I looked in the stores for inspiration and I didn't see anything that caught my eye. My son ended up spotting an Optimus Prime costume that he wanted so I bought his costume instead of making him one. I felt bad about not making him something so I bought Transformer fabric and made him a Trick-or-Treat bag using Harts Fabric tutorial. Sadly I had to omit the reflective tape because I had directional print and the width would require more than the yard I had in my stash.
I still had no idea what to make for my daughter...all I knew was that I didn't want to make something that required a lot of pattern pieces or sewing. After perusing Pinterest I found a few cute tulle costumes that looked quick and easy to make. It was a difficult deciding which tulle costume, but after consulting with the critics (my daughter and my husband) it was decided that I would make a Little Red Riding Hood costume.
If you want to make your own Little Red Riding Hood Costume, here's my quick mini tutorial:
Supplies:
- Craft Scissors
- Measuring tape
- White and Red Thread
- White Crochet Headband (sold at Joann's)
- Red Crochet Headband (sold by the yard at Joann's)
- 15" inches of Black Ruffle trim (sold by the yard at Joann's)
- 6" inch wide red tulle on a roll (I purchased 100 yards online)
- 6" inch wide white tulle on a roll ( I purchased 100 yards online, however you probably need less than 25)
I used McCall's M6187 pattern for the cape, but I only purchased the main fabric and used bias tape instead of adding a lining. If you don't want to buy a pattern, you can check out these great tutorial on how to make your own cape:
Instructions:
To get started on your own tulle costume, measure your child's chest. My 2 year old measured 20" inches so I subtracted 2" inches from that to make the tube 18" inches. I thought 4" inches of white in the middle would be proportional for the center, however in retrospect I should have only made it 3"-3.5" inches. The white section was cut from a single crochet bandeau (meant to be a tube top) so I used it's height (6" inches) to dictate the height of the entire bodice. To create the red portion of the bodice I sewed 4 rows of the red headband to make the height 6" inches. Once the red headbands were sewn together, I attached the two ends to the white center to complete the bodice. I added the black trim after I finish the skirt but I wouldn't recommend doing that because it was difficult to sew with the poofy tulle in the way.
Next, measure for the length. Since my bodice was 6"inches, I subtracted that from the total length to get the length of the tulle bottom. I wanted my dress longer (ankle length) in case it was chilly on Halloween. In order to achieve the length I wanted I needed my tulle to be 18" long, which means I had to cut my tulle to be 36" inches long.
I started looping the red tulle on the bottom row of the bodice and went all the way around. For the second row I filled in the gaps and built the volume of the skirt.
For the apron I wanted it to be 13" inches in length, meaning I would have to cut my tulle 26" inches in length. I made a single row of the white tulle in the white portion of the bodice, and I made sure that there wasn't any gaps or holes.
To make the cape I sorta used McCall's M6187. I cut the hood using the pattern and I laid the cape pattern on the fabric and cut it as if I was making a circle skirt. The pattern calls for lining and pleats in the hood but I omitted them.
Instead of using a pleat, I slightly gathered the cape to match the size of the hood then attached the two and covered the seam with bias tape. As for the back seam I also used bias tape to cover the edge of the fabric. I topstitched the bias tape down, sewing on the outside of the cape.
For the tie I used white ribbon from my ribbon scraps.
To make the hem I used my rolled hem foot...it gave the hem a nice finish and saved me a lot of time! If you don't own a rolled hem foot, I highly recommend buying one.
Thanks for stopping by!!!
Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!!!
