Indian Costume #5 March 31, 2013

Well, if there’s one thing I’m good for, it’s making American-Indian costumes for my kids and their cousins. I suppose on my tombstone someday the epitaph might say something like, “She was a great maker of American-Indian costumes for her beloved family.” It all started a few years ago when my oldest daughter really wanted to be an Indian for Halloween. And since that costume went so well, and because my kids and their cousins love to play dress-up, last year for my niece’s birthday, I made her a similar costume. And then this past October, one of my nephews said, “Will you please make me an Indian costume for my birthday?” So, Aunt Addy did her best and managed to draft a pattern and come up with a boy’s American-Indian costume. And then when my son saw it, he wanted one too, so he got a matching one. And then, most recently, my other nephew said, “Aunt Addy, will you make me a costume too?” So, he got his AddyMade Indian costume yesterday for his birthday.

All the cousins wore their costumes both yesterday and today and have been having an awesome time in their imaginary world of teepees and pow-wows. And Great-Grandpa was having so much fun watching the little papooses play that he gave me a wad of cash to buy them all moccasins to wear. Those will be a nice treat when they come in the mail in a week or so.

Halloween Costumes October 30, 2012

Here are our family Halloween costumes this year! (Hubby chose to go as himself this year….)

Susan Pevensie from Narnia, Squanto the Indian, Princess J, and Jessie.

Click here to see the post I wrote about the Susan dress.

Click here to read about the Indian costume.

Click here to read about the princess dress. I made it last year for my then-7-y-o, and I just temporarily hemmed it up about 10 inches this year, because my 3 y-o REALLY wanted to wear it.

For the Jessie outfit, I used this idea, but I made several changes: I used felt for the yellow parts instead of fabric and heat-n-bond, and I used a tube of fabric paint for the red detail on the shirt. And, yes, I used red hairspray to make my hair red!

Susan (Narnia) Costume October 22, 2012

My daughter loves all things Narnia, and Queen Susan is her favorite character. When she told me she wanted to be Susan for Halloween/ our church’s Fall Festival, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off, but I was determined to explore the possibilities and see if I might be able to come up with something. We ended up using this dress as our inspiration:

And here is our version:

It’s a little different from Susan’s dress in the movie, but it’s pretty close. And I forgot to take a picture of my daughter with her quiver that she wears across her body, which I think adds to the “Susan effect.”

I was pretty proud of myself, because I didn’t use a pattern, and instead traced the bodice of one of my daughter’s dresses and then improvised the skirt part based on some directions I had seen online for making a medieval dress. Here are the directions, fyi. So, I made a very high-waisted bodice, and then the main front and back of the skirt were basically a big rectangle, and then I sewed the triangular shapes into the sides, adding the loops too, for the lacing. I used a zipper in the back too, so that it could be more fitted and wouldn’t have to go over her head. I hope this makes sense….

Anyway, I’m really happy with this dress, and my daughter is too. Every year I tell myself that I am NOT sewing costumes this year–that we have plenty of dress-up clothes in the dress up bins already. But every year I find such satisfaction in working with my children’s ideas and seeing their excitement over something I lovingly made for them. It might just be a tradition that I wouldn’t dare stop.

American-Indian Costume for Boys October 12, 2012

You may remember the American-Indian costumes I’ve made for girls here and here. I made the second one for one of my nieces for her birthday last year. Well, about a week ago, her almost-8-year-old brother was at my house, with his birthday about 10 days away, and he said, “Aunt Addy, I’d like an Indian costume for my birthday.” So I got busy right away, looking for ideas online and planning the costume. I am so happy with how it turned out. In fact, my son, who is the same age as my nephew, was so impressed that he asked me to make him one for Halloween. So, I’ve already got another one in the works. Here are some pictures, and then I’ll give some details about how I made it:

For the tunic, I traced the basic shape of an oxford shirt that fits my son well. I wanted the tunic to be blousy and wide, so that it would fit over his head and fit loosely, so I figured that an oxford, dress-type shirt had the kind of fit I was looking for. I drew the neck shape myself, trying to make it wide enough to fit over his head easily. I had to fit it over my son’s head a few times and cut a bit more until I got it just right. I also made a facing for the inside to finish off the neck edge. I used fringe and ribbon to dress up the tunic front, and I used fringe around the sleeves.

For the pants, I used Dana’s basic boy pants tutorial and I traced a pair of pajama pants that fit my son well. I added fringe to the outside pants seam.

For the headband, I just used a scrap piece of the ribbon trim and added a piece of elastic to the back so that it will fit well, and then I just stuck a feather in the back.

I can’t wait to give it to my nephew! I think he’ll be pleased!

 

 

American-Indian Costume #2 February 21, 2012

In a post I wrote about a year and a half ago, I shared about the American-Indian costume I made my daughter. When I made my daughter’s costume, I bought twice as much fabric as I needed, so I figured that, at some point, I’d make another one. A lady at church asked me several months ago if I could use some fringe trim, and I told her I’d love to have it to make my niece, Hanna, a costume. I knew I couldn’t pull it off in time for Christmas, so my new goal was to make it in time for her 4th birthday, which is in late May. I bought some ribbon trim the last time I was in JoAnn’s, and I finished the costume last night.

I’ll add a few feathers that she can tuck into her hair, a bow and arrow set from Amazon, and this beautiful picture book about Sacagawea. Hopefully it will be a fun birthday gift!

The Wizard of Oz Family Costumes October 30, 2011

Our family dressed up in the Wizard of Oz theme for our church’s Fall Festival on Friday night. We had such a great time planning and preparing these costumes!

In previous posts I showed you the Glenda costume I made my daughter and the Dorothy costume I made myself. The tin man costume was a great find on half-price day at a consignment sale.

I felt like my husband’s scarecrow costume came together really well. We used borrowed overalls and a shirt from his closet. I duct-taped raffia into his sleeves and we stuffed it into his pockets so that it was spilling out. The brown paint on his nose really helped the look too. Here’s how I made his hat:

I cut 4 triangles out of black felt with a base of 9 inches and a height of 14 inches. I sewed the 14″ sides of the triangles together to make a cone shape, and voila! I tied a piece of raffia to the hat to finish it off. It was really cute. And, by the way, I think those dimensions are kind of a one-size-fits all. The hat fit my husband, myself, and my 6-year-old looked cute in it too.

And my poor 2-year-old….I didn’t think she’d have an opinion about her costume this year, but as we were getting ready, she kept saying “No lion! I princess!” She had a brown sweat suit, and I had bought lion ears and a tail from Target. I had intended on painting a nose and whiskers on her face, but she really wasn’t interested, so I didn’t push it. My sweet older daughter let her hold onto her star wand for most of the evening to make her feel more princess-y.

We had a great time working together as a family, and my kids (and husband too!) were proud of my efforts, and that made it all worth it for me.

There’s No Place Like Home October 21, 2011

Well, I finished my Dorothy costume. I had visions of my costume making me look really cute, but instead I feel quite frumpy in it. I need one of my sewing friends to look at it on me and advise me on some alterations. It needs to be a little more fitted in the top, I’m afraid. It’s a big top-heavy, and I’m…..uh….not. I used Simplicity 4136, and it was an easy pattern to follow. The only thing I did differently is that I skipped making the contrasting band that goes around the skirt. It just didn’t seem worth it to me. We watched the movie the other night, to help us all get in the mood of our characters, and I was amazed at how much of an exact replica this pattern is.

Now I’m making my own pattern for a scarecrow hat for my husband. Sadly, I can’t find a good tutorial online. If it works out, I’ll try to post a tutorial! If you have any tips, let me know. I’m not really the kind of seamstress who is good at winging it!

Glenda the Good Witch October 4, 2011

In our house, we make a big deal out of preparing Halloween/ Fall Festival costumes each fall. My kids LOOOOVVVEEE dressing up, and this time of the year when there are parties and a night devoted to costumes is one of their favorite times of the year.

I have fond memories of my mom using her creativity to make us really fun costumes from stuff lying around the house. And since I think creating costumes is 75% of the fun, I try my best to avoid store-bought costumes and try, instead, to make as many of our costumes as possible. The ones I’ve made so far have been real family treasures. And I try to make my kids whatever costumes they want, which sometimes leaves me scratching my head for a while.

Well……we’ve decided this year that the whole family will dress up in The Wizard of Oz theme. I get to be Dorothy (yay!), I scored a really great tin man costume at a consignment sale (store-bought, I know! But a really good one!) for my son, my younger daughter will be the lion, my husband will be the scarecrow, and my older daughter will be Glenda.

Well…..whenever I had looked at those costume patterns in the pattern books, I was always frightened by them. They look so hard and detailed. But….I decided to take the plunge and I bought the Glenda pattern for my daughter. I used Simplicity 4139. Also, I had never sewn with poly-satin or with tulle before, so I was afraid of those too. However, the pattern was really easy to work with, the materials were no-big-deal, and the dress turned out marvelously!

Now…you might notice that our Glenda dress looks a little different from the one pictured on the pattern. First of all, it’s supposed to be a peachy color, but my daughter insisted on pink. No problem! Second, the pattern called for a lot of applique stars and butterflies and flowers, but my daughter did not want those details on it. Also, we decided not to make the tall hat. My daughter did not like it at all. So, she’s going to wear a regular tiara instead. We do have a star wand ready to go. I found it at Target on the $1 aisle.

Also the neckline was a little low, so I added a scrap of fabric in the front to bring it up a bit and make it more appropriate.

So….this dress does not look like a replica of Glenda’s dress, by any means, but it will do the trick. And with the rest of us in the Wizard of Oz theme, hopefully it won’t be too hard to figure out who she is. But I think the thing I like most about this dress is that it will work again and again for any kind of princess-themed costume. I like it that we made it different, because I think it’s more flexible now.

I’ll post more pictures of us all dressed up when the time rolls around. Are you making Halloween costumes? If so, what are you working on?

Pirate Costume May 7, 2011

My buddy was a pirate in our recent home school play, and this was his outfit.

Buddy loves costumes more than just about anything, so he was thrilled with this outfit. We got the idea for the dreadlocks and the head scarf from the most recent Family Fun magazine (May 2011). We made the skull and crossbones t-shirt using Dana’s tutorial for freezer paper stencils. This technique was so easy and had such great results that I’m sure we’ll use it again.

Mouse King Costume December 19, 2010

Both of my big kids really love the Nutcracker. I’ve gotten one particular video recording out of the library so many times (and it seems I’m the only patron who cares about it at all) that I really wish they’d give it to me. (And I can’t find that particular one that my kids love so much for sale anywhere on the internet.) Anyway….

We went to a Nutcracker ballet performance last Sunday, and my kids are still on their Nutcracker “high.” My daughter has been acting it out with her ballet Barbies, dancing around the house to the Nutcracker music, etc. and my son has been drawing Mouse Kings and making Mouse King and Nutcracker masks. Here are some photos of his awesome creations:

(There’s no way I’d have thought of a way to make a 3-dimensional mouse hat like this out of paper. I think I have a pretty intelligent 5-y-o!)

We’re on Christmas break right now, so I’ve had some extra time to scratch my creative itch. This is what I made today, much to the delight of my dear son:

(My daughter made her own mouse mask while I made his.)

He was so excited, and it was so fun making it for him.

Here’s what I did:

I had actually seen felt Mouse King masks for sale in an Etsy shop, so I copied the idea off someone else (sorry, whoever you are out there…) I sketched it out on paper and then cut it out of the felt and stitched it together with embroidery floss. I bought 3/4 yard of purple velvet at Hobby Lobby, and it would’ve cost $9, except that I had a 40% off coupon. I had leftover fleece material from the cape I made my nephew last Christmas, and I edged the cape with that. (I happened to still have the receipt and noticed that I paid $2 last year for 1/2 yd. of it, and it was enough for 2 capes.) And I had leftover gold rope from that costume too. So, I certainly paid under $10 for the whole costume.

Something significant that I did that I think makes these capes fit nicely: I cut a piece of 1/2 in. elastic to a length so that it just touches his collar bone on either side when wrapped around the back of his neck, and sewed it into the ends of the cape. It keeps the cape bunched up nicely and helps it to stay put when he’s wearing it.

The only tough part: The fleecy material is pretty thick, and when I was sewing layers of it together, it was kind of hard to move it through the machine. When I was sewing two layers of fleece, a layer of velvet, a layer of elastic, and a layer of rope together, my machine had a pretty hard time with it. I ended up doing a bit of hand-stitching to make sure the elastic was going to stay put.

So far, Christmas break has been all about creativity in this house. Maybe tomorrow I can show you what I’ve been making for my daughter….