Halloween sewing recap 2019

I’m a little late on my monthly roundup post concerning what I sewed for October. I blame Halloween being the last day of the month!

I probably also needed to take a day off after everything that I made for the day!

Whatever the case, here’s all my Halloween sewing for 2019.

Halloween sewing 2019: Vikings+Dragons

My kids have all really enjoyed the How to Train Your Dragon movies. They’ve read all the books too! We took the boys to see the 3rd movie in February, and from then on, they had their hearts set on doing a full on family costume round for Halloween.

I’m not a procrastinator by heart, but this time I waited until just 2 weeks before. People, don’t set out to make a whole slew of costumes 2 weeks before! Thankfully it’s never really too late to start sewing with a plan.

It was a little hairy at times (literally, see Stoick’s jumbo yarn beard!), but I got through it because though I was late to the party, I had a plan.

These planner sheets really helped me get a clear head about this project, and tick things off one by one. You can download the planner pages for yourself from the Resource Library, and you can get access to this goodie and more when you sign up for the newsletter.

All the Vikings

Hiccup & Snotlout

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I started with my two younger boys, playing Hiccup and Snotlout. They each got tunics made from Jalie 2805. I modified the pattern by cutting them longer with a flared hem and flared sleeves.

I also freehanded a v-neck and built in little loops made from foldover elastic for the suede lacing.

Both the sweaters are refashioned from men’s sweaters. It was a very cold Halloween, so all these heavy wools and faux fur were perhaps the smartest things we could have picked!

The faux fur vests I thrifted as is. Hiccup’s needed a little repair, and Snotlout’s needed to be shortened which I did with some temporary stitching.

Snotlout also got leather cuffs. I found in the course of all my thrifting for this project that leather coats are insanely cheap at Halloween. Typically during the year I’ll see them priced at up to $45 at the thrift store (so half that on 50% Saturdays at my store). But during Halloween season, you might just be able to snag a full leather coat for $5. To my surprise, I found 2 for that price! It was a good reminder to me of just how useful thrift stores can be in your life as a sewist.

Here’s 15 unusual sources for sewing supplies at thrift stores.

The faux fur boot covers used to be Muppet bright green and turquoise. This was the only time in all of my dyeing experience that Rit DyeMore failed me! The dye barely changed the fur. I’m thinking it’s because I didn’t wash them beforehand, so it’s likely that there was some kind of residue that wouldn’t let the dye hit them right. No matter, that’s what paint is for! So I hit both sets of boot covers with a combo of spray paint and acrylic applied on wet boot covers with a sponge. In the end they look muddy, but as they put it, the Isle of Berk is very damp and muddy!

Stoick

Stoick was a lot of fun. He got a mega yarn beard I made with this tutorial.

I made a quick faux fur cape. It’s basically just a glorified unstuffed pillow. I used a chain connected to clay shoulder pieces I made and painted to fasten the cloak.

The base of a costume is an old graduation gown which you’d never know since the beard covers all!

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He also has leather cuffs, but my favorite part is the duck tape armor.

There’s strips of mirrored duck tape woven together on a base of muslin. It held up surprisingly just like fabric in the end! I sealed the edges with more tape and used velcro to fasten it to the graduation gown.

My husband made all the weapons with PVC, styrofoam, foil, and duck tape.

Astrid

I pretty much have always wanted to cosplay Astrid! “She’s an axe girl,” as one of my sons said. I don’t think it’s possible for me to look fierce, but hey–#cosplaygoals.

I first started with all the clay bits, making the skeletons and little coins for the shoulder pieces from air dry clay.

The top is refashioned from a wool sweater coat (+ Jalie 2805 again), and I used the sleeves to make gauntlets.

I made the shoulder pieces out of an old purse that was in super rough shape. Still, the faux leather was flexible and had a good weight for faux armor. I shaped the pieces on my dress form, and connected them all with hot glue. Silver spray paint finished them off. Both shoulder pieces are connected to the top with velcro.

My skirt is basically the lower half of the brown leather coat I found. I cut it off right above the set of snaps for the under skirt portion, then shaped it to my hips.

The overskirt is a series of gores made from the rest of the lower half of the coat. There was a lot of leather here and it was way to thick for a proper waistband. Instead, I used a strip of the coats lining as a binding. I was able to keep the original lining, so it’s finished off all nice inside!

Obnoxious: I ordered spikes for the skirt from Amazon, but the shipping didn’t happen in time.

I’ve been wearing the boot covers all around my house all this last snowy week! They’re a tube of faux fur, topped with knit ribbing. I’m planning a tutorial for these. They will make your cold weather life so much better, and they’re a quick and easy gift to make!

I also have a leather strip headband, which I apparently forgot to put on for this pic!

Now for the dragons!