What? Yeah… that’s the costume my kiddo actually asked for. I’m 90% sure she was asking to be this (see below) illustration by, The Nearsighted Owl. SO, that’s what I made for her. She loves how it turned out. I wish I had gone with brown felt… instead of the grey. When I added the horn it looked like a rhinoceros. Whoops! But, I think the yarn hair helped. I think.

So, ok. I do not know how to sew. I’m learning, with the help of my mom and many tutorials (like this one, from Dana Made It). I would love to share how I made this circle skirt for R’s costume. It’s actually SOOoooooo much easier than you’d think. So much. Here’s how I did it:

What you need:

– About 1 yard of fabric

– About 1 yard of elastic

Directions:

Pattern and cutting:

– First, you’ll need to measure around your waist (or, wherever you’d like the top of the skirt to sit). The measurement should be snug, but not so tight you can’t breath. Take your measurement, and add 1 inch for the seam allowance.

– You need to figure your the waist radius, so you can draw your circle pattern. Thanks to the help, from Dana Made it, I have an easy equation for this: Radius = Waist length (plus 2 inches) divided by, 6.28.

– Time to draw your pattern. You’re going to draw a 1/4 of a doughnut (you’ll need a large piece of paper, or many small pieces taped together). In one corner, measure out your radius number you came up with. Keep moving the ruler and making little marks to create a small 1/4 circle of your radius measurement (see image). Then, connect the dotted measurements.

– How long do you want your skirt to be? I wanted R’s skirt just below her knees. Figure out your length, and add an extra inch or two (for seam allowance).

– With your ruler, measure another series of marks (based on your skirt length) starting from the first 1/4 waist circle measurement you made. Connect the dots.

– Cut out your pattern, you should now have a 1/4 of a doughnut.

– Time for the fabric! Fold you fabric into 4th’s. Lay your doughnut pattern onto your fabric (edge to edge). Mark it out, and cut!

– When it’s all cut out, you should have a doughnut! Weeee!

Sewing time:

– Finish of the top of your skirt (unless you don’t care about raw edges). I don’t have a serger, so I folded the edge over about 1/4 inch and stitched it.

– Time for the elastic. Take your waist sized elastic piece and sew it together. I did a double stitch to hold it together.

– Here’s the confusing part (for this newbie sewer): Time to start pinning and sewing the elastic. SO, find the middle of the back of your skirt. Pin the elastic to the skirt.

– Flip the skirt over and pin the middle of the front.

– Pin the right hip of the skirt, then the left hip of the skirt. You should now have the waist pinned into quarters.

– Noooow here’s the scary part (ok, maybe not scary… more difficult), it’s time to sew. Here’s what’s most important: you need to stretch the elastic while you sew. I’ve shared a photo of the elastic relaxed, and a photo of the elastic stretched taut. AND, since your stretching the elastic taut in the front, you’ll need to be pulling the fabric in the back. Depending on your taste, you can sew the elastic showing, or fold the fabric over it once and sew.

– Time to sew the bottom of the skirt. Fold over the edge a 1/4 – 1/2 inch and sew.

– That’s it! YOU now have an adorable skirt. Ruari loves it, because she can twirl around and dance in it.

Here’s a little tip I’ve learned… ummm, measure twice and cut once (as my mom always tells me). Ha! Yeeeah. I measured once and cut twice. Oopsie. I may have mixed up my measurement and made the waist too big. Luckily, that was fixed with a quick stitch up the back. The worst part: my mom could say, “See, I told you.” Damn. Ha!

I made the hat , horn, and the top too. I need to perfect the hat pattern before I share (it was too small, had to adjust), and for the top: I just measured a shirt, that fit her, on a paper to create a pattern. Added a cute little collar, and velcro to close it in the back.

Happy Halloween to you! What are you or your kiddo’s dressing up as for Halloween?

– Chelsey

P.S. Here’s where I found the child-sized cat eye glasses.