Wizard of Oz ~ Scarecrow

Oh wow, this past week was a busy one. At work we decided that we were going to dress up for the release of our christmas ornaments as Wizard of Oz characters. I was so excited! We've always wanted to dress up for these events but never actually did it. As the only one who not only had a sewing machine but also wasn't afraid of it I decided I was going to help outfit some of the girls. I made costume pieces for Dorothy, Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion. I also assembled pieces for the Wicked Witch of the West. Today I'm going to show how easy and simple the Scarecrow is.

A co-worker models the Scarecrow outfit.

These costumes had to be very simple for a couple reasons. One was this was work and we couldn't be tripping over big or complex costumes. Two, I had very little time to prepare each outfit (Scarecrow took me about half an hour. Any more and I would have been late to work that day). And Three, they had to be made to fit several different people. Not only did I not know who was going to wear them this past weekend, but I don't know who will be wearing them in future years to come.

The capelet is simply half a yard of burlap folded, not in half, but unevenly so the top will be shorter than the bottom. Sew along the fold about an inch or more. This makes a nice channel for the drawstring to go thru. The burlap isn't the most comfortable material so the neck has to be wide enough so whoever is wearing it can make the hole big enough that it doesn't rub against skin.

In between the two layers of burlap I knotted lengths of Raffia and sewed it down so it looked like straw peeking out of the scarecrow's clothing.

Finally I made a drawstring out of more raffia (I'd never worked with it before and it was much stronger than I gave it credit for) and tied it in a bow in the front.

Instead of hemming edges I just pulled a handful of threads off the burlap and let the other ends free. The scarecrow is a raggedy character and it just added to his charm.

I seem to have forgotten to get a good picture of the hat but here is what I have. The hat was a store bought stiff felt like thing. I think it was originally for a Robin Hood costume, it had that shape to it. There was a red feather glued to the side but it peeled off easily. I couldn't get the line of hot glue to come off tho and tried my best to cover it with more raffia. I made a hat band of raffia and hand sewed it in places to get it to stay in place. The hat was very round and it kept wanting to slide off the top. I then folded some other lengths of raffia in half and sewed them inside the hat to either look like hair or like straw was falling out of it.

The straw "hair" tied inside the hat.

The raffia hat band sewn in place.

The line of glue where a red feather once was.

The whole ensemble on a manikin in our backroom. Sorry for the poor lighting and all the cardboard, we've been very busy getting ready for Christmas.

Have your model wear a green shirt and brown pants. Cover her nose with some brown face paint and there you have it. A very simple Wizard of Oz Scarecrow made in just under an hour and very work friendly. Cost of materials: Half a yard of Burlap: 2 bucks. Raffia: 3 bucks. Store bought hat: 5 bucks (Not purchased by me). Total for costume? 10 bucks. I was reimbursed for my materials.