Tristan's Halloween Costume!

Long time, no post! And I apologize for that. Fall has proven to be a very busy season thus far! We took a trip up to the cabin two weeks ago, where Lily began showing symptoms of croup. I have never felt so helpless in my life. She’s never been one to have to sleep in our bed with us but since we were sharing a room, she insisted the space between us was for her tiny coughing body. It broke my heart, even with my head on the nightstand for part of the first night. We were up with her all night for two nights, and yet she was still a pleasant little angel, ready to explore and enjoy the mountain air. We thankfully ended up going to a clinic in a grocery store up there and the doctor gave her a steroid to open up her airways. It worked like a charm and she was right back on her normal schedule as soon as her little head hit her own bed in her own room. It took us all the week to recover from loss of sleep, and we now all seem to be fighting something. Oh how lovely the weather change is. I bought an enormous container of Boogie wipes yesterday. And learned the hard way that black shirts show off boogers the best!

Anyway, as far as creative projects go, I have been all over the place! I took on the task of making my nephew Tristan’s Halloween costume this year since I finished Lily’s so quickly. We decided he would make an adorable owl! I was pumped to start this new project and test my creative and sewing skills. I browsed the internet for ideas and pieced together my favorite. It was pretty simple to make, even if the separate steps were a little tedious. It also did not break the bank. I purchased my fabric from Walmart. I picked out five colors that were all on sale, totaling $15. Not bad. Also if I had actually accurately measured out how many ‘feathers’ I would need, I probably could have cut the fabric cost in half. Now I just have extra fabric for my other current project…details on that soon!

I started by cutting out a feather template on a piece of cardboard. I had to chase the ever so active Tristan down to compare the size of the feather to the size of him. After I was satisfied with the template, I traced and cut, traced and traced and then cut some more. This part was the easiest to do during nap since, minus me dropping the scissors, it was relatively a silent task!




I purchased a cream colored almost plain onsie (also from Walmart) and made sure it was a little roomy so Tristan could wear at least a layer underneath it. I unbuttoned the bottom snaps, and started to pin my first layer of feathers, lining them up with the seam of the leg holes. I pinned the layer around the entire onsie and once I was happy with the look of it, I began to sew. I decided I wanted to use the tan color I bought to be the belly of the costume. That became a little tricky to line up with the other colors, but I just kept pinning until it looked right. 



I wasn’t sure if I was going to do some sort of cape for the wings especially since I did not want Tristan to be uncomfortable. I opted to sew some feathers on the front and back of the sleeves that will flap when he moves, and keep him entertained if nothing else. I used felt and elastic to make owl feet to cover his sneakers. I can pretty much guarantee these will not last long, but they’ll be cute for a picture at least! 




All credit for the hat goes to Tristan’s talented Mommy, Ashley. She whipped that thing up during our big Friday night of ordering pizza and watching The Lost Boys on cable. It matches the costume perfectly and if we can get Tristan to wear it, it’ll be the icing on the cake of this simple and adorable costume!!

I’ll post pictures of the kiddos dressed up at some point this weekend! We’re headed to the Philly Zoo tomorrow for Boo at the Zoo! 

Happy Friday!