Halloween 2013

Halloween 2013

This was the first time I made the kids costumes.  I had a lot of fun creating their outfits and their headbands.

And I also made an outfit for Sarah.

Then the day of the trunk or treat I sewed up my jacket.  I already had the shirt and skirt from a previous Halloween costume that I made for myself. Photos courtesy of Julia.

Julia won "Best Homemade Costume" at the trunk or treat.  I like to think it is actually my award.

Before trick or treating Julia had dance class.  We were down a car so we walked, in costume, to her dance class.  

Little Man Hobo

I found my little man's costume while browsing Pinterest. The original can be found at Coolest Homemade Costumes and was posted by Courtney K.

This costume cost me all of 3 bucks for the face paint. I sewed a few patches on his jeans, the hubby made the sign out of a diaper box, and my mom made the cap.

Medieval/Renaissance Maiden

It all started with sale at JoAnn Fabrics. 99 cent patterns. I bought 5 different period costume patterns. Then I headed to Solvang to my favorite $1/yard fabric store and took my 5 patterns along with me. I almost gave up finding the perfect fabric when my friend found a navy blue trim. I remembered seeing a navy blue satin and I was suddenly inspired.

The pattern chosen for the navy blue satin and trim:

I chose view B

I had a few yards of muslin in my stash of fabric. Loved that I didn't have to buy more for the under dress.

I added a small blue bow so that I could tell the front from the back.

Scrapbooking eyelets and white/gold cording were used for the sleeves.

Again the scrapbooking eyelets and gold cording were used for the sides of the tunic. I found the gold trim and tassels in the home decor trim area of JoAnn.

The navy trim that got me going on this project. I have more but ran out of time. I had planned to go all the way around the neck and also sew some on the train. But I was hand sewing the navy trim and that is as far as I got.

The fog started to roll in as I was taking these pictures.

Did I mention yet that I got the satin fabric for only $1/yard? My husband said, "I could have bought you that costume for $50." I had to explain to him that he actually couldn't because of the quality of the fabric and trim. Then he added in that I wasn't considering my labor cost. Who considers their labor cost when it is FUN TO SEW?

She isn't complete without her belt, hat and veil.

Please ignore the wrinkles on the veil. I took these pictures after I wore the costume and then tossed it on my couch in a crumpled mess. "DeeDee" looks pretty short in these pictures.

Oh, wait, that's because I'm short too!

Wearing the costume at our church's Trunk-or-Treat.

Add a wig and some gold jewelry and this Medieval/Renaissance maiden is ready.

I think I could have made this costume even less expensive if I had paid more attention to coupons. Luckily, the veil (chiffon) and belt (brocade) fabrics were 50% off. The most expensive part of this costume was the gold trim around the collar and sides. No coupon. Boo.

Ballet Folklorico/Cinco De Mayo

A friend and I were talking this last Friday about how her daughter came home last night and said she needed a costume for her class on Monday. They would be doing class presentations and would get extra points if they dressed in costume. Originally, said daughter's friend said she could borrow one but that fell through and she didn't know where to go to buy one. So I offered to make one. BTW, if you buy them off the internet they start around 85 bucks and go up! I think somewhere in the conversation I said "How hard can it be? Hubs is working the whole weekend so I'll have plenty of time available to do some sewing."

Ummmm, I couldn't find a pattern! Her mom and I googled like crazy! Thank you Google images. The white one below is what I used as inspiration (and I had tons of white fabric already so we went with that.) Thank you Humboldt State University for having a Ballet Folklorico club.

What I did learn on the Internet-(thank you Internet!)- is that these skirts represent different regions of Mexico depending on their design and that they are double circle skirts. I had no idea what a double circle skirt was. So I googled it. :) I have made a poodle skirt before and it is a single circle skirt. So you just make two circles and connect them together. That is how these skirts get their fullness and the ability to pull them up so high on the sides.

Back to no pattern.....

• I didn't have a true pattern for the skirt but I did have a poodle skirt pattern and doubled the recipe.
• I made a few adjustments like making it shorter and an elastic waistband instead of fitted.
• I used one of her t-shirts as a pattern for the top.
• I grabbed a sleeve pattern from one of my dress patterns.

She had lots of fun twirling around at school!

I had no idea how much fabric to have her mom buy. Like I said, I already had the white fabric. I think I used about 4 yards of white fabric. She picked up 1 yard each of yellow, orange, and hot pink fabric. When making the sleeves I also found some eyelet fabric in my stash. :) I also used a little ribbon and trim on the top.

If I ever make one of these again......

• I'll figure out how many yards of ribbon it takes and possibly try that. Almost all of the dress examples I saw were made with ribbon. But ribbon can get pricey when you need about 11 yards just to make one stripe around the bottom. But I do like how it shines!
• Edge the ruffles before gathering them!
• Look into buying a ruffle/gathering foot for my machine.
• I used lightweight fabric. Very important because the skirt can get heavy.

Wonder if her mom will let me steal it back to add a little more embellishment before Cinco de Mayo?