A New Costume

I make my own costumes.  You can probably see that my costume is pretty unique.  As a professional clown, you don't have to make your own.  There are a lot of really beautiful and well made costumes from places like Pricilla Mooseburger Originals or other such places.  But when you are just starting out, or once you have found something that works for you, making it might be the cheaper way to go.

If you can't sew, you may have to settle for combining eccentric pieces that you find at the thrift store, etc.  As long as you can put together a Simplicity pattern, you can probably get a couple of pretty good costumes done yourself.

My first costume was a Raggedy Ann pattern from Simplicity.  I made it out of pink and purple broadcloth on the sale table and shortened the sleeves on the under-dress.  It worked out fine for a year or so before I got tired of it and the colours started to fade a little.  Some knee socks and colourful shoes and that's pretty much the costume.

From there, I wanted to find a way to streamline it a little.  I liked the shirt/pinafore feel, but didn't like how many pieces I had to deal with and thought I might be able to combine the bloomers and pinafore into one thing by creating a romper/overall type thing.  This is where we went from easy (assembling Simplicity patterns) to kind of hard (creating your own design and pattern and then trying to make it fit on YOU.  I started with the basic idea of the pinafore, switched out the ruffled top for just a band, measured just enough to make it all the way around the widest part of my hips (plus some so they aren't even close to tight)... straight up (with a couple pleats into the band at the top), straight down on the legs and ruffle the bottom.  That's the simplified version of my thinking.  The reality involved a lot more naughty words, wasted fabric because it was cut wrong/didn't fit/looked stupid/etc.  In any case, my first set of overalls, wasn't bad, but I've been refining it with each new pair since then.
















Then comes my latest creation.  Built upon the things I've learned from the last few overalls.  I like them and they match my new custom Converse X-Hi Chuck Taylors!

Happy Clowning!!
Perry Noia :oD

Clown Boot Camp for Kids!

This March Break, I will be teaching a day camp on the basics of clowning for kids aged 9-12 (or 13). In the class, we will cover things such as clown makeup, face painting, basic balloon twisting and we will prepare several clown skits to be performed in front of a video camera (and an audience if there is one). Some areas of clown history, comic movement, making large stage movements, and of course working as a group will also be covered.

I am trained as a Junior/Intermediate teacher in my BEd, so I have plenty of experience with teaching grades 4-8. My training from two sessions at Mooseburger Camp as well as 3 years of clowning locally will be drawn upon to create an engaging and educational curriculum that is sure to excite young performers in the art of clowning!

For $200, each student will receive 5 days of instruction from 9 am to 3 pm (pick up between 3 and 4 pm), a Qualatex red balloon pump, one 100 count bag of Qualatex twisting balloons, use of clown makeup and face paints in class, foam clown nose and graduation certificate.

Reserve a space for your child early as I need to have at least 4 commitments to the class by February 1st to have enough time to order materials. Call (519)562-7371 or email hawkerin@gmail.com today.

Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD