The Dragonfly has decided that she wants to be Merida (from Brave) for Halloween. And she has decided that The Bear will be her… Bear. (If you have seen the movie or read any of the accompanying books, you know that the bear is pretty key.) Now this is a big departure from the last 3 Halloweens, in which The Bear has been the human and The Dragonfly has been the animal (Little Bo Peep/ Sheep; Farmer/ Cow; Witch/ Cat) so we are a little excited.
She’s looking at this particular version of Merida’s dress:
Just without the head piece. Basically, the Merida from the scene in which she is pretty much awesome with her bow and arrow. Now, I know that I could just head to Target or scour the Internet and find a premade Merida costume, but those just seem not really worth the money. Â (One place wanted close to $45!) So what to do? Well, draft a pattern and make a dress!
In my head, this seems like a simple task: I’m thinking a 1/2 or 3/4 circle Skirt for the Skirt, and then basing the top off of a long-sleeved shirt and adding the details as needed. I don’t have a dressmakers’ dummy, but the thing about little girls’ clothing is that there is not much worry about the need for darts, etc as little girls are still pretty boxy. I will buy a commercial red curly wig for her, as The Dragonfly’s hair is brown and not so wild.
I did buy a bit of Muslin to draft onto and make a dry run before busting into the purchased fabric, mostly for the bodice piece, and I will say I am kind of excited about this. It’s kind of neat to think that she will have a unique costume done in the style of what might be a popular character this year and that it will be mama-made and pattern-less.
Now the question remains… will this end up being a hot mess?
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Have your kids made Halloween plans? How do you go about the costume game?
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Might I recommend using a knit? or even better fleece for cold fall nights? That way you can make it tighter without losing mobility.
And yeah… definitely… copy a slimfitting tee, add a circle skirt with the gold edging, throw on a belt and you did it. Great costume idea!
Hi Jodi! Thanks for the suggestion of the knit! We’re in SoCal and, at least last year, Halloween night was pretty comfortable as far as temperature. (I went as “Holly Golightly” from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and wore a sleeveless shift and was not cold… and I’m always cold!)
We found this (horrid) shiny, polyester lame that DD2 just adored (and I cringe at) but if for whatever reason the lame fails, I’ll go to a knit for backup!
I’m a newbie sewer so I’d be tempted to start with a teal long-sleeve shirt and sew a teal skirt on, then add the gold accents. Or even use a teal grown-up shirt or teal nightgown, then take in the sides a little bit? But that’s because I’m scared of sleeves still
Definitely post how it turns out-I’m excited to see it!!
Wasn’t going to comment again, but just saw this women’s long-sleeved tee from Target in “royal teal” for $8.40-could be an easy base to start with, add gold to make it long enough, add a lame overskirt to make the “skirt” fuller? and more princessy?
Anyway, thought’d I share in case my easy way out idea was tempting you
http://www.target.com/p/merona-womens-ultimate-long-sleeve-tee-assorted-colors/-/A-13620129
My mom was a working mom and could sew, but never did. In my house, the Halloween costumes were always notoriously horrible. One year, I managed to convince her to buy me a poodle skirt and I think I went as a bobby-soxer for years and years just so I didn’t have to have another awful costume! I think I should probably learn to sew so I can make my kids awesome costumes. But we live in CO and it’s always snowing and freezing, so I guess it really doesn’t matter what I put them in, they will have to wear coats anyway…
Growing up in WI, I can understand the wearing of coats with your costumes. Or the converse, when in college freezing buns off because a coat would de-sexify your costume. It’s amazing the things we did…