With Halloween around the corner, I've been trying to figure out my daughter's costume. She's still too young to have an opinion, so I started checking out the costume aisles at stores. Not surprisingly, these stores wanted $20-$40 for a toddler costume. I decided I would make my own.
At first, I wanted to make a little plump pumpkin costume. As I cruised Pinterest for ideas, I came across a
tutorial for a strawberry and fell in love with it. I opted to not make the headband portion as my daughter won't wear them just yet.
It cost me about $11.50 in materials. I also had to buy some thick stockings since it will be chilly. Those cost me another $3.50. I already had a long sleeve onesie. In total, this costume cost $15. Here are the materials I bought:
- 1 sheet of light green felt (8x11'')
- 1 sheet of dark green felt (8x11'')
- 20X58 inches of red felt
- 20X58 inches of red Minky with raised dots
- Elastic
- Polyfill (you only need 12 oz, but 16 oz was cheaper for some reason)
The amount of fabric you need will vary depending on the size of your child. I measured around my daughter's shoulders and to where I wanted the costume to end on her. She was 22 inches around. I decided to go with 20 inches for the front and back pieces so the strawberry would fill out when stuffed with polyfill. I also wanted it to be about 22 inches long. To account for the elastic pulling on the fabric, I added 3 inches to the total length. Final measurements for the red felt and Minky: 20X25' for the front and back pieces.
To start, place your two Minky pieces so the right sides are facing each other and sew along the sides of the costume using a half inch seam. Be sure to leave room for the arms. For my daughter, I marked at the 4.5" mark and the 10" mark with straight pins. I left that section open. Repeat the same process for the red felt.
Next, insert the red felt tube inside the red Minky tube so the right sides of the Minky and felt are facing each other. Make sure to align the seams and armholes. Sew along the top edges of the felt and Minky using a half-inch seam leaving a one inch gap. This gap is necessary so that you can fish your elastic through it later. Be sure you are sewing the edges and not straight across. Otherwise, where would your child's head go?
Turn your Minky right side out so that the felt tube is inside of it. Line up the seam you just made and pin it into place so the Minky doesn't slide everywhere. Then sew all the way around approximately one inch below the seam. Again, make sure you are sewing the edges and not sewing the costume shut. This creates a casing for your elastic.
Find the arms holes and pin them together (again, slippery Minky). Turn the edge of the Minky inward toward the felt by half an inch and turn the felt toward the Minky by half an inch to make a clean seam for the armholes. Pin it in place and sew in a rectangle shape. Repeat this process for the other armhole The final seam for the armhole should look something like this:
Now it is time to cut your strawberry leaves. I drew a basic leaf shape along the edge of the felt and used my first leaf as a template for all the other leaves. Be sure to use the border of the felt so your leaf has a flat edge to line up with the neck of the costume.
The original tutorial used bigger leaves and all light green. I wanted more visual depth, so I used two different colors. My leaves were also slightly smaller because I only had two 8x11 sheets of felt to work with. This made 16 leaves total.
Overlap your leaves and pin them into place. Make sure they line up with the neck of the costume. I wanted more overlap, but I had just enough leaves to make it around the costume. If you want more overlap, get more felt. It's inexpensive. Mine cost me $0.23 per sheet.
Sew one inch below the neck so that you are sewing along the same path you made earlier. Again, you are sewing along the edges, not straight across. Your child's head needs to be able to go through the top. The end result should look something like this:
Now, tuck the bottom of the Minky and felt in toward each other by half an inch like you did the arm holes. Sew as close to the bottom edge as you can. Not to beat a dead horse, but do not sew straight across. This will close off the costume. Leave a 4-inch gap so you can stuff your polyfill into the costume. Sew along the edge again one-inch from the bottom leaving the same 4-inch gap. This is the casing for your other piece of elastic.
Next, thread some elastic through the neck of the costume. To do this, attach a safety pin to the end of your elastic and inch it through the casing you made for the neck. Pull it until the neck opening is small enough to stay on your child's shoulders but large enough that it can easily slip over their head. Tie the elastic and sew the opening shut.
Now, stuff the dickens out of the strawberry costume with your polyfill. Take some care arranging it so it doesn't look lumpy. My daughter's costume is a little on the fuller side. I used about 12 of the 16 ounces of polyfill I bought.
Next, thread some more elastic through the bottom casing you made earlier. This one does not need to be as tight as it only needs to pull in slightly to complete the rounded shape. You want your child to be able to walk unencumbered. Tie off the elastic and sew the opening shut.
To complete the look, I am going to thread green ribbons through a hair tie and put my daughter's hair up in a ponytail. She won't wear headbands or hats, but she will let me put it into a ponytail. She will also have long sleeves and warm stockings on to insulate her from the chill. Here is the completed strawberry costume on my bewildered, bed-head daughter. It's still hot during the day here, so no long sleeves or stockings in this photo:
That's it! One strawberry costume complete!
