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As luck would have it, during the holidays, manufacturers raise prices on costumes, and purchasing one to please a child can be quite expensive. Moreover, sometimes the quality of these carnival costumes leaves much to be desired. In this material we will tell you how to save money on a Santa Claus costume for an adult, so that this attribute of a children's holiday will last for many years. At the end you will find a step-by-step description of the process and a pattern that will help even beginning craftswomen make a quality item.
Where did the Santa Claus costume come from?
Almost every country has its own image of Santa Claus. Russian Father Frost goes back to his Slavic prototype, which is mentioned in legends and ritual songs. Just like today, hundreds of years ago the main harbinger of the New Year appeared before children in the form of a gray-haired old man. But grandfather’s clothes changed often.Historians believe that initially, in the minds of people, the Slavic Father Frost was dressed in a long white or silver fur coat that reached to his toes. The fur coat was decorated with embroidery made of silver threads and decorated with swan's down. On the elder’s head was a voluminous hat, reminiscent of a boyar’s, which was trimmed with fur and embroidered with pearl threads. On his hands were mittens embroidered with swastikas (in those days this was a solar symbol and was identified with constant movement). It is noteworthy that even the clothes under the fur coat of the Old Slavic Father Frost were selected with the same passion as the fur coat: it was important that the shirt and trousers were made of white linen. Craftswomen decorated even clothes that were not visible to ordinary people with embroidery. The silver staff was topped with carved images of a moon and a bull. The look was completed with white felt boots decorated with geometric patterns made of silver threads.
But in the 19th century, literature greatly influenced the folklore Santa Claus: in the illustrations to Odoevsky’s fairy tales and Nekrasov’s poem in the first editions, an image of the old man’s blue fur coat appears, and only reminders of the white fur remained - the trim on the collar and sleeves. In 1917, the men's Santa Claus suit changed color again, now to revolutionary red, the color of the international proletarian flag, the symbolism on the staff changed to a star (also optionally red), and solar patterns disappeared from Santa Claus's mittens, as they became associated with fascist regime. Today, all three colors are used for the Santa Claus costume: white, blue and red.
What materials will be needed to sew a Santa Claus costume?
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It is important that the materials must be of high quality so that the costume will last a long time and will decorate more than one holiday and can be lent to friends and acquaintances for matinees. If the holiday involves going outside, it makes sense to duplicate the Santa Claus costume for an adult with a lining with quilted padding. For an indoor event, you can choose a lighter fabric. Here we will describe a lightweight version of sewing a Santa Claus costume with your own hands.
To sew a Santa Claus costume for an adult you will need:
- A piece of fabric. On average you will need 3-3.5 meters. Velor, satin, velvet, thin drape, flannel and even silk are suitable. The latter material is worth choosing if your budget allows it and you are willing to spend extra time cutting this capricious material.
- Silver or gold threads for embroidery. As an alternative, you can find ready-made embroidery (a longer option), braid or wide lace with snowflakes, suitable for a Santa Claus costume for an adult.
- White faux fur, it is better to give preference to short-haired fur. The decor will take about 1 meter.
- Standard sewing supplies for work.
- Additional decor at your discretion. Thus, silver embroidery can be complemented with threads imitating freshwater pearls.
Step-by-step plan for sewing a Santa Claus costume for an adult
In total, the pattern will take about two to three hours if you prepare everything you need in advance. The longest process will be decorating a Santa Claus costume for an adult, but the overall perception of the image depends on this stage.
- Take measurements of the future Santa Claus. To create a pattern you will need: shoulder width, fur coat length, sleeve length and chest circumference.
- Adjust the pattern to the required dimensions and attach it to the fabric with pins.Indicate the shape of the pattern itself and a margin of 2 cm (if you are working with bulk materials such as silk and velvet, then it is better to take a margin of 3 cm).
- Cut out the pieces and pin them together to try on the model. Adjust the pattern if necessary.
- Connect all the parts. You need to work especially carefully with the sleeves; they need to be connected along the inside seam.
- Finish all seams and iron the product.
- Sew faux fur onto the collar and sleeves.
- If desired, you can decorate the transition between fur and fabric with gold or silver braid.
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