I made five costumes this year! I just cannot say no to these adorable little children who love to wear custom costumes made just for them. They like to watch me sew and "help". The helping, I could do without that, but I have gotten Libby to cut up scraps of fabric as her way of helping. That keeps her out of my way a little bit, but sure makes a mess.
This year, I acquired some fabric (quite a bit actually) from a nice lady here in town. Her grandmother passed away and when the family went to clean the grandmother's house, they discovered that she had filled her home and garage with fabric, notions and machines. Apparently, the lady was a sewing enthusiast and one of JoAnn fabrics best costumers. They had too much fabric to deal with, so they posted an ad on facebook for a fabric sale. One of my friends saw it and sent the link to me, so I sent the lady a message and went over and got lots of fabric and zippers. With the amount they had to clear out of the home, it was just a small bit that I took home. I don't know what I was thinking, because I recently stocked up and have plenty of fabric already. I promise not to fill my whole house with stashes of fabric. I will use it! Four of the five costumes I made this year all have some of the fabric from this gal. Plus, I made a few tote bags and a couple of pillow cases so far with her grandmother's fabric. I hope it comforts her to know that her grandmother's passion for sewing is alive and well in my house.
I made three costumes for Gracie: Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, Cinderelly (the working dress), and "Modest Tinkerbell". I made a Doc McStuffins costume for Libby. And, I made a Captain Hook costume for Charlie.
Surprisingly, the doctor lab coat and the pirate coat were from the same pattern. I just altered it for character effect. The pattern was for a dress and jacket pattern; not a costume pattern at all. But, it had just the right features for these two costumes. I improvised the pirate pants and the stethoscope and doctor bag.
Charlie's mom didn't want the Captain Hook costume to look quite so frilly as it does on the real Captain Hook. To man it up, I disregarded the white ruffles and I made the pants black instead of pink. I added a cute skeleton print to the pants as a sash and as a headband, perfect print for a pirate costume. And, instead of a wrap around belt, I gave Captain Hook's jacket a cinch thing on the back. I have no idea what that thing is called. It's a small piece that pulls the back together. Anyway, I think it worked well. The costume really came to life when my daughter bought a pirate hat to match. Charlie decided to pull on his Lightning McQueen boots too. Sure, why not!
I didn't have a pattern for the Cinderelly costume, I just had to wing it and I used Cinderella storybook pictures to figure out how to make it. Gracie had her input too, she did not want straight three-quarter sleeves like the story illustrations have, she wanted puffy sleeves with elastic at the elbows. Since it's her costume, of course I said yes to that. She also chose all of the fabric. I do wish I would have made the bodice longer, oh well.
Here are the costumed kids in all their glory:
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