A Costumed Dress

The finding of this book in our library was the catalyst that caused me to motivate a dedicated book reader to attempt to design a costume made of leaves.

These are a few of the dresses within the book that were awesomely made.

Aren't these the most gorgeous gowns you have ever seen? Who could have imagined that you could design something so beautiful from items found in nature ?!

Here's the story behind the book. What would you do with a child that comes in the morning quiet as a mouse and begins reading every single morning? How do you motivate someone who loves to disappear into books and not interact with others her age? No matter what I suggested, she never budged from the sofa.

My supervisor had brought in a book that I hadn't noticed for weeks.  It was propped against the wall on a book shelf.  Since it was taller than the other books, my eye caught sight of it and I took a peek inside.  I had found the answer!  Although this young girl was not part of my group, I had observed her with some of the girls I do have in my group.

Before we moved to this new location, this group of girls would pull grass, pick flowers, pebbles, and build little havens for fairies. They had great fun imaging homes for invisible little presences.  I brought the book to the 10 year old and told her I found a book that she might be interested in.  We looked at it together and she got so excited that she asked to take the book home.

The following week I asked her if she was inspired to make anything.  She said that she started something at home, but then the book reading began again. So what I did was draw two women on a canvas and I ask our young designer what she thought about designing dresses for them.  She was all for it.

At first she started with some fur, but she was having a bit of time seeing how fur could be placed, how it could be cut--it just wasn't working.

Then I came up with the idea of using leaves. Since we didn't have any, we enlisted the help of two kindergartners and when out in the cold morning air to collect leaves.

You can see that the picture of the females is progressing.

It's coming along--no pressure.  

This is the backdrop for the two ladies.

Still in the process.

                                       

The background is being put in by another young girl.

Can you believe to this day this picture still needs work.  It has been abandoned for the time being.

This was an individual project to motivate a child to do something besides reading. Now she has a few girls her age involved with cooking, but that is another post.

Supplies:
1. canvas
2. pencils
3. leaves, flowers, twigs (whatever you find in nature)
4. fur, feathers
5. hot glue gun
6. water color paints

Directions:
1. draw picture on canvas
2. plan what materials you want for costume
3. hot glue materials in place to make costume
4. water color background

Duration:
There is no time limit on this project, as it was to help involve a child in an activity and drop her to interact with others.