Madeline Costumes

It is rather delightful when your children enjoy something that you yourself loved as a child. I don't know what it is, but there is something about it that just brings you back to the way you felt and how happy you were. Ahh, lovely memories of childhood.

Sophie and Rachel have started to enjoy longer books, including Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans. There is something really comforting about reading those initial rhyming phrases: "In an old house in Paris, that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls, in two straight lines." We only have four of the books, but every so often, I also let them watch an animated episode, so they are really getting to know the characters.

Sophie is really into using her imagination to be other people, so it was no surprise when she declared one day, that she was Madeline. Rachel, always the eager accomplice, was Miss Clavel, the nun. Hugo has been given the role of Pepito, which he seems happy with.

So they played and played and even though I was busy and stressed, I decided I needed to spend a half hour making them some costumes. It was therapy. I didn't have a pattern, and I wasn't too worried about longevity or completeness as such, but I just wanted a little something for them to put on to help them embrace their imaginative play.  A bit of yellow material let over from table cloths at a friends wedding (I've used these left over table cloths before in several things) and some white scraps and we were good to go.

I wanted to give Rachel the option to be a little girl, rather than the nun who looks after the little girls, so I made two Madeline costumes. Then I made a Miss Clavel costume as well.

These photos of them always make me smile. They were standing there together and I said "Girls, can you hold hands?" and Rachel takes both her hands and gives me the biggest smile that says "Look Mum, I'm holding my hands!"