Mission Halloween Mickey Mouse
And it turned out to be quite a success! Halloween is now over . . . .
and I can't get her out of this costume :)
Well worth all the effort for sure.
All made of fleece (except the gloves). This is perfect for the unpredictable and usually cold and wet Halloween holiday here in Vermont. The black and red fleece is micro fleece and the yellow is pill resistant fleece. All purchased at Jo-ann's so the cost is pretty minimal with a coupon. I purchased 2 yards of black, 1 yard of red, and 1/2 yard of yellow.
I started off with the pants (which are separate from the red shorts). I used the
Oliver & S pj bottom pattern for the base and just tailored it to be more fitting to her legs. With an elastic waist these fit great and she can wear them this winter.
If you don't have this pattern, its definitely worth purchasing. I have never made the pj top but I use the pj bottom pattern year after year whether it be for gifts or for Brooke. It has paid for itself many times over. The pattern is very easy to follow as well.
Next we worked on the shorts. I used
Dana's flat front shorts pattern in a size 5 which is a little big for my daughter at the moment but I wanted her legs to have that skinny look. Turned out great I think. I just followed the normal pattern instructions and added some very large white buttons on the front. This is also another pattern that I use time and time again. She has a great range of sizes and styles within one pattern and I find myself going back to it time and time again. A must have for your pattern library I think.
Oh! And don't forget the Mickey tail! Once the shorts were done I free-handed a tail pattern and sewed, stuffed, and inserted it into the back seam of the shorts. I just pulled the back seam out a bit and stuffed the tail through and sewed the seam back up. This was Brooke's favorite part!
Next we decided to get the shirt off the list (I still needed time to figure out the ears . . .had a vision in my head but was not quite sure how I was going to pull it off). The shirt pattern is
Made by Rae's Flash Back Skinny Tee. Again, followed the pattern except that I added a turtleneck top (I think it was a 12" piece cut for the collar and just folder in half and sewn in place around the collar edge so you get a slouchy turtleneck look.
I then just finished the shirt cuffs as 2"(not folding in half for a 1" cuff. . . just sewn on as a 2" extension onto the sleeves) and finished the edge at 1/4"folded over. Since its fleece, there is no need to worry about the edges fraying.
I purchased this pattern a while ago and just got around to using it. So far, I really like it and will be using it again I am sure. I think I will look into some cute cotton fabrics online and make Brooke some Flash back tees for the winter. So far I can say this pattern has potential for going into my must have pattern library.
An then comes the Mickey ears. . .Mickey isn't Mickey without ears. . .ears that STAND UP! So I purchased this pattern
from Tiedyediva. I just left two seams open on each side to insert the ears. The ears are each made from two round plastic canvas pieces sewn together and covered with fleece. I also took two rectangle pieces which I also sewed on each side of the two sandwiched together circles (before covering with fabric with yarn and a lg embroidery needle). Hard to explain, but when I was done I basically had a sandwich of plastic canvas circles with to plastic canvas braces coming out the bottom giving the circles some stability. This was my husbands idea (thank you!). After I covered the circle with fleece I inserted (the brace like pieces into the holes I left in the hat at the seams and then hand sewed the seams and ears in place. Looked great but they would not stand up for a long period of time and because the hat pattern doesn't have a liner the plastic brace-like pieces were scratchy (ouch!). So I then cut two rectangle pieces of fleece and hand stitched over them the plastic braces on the inside of the hat which gave them extra stability and solved the scratchy issue . . . .Hooray!!!!
And the shoes! Mickey would not be Mickey without the shoes. This
shoe pattern I happen to find online while searching for ideas. I love it! Its easy and fun and just looks . . . .Awesome!!! These are made out of yellow pill resistant fleece. Easy to follow and a great result. They are shoe covers and just sit on top of your child's sneakers. How cool is that!
And last but not least . . .the gloves. I admit. . . I purchased these at Jo-Ann's (one size fits all) and added some black accents. I probably could have made some but time was a little crunched at the end and being that they are white I am glad I didn't. These $1 bargain now are stained with black face paint . . .oops . . .so i am glad I just went with the quick store bought option on this part.
Very very pleased with this years costume, happy with the smile on Brooke's face, and delighted that the day after I still can't get her out of it!! Love it:)
