Happy Monday!
How is your October going so far? We've had the sickies around here, but we're getting better, and the change of weather is putting everyone in good spirits.
Have you decided what your kids will be for Halloween this year? Are you going to dress up with them? Well, I have another fun post to help inspire you and get you on your way to a fun, creative, homemade costume.
I caught up with Julie from Pattern Shmattern, and she agreed to share her tutorial for an adorable costume she made for her son, without a pattern of course! But first, let's meet the woman behind the sewing machine:
"I'm a stay-at-home mom of 2 little ones with one on the way. We've lived in large cities and middle sized towns, but we're currently living in a small town in the rural mid-west US, and it has it's challenges, mainly boredom. I miss being able to take my kids to the zoo or the museums whenever I want to, so I put my sewing machine to work and make crafts with my kids to fill my time. I love getting inspiration from other people's blogs, so I started one of my own. It's mainly a collection of things I've made in my sewing room, grown in my garden, and cooked in my kitchen. I have memories of my mom making costumes, and I still have a crayon costume I wore as a toddler that she sewed for me. I want my kids to have those same memories of me."
"My daughter wanted to be a mermaid for Halloween and I found a mermaid tail at a store, so then I thought my son has to have a coordinating costume, right? "
"Here's what I came up with. I googled "fish costume" for inspiration... ok well I first googled "fish costume" to see if I could find a cute affordable and good quality costume for sale, because I really haven't ever made a costume before, but no such luck. So with a few photos in mind I went to Walmart and bought a couple of yards of felt and some ping pong balls."
"I spent at least an hour cutting out scales by hand, but my husband and I are on a Battlestar Galactica Netflix kick, so I cut them while watching those and the time went by quickly."
"I used one of my son's sleeveless summer onesies as an idea for the general shape, but I made the costume much larger than the onesie to fit over any cold weather clothing he might need to wear. Then I cut the body out of felt and sewed on the scales. I used some of my daughter's glittery tulle left over from her tutu to give the tail some shimmer. The eyes are ping pong balls cut in half with sharpie marker circles on them. I used hot glue to attach them to the cap."
"The basic shape is this- A tank top like shirt with a tail in the back. I just winged it on the fin size and shape in the back and on the head piece."
I asked Julie if she had any tips about making the head piece and she did!
"I used a measuring tape to measure from the front of my son's head to the base of his neck and and the width of the head. I cut a rectangle with those dimensions. Then I cut two circle shapes for the sides and sewed them to the rectangle. I took a few inches of 1/4 inch elastic and stretched it out, laid it against the neckline, and sewed to the inside of the neckline with a zigzag stitch. I used another length of elastic to make a chin strap. Out of the darker blue felt I cut a fin shape and attached it to the top of the cap with a straight stitch. I cut one ping pong ball in half with a saw, and then I used hot glue to attach them to the felt cap."
Thank you, Julie! Can you believe she got a result like this on her first costume attempt! I'm amazed. If you are just starting out in the dress-up or costume game, felt is a wonderful fabric to use. It doesn't fray, it cuts easily, and hot-glues like a dream. Plus, the colors are great!
For more great ideas from Julie, check out her blog, Pattern Shmattern. It is full of inspiration!
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