Halloween 2012 - Tinker Bell & Rapunzel

Still  working on stuff I did last year... Someday I will catch up. But I'm finally getting around to the Halloween costumes I made for the girls last year. 

Miss Tinker Bell herself.

I didn't plan as well this time, so instead of getting done a month early, I was literally hot gluing flowers to Madeline's wig the DAY OF Halloween. I'd only finished Madeline's dress the day before. My stress level was pretty high. In my defense, I was a little distracted with my infant son, but this year I'm determined to start and finish early again!

I used McCall's pattern number M4887 for the fairy dress and made my own pattern for the wings, using the method outlined in the pattern (I thought the wing pattern included was too round!). I also made some bloomers that go to the knee to wear underneath the dress, which you can sort of see in the second picture from the top - those weren't part of the pattern either. 

For Rapunzel, I used Simplicity pattern number 2065. I didn't bother making the yarn wig. I just bought a long blond wig from Amazon (and glued flowers into it, as I mentioned earlier). 

With the wig.

Did I mention this is an adult sized wig? And it STILL didn't quite fit. My child has the biggest head ever.

Trick or treating. 

fin.

Gryffindor Halloween Costume - Part 4, Tie & Robes

Toddler Tie

I attempted to find a tie I could buy, but finding one for a toddler was impossible.

For the tie, I used this tutorial over at the Purl Bee.

I couldn't find a fabric with stripes that had the right color combination, so using leftover maroon fabric from Evie's robes I just top-stitched stripes onto the fabric after I'd cut out the pattern shapes.

Robes


This is the part of the costume that I thought would be exceptionally difficult. You can't just go out and find a pattern for Harry Potter style wizards robes! That would be too ridiculously convenient!

My initial research led me to this website which shows you how to adapt a standard robe pattern into a Harry Potter style robe....for adults, anyway. I used the same method for a child sized robe.

The pattern I use was Simplicity pattern #2571. I scoured Joann's and the internets for fabric in the right color. I found some at Mood Fabrics - it's cotton poplin and I just love the maroon color. It just so happened that I had recently purchased a Groupon that gave me $30 worth of fabric for $15. Go me!

It took me a couple of days to adapt the pattern, which I thought was going to take me forever (!) - hence why I started in, like, August. But it went surprisingly fast and easy.

After the pattern was finished, I made a basic toile out of white fabric and it looked great! (I love when that happens!) However, that one won't be worn outside anytime soon - white robe with a pointy hood.....yeah, didn't think that one through. I'll have to add trim or lace or something to it in the future....can't let a good robe go to waste.

Here's my oldest modeling the toile.

Some improvements I made to the pattern - I added a lining to the whole thing, a side pocket and a wand pocket on the inside. For the neck closure I used a frog closure that I found at Joann's.

Frog closure:

Wand pocket:

Gryffindor Patch

The little Gryffindor patch was hand embroidered by yours truly. 

(It was surprisingly difficult to get a good picture of this thing)

I found a picture of what the patch was supposed to look like, then scaled it down in Inkscape to the size I wanted. I printed it out and basically just eyeballed the design as I was sewing (I used a separate piece of leftover fabric and a small embroidery hoop). The pattern was just too small and the fabric too black (go figure!) to draw it out before I did it. 

The finished product:

I am very proud of how well these robes turned out.

Can anyone argue against this little girl being the cutest Gryffindor ever? No? I didn't think so.

Mermaid Halloween Costume - Part 4, Tail

For Madeline's Mermaid Tail I used Simplicity pattern 4043. 

Incidentally, a word about buying patterns - never (ever!) buy them at full price! Every few months Joann's has McCall's and Simplicity patterns for as little as 99 cents. Keep an eye on their ads!

Moving on.....

Not much to say about this part. I followed the instructions pretty close, except for the sequin aspect. They had suggested buying sequin trim (pre-sewn sequins that you just have to baste in place), but they are very expensive. I thought I could do a good job by hand so even though I had never done it before, I gave it my best shot.

Again, the method is really easy - sequin, bead, and then back through sequin hole again. I used seed beads and these plastic pearl beads I got from my Mom the last time I visited her house. (I pilfer craft supplies, what can I say?)

I sewed them on both sides of the tail. I alternated between the sides on every sequin/bead to make it easier on myself. In other words, I'd do one sequin/bead and then I'd flip it over and do a sequin/bead in the same spot on the other side.

I think it turned out well. It weighs a ton - not literally, but for a four year old, it was a tough proposition to carry it around while trick-or-treating.

Gryffindor Halloween Costume - Part 3, Skirt

I whipped this skirt up in a couple of hours. It's made of the same cotton poplin that I used for her robes.

It's basically two rectangles and a waistband. I also put in a lining. There are four 1/2 inch pleats in the front.

The front:

The back - there are three tiny pleats back there:

In retrospect, I should have made it bigger, but I was afraid I'd make it too big. Ah, my irrational fears.

I think it turned out great, though it wasn't part of the costume that would be seen by anyone. It was cute nonetheless.

Stay tuned for more! Up next is Evie's Gryffindor tie!

Mermaid Halloween Costume - Part 3, Barrettes

I made Madeline matching barrettes for her costume.

I'm going to save myself a lot of grief and explain how I made them in another post - a tutorial even!

For now, here are some pictures:

Gryffindor Halloween Costume - Part 2, Scarf & Wand

Gryffindor Scarf 

 This lovely scarf was knitted by Tammy. I asked her to make it 'Evie sized' and she took it from there.

Magic Wand

If you want to make a wand of your own, get a 12 inch or so wooden dowel. You could use Balsa wood, it would be very easy to carve but would be fragile.  I've made a wand before, but I used clay for the handle and I knew that if Evie dropped something like that it would break.

I needed something sturdy so that's why I went with the dowel. I bought some wood carving tools as well and then went at it. It takes a lot of time and patience. I would suggest using gloves to protect your fingers in case you slip.

I carved a flower into the end (though you can't see it well in this picture).

I used 'Mahogony' colored wood stain to make it dark and finished it off with several coats of lacquer.

Surprisingly, Evie clutched onto this thing almost the entire time we were out trick-or-treating. She knows exactly what she's supposed to do with it - poke Mommy in the eye and hit her in the face.

Mermaid Halloween Costume - Part 2, 'Mermaid' Top

For Madeline's top I used McCall's pattern M5732 (fairies) instead of the top that went with the tail for a couple of reasons. First, I was more concerned with modesty than being accurate to what a mermaid is supposed to look like. Secondly, it's October. In Pennsylvania. Hello, it's cold. A halter style top just wasn't going to cut it.

The top has two parts, the undershirt and the vest.

The pattern for the undershirt was actually a mid-thigh length dress. I altered the pattern by cutting the length off to about five or six inches under where the shirt cinches at the waist. I should have added a couple more inches - it's a little short. I would totally make a shirt like this for Madeline's everyday wear, though, because it's super cute(!).

This is the vest:

I made it one size too big....but that means she can wear it for play longer, right? The sequin/bead clusters weren't a part of the original pattern, but the petals at the neck kept flipping upward and Madeline said it wasn't comfortable. So that's how I tacked the petals down.

And they look cool...It also served to tie the look of the top to the tail.

For those of you who want to try sequins, they're really easy! It's just sequin, bead and then back through the sequin hole. Repeat. If you're using seed beads you'll need a beading needle, which are super fine, that you can get at any craft store.

And there you have it! Madeline's mermaid top!


Stay tuned for more!

Gryffindor Halloween Costume - Part 1, Zonko's Bag

Tammy has dubbed this costume 'Evie Potter.'

There will be a time in the not-so-distant future when my baby girl will have an opinion about such things as birthday parties and Halloween costumes. I thought I would strike while we're still in that magical stage of basically doing whatever I tell her to do. Thus, here you have the cutest little Gryffindor, ever.



The only parts I didn't make (or had made) were the shirt ($8 at Old Navy), the shoes (Target hand-me-downs from Madeline), and the black tights (Walmart). So, like with Madeline's costume, I'll be breaking it down into several posts.

My goal this year was to have both the girl's costumes finished by the time we left on our cruise, which was the 1st week or October. And I made it! Except for Madeline's fish bag and barrettes. But, I actually finished Evie's costume first because I was worried about doing the 'hard' part and I wanted to get it out of the way. But more on that later.

Today I'm talking about one of the easier elements which is her treat bag. It says Zonko's on it. For those who aren't familiar with Harry Potter - firstly, have you been living under a rock for the last thirteen years? And secondly, Zonko's is a joke shop in Hogsmeade village.

I wanted it to be bright. Bright stripes, maybe some zigzags. Orange. It took me awhile to find the fabric I wanted and I had to settle for plain old stripes, but they were slanted, so huzzah!

I made this just like you'd make a big tote (I didn't use a tutorial but here's one if you're interested) except I made it toddler sized (I think my fabric dimensions were 9 x 7 or so).



I printed ZONKO's out on a piece of paper and then made the letters super chunky (added 1/4 inch all the way around), then cut them out. Using the cut out letters as patterns, I pinned them on the fabric and cut around them. I top-stitched them on the outer layer of fabric before I assembled the rest of the bag.

And voilà! Evie has a cute little bag to carry around her little wizard treats.

Mermaid Halloween Costume - Part 1, Fish bag

This year for Halloween, my firstborn wanted to be a blue mermaid.



I'm planning to do a post for each step in the process since I did several things for this costume. The first thing I'm going to talk about is her little fish bag.

When I asked Madeline what kind of treat bag she wanted she said 'A fish!', and I'm like 'Really? You don't want something classier than that?'...

She really wanted a fish.... so after thinking about it for a couple of days, I got to work.

I made a fish pattern and then used fabric scraps and sequins left over from her costume. I whipped it together pretty fast. If you've done lined bags before, it's the same concept, just, err, fish shaped. I hand sewed the sequins on after finishing the bag.

The 'eyes' are buttons I got from my grandmother. They're older than I am.

Halloween Sweets - Skewered Eyeballs

This treat is pretty straightforward. I found the recipe on the internets, however, it didn't go as expected. I had to improvise and I think my way actually turned out better.

First you take about 12-18 plain donut holes and stick them onto forks (I used plastic halloween colored ones). Make sure you don't compromise the structural integrity of the donut hole when skewering (you don't want it to break apart in the next step). I put them in mugs to keep them from touching each other or a flat surface.

Then you take each forked donut and frost it lightly with white frosting. When they are all frosted, put them in the freezer so that the frosting hardens (about an hour or so).

When the frosting has set, melt some colored candy melts in a plastic resealable bag to make the irises (**note: this is not what I did, but I wish I had). Make sure all the air is out of the bag and then cut off a corner so you can squeeze out the candy. Make a round shape on each frosted donut. Have chocolate chip pupils ready to insert into the colored candy while it's still malleable. Put the donuts back into the freezer to set again if necessary.

The last step is to add the gore. Use red decorator frosting to add some bloody-ness to your eyeballs, freeze or refrigerate until they are served, and viola!

**The original recipe called for the use of white chocolate. It should be noted that I hate white chocolate, so when it didn't work out, I was not heartbroken. Anyways, I tried to melt the white chocolate in a saucepan and it immediately started to burn, so then I put it in a glass measuring cup to melt in the microwave. This worked and the chocolate was smooth and melty. I tried dunking the donut and the chocolate would not stick to it! After a couple tries the donut fell apart and the chocolate started to harden. So I put it back in the microwave and instead of melting it burned again. I tried melting it in a non-stick pan after that, but it was ruined and I had to throw it out. I cast around for a substitute and found some frosting, which quite frankly, is more appetizing anyway. I made my irises out of white chocolate that I had melted in small glass cups and then mixed in food coloring. This is not advised. The chocolate immediately started to seize up when the color was added. I was able to melt it in bags after that, but it was a total PITA to get it to stick to the donuts (I used a clean finger to shape the iris into a circle... I did a better job of this with the green). And it should be noted that I didn't add the pupils soon enough to the blue eyes and so I had to remelt the center of the blue white chocolate with the tip of a hot butterknife (I was cooking dinner at the time, so I just held the knife to the bottom of the cook pot I was using for about 10 seconds to heat it up).