When the family was all here for the wedding last month, I asked my daughter in law if I could make a Halloween costume for H. I know she won’t really ‘trick or treat’ since she isn’t even 2 years old yet. But the kids at daycare will likely celebrate Halloween. Also, she is starting to enjoy pretend play and dressing up with silly hats, wearing her mama’s ‘pretties’ (bracelets), etc. I think even if she doesn’t trick or treat, she will enjoy having the costume to play with.
After chatting, we decided on a lion costume. It will be fun for her to play with and she does enjoy roaring like a lion (which just cracks me up). I ordered a pattern, which was silly because I have so many costume patterns in my pattern shop but I had sold the lion pattern already. Anyway, I selected McCall’s MP365 as it looked like it would be pretty simple to make. I decided to leave the hand mitts off and make the tail detachable in case it was annoying when H was pretending to be a ferocious lion.
I chose a soft minky fabric for the body of the costume. So cuddly….and so evil! Honestly, cutting the minky was incredibly frustrating. It slips and slides all over the place. I would begin pinning the pattern piece from the center and work outward. By the time I was to one end, the other would be off. It was crazy! So after putting nine billion pins in it, I finally started cutting. It made me nervous that sewing it would be a miserable experience but it wasn’t at all. I had talked to my minky-expert-friend, Sophia, and she told me to use lots of pins and my walking foot. The walking foot made all the difference.
One of my favorite parts of the costume is the lion’s mane. I had bought brown fabric and was supposed to cut fringe to create the mane. But if H uses this very much, it will be washed a lot and I wasn’t about to finish each edge of the fringed mane. I could have used minky because I wouldn’t need to finish the edges. Then one day I was at Jo-Ann’s and I took a look at prepared trims. I found this fringe and it was perfect!! It makes the lion sort of sweet. My DIL says it reminds her of the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz. It was so easy to attach and saved me a lot of time. I also hand stitched a bit of it to the end of the tail.
This loop on the back side of my little lion holds the tail.
Making the tail detachable was not a huge deal. I took a strip of minky and folded it wrong sides together and top stitched around all sides. Then I used “steam a seam” and fused a square of fabric to the inside of the costume just behind where the tail would hang. I wanted to reinforce that spot so the tail didn’t stretch out the fabric when my little lion was roaring over the grasslands. Once the back side fabric was reinforced, I used the strip of fabric to make a belt loop of sorts. Then I made a second strip of fabric in the same was as the first. After putting velcro on each end of the strip, I hand stitched it to the end of the tail. This strip passes through the loop and Velcro’s to itself.
All in all, it turned out really cute. I just hope it fits! I had measurements to work with but I won’t know until they try it on her.
The cutest, cuddliest lion costume!
I can’t wait to see this on H. I am putting it in the mail this morning. When I have pictures of it on her, I will share one. Of course, one never knows how a toddler will react and she may decide she hates lion costumes. In which case, I am sure the next child will enjoy it. I can remember my kids wanting to be something for Halloween and I would not want to start that costume until just before Halloween because surely they would change their mind at least a couple of times.
A few new items for the shop.
Other than the costume, I have been focused on adding new versions of Chemex Cozies and French Press Cozies to my shop. This is the season where people begin shopping for the holidays and these two items sell quite well as gifts. That will likely be what I concentrate on for the next couple of weeks. When I select another fabric to offer, I make one as a sample and then my customers order them according to the size they need. I make them to order which keeps me busy but it also means I am not sewing and sewing unless the item is sold. Otherwise, I am guessing at which size and version to make.
Are you doing any Halloween sewing this year? Maybe fall decorations? Tell me what you are working on!
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Wow, this is soooooo cute! I hope H loves it. Great that she already loves to roar!
Hi Emily, I had a lot of fun making it. I hope she has a lot of fun playing with it. Have a great weekend!
Oh, she really will be the cutest lion ever! This is darling, Bernie, and I’m sure she’ll love it. Just think of all the great pictures you’ll get, too! I remember our kids being fun, but not nearly as much fun as grandkids. Be sure to let us see a picture of the queen of the jungle!
The relationship with a grand child is so different than with a child. I think part of it is we are a bit wiser now and more patient (at least I think I am). Also, we get all the fun stuff and don’t have to get up in the middle of the night all the time, or discipline them (not often anyway). Being a grandma is really the best!!
What an awesome lion costume! Making the tail detachable was very smart, and the mane is perfect. I hope she enjoys wearing it and roaring!
Thank you! It was a run project. I did have to really clean my machine afterward because there was SOOOO much minky fuzz inside of it. What a mess!
Definitely PDC (pretty darn cute)!!! I once made a mouse costume for the kids, and it was used for SO many years. I think I still have it tucked away somewhere….
PDC – I hadn’t heard that before. Very sweet! My kids really liked playing dress up with all sorts of things. Hoping this little one does as well! Are you relaxing now that the wedding and wedding quilt are all done?? Have a wonderful weekend Barb.
You are the best Grandma ever! H will love this lion costume and get hours of fun, creative play with it! Great tips for sewing with minky…I’ve avoided it so far, but maybe I can talk myself into trying it now. I made so many costumes when my kids were little and they played in them until they no longer fit. Now they’re waiting in boxes for grand kids….hopefully some day!
I also have a box of costumes – mostly those from the boys. Julia played in hers and wore some of them out. We also passed them on to friends to use. But I have a few. Hope you get to pull yours out someday too!
Hi Bernie! Aww, she is definitely going to be the cutest lion ever and the hit at daycare. How adorable! I can’t wait to see a picture of her in it. You did such a nice job on it! ~smile~ Roseanne
Thanks Roseanne! I will share something – providing it fits of course. I sure hope it does. She is so tall so that worries me a bit. Crossing fingers though.
The lion costume is wonderful! Good for you! About 40 years ago I was making Halloween costumes for my kids. A tiger outfit in fake fur was especially memorable. At the time I thought I was spending a ridiculous amount on the fabric, but it was played with for years. Now it’s in my grandchildren’s dress-up box.
I made a bear costume with fake fur – maybe 25 years ago or so. I cannot for the life of me think of where it ended up. I suppose I must have passed it along to someone else to use. It was adorable tho. We lived in Pennsylvania at the time and I wanted a warm costume for my toddler (who just turned 28!). Wish I had it now tho! Enjoy the weekend Carol.
I love this costume and I think we need a VIDEO of her in the costume roaring like a lion. I love her roar! My nephew (now in his late 30’s) love the book “I Wish I Had Duck Feet” when he was a toddler. We got him some swim fins, totally unrelated to the book, and he cried and cried when we wanted to put them on him. It took us a bit of time to realize that he was frightened his feet would turn into duck feet! You are correct – One never knows how a toddler will react! Looking forward to the video!
Sounds good. If she gets into it, I will ask for a video. That is crazy about the duck feet. It is hard to figure out what the root of the issue is sometimes. Have a great weekend Barb.
That lion costume is the cutest. I hope it fits as it is adorable and looks extra soft and comby.
Thank you Lisa. I will let you know – as long as it fits reasonably well, she will look adorable in it!
That is adorable, Bernie! Her little roar is adorable, too, so the costume will be perfect for her 🙂 I foresee hours of lion-play in her future.
Thank you Leanne. I love the pretending that kids do – Do you have some dress up clothes for your daycare kiddos? So much fun!
What a cute costume, using the trim for the mane was inspired! Thanks for linking it up to TGIFF
Oh Gosh, Bernie — that costume is adorable!! I think my son was 2 yrs old for his first trick-or-treating. I made him a plush duck costume similar to your lion and I remember how we practiced trick-or-treating ahead of time: Lars rings the doorbell. Lars says “trick or treat.” Lars gets CANDY! Lars says “Thank you!” Next house! Lars rings the doorbell. Lars says “trick or treat.” Lars gets CANDY!… Ah, those were the days!! Today Lars is a senior in high school and there is ZERO chance that I can make him a cute little duckling costume for Halloween…
Hahaha – I am pretty sure he will not be trick or treating this year! Now you have to wait (probably a long while) for grandchildren!
I am so impressed, Bernie! Little H will love it! I have yet to embark on costumes. I had the best of intentions of making a dress-up box — with a doctor coat, firefighter uniform, etc — for my boys when they were little. Alas, that didn’t happen! (Because who has time to sew when you’ve got little guys toddling around?!)
I know what you mean. It is so hard to fit everything in.
So much easier with a grandchild, now that I am not working outside the home. 🙂
Bernie, I love your solution for the mane and tail-end fur! Such a cute costume! Full of handmade love!
Oh that it is! Thanks so much Nancy. I hope she enjoys it. 🙂
Wow, that really IS the cutest lion ever. Your granddaughter is going to look adorable. I’m making an enormous ghost costume for my son from his favorite computer game. So far it’s involved 2 white sheets, window screening, felt, a dome umbrella, and a harness… Definitely not your Charlie Brown variety with some holes cut in it for eyes.