Halloween Costumes

I decided to sew Halloween costumes this year because I’m crazy.  But, unlike other years, this year I won’t be sewing 5 minutes before the trunk-or-treat starts.  Our friends hold an annual Halloween carnival, and I decided that I wanted to have the costumes ready by the carnival.  That way, if I missed my deadline I’d still have another week until the next Halloween function. I only sewed one costume completely from scratch this year.  One year every family member got a costume from The Wizard of Oz (except Aaron, who put together his own scarecrow ensemble).  So I took the easy easier route and sewed some things and used some bought or found things.  Katie wanted to be Tiana.  With the exception of Guiselle from Enchanted, we now have a costume for every single Disney princess.  Which is fine with me, since my kids spend hours every day in dress-ups.  These costumes get lots of mileage, which makes it totally worth it for me. This costume was a bit of a pain to sew, but not nearly as complicated as Glinda.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting more experienced or if the pattern was easier, but I seemed to understand things better and make fewer mistakes.  It turned out a bit big and had to be safety pinned in a few places, but that’s much better than too small.  She should get plenty of wear out of this.  I love how the sequin trim and the jewels finish it off.  One of my favorite parts is the shoes that match the round jewels on the dress perfectly.  They were in nearly perfect condition at Savers for $5.  Score!!  They’re quite comfy and have soles with traction, so Katie will also be able to wear those all the time.  Katie wanted to have a frog to carry around with her.  Not like I don’t have a million other projects already.  Perhaps if we stumble across a Beanie Baby frog we’ll grab it. Paul bought a wizard hat at the Renaissance Fair, which inspired the wizard costume.  I used some fabric my mom had at her house, so the cape didn’t cost a thing to make besides the 99 cents I paid for the pattern.  I altered the pattern to make the cape reversible.  One side is blue silk from India (!!!).  I couldn’t believe my mom would let me use it, but she was the one who offered it up, so of course I grabbed it!  The other side is a plain black, which is perfect for being Zorro, a bad guy, or anything else his imagination can come up with. I think he’s confusing wizards with the emperor from Star Wars here.  But he’s super cute anyway. Averi fell in love with a witch costume at Other Mothers, and since it fit her and she was so enraptured with it, I let her get it.  It was pretty beat up.  The hat was fraying, the poorly-serged seams were falling apart, and it just needed a bit of TLC.  So I put new bias tape on the brim, mended any holes, clipped all stray thread, and put new polka-dot bias tape on part of the dress.  That’s my favorite part.  It just gave it that little extra touch to look higher-quality.  I learned how to make my own bias tape using this tutorial, and although it was time consuming, it was so satisfying to have yards and yards of bias tape at the end.  And yes, I know I’m weird.  I made the gloves for her, found the tights at Wal-Mart of all places, and let her borrow my necklace.  Cutest witch I’ve ever seen.  She decided that she was going to be a bad witch, and when she put it on tonight, she ran and grabbed Paul and with a sassy sway of her hips said, “Come on!  Let’s go get those good guys.”  Adorable.   When I had her put her hat on to take pictures at the carnival, I realized that at one point she had stored a cupcake in there.  The inside was covered with frosting, and yet I made her wear it for photos anyway.  I’m a terrible mother.  Then when we were getting in the car, she took the hat off and plopped the lollipop she was sucking on in there for safe-keeping.  Bridget was an aerobics instructor with leggings, a onesie, and a headband.  I’m planning on adding to her costume, but it’s not finished.  Pictures of her will be coming later.  She was definitely not in the mood for photos this evening. I love my adorable family.  Happy Halloween season!!