Halloween 2013



Me as "Mary Poppins"
(Pay no attention to the fact that I
have an open umbrella inside my house...
I like to live dangerously)

Viv as "Olivia"

This isn't gonna be a step by step tutorial. Unfortunately,  I didn't take pictures of the costume making process. Mostly because I've been working on the Olivia costume since October 1st and only when I've had extra time. So I never remembered to grab the camera. But I'll do my best to explain what I did. =)


For the Mary Poppins costume:  The only things I had to make for this costume were the bow tie and the hat. Yep, I made the hat. Because of course, when you need something, no store ever has it. EVER.  I already owned the umbrella, purse, and boots.  I got the blouse and the skirt at Goodwill.  I made the bow tie using a tutorial like this one from The Pleated Poppy . 
As for the hat...I found a cardboard box.  I cut a strip a couple of inches wide (this will determine the height of the hat).
Then I bent that strip into a circle and stapled it shut.
Next, I drew a circle on another piece of cardboard bigger than the circle I just made. This will be the brim of the hat. I cut out the middle about the same size as the circle that I stapled shut.
 I used the middle piece of cardboard that I cut out as the top of the hat. I hot glued and duct taped all of the pieces together. 
To cover the cardboard hat, I used a black sheet and hot glue. It didn't have to be perfect, because I was going to use a red ribbon/strip of fabric to cinch the sheet down.  In fact, it turned out somewhat billowy. 
After the sheet was hot glued on, I used a red piece of fabric as a ribbon around the hat and I hot glued that down.
 I then searched my house for some white and yellow flowers. (I actually had to raid a floral arrangement in my living room, but it was totally worth it.) And I hot glued those on.  Once that was done, my Mary Poppins costume was complete. =)


For the Olivia costume:  I actually made most of this costume. I had a pair of red capri pants that I knew I would never ever wear.  So I seam ripped the legs and crotch open all the way to the waistband. Then, I sewed the seams straight down in the front and the back. With leftover fabric, I made the straps.  I found 2 big pink buttons in my sewing stash from a coat I had a couple of years ago.  So I sewed one at the bottom of each strap. I hemmed the bottom and the jumper was finished.
I found a long sleeve white t shirt in my daughter's closet that had a very small hole in the stomach, so I decided to use that t shirt since she probably wouldn't wear it again due to the hole. I used a ruler to mark off stripes and painted the stripes with red acrylic paint (*please note* I should have used fabric paint, but I had red acrylic paint on hand so I used that.) 
For the leggings....I searched and searched and could not find striped OR white leggings (see what I mean about stores never having anything I need when I need it? I couldn't even find a red and white striped shirt to make leg warmers), so I had to get creative. I bought cotton tights, cut off the foot and used a zig zag stitch to sew at the ankle.  I did waste a pair of tights trying to paint the stripes on them. Of course, I used the acrylic paint and it did not work. The paint was hard and it wouldn't stretch over my daughter's legs.  So we just made the easier choice of wearing plain white instead of stripes.
She already had black shoes so that was easy. =)
For the ears, I bought white foam sheets (because, again, I couldn't find baby pink foam) and peach acrylic paint. I cut out ear shapes from the foam. They didn't have to be perfect because Olivia's ears aren't.  I painted them peach and attached them to a plain white headband with hot glue and a couple of handstitches.
I think it turned out great! And she made the most adorable "Olivia".
 I will warn though, if it's raining even a little outside and these ears get wet, they will droop. We found that out the hard way....

See? 


Hope everyone had a fun Halloween 2013...We sure did! =)

***If you have some time, swing by my Zibbet shop and take a look around!***

http://www.zibbet.com/TheRufflyBuffalo

Thanks! =D