........in buying a ready made outfit for the nursery nativity play???

[Chipstick]

My son is the donkey and they had a fab outfit in Asda for £5 - snapped it up and he has had it on all day.

Met a nursery mum today and told her - she looked at me in horror and said 'oh......you're not going to make an outfit then?!?'

Home made or ready made??

ready made every bloody time. Who's got the time to make one?

Anyone seen any readymade lion costumes out there? I will cobble one together badly if I have to but...

DS is a donkey this year. I bought all the material to make said donkey stuff. My mother came back from Sainsburys with a donkey outfit for less than the cost of the material I had bought. So back I went to Hobbycraft for a refund. I won't feel ashamed in the least. I didn't even know there was costume competitiveness- how naive am I.

I bought the Tesco donkey costume from Tesco last year for dd1- it was reduced to £3.50. I could not have bought her a grey t-shirt (even if I could find one!), leggings/make ears etc for that. I really stressed out about it, especially as I was very skint. Nearly everyone else bought too, so I felt better. I have donated it to the school for this year's donkeys.

School plays always need costumes/items of clothing that DD doesn't possess. Drives me nuts. Now if the play involved a Disney Princess, or Darth Vader, we'd be sorted....

Well I do Lottie and I like doing it too!

A friend of mine though...we were asked to provide a "victorian poor person" outfit for our DDs and I made a basic skirt in brown cotton...gave DD an old wolly shawl and white blouse...perfect...my frined went all out and sewed a tiered skirt in this lovely print fabric, sourced a high necked cream lace blouse and bonnet...sent her DD in only to recieve a note saying her DD looked more like the mayors wife and stood out to much amongst the cobbled together villagers/paupers. She wasn't happy!

You made me panic - just called DS's pre-school and found out he's going to be an Inn keeper! (he's out of 3 - apparently there will be 3 inn keepers and an inn keeper's wife ). Oh and probably 2 Mary and 2 Josephs. I can't wait !!!!

.... and here comes the best part: THEY PROVIDE THE COSTUMES!!! Hurray!

ROFL @ Mumbling

Feck it, shop bought all the way.

'Cos I'm really going to feel like sewing a bloody donkey costume together on the 7.12 to Waterloo in the morning aren't I?

I buy where I can, esp at a good price.
TBH at £5 it'd probably cost more to make it yourself anyway.

Now, not for a nativity, but if anyone knows of a reasonably priced Wendy (Peter Pan) style nightdress in approx an age 10-11y, let me know! I am struggling!

Like others often DD doesn't have the required coloured clothes already in her wardrobe, so buying them all seperate works out dearer - and chances are she wouldn't wear them again.

I have donated our costumes int he past to school and they have been used in subsequent plays.

Of course not! I take pride in the fact I can't even sew my son's Cubs badges on!

I'm good at sewing and like to make but this year I have bought dd a reindeer outfit off ebay for £5.00 including postage! To have bought fabric would have cost me more - she doesn't have brown leggings / trousers / tights or a brown t shirt so it was the cheaper option!

I haven't found out what she has to be yet.

I'm a pretty decent at sewing so if I can make it I will... but if it's hugely fiddly and cheap to buy, I'll blatantly buy!

LieInsAreRarerThanTigers: Lion

Purchase of course! I once spent hours on a hand painted rabbit head and fluffy ears and DS refused to wear them! I was a young innocent reception mother back then, I had no one to guide me, but now 5 years later I'm wiser than wise!

Can anyone do a camel?ready made would be excellent but I'll have a go at making for dgs[5] as his mum[my dd] is working.

Tesco had camel costumes.

Suggestive donkeyness? Am I on the right thread?

Wah - I was replying to p1 without seeing there were three more pages. Off to bed with a lemsip...

Ready made. Angel here for DS - he needed white trousers (TK Maxx) and top (wardrobe). No wings or halo requested and so none provided.

pranma - a camel sounds like quite a challenge!

My DD2 came home very proudly a few years back to announce her class were doing Jack and the Beanstalk and she was to be the 'Hen that lays the golden egg' and I was to provide the costume. If I could have bought one I would - but I enjoyed the challenge and concocted a costume based on an old large woollen brown skirt of mine (I added straps as braces to wear over the shoulders and inserted a skirt hoop around the base to make it stand out). I paper macheed an egg from a balloon and sprayed it gold - attached a string so it could be lowered from inside the skirt at the required moment! I made a snood out of velour with a beak. Used a brown long sleeved teeshirt - sewed a couple of triangles of fabric under the sleeves to represent wings. Completed the look with yellow rubber gloves (with toes stuffed with paper) for feet. It looked fab and caused quite a few laughs when the egg appeared!! I had fun making it and i think the teachers knew i would probably cope better than some.

I help run a kids youth group and we do a nativity every year - we keep a stock of costumes (which have been in existence for many years) - we just update with new bits as needed. I think it is better these days to provide costumes - not everyone has the time, money or inclination to provide costumes and it puts a lot of pressure on parents at a costly and busy time of year. I am sure schools could easily build up a stock.

Christmas is all about who looks the best in the nativity play and exploiting women/children in sweatshops in the name of reenacting bits of the bible, after all, isn't it? FFS. I hate when people say 'poor people' or 'benefit scrougers' are lazy, when we actually make an effort to make things with/for our kids unlike the so-called 'working families' who just buy crap without a second thought. I guess at least it's clear evidence that poor people, not rich ones, are more responsible parents.

I've brought a costume-last year ds was a donkey and I got the tesco one, this year he's a shepherd. He doesn't have a striped dressing gown or pj's so I'd have had to buy him those, plus a tea towel as ours are floral designs. The ready made costume was £10 and very cute, I'd much rather buy than make

Xposted with wibbly...don't label yourself a benefit scrouger

dd is a sheep (organic! ) Bought a tabard online and there is no way I could have done the same for the same price. Sadly, it's often cheaper to buy. And besides, I can't be relied upon to sew on a button properly... Even my four year old knows that anything that needs mending has to go to grandma's