Easy Pregnancy Costume and a tutorial

I'm one of those parents who enjoys a good Halloween theme for costumes. This year, when E decided to be Merida from Brave, after she saw the first teaser trailer, I was a little stumped on what to make the rest of us be. Especially when I found out I was pregnant back in June. E wanted me to be the "Green Queen" and wear the pretty dress, but there was no way that preggo Kristin was making a maternity medieval dress. Especially when Miss E's Merida costume was picked up at Costco for a steal of a deal (wig, dress, petticoat, and belt for $18!).

So, I compromised with my 4 yr old. I told her I'd be Queen Elinor. As the bear. (the Hubs went his own way and dressed up as Crazy Dave from Plants vs Zombies)

I didn't get a full picture of myself, but my sister's shot of Merida and Queen Elinor is fantastic.

RAWR!

I realize this is a bit late, but if you are like us, you are already planning next year's Halloween costume. We're awesome like that/

For this costume you will need:

- a fuzzy sweater (I picked mine up at Costco - it's reversible, thankfully, so I can wear it during the rest of the year and not look like a cheap Zaza Gabor)
- a black tshirt
- dark grey sweat pants
- a crown (I raided E's dress up bin)
- a pair of Bear Ears (tutorial to follow)

How to make Bear Ears

Cut two 4" diameter circles from black felt.

Fold one circle in half and cut a slight angle at the bottom. Make sure to have left over sequins from a Homecoming dress alteration littered around your work space. That way everyone knows you are lazy.

 like so.

 Repeat with second circle, so you have two circles with a wide V at the bottom

 Hand baste along the angled bottom of the circle.

 Gather and tie a knot to secure.

 Repeat with second circle and grab two bobby pins.

  Attach one ear to one bobby pin. I hand sewed mine, but you could easily use hot glue.

Repeat with second ear and viola, you're done! Now slap a crown on your head, pin the ears in, and call yourself Queen Elinor Bear!


Super easy, non?

Oldie, but goodie: Halloweenish 2010

As I am still with out a computer, I figured I'd do a few "oldies but goodies" reposts of previous projects. Enjoy!

*****

So, I succesfully combined these:

To make this:

And surprisingly, it was almost easy. 

Because I wanted the cartoon Queen of Hearts, I had a bit of an issue finding a pattern. I finally decided that S2813 would do the trick, since it had a seam up the front bodice, making it easy to do the black on one side and the red on the other. I didn't, however, notice that the front of the skirt wasn't a traditional one piece that has a seam at the side of the hips. Instead, it has the back pieces wrapping around to the front panel 1/3 of the way in from the sides. So, I decided to make the underskirt the front skirt panel (the black and yellow chevrons, just ziggzaged on) and then cut the back pieces into 4, instead of cutting on the fold and making 2. If that makes any sense.

It was a pretty easy pattern change and for once, I put a zipper in easily. There is something to be said for Simplicity's zipper installation instructions. So much easier than the method I've always used, but not as clean looking as the method on the zipper packaging. It works really well for costumes, though!
I used broadcloth for the entire dress, with a heavy weight pellon for the collar and bodice interfacing. If I make the pattern again, I'll add some boning to the bodice, since it tended to bunch up a bit. Other than that, I wouldn't change much about the pattern.

On another note, I'm almost ready to open the etsy shop, so hopefully it'll be ready by the end of the week. Which would be tomorrow....