From Trash to Pirate Treasure

As a woman in my mid-30s, I have a lot of the things that often come with growing up: A job, an apartment, and a pile of clothes that have just one or two things wrong with them. Growing up has meant more working than playing, and skewing my spending more in the direction of bills and responsibilities, rather than toys or the adventures that I dreamed about growing up. As a child, my dress-up bin included outfits to help me imagine myself as pirates, princesses, animals, astronauts, and everything combined and in between. Nothing gave me more joy than taking a simple scarf and tying it around my waist to hold a paper towel roller sword, or putting on bulky clothing to simulate the protective gear of a space explorer.

I have always had much more imagination than money, and I love reusing and recycling as much as possible. So naturally, I have always endeavored to use what I have available to me to create whatever whimsical costume or prop I have in mind, rather than purchasing new materials. Too often, things like worn out, damaged, or stained clothes are discarded, even though they still have great potential to become something else, with the aid of a little creativity and work.

I never outgrew my love of playing dress up, and to this day, costumes and theme parties are a few of my favorite things. Nothing brings me more joy than taking the time to create something new and fun out of something that had been discarded and found its way to me, and either wearing it myself or seeing it on someone else. Nearly every costume project that I've worked on for the last decade has required two things: My very distinctive Fiskars scissors, and whatever cheap, free, or discarded clothes happen to come my way.

There are quite a few popular fictional characters in existence who are associated with special items, objects or tools that are nearly as identifiable as their wielders. Those tools might be a special screwdriver, a mighty hammer, or a sword pulled from a body of water. These things are useful not only in a practical, hands-on way, but they are also extensions and symbols of those who wield them. Those wielders have lofty, heroic goals, and their tools assist them in said goals. My aims are more humble, but my tool of choice is no less iconic within my friend circle. My scissors are affectionately known as “Jenn’s Beer Scissors,” for the bottle opener on one of the blades, or “Jenn’s Knife Scissors,” as they easily separate into two blades.

The costume projects that these scissors assist me in involve a lot of time, creativity, and of course, cutting. I try to reuse items whenever possible, not only out of necessity, but also out of a sense of environmental responsibility. I remember being disgusted when I learned that many donated clothing items end up in landfills. When I see an old t-shirt, pair of pants, prom dress, or even hospital scrubs, I can't help but see the potential in the items, rather than mere trash. With the help of my trusty scissors, old shirts have become Halloween costumes of characters well-known for expanding enough to rip out of garments--a few well-placed snaps allow for more than one theatrical entrance or exit, and multiple wears of said costume. I have used these scissors to create denim breeches out of worn jeans, for a modern-esque Shakespearean costume. The last time I costumed a Victorian-era community theatre play, my scissors helped to transform a few three-dollar used prom dresses found at thrift stores into lavish ball gowns for the leads. And most recently, I decided that for Halloween I would dress up as a certain bard from a popular TV show, known for encouraging listeners to throw money at their local monster fighter.

This particular costume was created with some of my worn out work scrubs, which I had set aside for patching new scrubs as needed. I happened to notice that they were exactly the right color for one of the bard’s outfits, and just needed a little reworking and a few additions. I cut two old scrub tops down the middle, and stitched the two of them together to create a lined coat. I cut a few slashes in the front and back of the garment, and added in some gold fabric scraps left over from a Renaissance gown I made out of a prom dress some years back. A few strips of red bias tape found in a thrift store edged the slashes, and the coat was nearly complete. I cut up a pair of matching scrub pants, and the legs became the coat’s sleeves. The rest of the pants and some leftover cotton from a scrap quilt became the decorative front pieces. To complete the look, all that was left to do was cut the pockets off of another pair of scrub pants to make them look like their inspiration, and the outfit was complete.

I worked on this particular project alone, as it was during the pandemic, but in the past I have often worked on my repurposed costume projects in the company of friends. I’ve been stopped mid-cut while disassembling old prom dresses or t-shirts to open beers with the bottle opener, or separate the blades to open a box or envelope. And since the scissors came with a sheath that contained a sharpener, it was no problem to run the blades over the sharpener a few times and go right back to cutting fabric. I realize I could just get a pair of fabric scissors that are used for fabric only, but the fact that they can do anything has added to their reputation as an amazing tool.

These legendary scissors have brought me continuous joy and productivity by helping me pursue my passion of creating affordable costumes that are easy on the environment. They are also the best tool I have in my crafting tool kit, as they serve several functions. My friends always have a good time using them as well when we work together. We can have a few beers like the responsible adults we need to be, and we can create the imaginative costumes that allow us to feel like kids again. In addition, we do our part to keep a few items out of landfills, and make sure we get our bills paid instead of breaking the bank acquiring new materials. Although, if we did need to sail the high seas in search of treasure, we could certainly make sure we look the part. Except instead of a cardboard tube representing a pirate sword, the tool tucked into a thrift store scarf at my hip would be a pair of orange and black scissors, with a bottle opener on one blade.