(My little Dutch Girls at the Pumpkin Patch - circa 1990)
These are my favorite costumes from Halloweens past, and they were pretty inexpensive and simple to make (a necessity for this bumbling sewer)...
They almost became sailor girl outfits after Mom & Dad bought sailor caps for the girls during a trip to Florida. (Here are the girls during an early skirt fitting.)
But in the end, the Little Dutch Girls won out (seen here with Nana & Grampa before I'd had a chance to stencil windmills onto their aprons, which were actually clearance priced cafe curtains with ribbons through the rod pocket to tie them around their waists).
That's better, now they're stenciled... And the skirts were easy enough to make with clearance calico from Wal Mart, simple sewed in elastic waistbands, and iron-on hems. Making the hats was the tricky part. I sewed heavy duty florist wire into the side flaps so I could curl up the ends.
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The girls already had cable knit tights and cardigans (after all, this is New England!)... I remember they were sooo excited to be sitting on top of a real live pony!
This photo was taken at a local apple orchard's Halloween Fair. That day, several people asked if we were of Dutch heritage, which we're not. But I have such warm childhood memories of my mom reading us fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen and of hearing stories like Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates or the Little Dutch Boy, that it just seemed like a great choice for costumes!
These are some of our favorite Hans Christian Andersen books... (I know, I have a serious problem/love affair with beautifully illustrated children's books!!!)
Don't forget to stop by Smiling Sally's to see all the other Blue Monday posts!!
I'm a little Dutch girl dressed in blue,
Here are the things I like to do...
Salute the Captain, bow to the queen,
Turn my back to the submarine!
Donna (who remembers jumping rope to that!)
Life doesn't get much sweeter than that! What happy memories those pictures must be for you. :)
ReplyDelete*smiles*
Kim
Adorable...simply adorable. The girls and the costumes. Perfect for this week and Blue Monday. Great post. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, those are ADORABLE! You are so creative too. I love the idea of using cafe curtains as aprons! I would never have thought of something like that. They are just as sweet as can be in these pictures! This is fantastic Blue Monday post!
ReplyDeleteKady
Absolutely adorable. I have a photo someone of my sister dressed in a Dutch girl costume for something or other. I was so jealous. My Mum is actually Dutch and we really embraced our heritage.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet they look!
ReplyDeleteI love every one of these pics of your little girls! Those hats just add to their cuteness! Very clever of you making the hats and aprons from curtains! Wow! So creative!
ReplyDeleteLove those costumes; so simple to make with a great impact!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm impressed! Those aprons are adorable, and you are quite inventive to think of that. The hats are something I would never tackle, and you DID it. What a great post. Thanks for sharing. Happy Blue Monday!
ReplyDeleteYour post is great. It brings back memories of making my daughters' costumes. I love the Dutch costumes. I remember sitting of my Grandmother's lap as she read Hans Christian Andersen stories to me. You are one talented lady. Happy Blue Monday.
ReplyDeleteSweetie
Great photos of adorable little models!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the rhyme was different by geographic location. Here in a Detroit suburb, we jumped rope to:
I'm a little Dutch girl, dressed in blue.
These are the things I like to do:
Salute to my captain, curtsy to the Queen,
Turn my back on the mean old King.
That was a fun memory.
Wonderful post! Love all your pics! I love children's books too! I buy them even though I don't have any kids and my neices and nephew are too old for them. I adore Garth Williams illustrations and Richard Scarry esp.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely adorable!! They are so cute!
ReplyDeleteSo stinkin adorable!! I just love these costumes on the sweet girls.
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever way to make the costumes! And the wire in the hat to get the curled up effect. So cool. What great memories! Those are such cute pictures of your girls. Happy Blue Monday!
ReplyDeleteWow, these are sooooo cute! Happy Halloween and Happy Blue Monday!
ReplyDeleteHeidi Jo the Artist
http://swirlsofcreativity.etsy.com
http://swirlsofcreativity.blogspot.com
Donna, they are adorable. Such treasured memories.
ReplyDeleteWhat little sweeties! Ya just wanna pinch their cute little cheeks!
ReplyDelete~Liz~
What lovely little girls all dressed up in their Dutch girl costumes. You did a fantastic job on them. Very original and creative.
ReplyDeleteWhat cute little girls - and such great little dutch outfits. Thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteSmiles.
Ruthie
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh how sweet!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteM ^..^
Oh I adore those costumes. The girls are so pretty and happy in their special costumes. You did a great job. this comment is late as I was out most of the day.
ReplyDeleteYou have been boo-ed. come over and check it out. Smiling.
Hugs...Jeanne
I am so glad you posted about those hats. I fell in love with them (and your girls) when I saw them. I, like you, have such an atraction to the charm of anything Dutch (and as far as I know, it's not in my heritage). I also love old books (particularly children's), so you and I have similar loves. You did such an excellent job of creating those costumes - espcially the hats. laurie
ReplyDeleteI love the illustrations in old books too. Your lucky to find them.
ReplyDeleteThe little girl in her costume is so darling. She's the kind you'd like to just pick up and hug. I like your ideas for the costume. Out of a curtain! I did that once out of some old gauzy looking ones and made a princess dress and silly me I glued tiny sticker stars all over it. Added glitter glue.
jo
I have been so busy lately, I had missed your wonderful posts!!!! I just read them and so enjoyed catching up!!! Your little Dutch Girls were darling--loved how you created those costumes yourself! The apron from cafe curtains--so smart! My kiddos never had a "store bought" one either--not only was money an issue, but I just preferred the fun of coming up my own ideas--or making theirs come to life.
ReplyDeleteYour walk through the cemetary was awesome. Those photos are prize-winners!!! So beautiful.
Loved all of the great shares from previous H-Weens with your girls! I also loved the Witchy Lamp! tee-hee
Have a great day! dana
Donna, we cpould be sisters -- I love Hand Christain Anderson stories also and I also have a "serious problem" with beautifully illustrated children's books! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe costumes were wonderful and your girls look so precious in them!