Wednesday, October 14, 2009

From WikiHow


How to Be Raggedy Ann for Halloween

Here's a cute, original and simple, easy-to-make costume that looks great. It's a blast back to the 1970s, when Raggedy Ann was a hit with the young Generation X-ers. Read and find out how easy it is to make a Raggedy Ann costume for you.


Steps
1.Assemble the clothes needed. See "Things You'll Need" for suggested clothing. The hair is the most distinctive feature, so this will the most important part to get right, followed by the striped tights. Don't forget to check in your closet to see what you might already own and visit a thrift store for missing items.
2.Put on the dress. A dark color, preferably blue, is best. It is an added bonus if you can find a dress with floral prints on it. Look for old Laura Ashley clothes from the 1980s in your local thrift store for the right sort of dress.
3.Add red and white striped tights or knee-length socks. If you cannot find tights like these, try knee-length socks or buy tights of either red or white and sew on ribbons of the opposite missing color. Be creative in your solutions!
4.Pull on your bloomers. Try to use something that resembles bloomers. The bloomers only need to peek out from under the costume, so any type of shorts that are white might work. You could always sew white calico lace to assist in creating the right effect.
5.Put your apron over the dress. Raggedy Ann's apron is a pinafore shape, both above and below the waist. Preferably it should be a little shorter than the dress. You might need to improvise here and use a normal apron and sew on a white cotton top half with some
ruffles if you cannot find a full-length apron.
6.Fix your hair to look like Raggedy Ann's. There are two possible ways:
*Fix your own hair. Find a can of red spray dye suitable for temporary hair color change and spray your hair red. Wash and curl you hair if it is long. The more "raggedy", the better. Add a red ribbon when it's done.
*Create a wig. This is probably the easier and less messy option and more likely to give a Raggedy Ann look. Perhaps purchase a wig from a dollar store or get creative and make one by dying a mop-head red and turning it into a wig.
7.Do your makeup. Add some freckles, exaggerate the smile by drawing cartoon style wide smile lines to the sides and create wide, open eyes with mascara and eyeliner. Follow the photo above as a guide.
8.Put on black boots. Lace-up boots, if possible, are best.

Tips
If you have a real Raggedy Ann doll, carry her with you for added effect. It will help people to recognize your character and it will look sweet.

Warnings
Don't get too hung up on details. If you can't find elements of the costume, improvise and always go for the most distinctive features first.

Things You'll Need
Tights that have red and white stripes; or knee-length socks
A blue dress with long sleeves (or add a long-sleeved blue t-shirt underneath a short-sleeved dress)
A white pinafore apron
White bloomers - if possible
Red mop-like wig
Black boots
Makeup - especially reds and rosy pinks
C&G Design

7 comments:

Roses and Lilacs said...

Good ideas for a costume. I never had a Raggedy Ann when I was a kid.
Marnie

Lola said...

What a fetching idea for Halloween.

tina said...

Nice idea for a costume!

Jean Merriman said...

Be creative you say?!?!?! Well that is easy for you to say since you are creative. Some of just do not have it. Cute idea.

Debbie said...

We can always look to you for great ideas Dawn. I see that your daughter dressed up as her from looking at the photo on the right of your page! I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that you made the costume!! Honestly, someone like you should have their own seamstress shop or some kind of craft type shop where you sell your wears! The talent of all you bloggers still amazes me some days! One of these days I am going to show a picture of a kitchen angel that was given me by my sister in law for xmas. She's a bit faded but she's still beautiful to me. What I want to do is show a photo of her and I am thinking you could just look at her and figure out how to make her! I wish I could do that. She hangs over my kitchen sink and NOW that I have met you via the blog, I think of YOU every time I look at her! I'll do that soon.:)

Kieny The Dutchlady said...

Great idea Dawn.

Skeeter said...

I have been into creating my own costume the past few years! We go to the Humane Society Fur Ball in TN each year! This year I am going to be a Witch with a Spider theme outfit. I find so much fun stuff at the Goodwill store that I can rip and sew together to make an original costume. I fear showing up at a Halloween Costume event wearing the same thing as someone else so this way, I am not a clone! The Saint plays Scrooge and does not partake in the dress up fun. But he goes and has fun with us crazy Pet People though…