Alright, alright...so technically it's from my studio. But now it's in the garden, and soon will be headed to The Farm - the mother of all gardens. Meet the Tomato - the first in a series of fruit and veggie costumes I'm making (by, uh - next week) for the kids' program at our local CSA farm.
This one little tomato (and the forthcoming similarly shaped costumes) is the result of so many muslin prototypes, and I'm still not really sure I've got it quite where I want it yet. I have a commercially made child's pumpkin suit that I'm using as a model, but you know how sometimes something appears to be so easy to replicate? And then it isn't really at all? Yeah, it's been like that. We want a costume that can be worn by many sizes, easily washed and dried, and durable for all the on-off use it will have, not too heavy for summer months...and that still looks like a fruit or veggie - nice and round and puffy and lined. It's been a little tricky. (If this rings a bell for you to any online tutorials, I'd love to see them! My searching hasn't produced much.)
But luckily, I have some very, very willing models to try them on over and over until I get it just right. They're good product testers, these ones. I mean, really, would I have ever thought of testing out its flying capabilities? It's a good thing I've got them around for important details like that.