Thursday, October 27, 2011

Costume sewing

Sorry for the week long absence - thanks for sticking around!  Let's just say that I have never been a happy pregnant person, to put it mildly, and I've been in some sort of pregnancy funk lately.  It doesn't help that I always end up getting a ridiculously huge and larger than normal pregnant belly (I didn't even leave the house my entire last month pregnant with Phoebe because people would seriously gawk at me), and I have been super uncomfortable, tired, and short tempered lately.  But I doubt you came to listen to me bitch about that - so onto more fun stuff!

So one thing that I churned out during this last week was Phoebe's Halloween costume.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh?  When I was little, my grandma always made costumes for my sister and I, and when we got older, my parents kind of left it up to us to create something for ourselves.  Aside from some wigs and makeup, we never bought prepackaged costumes and I'm pretty sure that is what instilled my anti-manufactured Halloween costume beliefs.  

Halloween is such a great time for kids to be creative and help make something truly unique to wear on a day where anything goes.  I vowed before I even had kids that they would never wear one of those cheap, plastic, out of the bag costumes that promotes no imaginative thinking.  

*After rereading this I realized how harsh it sounds, and by no means am I trying to belittle parents who do purchase costumes from stores.  Not everyone knows how to sew, nor has the time - and who knows where I'll be next year when I've got two kiddos to sew costumes for.  Just my own personal thoughts regarding Halloween - and it's my blog and I can say whatever I want :)  Stepping off my soapbox now....* 

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So initially, I had wanted to dress Phoebe up as Rainbow Brite for Halloween.  However, Phoebe has made it well known to everyone that she has her own opinions and ideas now, and hence I was informed that I would be making a bunny costume this year.

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I bought a yard and a half of ultra cozy, micro-fleece at Joann's, and used two patterns that I already had in my stash.  The pants were made using the quick-change trousers pattern from Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings, and the hoodie was made using Heidi and Finn's Urban Unisex Hoodie pattern - previously blogged about here.

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I free-handed the ears, whip-stitching them into place, and used a knit shirt from Target's clearance rack to line the hoodie and make the pink for the ears.

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The only part that I'm super bummed about is that I should have gone up a size when making the hoodie, because it's a little short in the arm and waist length.  This kid is just growing way too fast!  

But Phoebe absolutely adores her costume, and hops to her little hearts content when she has it on.

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Now we're working on the "trick or treat" part.  Phoebe absolutely refuses to say it, for some unknown reason, but would instead prefer to say "Booooooo!" followed by announcing "Phoebe's kinda scary!".

6 comments:

  1. Love it. She's an adorable bunny! I too like to make my son's costumes. I even posted my own little blog about it. I love that he's old enough to creatively add to his costumes now. This year he's a fire-breathing dragon and so happy with how the costume turned out. He picked all the little details and made sure I put them in. I am very fortunate to have the time and creativity to make his costumes and look forward to this time every year! Happy Halloween! :-)

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  2. awww she looks adorable you did a great job. Hope you start to feel better soon. dee x

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  3. That costume is totally darling! And Phoebe is priceless - "scary" - too funny.

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  4. That last photo and "phoebe's kinda scary" is priceless. She looks adorable and warm! Hugs to you on the emotional roller coaster front and kudos on churning out stuff despite it!

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  5. I love the heidi and finn hoodie with ears! Adorable. I stayed up way past my bedtime making a bat hat. I still have two more costumes to work on. Yuck.

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  6. I don't have little kiddos to sew for yet, but I really do hope that when I do, I will fall more often than not into the" lets imagine and create a costume" category. I think it makes Halloween more fun to dream up all the details and try your best to put it together, especially if you have the time and the skills. BTW Phoebe looks adorable and makes a pretty good bunny! It looks like the costume was a hit!

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