Halloween!

 Well, we had another fun, costume-sewing filled Halloween around here! When I was studying Theatre in university, I loved working in costumes and make-up. These days, I'm happy to translate a tiny bit of what I learned into fun Halloween costumes. The funny thing about this is that my kids think I can whip up any kind of costume or imagined item at a moment's notice.

In any case,this year I had two costume successes and one failure (but awesome make-up and hair to make up for it) . Andrew's vampire cape and vest were awesome, and turned out just how I had pictured them. The vampire cape was made out of my head (not complicated other than figuring out how to get the collar to stay standing up), while the vest was cut out courtesy of the Oliver + S explorer vest pattern.

Emma's costume was this kitty shirt and hat. The hat is also from the Oliver + S Little things to Sew book, and it was both simple and adorable. The sweater was copied off of a Japanese kids' blouse pattern, which I lengthened. I cut it out of fleece, then appliqued on the tummy with a simple zig-zag, and added a tail to the back. 

It was pretty simple and a big hit. Emma wore it with leggings and her own socks and shoes. She only trick or treated for about 25 minutes, but I think this costume will get lots of dress up use, and it will fit for another year, so its okay.

I had a plan to make a Darth Maul costume, but it didn't work. I was going to dye one of the Jedi robes I made last year black. However, the discount fabric was made out of "unknown fibers" and they were not fibers that took well to dye. Instead of black I just got a slightly browner robe. With two days left and no time to go back to the fabric store and finish sewing another costume, I opted to see what was available at the grocery store just down the road. They had this Darth Maul costume for 50% off.

 While the costume was perfect, the boys were not allowed to wear masks to school. That is okay, thought, because I'd been planning to paint Aaron's face and spike his hair. I initially tried to mix gel and Kool aid so his hair would match his costume, but the Kool aid was too itchy, so we washed it out (leaving his hair red-ish) and re-spiked it into these little horns. I had tons of fun doing this make up, and Aaron was happy with it too.

After Emma was finished trick or treating, the boys kept on for another 45 min. or so, right until they couldn't lift their bags anymore. We let them have a little bit of candy last night, but most of the haul was sorted this morning

All in all, the kids costumes were all satisfactory, and a fun Halloween was had by all.