Fairy Godmother Costume

So Halloween is next Friday and I'm not sure how that happened. Thankfully I got my act together enough to make sure Charlotte has a costume.

This year was interesting, since she (mostly) gets the idea of Halloween and what it's all about--which meant she had opinions about her costume. Many opinions, that changed frequently. She had announced her decision to dress up as Dory the fish, Jessi the cowgirl, Cinderella, a bride, a dragon, a mermaid and, oddly, a donkey. The one that ended up sticking was a fairy godmother, so I ran with it (because any more time to think and she would've insisted on dressing up as Elsa or Anna, and I can only imagine how many little Elsa's and Anna's will be trick-or-treating this year). She was firm in her color choice for her costume: purple.

Next was pattern hunting. I didn't find any tutorials online that I liked so I looked at regular patterns and found this one:

I wanted a full length skirt and some type of jacket piece that she could wear over a long sleeved shirt. I went with this view:

My mom make the skirt, which was good for me and traumatizing for her. I wasn't about sew four layers of slippery tulle on top of a layer of slippery satin with a ton of gathering involved. No thanks. She would've been a fairy godmother in leggings if that had been up to me :)

I was in charge of the jacket/vest portion. I made it out of a sparkly satin type fabric and lined it with fleece for warmth. My hope is that she can wear layers of long sleeved shirts if it's cold out and use the vest as a jacket...fingers crossed it isn't too cold on the 31st.

The last step came this morning, when I made the hat. I used a large piece of purple foam and cut a half circle about 10" tall, formed into a cone shape, and stapled shut. Before stapling I took four strips of tulle and knotted the end a few times and inserted that into the hat. Lastly, I used a hole punch on both sides and tied ribbons so I can tie it under her chin to stay put.

I'm pretty excited about this costume :) I like that it's homemade and was (mostly) fun to make. Another bonus is the cost. If I add in my and my mom's time, the cost comes out quite high. However, since sewing is a fun hobby I am NOT counting our time. The overall materials cost was just under $20, which is fantastic considering the crazy prices stores charge for ready made costumes. I used a few 40% coupons at Joann's, which helped keep prices down as well. And she loves to play dress up, so I know the costume will get used beyond just Halloween.

I actually haven't tried this on her yet--I know if I do she won't want to take it off. So pictures to follow next week of her as Fairy Godmother Charlotte.

Happy Halloween!

~Stacy