THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 31, 1994 TAG: 9410290439
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
ALMA ROSS DID a hatchet job on her grandson this week.
Then she morphed three grandchildren and two neighbors into Power Rangers. She draped Princess Jasmine in satin and hosed the fireman. And THEN she zapped another grandson into The Caped Crusader.
POW! ZAP! SEW!
``I have three sewing machines,'' Ross said. ``Anyplace I go, I have my sewing machine so I can work.
Ross, 67, of Virginia Beach, sewed nine Halloween costumes this year, some from patterns, some of her own design. Take the fireman, for instance.
Colin Ross, 8, sports a black linen coat with yellow stripes and a red felt hat made sans pattern because his grandmother couldn't find one. But she didn't stop there. She also sewed him a hatchet and a hose to drape over his shoulder.
``I like to please 'em,'' she said, watching the children caper around the yard in their costumes. ``Worth all the work I did, worth all the work I did.''
Ross is not alone in sewing costumes this year, although she probably has more experience than most of the desperate mothers who are snatching up Power Ranger patterns with their dinosaur power iron-on transfers and power belts.
``This is not only the hottest-selling costume in the pattern industry, this is the hottest item in the pattern industry, period,'' Joe Anselmo, director of licensing for The Butterick Co., told The Washington Post. Butterick which has the sole license to make the patterns in seven Ranger colors and styles, reports selling hundreds of thousands of the $8.95 patterns.
Clayton Skinner, 10, of Virginia Beach switched to a Grim Reaper costume this year when he heard how many Power Rangers would be on the streets. And that sent his mother, Norma, to her sewing machine for the requisite black robe.
Ross has made two red Rangers and three green Rangers this year. And then the popular TV show changed the green Ranger into a white Ranger, two weeks before Halloween, Ross explained.
``I may be Grandma, but I'm up on this stuff,'' she said. ``I think it's good to know these things, take an interest in your kids. What are you gonna do in a case like that when they change (colors)?''
The answer is nothing. Marty Crane, 2, and Travis Crane, 3, were mighty pleased to be green Rangers, striking Mighty Morphin poses in green felt and gold lame.
Last year, Ross outfitted the entire clan in Aladdin costumes, using yards of satin and lame and pounds of glued-on ``jewels.''
Batman gave her a little challenge this year, figuring out how to put the bulging veins in his thighs. ``I'll figure it out,'' she said, as Brent Crane, 11, modeled his leather-look boots and black hood. Brent is his grandmother's biggest fan, proudly pointing out the Pinocchio suit, Sir Walter Raleigh-style costume, and Sonny and Cher togs that hang in the upstairs closet.
``Like I said, this was made without a pattern,'' Brent explained, holding up a hat.
Skinner also sews many costumes without patterns, including the adult-size white rabbit jumping out of the black satin top hat. ``It's easy to walk around in, but it's not easy to sit in a car,'' Skinner said, plucking the rim of the wire-supported hat.
The Skinner family enters contests with their costumes, and has carried away hundreds of dollars in gift certificates and prizes. The most popular, Skinner said, was the Little Bo-Peep ensemble, in which she dressed in ruffles and bows and her husband, Paul, donned a fuzzy suit with cloven-hoof gloves and feet, black face makeup and a label on the back: ``100 percent non-virgin wool.''
Skinner also sews regular clothes, such as the raw silk double-breasted suit she's making for Paul.
``I was trying to get it done for a wedding, but I didn't get it done,'' Skinner said. ``Halloween was coming, and that was a little more important.''
Ross has been sewing since she was a youngster, but more earnestly after her husband was lost at sea 24 years ago. She has made wedding dresses, outfits for professional models and, of course, her own clothes. She started with a $5 treadle sewing machine.
She has whipped up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the most difficult costumes she's ever made) and Captain Hook. The local school knows that she's willing to pitch in on projects there as well, such as the 30 stuffed and dressed rabbits.
``I love a sewing machine,'' she said. ``I have a respect for a sewing machine.'' Part of that respect is the savings to be had. Ross estimates that this year's nine costumes cost about $100, far cheaper than buying them ready-made. And because she used quality fabrics and materials, the home-sewn costumes will last for years.
Skinner, who started sewing Barbie clothes at age 9, will be a Valkyrie maiden this year, and her husband will be Moses. The Valkyrie maiden, she noted, should stay a little warmer than a previous year's green lame mermaid with only scallop-shell baking cups on her chest. ``I was a little cold that year,'' she confessed.
``I've gotten to the point where I could almost open a Halloween shop and rent out costumes. We've got all kinds. These are fun. This is an every year thing. We like Halloween that much.''
Meeting the Halloween deadline and catering to the changing whims of children kept Ross and her machine going into the early morning hours several days.
But she doesn't begrudge the effort for her grandchildren. ``I like to please 'em,'' she said but added, ``When I get through, I think I'll take a little rest.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Christopher Reddick, Staff
Alma Ross adjusts the Batman costume she made for grandson Brent
Crane, 11.
by CNB