Costume Throwbacks
October is a very busy sewing month for me! As always, I have costumes planned for the kids (and hopefully there's time to make myself one too, fingers crossed), but I also volunteered my sewing skills to our dance studio, as they prepare for an original production in November/December. It's a good thing that sewing costumes is my FAVORITE!
Tomorrow I have a monkey tail tutorial to share with you ... you know, in case you ever need to make one. And in the works are an angel costume, a Pokemon Dragonite costume and a peacock costume, but those are all in progress.
I got to looking through old blog photos, though and pulled these gems to reminisce about past years of handmade costumes. *sigh* looking at old photos of my little kids gets me all weepy, haha.
I'll start with one of my all-time favorites, Buzz Lightyear! I didn't use a pattern for this (other than the hat). Just a pair of swats, foam board for the jet pack, a pile of felt, my scissors and glue gun. And probably Gilmore Girls and a beer, ha! Oh, and puff paint.
Sweet Natalie as Belle. I used to eye roll when I found out I had to make a princess dress and now I wish they'd pick a princess dress because it's been too long since I've made one. I just can't be made happy. This pattern is out of print, but that' probably a good thing because the sizing was terrible, I had to take it in a ton. I think they replaced it with McCall's 5494.
Layla was an Egyptian princess one year. This one was fun to make, such fun fabrics! That's part of why I like sewing costumes, because I get to play with fabrics that I'd never get to otherwise. Pattern is Simplicity 2329.
Kelby was a dinosaur that same year. He loved this costume so much, he continued to wear it daily and/or as p.j.'s until finally, we moved to Hawaii, it was way too small, had holes and I was afraid he was going to sweat to death ... and I tossed it. I'm using this same pattern for his Dragonite costume this year, only I had to acquire a new pattern because I cut the bigger sizes off. Who knew I'd need it again? The pattern is Simplicity 1765.
Two years ago, my girls chose these monster girls, McCall's 6816. They were really fun to make! That was our first Hawaii halloween and it really bummed me out how much a paid for those fabrics that are super cheap at JoAnn's at the mainland. #paradiseproblems
Kelby was The Flash that year. I'm not sure I used a pattern for this, I think I made it up on the fly. Or should I say, on the flash. Hehehe, I crack myself up.
I absolutely loved Layla in this Merida costume. This was our Virginia Halloween and we had the prettiest woods behind our houses, which made the photo shoot extra fun. The pattern is McCall's 1557 and I've actually used the cloak pattern included here many times. Costumes, birthday gifts, dress-up cloaks and a Kylo-Ren cloak for Kelby. I can make this sucker in no time flat!
Natalie was a Renaissance Princess that year. McCall's 6141 is out of print, it seems, but you can find it on Etsy and even Amazon. (Same cloak as above!)
And Kelby was Mario. I only made the hat (McCall's 6814), but he was adorable. Everybody said "Hey, Mario!" when they saw him, of course.
There are more, but those are some of my favorites! Are you sewing costumes this year? What should I be? Last year I made myself a Minion costume. It was awesome. This year I'm thinking Amelia Bedelia, but I don't want to be mistaken for a plain ol' maid. Do kids all still know who Amelia Bedelia is? Mine do, but I wouldn't consider us mainstream, we're a little weird, haha.
I'll leave you with one of my all-time favorite photos of my kids and me. I was Supermom, of course. Fake it til' you make it ;)
