COSTUMES

DICKENS CHRISTMAS FAIR
VICTORIAN BOY'S STREET URCHIN CHIMNEY SWEEP COSTUME

December 2013

We decided to take our family to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair and thought it might be fun for my nephew to dress up in a Victorian costume with me. The idea of a street urchin and a chimney sweep from Mary Poppins both appealed to him, so we just said it was both. However, his mother loved the suit so much she did not want me to weather it or tear it! And she didn't want to make him dirty after all! So - we said he's a fresh new recruit ready to start his chimney sweep training.

I made his cap, scarf, trousers, vest and chimney sweep. The shirt was a used boys tuxedo shirt from ebay. The knit gloves from target (I simply cut off the fingers). I also got his boots off ebay, they are used leather paddock boots (they may have been girls since they had fringe near the toe). I just removed the fringe flap from the laces. The suspenders are men's which I had to alter and shorten to fit a boy. They are the Mens Canvas Button-End Old West Suspender sold by beltoutlet.com.

I know the pieces and patterns are not all 100% period accurate, but for throwing this together in just a few weeks I think it worked well.

Victorian Boys costume		Victorian Boys Trousers		Back detail of Victorian boys trousers		Victorian Boys Chimney Sweep

Victorian Boys Costume		Victorian Boys waistcoat		Victorian Boys waistcoat		Victorian Boys Urchin Costume

Cap and Shoes

Wool Victorian Boys Cap		Wool Victorian Boys Cap		Wool Victorian Boys Cap		Leather Paddock boots used for boys chimney sweep costume

Dickens Fair

Boys Chimney Sweep Costume		Boys Chimney Sweep Costume		Boys Chimney Sweep Costume		Boys Chimney Sweep Costume - recruited by the Chimney Sweeps at the Dickens Fair

Reference Photos

My Home Made Chimney Sweep Brush

Chimney sweep brush dowel rods		whisk broom bristles for chimney sweep

Chimney sweep brush stained and varnished		Chimney sweep brush stained and varnished

gluing bristles into the brush		Chimney Sweep Brush		Chimney Sweep Brush for Costume

FABRIC: I used wool for the pants, waistcoat (vest) and cap. The scarf is kona cotton.

PATTERNS: McCall's 6229 boys vest pattern view G, Burda kids 9507 Cap view A tweaked modified quite a bit, and Burda Kids 9452 for the trousers (without the cuff) . I attempted to add a split to the trousers, it was a bit rushed and not authentic. I was able to take the buckle tab pattern off one of my adult western trouser patterns and add that detail to the boys pants.

SHOES: Used leather paddock boots from ebay - the fringe at the toes was removed from the laces.

CHIMNEY SWEEP BRUSH: A metal bristle chimney sweep brush would have been too hazardous for a young boy to carry around. They are also large, heavy, and quite expensive. So I opted to make him one! I used two wooden dowels rods from a home improvement store. After cutting the larger one to length, I marked and drilled holes for the bristles. I also drilled a hole in the base for the smaller dowel rod pole to insert. Finally, I stained and sealed the wood. I did have to secure the top of the brush to the handle with a small screw. I wish I could take it apart for storage, but all of the glue makes that impossible.

I made the bristles from a natural whisk broom. I now wish I had more time to track down a synthetic broom with long enough bristles, because the natural bristles break very easily. I spray painted the bristles with a combination of some sort of charcoal gray primer and black (I just used what we had laying around from old projects). As long as it's matte paint and is nearly black it works.

I began gluing the bristles in with Gorilla Glue, that was a bad idea, it expands too much and oozes out the holes. I later converted to E6000 which gave a cleaner result. I ran out of time to glue in all the bristles before the Dickens Fair event. But he had fun with half the bristles in. I later completed it and gave an extra shot of charcoal black spray paint at the top of the brush for added weathering.

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