Halloween Sewing

I've been busy sewing Halloween costumes. Rather than wait until next week to show you the pictures though, I thought I'd share them now to account for all the time I've been sewing instead of blogging.

The first costume consisted of 8 pieces, cost relatively little to make, and is dual-purpose, as I made it from a pyjama pattern out of cotton flannelette. I paid extra attention to finishing details, and to fitting (the pyjamas are still a bit on the big side, but she loves them, so they should last awhile). This took two serious sewing sessions, one being a longer session enabled by my wonderful sister, who had the kids over to play for the afternoon the other day.

Presenting the ninja (McCall's M6239, [which despite being categorized under 'family sleepwear' and prominently featuring yawning girls modelling the sleepwear, has a disclaimer on the back claiming it isn't sleepwear rather than simply telling us that we need to choose fabrics for sleepwear with care] mask courtesy of internet directions on tying a ninja mask out of a T-shirt, not sure where though, as my husband did the search for this detail for us):

If only the ninja would attack the clutter on the table that accrued during costume manufacture.

The other costume consisted of something like 59 pieces (I am counting the fusible fleece, though not the interfacing), cost more than a store-bought costume to make, is decidedly not dual-purpose, and probably would have gone easier on an industrial machine operated by someone with a lot more sewing experience than me (though my walking foot made it just possible). This one took roughly forever, and it's still not quite finished, but was usable for last night's dance class. This is made from polar fleece, (occasionally requiring me to sew through as many as 8 layers at once, which is why I counted the fusible fleece), is probably quite warm, and my younger daughter has the cutest roar while wearing it, making it all worthwhile (I say this before finishing the last details; hopefully I still think so in a few more days).

Presenting the dragon (McCall's M6185, by the way, the tail is huge; if you make this pattern, consider making it smaller):

Raaaar!

Today I am taking the day off from sewing (but not, unfortunately, from laundry), but tomorrow I just need to finish the dragon feet that cover the kid's boots, and the dragon mittens to keep her hands warm (I think I have some black stretchy gloves somewhere for the ninja, if I can only find them). Then, the kids will be all ready for Halloween!