DIY Halloween Costume Round-Up

Halloween is just few days away so I thought a little Sew Can Do costume how-to round-up would be good for those last minute costume needs and fun like a virtual costume party too!  

 Costume Tour Time!

My Princess Merida tutorial was a big hit last year and has been really popular this year too. I've seen some fabulous "I made it!" pics from readers looking for true-to-the-movie style. I show how to modify a basic dress pattern to get the classic Brave look, how to make a quiver & belt and, of course, a wild red yarn wig to make your little Merida complete.

Go vintage cute with my classic Strawberry Shortcake hat how-to.  Add a red dress, apron & striped tights for a complete berry girl look.

Give a little pirate some extra sense of adventure with my Argh! Pirate Eyepatch tutorial.  

I also share how to put the rest of the costume together HERE.

Holy Smokes!  It's a Batman Mask & Gauntlet Pattern!  Use my free downloadable patterns to make these classic Batman accessories.  Toss in some grey pajamas & a cape and the look is complete.

And modify the mask pattern and add some other basic items to turn it into either the Old Time Bank Robber:

Or a BOO-tiful Secret Message Ghost:

Use my Just A Giraffe Coat tutorial to turn a basic jacket pattern into a wild-animal wearable:

While this isn't a free pattern here on the blog, my Dynamite Dinosaur Cape PDF Pattern makes a super warm and comfy costume:

It fits ages 3 & up and is easy to customize in whatever colors desired for boys & girls.

And for some other costume inspiration ideas, here are a few other creations I've made over the years and links to more info on them:

Shining Knight & Enchanted Princess:

            

Classic Roman Soldier (includes link to an amazing helmet how-to):

Our Star Wars Trio: Yoda, Han Solo & Princess Leia.  The Leia hairdo hat & gown patterns can be found in my shop.

This walk down Costume Memory Lane almost makes me want to make some more;)

And for more fun costume ideas, check out my DIY Halloween Costume board on Pinterest:

Brave-Style Merida Wig & Accessory How-To

Earlier this week I showed how I created my Princess Merida Costume inspired by Disney's Brave (get the how-to HERE).  Today I'm sharing how I made the extra accents that are central to Merida's signature style: her fiery red hair and her quiver belt.  The total cost for her entire costume was under $25, so it's a brave AND thrifty princess look!

Ready to see how to make a cheap and easy yarn wig to make some wild and free Merida hair?

You'll Need:
- One skein of orange acrylic yarn ($2.99 at craft store)
- One orange crochet hat ($1.29 bought online)

Start by wrapping yarn around a pillow 10 times (mine was 16" x 16").  Cut yarn from skien and cut a small tie piece.

Pull yarn bundle off pillow and tie at one end, cut open at the other and repeat about 10 times to make enough bundles.

Start attaching yarn bundle to crochet hat along the center of the hat.  Pull the tie ends at the center of the bundle through either side of a stitch in the hat:

Knot the tie on the underside of hat:

Repeat with bundles about 1 inch apart in a mohawk style from front to back and then add a few bundles on the sides.  Try wig on and fill in any bare sections with additional bundles.  Trim sections near face in a few framing layers.

I wanted to add a bit of curl and tried a few different methods I saw online that were supposed to work on acrylic yarn and the results were:

Setting sections in foam rollers for a week did....nothing.  Getting yarn wet on wooden dowels and drying in oven (like corker bows) did....nothing.  Spray starch on the dowels...did even less - FAIL #3. Maybe using a better yarn would work, but my goal was make a wig that was cheap, so I gave up on trying to curl it.  It still captures Merida's overall "wild" haired look, so I'm happy with it as it is.

Of course any authentic Merida needs her most important accessories: bow, arrow and quiver belt:

We found a great bow & arrow set for $6 at Wal-Mart and of course my little lady wanted to be able to carry hers like "Mer" as she calls her), so I created a quick and simple quiver belt. Here's how to make 'em -

You'll Need:

- 1/4 to 1/2yd of brown fleece, felt, pleather or corduroy (I used some leftover scraps)

- Length of braided pleather one 2 inches wider than waist (find in trim section of fabric store for about $2)

- Single snap

Cut a rectangular piece for the quiver body that's about an inch shorter than the arrows to go in it.  Mine was 10 inches wide by 12 inches long. 

 Hem top edge of rectangle and then fold in half width-wise and stitch down the side:

Cut a circle for the bottom that has a circumference the same as the rectangle's width.Stitch circle to bottom of quiver and clip around edges.  Turn right side out.

Cut a small rectangle (6.5 inches wide by 6 inches long) for the belt loop of the quiver, fold width-wise and stitch down the side, refold with the seam in the center, then stitch one end closed.  Turn right side out and then fold raw edges of open end inward and stitch closed.

 Fold strip in half and stitch to the back side of the top the quiver:

To make the belt I used a length of braided pleather, folded & stitched the raw edges under and attached a snap on either end.  I ran the loop through the belt and the quiver was all set for use:

Now a little Scottish-style lass is ready to "change her fate" and be Brave inside AND out!

Sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too-

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Inspired By Brave: Princess Merida Costume Tutorial

There was such a great response to my Princess Merida Costume the other day, I've put together a bit of a how-to for making it.  Today I'm sharing how to make the dress and it's movie-style details.

To get the most authentic look, I used a bluish-green velour and golden yellow satin fabrics.  I drafted my own dress pattern, but you could use a basic long-sleeved A-line dress pattern as a "base" and just re-draft the neckline to have a "V" cut out, plus lengthen the hem to reach the ankles.  Making a matching facing for the inside of the collar is important since this will hold the shape (and the satin neck ruffle).  I did a zipper back closure so it would be easy to get on & off my 3 yr old, but snaps or buttons would work too.

To get the dress started I stitched zipper onto back pieces and attached the back & front dress pieces at the shoulders.  Then I basted stabilizer to the wrong side of each of the facing pieces & stitched together the front and back portions of facing at shoulders (Pic 1).  With the right sides facing, I matched up the facing and top of neckline of the dress at shoulder seams and "V" and stitched along the collar edges and clipped around the curves (Pic 2).

To create the golden ruffle behind the neckline, I cut pieces of satin that were 6 inches high and twice the width of the collar of the dress (one piece for the front, one for each of the back sides).  I stitched the short sides of the three satin collar pieces together with the front piece in the middle (Pic 3).

Then folded the new long collar length-wise, with the right sides of the fabric facing inward and stitched along the raw edge (Pic 4).  After turning the "tube" right side out, I basted along the newly made seam (Pic 5) and then pulled the threads to create the ruffle and pinned it onto the facing. (so the top of the ruffle was peeking out along the top of the dress about an inch and the seams of the ruffle and dress shoulders lined up) (Pic 6).

I stitched the bottom portion of the ruffle to the facing on the inside and then topstitched the satin to the top of the dress.  I hand sewed some lacing along the "V" of the front using brown embroidery floss.

After cutting the sleeves,  I cut out a 3 inch high section out of the middle each sleeve and cut a 4 inch high strip from the satin that was twice as wide as portion I cut out.  I then cut three elbow strap pieces that were 3 inches wide by 3.5 inches long.  This will make the segmented elbow portion.

To make the straps I folded them width wise with the right side inward, sewed down the side and turned right side out (Pic 7).  I spaced them evenly along the lower edge of the top sleeve piece and sewed in place, then did the same with the top of the bottom sleeve.  (Pic 8)

After basting the width sides of the satin piece, I gathered it to fit the along the velour edges and sewed one side to the bottom of the top sleeve, the other to the upper portion of the lower sleeve (Pic 9).  I also hemmed the bottom of the sleeve at this point (Pic 10).

I pinned some golden home decor cording to the top of each sleeve (Pic 11) and then stitched together.  My trick for getting my stitching really close to the cord edge was to remove my presser foot and sew very slowly (Pic 12).  Next I pinned each sleeve to the shoulders of the dress, with the right sides facing and stitched together (Pic 13).  I then clipped around the raw edge to add ease (Pic 14).

The last steps were to sew up the sides from the edge of the sleeve and down the sides of the dress and turn right side out.

Now a wee lass is ready to take aim at the "cuteness" target this Halloween;)

To get the full Brave effect, you can find my tutorials for making the quiver belt and the Merida wig HERE!

Sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too-

Click HERE to check them out!