Masked Mona

I am honestly surprised that Mona didn't want to make her own costume this year.  She likes creative control over her projects and she has such specific vision about things that I was sure I would only play a peripheral role in making her Halloween outfit.  But she decided she likes having me make her costume and even though I didn't come up with a design that matched what she imagined, she seems really pleased with the outcome.

Mona the raccoon:

 
The choice of a raccoon for Halloween came out of left field.  She's been talking for a year about wanting to be a pigeon, or possibly a dragon with wings.  Then at the fabric store a couple of weeks ago I had Quinn and Aden pick out fabric for their costumes, and I told Mona there was no rush and she could wait to figure out what she wanted to be and we'd come back when she was ready, but she suddenly started fretting about whether to be a raccoon or a coyote, and then blurted out, "Raccoon!  I want to be a raccoon!  And I promise I won't change my mind!"  So there we are.

I had fun with the mask.  It's just a cheap, plain mask from the fabric store done up with fleece and a glue gun.  The nose is cut from the end of a plastic wine cork I had in my shop.

The only real problem I had with this costume is I suck at zippers.  I put it in sort of weird, but it works, and then I made a kind of cover for it to hide the weirdness a little.  I need to go online and find a good tutorial before I do Aden's costume next.

Like Quinn's, this costume was easier than the ones of previous years, which included a crocodile, a dalmatian (which I couldn't find fabric for anywhere other than online), and my favorite challenge: the trumpeter swan.

Raccoon was kind of a snap by comparison.  My only concern now is that Mona will wear the costume out before trick-or-treat.  (I did buy an extra mask in case I need to whip another one up before Halloween.  She's been doing everything short of sleeping in her mask since the glue cooled.)

Two down, one to go.