Halloween costumes: Super Why and Baby Toga

I'm not sure at what point I decided that Christopher would be Super Why for Halloween this year. It was sometime after he began running through the house singing the Super Readers theme song, and sometime before he creatively turned baby Moses into a clothespin version of Super Why.

My initial vision of the costume went something like this:

• Find green leggings and long sleeve green shirt.


• Purchase a gold belt.


• Make a cape.


• Use a blue gDiaper over the leggings to complete the look.

Reminds me of the year I was going to be a Smurf. I figured we could just add blue food coloring to some lotion or some Crisco or something. I was only eight years old, but I was already incredibly lacking in my ability to see a craft all the way through . . .

Thankfully, while I was searching the internet for a how-to on making a cape, I came across Georgia's blog, Puking Pastilles. I was then introduced to the beauty of the buy now, download now, print now, business of patterns. 

How could I have not known about this?

Georgia has the most brilliant super hero costume pattern available for purchase in her Etsy shop. You can make it out any combination of colors that you like, and she even has free pdf's of many of your kiddo's favorite hero emblems. 

Thus was born the most non-crappy Super Why costume that I could possibly achieve.

Seriously. I had no idea that I could make anything like this for my sweet boy. As soon as I even mentioned it, he started asking to wear it. The poor dear was tortured every time I made him try on the different pieces of it. He would come close to tears each day I told him it wasn't ready yet.

Finally, on Wednesday this week, I finished. Of course I didn't take pictures along the way because I am the world's worst craft blogger. but I can tell you that the blue shiny fabric ain't so swift for sewing, but it makes a beautiful cape. 

The appliqu�0160;was tricky. I used gold ribbon for the strands around the book. At first, they held on with just Heat and Bond. Slowly but surely, it started peeling off though. Last night, I was hand stitching all of the ribbon on with some clear nylon thread - invisible super hero thread. 

My only complaint with the costume is that it fits so well. As soon as he grows a smidge, he's not going to be able to wear it. I did have to cut the pants twice, as the pattern definitely wasn't designed with tall boys in cloth diapers in mind. 

For the life of me, I couldn't remember what was on the back of Super Why's cape, and I wasn't about to make a second book applique because I was starting to feel lazy. So I put a green question mark. I'm not sure if that's right or not, but Christopher is thrilled with his "mark cape." 

He's a happy Super Why, that's for sure.

 

As for Colin, one day I was staring at his beautiful bald head and the very large ears which protrude from it, when it hit me. Those ears and that head were crying out for a laurel wreath. Thus was born the inspiration for the Baby Toga.

I actually took the pattern for the top of the Super Why costume as a guide to draw my own pattern for the toga gown. I liked the way the back split open and closed simply with a piece of velcro. The end result was a little too short, but seeing as how he'll be sitting in a wagon with a blanket over him, I think it will be fine.

The wrap ended up a little more elaborate than I intended, but I'm quite pleased with it. Again, I have no close up pictures of it, and one of the gold ribbon trim would be quite impressive here, but you'll just have to take my word for it. I hemmed all the edges of the wrap, even though I probably didn't need to. It's not like Colin is going to be requesting to dress as Caesar for the next 12 months of his life.

The laurel was the trickiest, and I'm not 100% happy with how it turned out, but it's alright because he won't wear it anyway. Hats and socks. The boy hates both. Anyway, I covered some craft wire with the gold ribbon trim and then hot glued some fake leaves to it. Today, at the church's Halloween parade, I figured out that if I was holding Colin, he would use one hand to hold onto me, and I could put a cookie in the other hand - thereby leaving him unable to yank the laurel wreath from his head. Brilliant, I tell you.

Not nearly as many people thought Colin in the baby toga was as funny as I do. Meh. It made me laugh, and these days, that's worth a lot.

So there you have it. Halloween craftiness for 2010. Maybe I'll post the treat bags I tried to throw together today. They are horrible. I'm so not ready to go pattern free on a bag. So. Not. Ready.