favorite time of year, and for the past several, I've taken Halloween-week off from work. It's a great time for a road trip, and there are always wonderfully macabre and hoakishly paranormal shenanigans to be found. As Halloween becomes a more legit/adult holiday -- by which I mean selling opportunity -- the gewgaws and thingamajigs and other decorative trappings have improved greatly, which turns out to be important for someone whose primary decorating scheme seems to be "skulls." It's also the time of year I buy all my socks. (Yes, all of my socks feature bats or black cats or dancing skeletons. It's true.)

On the other hand, I hate it. Halloween is for stitchers/crafters/skull aficionados what New Year's Eve is to serious drinkers: Amateur night. Everyone figures that because I sew, I'm going to have this awesome costume idea/execution that I've been working on since June. "Ooh, you're so creative... and you do all that sewing... What are you going to be? This'll be great!" That's a lot of pressure! And why do I have to BE anything?

I'm not so crazy about the idea that I need to come up with something particularly funny or punny or topical or gruesome. How about if I just make something cool? Or pretty? Or elaborate? A big period costume? Well, if I do THAT, then I really do have to go all out, being slightly compulsive (oh come on, it's another trait stitchers tend to share -- that and pack-rattitude). And I've never really done that sort of big project. Plus, the kinds of places I'd go, the parties I'd attend, aren't exactly the... elaborate sorts of affairs.

Except maybe this year.

I'm considering a formal, masks-mandatory masquerade for devil's night. And that means... formal. Not just formal, but dark -- in attitude -- formal. Well. Let's see what we can do about that.

This is the "costume" I'm considering.

And this is the color.

But with black accents and other nasty details (to be expanded upon later). I ordered both fuchsia sateen and twill -- 10 yards of each! -- from Fabric.com yesterday; I'll decide which one I want to use once they arrive. It's a fairly large project for me-of-the-instant-gratification, so send me some encouragement, or at least wish me luck.