Halloween!

October was completely insane around here. We had a flooded basement, a bout of hand, foot, and mouth disease, and so much lost sewing time. I did get the Halloween costumes done though! This year they had actually decided pretty early on, so even though I didn't start sewing as early as I should have, I had time to plan. So... Here are my little Joker and Harley Quinn!

Ellie has been watching Batman with her brother since she was tiny, and more recently has been watching him play Arkham Asylum. She has developed a great love of Harley Quinn, so when Cy wanted to be Joker, she insisted on being Harley.

We came up with a number of different ideas for her costume, but ultimately I went with this one. I used the Billie Dress for the top. Using the back zip version, I cut the lining of the front bodice on the fold, but added seam allowance to colorblock the outer front. I like that the seam is covered. The red and black are a stretch sateen, and the sleeves and collar are a lightweight white shirting for a faux layered look. The white is also the lining for the bodice. I made a 4, and found it was loose enough that I actually could get it over her head pretty easily with the back basted shut, so I never quite finished it - there isn't a zipper, and the lining isn't sewn down. At some point, I'll go back to it. The skirt is about half of the fullness and half of the length called for in the pattern. The leggings are Bonny Leggings in size 4. I made a freezer paper stencil for the diamond accents and used setacolor paints. She adores the outfit, and insisted on wearing it again the next day.

For Cy's Joker costume, I bought a white shirt and dyed it orange. The bow tie is just a green cotton, and I used this tutorial. For the suit, I used purple suiting from JoAnn's, and the same Peek-A-Boo patterns that I used for his Tenth Doctor suit a couple of years ago. The pants are Classic Chinos with a faux fly and an added lining. I altered the Little Gentleman Suit Jacket to make the tuxedo jacket with tails. Before diving in to make the alterations, I looked around for a pattern or tutorial for a jacket in this sort of style... And found absolutely nothing. So later this week I'll be posting a tutorial for the steps I took. I'm pleased with how the whole thing turned out, and more importantly so is he.

I guess I've already set the bar pretty high when it comes to costumes, but my mom set the precedent when I was a kid, so I'm only following in her footsteps. Unfortunately, I did not get a lot of great photos before we were off into the dark! Maybe next year I'll finish costumes early enough for a pre-Halloween photo shoot. Maybe. Anyone else practically sewing out the door this Halloween?