thumbs up to
miyazaki hayao for creating my favorite childhood character and story. my sister and i saw ourselves as
satsuki and little mei, frolicking
totoro's woods in our big, alaskan backyard in the middle of nowhere. every dark, frigid, wintery morning we walked to our bus stop anticipating the
cat bus to come running up with its big smile and warm, fuzzy seats and take us to school. pretend
dust bunnies occupied the dark corners of our house.
♥
this is a tribute to totoro. i crocheted a scoodie (scarf + hood) and attached ears and a big, green leaf on top. I crocheted pockets to resemble paws onto the ends of the scarf part complete with long, brown totoro nails. my romper is one i purchased from american apparel. i cut out the mouth and gray belly spots from jersey knit material and hand-stitched the teeth. i then hand-sewed the belly and mouth onto the romper WHILE wearing it and WHILE looking into a mirror... because the romper had an elastic band around the waist and would scrunch up if i took it off. so it took a while... but it was definitely worth it. i had gray boots and my co-worker happened to have fur laying about so i just wrapped it around my boots and sewed up the sides. i love my totoro costume and i hope it provides you with a bit of inspiration to create something that commemorates the feel-good, happy, fuzzy moments of your childhood, too.
