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Halloween Costume Contest 2015

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh my!

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh my!

I made these costumes for my four children (Charlie, Gracie, Elijah, and Henry) last year. I used Simplicity patterns #4139, #4133, and #4024. One thing that was especially fun about these is the variety of materials I got to work with. I had a great time hunting all over the internet for special fabrics. Charlie’s Tin Man costume is made of a heavy weight lycra, the type that is frequently used for leotards or dance costumes. The funnel for the hat is a regular plastic funnel spray painted silver, and the clock face on the heart medal was a fun applique I found. You can see his “tin” shoulder joint in the photo; I also made some for his elbows and knees. I used heavy interfacing to give the joints some structure, and added the metal buttons to simulate gromets. Gracie’s Dorothy costume uses bias cut pieces of the gingham fabric to embellish at the hem and across the bodice. Though the original pattern called for a stand-up collar similar to a mandarin collar, I modified it to a dainty Peter Pan collar.  I think Elijah had the most fun of all as The Lion. The fur collar is a separate piece from the hat and is worn like a cape. I made his Medal for Courage from an old leather purse! The leather was the perfect weight and texture for the medal, and I painted it gold. You can see in the photo that his tail has a small elastic loop to slide over his wrist so it won’t drag on the gound. Baby Henry made a convincing Scarecrow! Though the original pattern used yarn to make the “straw” fringe around the wrists, ankles and collar, I used raffia. The black part of the hat is felt, while the tan part is made from a thin piece of faux micro suede (I repurpsed an old curtain!). It was soft for him to wear, and was a nicer texture than cotton broadcloth. I took the picture myself and set up the background. I cut down some cornstalks from our field next to the house, dragged an old bale our of the barn, threw in some of the colorful squashes from our garden, and hunted up an old basket from the basement to add some faux flowers. I added an interesting filter in the first picture to give the photo a bit of a spooky look for Halloween. The second picture is the original.

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  1. bubblebear | | #1

    OH MY!!!! They are so adorable!!! Nice makeup job too.

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