Super Hero T-shirt Refashion

My nephew Barrett asked me to make him a Captain America costume!!!  I'm so excited, not only because it's a fun project, but because he actually asked =)  I'm so happy he knows I like to make stuff!  So here's the beginning of my project, a basic t-shirt refashion!

I got 4 t-shirts at Michael's.  A blue one in his actual size (a little big so he can grow into it and I can add more cool stuff to it) and some XLs.  I cut strips from the bottom of the red and white shirts to make into the stripes at the bottom of the shirt.  Using the old hems made it so easy!  I cut them 4.5 by 8.  After I sewed the strips together, I just sewed them to the shirt at the right height.  I didn't cut the blue shirt at all so that he won't feel any of the piecing, and so my next step doesn't show through.

Iron on a star and stitch it down, and the first part of the costume is done!!!  Next step... add some muscles!!  I think he'd love just the t-shirt, and it took me less than an hour to make today.  But for a costume, we need more!  I'll share soon =)

Lemon’s Purse

Since I actually finished my costumes with time to spare, I decided to procrastinate on Christmas presents by making a matching candy bag for Serenity’s costume!  In one of the books Lemon had a cute little lemon purse, so I just made mine a lot like that. 

I cut a four inch by 11 inch strip of yellow felt and then cut two yellow semicircles about as big as I could make them using just the two pieces of yellow felt I had left after all this lemony goodness.  That’s about a seven inch diameter. Then two white semicircles, slightly smaller, and six teardrop shaped pieces of yellow.  I hand stitched it all, I think I’m completely over my avoidance of hand stitching.  It’s just easier to manipulate felt by hand, and so soothing! 

Then I used a little bit of the ribbon that I’d used for the belt to make a handle, covering the end of the ribbon with a little rectangle of felt.  Then to make it a bit sturdier, I lined the bottom with a four inch wide strip of cereal box cardboard.  Then I thought, that doesn’t look finished, so I added a little flap of yellow felt on top to cover the cardboard. 

It works great!  She’s been using it as a purse all week, and although my husband voiced doubts as to whether it will hold enough candy, it will certainly hold as much candy as we should let her eat. ;)  

Here are the rest of the Halloween posts:  Check out the rest of her costume!

DIY Care Bear for adults and children

M&M costume

Ballerina Costume and Ballerina Basket

Lemon Meringue Costume and Accessories

Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat

Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat.

Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat.

I nearly did this costume for Serenity’s first year, but finally decided on a flower fairy for her.  Hey, I don’t think I posted that here yet.  Something to look forward to!  Anyway, since then I’ve had this costume in my mind and so I’m so glad I got to do it this year!  Eric really makes the perfect Man with the Yellow Hat.  He’s so tall =)  And Donovan is a perfect monkey. 

The only thing that held me back from this costume is that I already have an adorable monkey outfit.  I got this sweater off Crazy 8 and still just adore it.  It’s cute, comfy, and useful, which I think makes it a perfect Halloween costume.  But since I want to give it my own touch, I decided to make George a little accessory: a banana!  I made it just like the tutorial here, except since it was for my baby I added a nice rattle.  I just took a drinking straw, filled it with quinoa (I didn’t have any rice, and besides, quinoa fit better in the straw.)   Then tucked that down inside the banana before stuffing.  It’s perfect!  And Donovan really likes it!  When Serenity isn’t running off with it.  She has lots of monkeys to feed besides Donovan. 

Today (last Thursday now) I finally got over my procrastination on the yellow hat.  I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to build it out of cardboard or what, but finally I decided that I needed to use some of that huge piece of yellow felt hanging out in my closet.  I stole it from my Mom to make Peeps but only finished one pink one last year.  So now it’s a yellow hat.  This tutorial worked just great, although since I did it in fleece, it’s a lot floppier so I stuffed the top part to make it stand up. 

If I get time I’ll add details, like yellow pants, maybe a tie, some black detailing, but the main point gets across already, it’s all about the Yellow Hat.

Lemon Meringue Version Two

And here it is, Lemon Meringue version two!  I absolutely loved this Cascading Ruffled Skirt Tutorial, and had it starred and unread in my Google Reader for weeks.  (That’s my version of a to-do list, at least until I started with Pinterest!)  And so when Serenity wanted Lemon Meringue for her costume, I thought, this is totally something Lemon Meringue would wear!  Stylish and cute!  So I got a couple knits and went for it.  The only thing I changed is that after I made it according to instructions, I realized she said it was 5t, and Serenity is a 4t just because of length, not because of waist.  That’s right, way too big.  Plus, I completely failed at putting the elastic on the way she does it in the tutorial.  I stretched it too much at the end so it was all uneven.  So I just turned the top part into an elastic casing instead!  Then I could use an elastic the right size for her waist, and the skirt looks just like it should still.  Those ruffles are very forgiving.  I totally recommend this tutorial for the novice clothing maker, it was fun and so cute!  And no finished edges so no worries about my lack of serger =) 

Here are the rest of the Halloween posts, just one more two go, for the Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George!  Coming up Tuesday =) 

DIY Care Bear for adults and children

M&M costume

Ballerina Costume and Ballerina Basket

Lemon Meringue Costume and Accessories

Lemon Meringue Costume

Serenity’s Halloween Costume is finished at last!  She decided to be Lemon Meringue from Strawberry Shortcake, and here is our inspiration. 

Source: squidoo.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

So cute =)  I bought her one of the dolls before she was even interested in dolls, just because I loved them when I was little.  She enjoys them now too and it’s such fun!  She wanted to be Lemon because she has yellow hair and eyes just like Serenity’s.  The best part about the costume is that Lemon wears all kinds of clothes, they just have to be yellow and blue!  So I got to play with all these great patterns and tutorials I’ve been seeing around the internet!

I started with this great pattern for a raglan sleeve dress from Lier at Ikatbag.com.  She has fantastic ideas!  I will probably never sew clothes that well but I really enjoy playing at it. Sewing like this makes me long for a serger, but I only do this once a year, so I get by without =)  To adjust it for lemon meringue I just had to add the lemon details that I hand sewed in felt at the neckline and pockets.  Then I made the little belt out of a ribbon with a simple snap, and did a gather in the skirt so that her little blue skirt shows underneath, just like the doll!

I didn’t find striped knit fabric, and the only yellow striped leggings I found were twenty dollars.  At that price I might as well have bought the store bought costume!  So I figured out how to make my own.  =)  I took an old white t-shirt, and ironed on stripes that I cut from my leftover yellow knit.  I just took a square of steam a seam (the softest kind with the sticky back) and attached it to the yellow fabric, then used my rotary cutter to cut strips.  Then I just had to line them up and iron them down!  If it was more than a costume I’d probably reinforce it with a little stitching, but it will last well enough for now!  I used this tutorial on simple, two piece leggings from Make It and Love It to figure out how to make it.  The only problem with this is that t-shirt knit doesn’t stretch as much as the pants I used as my pattern, so it’s a challenge to get them over the heel.  I either needed to use a wider leg or cut a slit at the ankle, but as it is we’re just going to use them as they’re perfectly comfortable when on.

Eric was trying to teach her to curtsey... didn't quite come out right =)

Then there are the accessories!  I made the lemon headband, using hand-stitching to make the lemon and leaves.  Working with all the felt food recently has cured me of my phobias about hand-stitching.  I knew I could do it, but I always thought it’d be stronger on the machine.  Well, some things are just easier by hand, especially felt!  Here’s a link to my details on the headband. 

And if you’re still hunting for easy Halloween ideas, here are my previous posts on costumes! 

DIY Care Bear for adults and children

M&M costume

Ballerina Costume and Ballerina Basket

Saturday you can see the alternate Lemon Meringue outfit! Stay tuned!  Or be a follower, I would LOVE that! =)

Lemon Accessories

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Her
Serenity got to pick her Halloween Costume this year, and she chose to be Lemon Meringue!!  Ok, it's possible I helped her just a little bit.  She originally said cat, but when I was looking at cat costume ideas, this Lemon Meringue one popped up, and she noticed that Lemon has yellow hair and blue eyes just like her!  The best part about this costume is that Lemon wears all kinds of different clothes in blue and aqua, so anything I can manage to sew in those colors works!  I've got it nearly done, but not photographed, so for today I'm just going to show off the headband I made!

Source: squidoo.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

Notice Lemon has that little lemon in her hair.  I struggle with Serenity's hair, as I am mostly clueless about my own.  We've never had it cut, and only brush it now and again, but it's starting to get long enough that it really needs something!  So I finally discovered that those fuzzy bristled brushes work great!  And headbands make it almost look like I know what I'm doing.  So a headband with a lemon sewn on is just the ticket.  I hand sewed some felt to make the lemon.  Very simple, a yellow semicircle, a white semicircle, and three yellow teardrops to make the lemon!  Plus two little green leaves.  Then I found a headband that has fabric on it so it was easy to stitch it down!  And cute! =)  Now I know why there are thousands of tutorials on headbands, bows, and flowers, they are so fun and easy to make!  

Here is the new improved picture.  Just can't beat natural light. =)

Now you can see why I need to take different pictures of the costume!  I don't know what I did so wrong! =)

If you're looking for other fun Halloween ideas, check out these:

DIY Care Bear for adults and children

M&M costume

Ballerina Costume and Ballerina Basket

Easy Halloween Costume: Max from Where the Wild Things Are!

My nephew Casey loves playing dress-up, and one year out of the blue he wanted a Max costume!  I was living in Cali at the time, and it happened to be summer so the hardest part of this costume was finding the sweat suit!  So it’s perfect for Halloween =)  I just sewed some white ears from felt and top stitched them into the hood.  Then I found the perfect fuzzy tail from Jo-Ann’s and attached that to the bottom of the suit.  I also made a little gold crown out of poster board that I glued the extra part of the fuzzy tail around to make it furry just like Max’s crown, but I seem to have lost those pictures! 

If you want to go the extra mile, get white gloves and sew some felt claws to the end, and maybe even do little shoe covers with more claws for the feet.  Casey loved growling in his Max costume! =)

If you want other easy Halloween ideas, try my:

DIY Care Bear for adults and children

M&M costume

Ballerina Costume and Ballerina Basket