Halloween Costumes
Each year, just about this time, Aidan, Sophie and I begin to think of Halloween costumes. When Sophie was almost two years old, I made a poodle skirt for her, by the time she arrived at my house, she was a chocolate, sticky, candy mess. Pictures not so good.
When Aidan was four years old, I made an Indian costume for him. We bought the headdress. That year we bought a ladybug outfit for Sophie. It was pretty cute.
The next year, Aidan dressed like Indiana Jones. It was a pretty easy costume to pull together. He had a little brown jacket, a pair of khaki pants and a long sleeved white button-up shirt. His mother bought a hat for him at the Halloween store and his dad bought the whip. Could he get much cuter?
That year Sophie dressed as Audrey Hepburn, complete with the tiara, which I bought at Hobby Lobby, in the wedding section, when it was half price. The pearls were mine and we bought the gloves, sewed them, to fit her little hands, and then cut off the excess. I made the dress from a Simplicity pattern #2265, out of satin, and added two layers of gathered tulle over the skirt, just pinning the gathered tulle to the satin skirt, before sewing to the bodice. Otherwise, I followed the pattern pretty closely. We also purchased a little black fur jacket, in case it was chilly.
Sophie's mom, Tiffany, work at a hair salon and she had an appointment to have her hair looking perfect, as you can see.
Aidan had his heart set on being Spiderman that year. We purchased that outfit and he was so excited about wearing it, after trying it on to see if it fit, he did not want to take it off! He wore it until my Mom came to pick him up after work.
After the success of Sophie's outfit the previous year, I was excited about making a little red riding hood costume for her. I picked up another pattern for the costume, made the little dress as the pattern said. You have probably seen all the little dresses on Pinterest made from strips of tulle, looped onto a ribbon or a crocheted band. They look so adorable in the pictures. So I cut strips of red tulle and attached to a ribbon to look like the skirt, thinking it would make the skirt look so much fuller. Then I cut shorter strips of white tulle and attached to the ribbon, to look like an apron on the front. Next, I tacked the ribbon in the front and on each side. The ribbon then tied into a bow in the back.
I wanted the cape to be longer than the pattern was, so I cut the red velour fabric longer than the pattern, just extending the lines using a yardstick. I also wanted it lined, so I also cut the pattern out of red satin. Once the seams were sewn on the velour cape and the satin lining, I pinned them right sides together on the sides and at the bottom, sewed the seam all around the edge, leaving the neck edge open for turning. The pattern called to line the hood, but not the cape. You are allowed to change things, and I typically do. The cape turned out beautiful.
With Sophie's blonde hair, she just looked adorable. Since I was working, I didn't get to see her until after work, and of course I stopped by pre-school for the parade. I was mortified! This is what the skirt looked like when she put it on at first. It did seem that I had to kind of comb the tulle sections with my fingers, to keep them laying straight.
After being at school for awhile, what looked so adorable when she was dropped off, looked like a tangled up mess! The little sections of tulle kept creeping up, as Sophie walked and played. Unfortunately, I couldn't follow her around, like some kind of ocd freak, combing the skirt to keep it looking good! Has anyone else had this problem?
I will never make another tulle skirt like this! In retrospect, I wish I had gathered layers of tulle and pinned and sewn to the skirt and bodice. No more tying strips of tulle to ribbons for me! Please tell me I am not alone!
