Halloween 2014

This year's Halloween costumes were light on sewing and heavy on the glue gun and felt. But I got two happy kids and that's all that matters. I give you Batgirl and Ash.



When we first started costume discussion K. wanted to be Queen Elsa (like 99% of the other little girls out there). The problem with that was that I had already made her an Elsa costume back in March for her birthday. And that costume was getting a little snug. It wasn't going to allow for the layers that are usually necessary for an Ohio Halloween (and they were definitely necessary this year!). As much as I liked how her original Elsa costume turned out, I really didn't want to make it again.

So we perused Pinterest for some other costume ideas and she saw a Batgirl costume she loved. So I made a black tutu, slapped a Batman logo on a store-bought black t-shirt, and added a few other accessories. Easy-peasy!



A.'s costume turned out to be pretty easy too.... once we settled on what exactly he was going to be. He wanted a Pokemon costume, and kept choosing obscure characters you can't buy costumes for in the store (like Oshawott). I just didn't want to put all the time and effort into creating an Oshawott costume from scratch, just so it could be worn one night. Eventually he agreed to be the human from Pokemon- Ash Ketchum. Now there's something I can pull together in a reasonable amount of time!



There was a bit of sewing involved with this one. I franken-shirted the "jacket" together from two shirts and added some details with felt. I think it turned out pretty cute! And he got recognized much more this time around than he did last year when he was The Turtleman (from the show "Call of the Wildman").



Halloween night was cold and rainy here. K. only made it to a few houses before she was ready to head back and hand out candy from the warmth of Grandma and Grandpa's house. A. stuck it for quite a while and was well-rewarded for his effort. People were feeling quite generous since there weren't many trick-or-treaters making the rounds!

Doc McStuffins Costume

After listing off at least 20 different things she wanted to be for Halloween over the past month, K finally settled on Doc McStuffins. I wasn't about to pay $30+ for the poorly-made version available in stores. K loves to play dress-up (her princess and mermaid costumes are still worn quite frequently), and I know those cheap, paper-thin costumes won't hold up to her wear and tear.

Plus, the best part of Halloween is getting to make the costumes, right?!



I was able to pull this together for less than $5! Here are the materials I used: two t-shirts I found for $1 each, an old button-down shirt from my closet, and a long-sleeve shirt K already had.



I used the pink t-shirt to make a simple skirt. Just cut it to length, made an elastic casing, and used the existing hem. Doesn't get much easier than that!



I cut strips from the purple t-shirt and used a zig-zag stitch to sew them onto the long-sleeve shirt.



For the doctor's coat, I hemmed up the sleeves and bottom, and added pockets to the front. I attempted to take up the shoulders so it didn't look so droopy on her, but after some fussing with it I decided it wasn't worth the trouble. It is just a Halloween costume, after all. ;)



She already had the "official" Doc McStuffins bag and accessories (birthday gifts!), so she's all set!





And since I finished this costume with time to spare before Halloween, I can concentrate on Kids Clothes Week! I'm hoping to make 2-3 new garments this week-- wish me luck!

Halloween 2012: My Little Mermaid

Our first dress up event of Halloween was this afternoon and I actually finished K's costume a couple days ago. I could have kept going with accessories, but I decided more accessories = more things I end up carrying. Example: The wig only lasted long enough for the photos and the bracelets fell off shortly after.



I used an exposed elastic waistband on the skirt/tail (which is what I was practicing with this circle skirt). I like the way it looks, plus it's so much easier than trying to make an elastic casing with this slippy, stretchy fabric.

Even though K insisted she needed a REAL tail and we would just have to carry her for trick-or-treating, I designed the fins at the base of the skirt for easy walking. I found lots of cute mermaid skirts with really flowing tulle fins at the bottom, but I knew she'd be tripping on them all night. So I purposely left a space between the two fins in the front. And rather than leave the tulle loose at the ends, I folded it in half and sewed both edges to the base of the skirt.

Glitter is the herpes of the craft world and my sewing room is badly infected. Thanks to this glittery tulle, myself and all my sewing projects will have at least a few bits of glitter stuck to them for the next 6 months. Maybe I'll just embrace it and say it's my attempt to make everything look fancier.



I wasn't planning to do the seashell bra thing, but when I told my husband about my costume plan he said the seashell thing was a required accessory of the mermaid. So I guess I had to do it (and it is pretty cute).



I ended up letting A pick his own costume at the store. Crafting FAIL. That's two years in a row he's had a store-bought costume. I think I owe him big time next year.

Wee Wonderfuls: Mermaiden

I've had this little mermaiden on my "to sew" list for quite a while. It's the third project I've made from the Wee Wonderfuls book (previous projects here and here).



There's been some waffling on Halloween costumes, so I hope getting to snuggle with this little stuffie helps cement the idea of being a mermaid in K's head. For a long time she wanted to be a ballerina, then she switched to tiger, then "a lizard! that eats flies!" And now we're on to mermaid. And it better stick, because costume fabric has been purchased!



How perfect is that green scale fabric for a mermaid tail?! And I suppose I could still pull off a lizard costume... if I really have to...