The Pirate Show

I learned just in time that the the local middle school was putting on a musical called "A Pirate's Life For Me". So, I purchased two tickets and scheduled a Saturday date with my little pirate. Luckily, he had the perfect outfit to wear.

I made this pirate shirt at the beginning of the school year using Simplicity pattern 4760 and the perfect map fabric. I originally intended to press a "Pirates of the Carribean" shadow patch on the back but decided that it made the shirt a bit chaotic. So, I'll use that on a simpler shirt next year. What I did try, however, is a very neat collar technique that I learned on the new Threads DVD called "Industry Insider Techniques". It was the perfect solution to my usual impossible -to-sew-neatly collar corners.

I even found this super cute pair of pants complete with a skull fob to match. This outfit was a subtle way for Cam to extend his pretend dress-up play to school without looking like he was wearing a costume.

It was a fantastic experience to take Cam to his first play and he did surprisingly well for a five year old staying up well beyond bedtime. He was a complete gentleman and perfect date even with the inconvenience of holding my knee against his fold-down seat through the whole production so his 39 lb body wouldn't get swallowed up by the chair.

The play has inspired him to try his hand at play writing. Our kitchen has been turned into a theater with every large and small chair from the house lined up in neat little rows for the audience. I have been taking dictation for nearly a week now quickly typing down his every thought and word to capture the general plot and dialog for him (it keeps changing). Generally the play stars his best friends and consists of a cast of robots, superheros and pirates who go about destroying all of the bad things in the world.

I've been teaching him how to design instructions, pictures and patterns for his creations lately so they are well thought through before we attempt to make them. He has spent the week in the craft lab drawing pictures and diagrams describing every aspect of his play. There are even a few posters taped to walls around our house that advertise that the show starts at bedtime when the sun goes down. You can be sure that I'll be in the front row...