Handsewn Halloween Costume Ideas

The Halloween season is upon us and kids are beginning to anxiously make plans for their Halloween costumes. For parents this means we are faced with the tremendous responsibility of finding that perfect costume to help our kids stand out among their peers. No child wants to be just like everyone else on Halloween. They all want that special costume, the one that's going to turn them into the scariest zombie in the neighborhood or the cutest princess among all their friends. But thankfully parents don't have to spend a fortune on that great Halloween costume. Not when you can make them by hand much cheaper tha

n you can purchase them at Wal Mart. Handmade costumes and face painting are inexpensive ways that add originality and charm to your Childs Halloween. There are many wonderful costume designs that you can create by hand for a fraction of the cost of buying one new. Costumes like this wonderful pattern found online for a pizza pie costume which just happens to come all dressed up with a delicious array of toppings made from felt and rubber and cut in the shapes of mushrooms, pepperoni, olives and cheeses. Who doesn't like a pizza all the way? To create this unique and fun costume for your child you'll need some red foam core, a craft knife, some unbleached cotton, craft fill, a glue gun, a brown marker, some scraps of fabric and bits of rubber or whatever material you want to use for the pizza toppings. You'll also need some white cotton fabric and some white poster board.
1. To begin your costume design you need to outline the pizza shape on 2 pieces of foam core. Foam core that is 20 inch by 20 inch works best.
Then cut the pizza shape out with your craft knife.
2. Wrap and glue long pieces of unbleached cotton around craft fill to make the crust of the 'pizza'.
Glue the fabric rolls around the edge of the foam core pieces and touch them up with brown marker or use a little brown paint.
3. Cut out shapes of your favorite pizza toppings and glue them onto your main design.
4. Make 2 more rolls of craft fill wrapped in cotton for the shoulder straps. Slip the ends through slits in the foam core and glue the ends to the surface.
5. Now you have to make your chefs hat by using scored white poster board rolled into a cylinder and secured with glue. Use white cotton fabric stuffed with craft fill to make the crown. This costume idea is very quick and easy and appropriate for younger kids as well as the older food connoisseurs in your group.

A warm, fleece, lion hand made costume is the perfect design for your little ones. Besides being cute and original this costume also does double duty by keeping your little trick or treaters warm and toasty on Halloween night. For this design you'll need thick fleece in complementing shades of brown, scissors, a glue gun, synthetic fur, ribbon, pipe cleaners, craft fill, wire and of course you'll also need a costume pattern which you can buy at a craft store or you could even download and print one from your computer.
1. You begin by making the hood of your costume out of thick fleece. You do this by gluing together the pieces you cut using the lion hood pattern. Keep the sides of the fabric you want on the outside together as you glue.
2. Trim the hood with synthetic fur. Glue two ribbons to the sides of the hood. Turn the hood right side out.
3. To make the ears, cut four fleece pieces out using the lion ear patterns. Glue two pieces, right sides together and let dry. Repeat these steps for the second ear. Turn both ears right side out. Have 2 pipe cleaners handy and bend them into U- shapes and insert them onto the pockets for shape, fill the ears with craft fill and glue them to the hood.
4.you'll then need to make a long tail out of a piece of 6 inch wide fleece. Fold in half lengthwise to form a tube and glue together. Turn the tube right side out.
5. Glue a piece of synthetic fur to one end of the tail. It should be bent at one end and looped at the other, stuff the tail with craft fill. Seal it closed and glue to the back of the costume. These make great costume ideas for younger children. For more ideas on handmade costumes visit www.parents.com