costume: Rock-N-Roll Bunny Rabbit

(Halloween 2006)

Unfortunately, I think this is the only picture I have of this costume. My daughter said she wanted to be a "rock-n-roll bunny rabbit."

I selected some pale purple fuzzy fabric and made her some pants. Then I added a fluffy tail. For her upper-half, I bought a black hoody and sewed a big "AC/DC" patch to the back. I also decorated the hoody with safety pins, studs, and buttons featuring bands she likes.

I found the headband at the hobby store- but it was actually meant to be a tan puppy. I removed the original ears and created my own with cardboard. Then I covered the headband with the same purple fabric as the pants. I mounted a Mr. Potato Head nose to the muzzle, added whiskers and some over-sized teeth from a scrap of white pleather. Lastly, I made her a candy bag that looked like a guitar.

I forgot my camera that Halloween... I hope to one day dig this costume out of storage and see if I can get some shots.

costume: Superkid

my super family

Okay, so I only made one thing in this whole picture- but we were going for a theme! I got a job working as a costumed superhero in a theme restaurant, so we decided to have some fun with it.

The Hubbs is wearing the shirt I bought him. He hate Superman, so he was being an awful good sport to pose with us. This is his "tough guy" pose. (Hahahaha!)

 I'm wearing a store bought Secret Wishes brand Supergirl costume. I made my previous Supergirl top, and-oh my- it was so terrible I am thankful not to have pictures. The "S" logo is so iconic, even a slight deviance is obvious... and I made it out of slippery lycra/spandex dance fabric. It was very obvious that a person with relatively little costuming skill had made it- that person being me...

Chula is wearing  the top from a little boy's jammy set. I bought a pair of red sweat pants, just slightly bigger than she is (so the waist would still fit her) and cut the legs of at an angle at the crotch, creating a very quick and simple angled skirt. She wore her red high tops and that was it!

costume: Kim Possible

November 2009
I have photos of this costume somewhere, I need to find/post them.
I'm putting this post in November 2005 until I find the pictures- I'm not sure of the actual date...

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A woman eating in the restaurant asked Cinderella if she'd be interested in working her five year old daughter's birthday party as Kim Possible. Cinderella had a conflict and referred the woman to me. I had no idea who Kim Possible was, but turns out she's pretty cool. It's a Disney show, and I think there are also a couple of movies.

This poster from impawards.com pretty much sums it up.

The party was cheerleader themed, so I made Kim's uniform (shown on the left.) I made the whole outfit from t-shirt fabric, bought matching pom-poms, and found an orange and purple long sleeve athletic shirt to wear if it was cold out. I also made a big "M" with an adhesive back to put on the shirt so it would look like a letterman's sweater. Finally, I died my hair a gorgeous shade of red-orange.

I parked around the corner from the party and ran up to the door- told the kids my helicopter had dropped me off. Her mom shook my hand (slipping me a hefty check) and said she was so excited to meet me. The girls were suspicious and quizzed me about my family, school, and love interests. After I passed their test (with flying colors, I might add) I taught them a Middleton Mad Dog cheer (Kim's High School.)

M-A-D! (and then clap, clap, clap with your pom poms)
D-O-G! (clap, clap, clap)
That's how we (turn around)
Spell VIC-TOR-Y! (throw your hands up and leap into the air)

That's when my "communicator" was supposed to beep, but her mom forgot to go call my cell phone, so I just said "Gotta go! People to save!" and ran down the street.

Her mom called me the next day and told me the girls said it was awesome. Score! I saw them a few weeks later at the restaurant. Her girls came to get my autograph (I was, of course, Supergirl at that time and they didn't recognize me.) They told me about the fabulous birthday party they had had. Super cool.

costume: puppy dog

AWARD WINNER
Chula as a puppy, Halloween 2004

Whenever my two year old doesn't want to do what we've said, we have a brief confrontation, then she turns into a puppy dog and the doggie does everything we tell it to. I guess it's her way of saving face because it's the puppy following instructions, not her.
So it's only fitting that this should be her costume this year.

We entered her at the childrens costume contest at the University. She won 2nd place! Honestly, she should have won first- that lame kid was wearing a STORE BOUGHT costume (what ugly words!) of Captain Hook. Anyway, her prize was dinner for four at Chuck E. Cheese, with complimentary drinks and tokens. Hooray!

This was a "cheater" costume- where I used an old pair of jammies as a base, sewed the fur to the outside, and then cut away the jammies when I was done. I typically use this method when sewing with bulky, furry fabrics so ensure a good fit. The bulk of the costume is a warm, caramely brown. I added chocolate colored spots in the same fabric. The suit is one piece with a front zipper and a large hood. She's got a waggy tail and floppy ears, lined with pale pink flannel. I added a cardboard bone nametag to her zipper pull, and drew on some whiskers with an eyeliner. the fire hydrant was the photographers idea- but it's pretty cute- if I do say so myself.

costume: monster

(Halloween 2003)

Chula, the monster
In the early years, I made her Halloween costumes based on her current personality traits. She was about 20 months here- a bundle of ferocious, adorable, energy. Plus she made a lot of growly noises...

I consider this a "cheater" costume, because I used an existing pair of feetsie jammies as my sewing base. I stitched crazy melon colored fur directly onto the jammies. Once I had most of the body constructed, I cut away the inner jammie fabric. I use the "cheater" method with bulky fabrics to ensure a good fit. I built a huge stuffed tail, and covered some Aqua Sox with fur for monster feet- complete with toe nails! (Toe nails made from egg carton.)

I also added a mane of crazy yarn and random stringy trim, which runs from the top of her head, to the tip of her tail. Between the bits of crazy, colorful hair there are big bumpy scales- also made from egg carton. I especially like her big pointy ears.

costume: curious george

(Curious George. fall 2002)

Chula Chu as Curious George- made out of towels.
At this point she was into just about everything, prompting us to refer to her as a monkey... and when Halloween rolled around, this was the obvious choice.

However, I had never made a costume before. I'm not sure I'd really sewn anything at that point... I was inspired by a chocolate brown towel. I cut it apart, making pants and a little jacket, using the finished edges for the trim around the hood. I didn't know how to size the costume to her, so used 2 old pair of jammies- I used elastic waist pants as a guide for her pants and a button-front long-sleeved pj with the legs cut off for the jacket. Next, I (poorly) hand-stitched the fabric directly onto the jammies. Afterwards, I cut away excess jammy fabric, leaving the waist band on the bottoms and the button closure on the top. I call this add and then cut away system the "cheater method."

To hide the messy stitching on the monkey jacket, I created the little tee-shirt. I disassembled one of my husband's old shirts, then resized it for a baby. I should mention that I had sew just about everything.

Once the shirt was assembled, I got out one of our many Curious George books and a sheet of white paper. I traced the logo onto the paper, then pinned the paper to the front of the shirt. Using yellow thread, I embroidered the logo directly over the paper. The needle perforated the paper and as I finished each letter, the paper surrounding it sort of peeled away. It was actually pretty easy, but the majority of time I used on this costume was spent embroidering- probably because embroidery was something I had never done before.

For the hood, I inspected one of her hoodies. After deciding which one fit the best, I selected one with a hood made of three pieces, rather than two. Hoods with two panels of fabric come to sort of a point on the top. The third piece used on this hood helps it lay closer to her head. For this part of the costume I didn't actually sew on "cheater fabric," I made the hood entirely out of towel pieces, then attached it to the jacket.

After having the main parts of the costume finished, it was time for details. I left a hole in the butt of the pants for adding a tail- basically a narrow tube of fabric. I used a tan wash cloth for the ear details to keep the texture consistent. The most difficult part of the hood was figuring out where to attach the ears so they would stick out in a monkey-like fashion.

I was extremely happy with the results of this costume. She looked adorable!