Halloween (and a little Christmas) sewing

We usually have a church Trunk or Treat around a week before Halloween, so I had a deadline for finishing my kids’ costumes. But first, before the Trunk or Treat, we had a fun Harry Potter festival to attend with my in-laws. I made my kids’ costumes a few years ago, but I’ll still post them again. Actually, since we were lending out one of the costumes, my oldest decided to go as Luna Lovegood, so we had to run to Walmart the night before for a costume. I ended up making her blue leggings though (from the free Love Notions Leggins pattern). The baby had a quick and easy costume—baby Harry!

For Halloween, my oldest wanted to be a vampire queen. I already owned the Traveller’s Cape from Twig +Tale, and I modified it to have a vampire silhouette. I also shortened the front part of the cape by measuring to her knuckles and using that measurement. Then I added little elastic loops so she could slip her fingers in them. She loves that part of the costume! Then I free handed the reverse scallops. I also added foam to the collar and had it stay upright rather than folding it down. I found that the red lining sagged when she lifted her arms, so I used red thread to stitch it in place. For her dress, I used the Love Notions Li’l LDT but instead of following the pattern lines for the skirt, I extended them out sideways and squared off the bottom. This made a handkerchief hem. I also cut the sleeves off at 3/4 length and added off center circle sleeves for a waterfall effect. We added a headband from Amazon.

My son wanted to be Bulbasaur, a Pokemon character. I made him a turquoise hoodie from the Bimaa Sweater pattern from LouBee Clothing. This is a closer fitting pattern because I knew he is not a layering type of person, so I wanted it to be more of a hooded shirt. The mask is from Etsy. For his bulb, I was not excited about making something else from scratch, so I asked him if I could just alter his turtle backpack from last year. He was okay with that as long as I made it possible to remove because he loves the turtle shell. It was a little tricky because the bulb is circular and the turtle shell was more oval. I am really happy with how it turned out, and it’s basted on so I can remove it.

My younger daughter wanted to be a witch. I also made her a cape from the same pattern I used for the vampire queen cape, but with no collar or hood, and I rounded the edges. I was going to make my own pattern for the hat, but then I saw a free pattern on Facebook. I ended up changing the sewing methods and interfacing so much that it might as well have been my own pattern. It’s really tall, so I wish it were a little shorter, but she loves it. It’s fully lined and I used boning on the outer rim, which gives it a fun floppy look. I also used the Li’l LDT pattern for her dress, just with smaller bell sleeves. I hemmed her sleeves and since the fabric is stretchy, it ended up being a very swirly hem, but she loved it.

The baby was Jack Jack from The Incredibles. I couldn’t buy cotton lycra from my normal source because they were out of red, so I bought red brushed poly. He’s unbelievably soft in this outfit. I used the Zip Up Pajamas pattern from Peek-a-boo Patterns. Their pattern layout has bugged me in the past but they are updating patterns and this one now has layers, which is so nice. I modified it to have the zipper on the back instead of the front. I bought the badge online.

Finally, some miscellaneous projects. I made some more chemo hats (that’s my ongoing Sunday project), and I made a couple of holiday gifts. Throw blankets are one of my favorite gift ideas. I use sweatshirt fleece on one side and Sew Lush fabric (very soft and cozy fabric from Joanns) on the either. Then I just serge the edges and round the corners. I always buy the fabric for 50% off or more if I can manage it. Two yards makes a decent size, 2.5 yds is better for an adult.

Next I have three custom stocking orders, hopefully even more by the time I’m finished with them. I also plan on making some easy knit long-sleeved tops for myself because I need some new winter attire.