Halloween Costumes- Part III- Ninja Turtle

Heroes in a half shell...Turtle Power!
This is another one of my favorite costumes, and it really didn't take me long to make it at all! I think I spent more time trying to find green thermals than I did putting the rest of it together.The front is just a rectangle pillow, lightly padded and then sewn down the middle and twice across the chest to make 6 "muscles" or the underside of the shell.

The back part of the shell is a round pillow with the same light-colored fabric on the underside and a darker fabric on the outside (it's hard to see in my picture). I also used strips of the darker fabric for the belt and wrist/elbow/knee wraps.

I had face paint and green hair spray to make him look really Ninja Turtley, but he wouldn't let me.
Oh, well. It's a good thing I have two other boys to try it out on! =)

Elastic-top Bag part 2 + CAPES!

I finally got around to getting a cute neighbor girl model for my fun elastic-top bag...I love this bag because it is large enough to hold lots of toys, books, and dolls, but the top closes up a bit to hold everything in. Then, when you want to take it out, you just stretch it open and TA-DA!

Here is the cape I made to go with it...
(it was made for my 1-year-old niece, though, so my model is a bit tall for this toddler-size cape)

Now, remember this picture from my elastic-top bag post?
Those are 4 more capes that I made in the same evening as the little girl cape and bag. That's how fast and easy they are!

This little monkey is my littlest tornado. He loves to dress up.Apparently that cape is modeling in the pictures now belongs to him.
He calls it his Superman, and he loves that he can put it on and take it off, all by himself.

Here, my neighbor girl is wearing the full-size cape, the same size my little guy is wearing.

I made 12 of these super easy super hero capes for my oldest son's 6th birthday party. They were a huge hit! Now I whip them up whenever I need a quick birthday present for any super little boy or girl who feels the need to save the world. =)

Would you be interested in a tutorial?
Please just let me know and I will post one. Thanks!

Halloween Costumes- Part II- Darth Vader!

Welcome to the dark side!

This Darth Vader costume is one I'm particularly proud of. My husband just happens to have a life-size cut-out of Darth Vader that I used as a model for all the doodads on the chest. It's kind of hard to describe how I put it together, but I'll try.

• For the main top, I traced one of son's shirts to get the right size and shape for my pattern.
• Then I cut strips of gray and black fabric, sewed them together in an alternating fashion until the assembled piece was wide enough to fit across his chest.
• I sewed the striped piece to a solid black piece that was roughly twice as tall as the striped piece.
• Since I was using a thin, slippery fabric that frayed easily, I used my pattern to cut out the front piece that I had sewed together, plus 3 more pieces from the solid black- one to use as backing for the front, and 2 to sew together for the back. Does that make sense?

DISCLAIMER: I was totally winging this project without a lot of knowledge or experience, so you may have a much better way of finishing this project!

• I sewed the 2 front pieces with the right sides together, leaving the bottom open, and then flipped them right side out. I did the same for the back.
  
• Tuck the bottom edges in and sew securely.
• Sew the front and back together at the shoulders and one side. To make this easy to get on and off, I sewed hook-and-eye sets to the remaining shoulder and side. Velcro would have been a better choice...
• I sewed an additional eye on top of each of the shoulders, near the neck. This is so you can hook the cape on securely.
• Now you get to paint the front! I used those puff paints that come in a squeeze tube. Just trace what you want on first with one of those chalky pencils and go slow. Or just use the Force. =)
  

For the cape:

• Take a 3'x3' piece of fabric, hem or serge the edges, make a 3/4" hem across the top , leaving the sides open.
• Guide a 12" piece of 1/2" elastic through the top hem and sew each end into the edge of the cape. (Sorry, I'm not very good at this describing thing, am I?)
• Put a hook at each end of the elasticized neck so it can hook onto the awesome top.

You're going to have to buy a mask and lightsaber (unless you're more talented than and creative than I), but it shouldn't be too hard to find some black pants and a shirt to wear underneath.

Halloween Costumes- Part I

I was inspired by Brittney's post about Halloween costumes (yes, Halloween is coming!) and it got me thinking about some of the costumes I've made. It's super easy to make adorable costumes with limited supplies and a tight budget. The Dollar Tree is fabulous for picking up accessories and props, and I get most of my fabric from clearance bins and repurposed clothing. You don't even have to have mad sewing skills! I use my handy hot glue gun a lot, and straight stitches for most seams requiring a machine. I hate hand-sewing, so I save that as a last resort. If I can do it, so can you.

My first baby's first costume, made from a repurposed orange towel and yellow yarn. Isn't he the cutest lion you've ever seen?
Ahoy there, matey! This costume was assembled with items from his everyday wardrobe, a hat and sword from the dollar store, and strips of fabric from his daddy's old red t-shirt.
This was actually from my son's birthday party, but it's close to Halloween. =)
I got the bandanas and hats from Oriental Trading Company. We also had train whistles for the little train fanatics.
My mom really made this Indian costume with no-fray fabric and fleece, but I had to include it because it is so cute and simple to make.
She traced a t-shirt to get the shape and size for the vest, cut out out 2 pieces (without the sleeves, of course), cut up the middle of the front and sewed the fleece fringe across the chest before sewing the sides and tops together.
The pants were made by tracing a pair of already made pants, cutting 2 pieces, sewing the sides together (with fleece fringe sandwiched in there), and folding over the top to make a casing for elastic.
Easy peasy.

Stay tuned for part II...

Yards & Yards

Sumo's Sweet Stuff is hosting a giveaway from Yards & Yards. It's super easy to enter and you get 4 chances to win! Check out the cute stuff that Anna from Yards & Yards makes:

In addition to an awesome blog, she also sells patterns, fabric, and ready-made items in her shop.