Happy Halloween!! Your recent two weeks of family time in Vermont were wonderful. The goal was to hang out with our son and his wife and spend as much time as possible with our grand daughter.
While there my grand daughter came down with a miserable virus and had terrible croup. Poor little girl was sick for a long stretch and toward the end of it, my husband came down with it. Not a fun bug at all! The two days before we left, my son and his wife were starting to come down with it but it didn’t look like they were going to be quite as sick.
Since we were having some quiet time at home and H was taking long naps due to being sick, i did have time to do some sewing. I pulled out my DIL’s sewing machine to make a Halloween costume for H. She and her mom found a cute picture of a little girl dressed up as a pumpkin with green leggings and t-shirt on underneath.
I used a Simplicity pattern for the costume. There is a Jo-Ann’s in the next town over so off I went in search of orange fabric. At first I planned to use a wool felt but it was so stiff. I knew H wouldn’t have fun running around in that at her Halloween party (at her daycare). I was with my son Kyle (he and his wife drove over from New York for a weekend) and he spotted a bolt of orange fleece way up on a top shelf, not yet unwrapped. Lucky for me he is 6’ 2” and was happy to hop up and down to grab it. This was perfect.
The pumpkin is lined with fleece and filled with batting. Even trick or treating in Vermont, this girl is going to be quite warm. Her outfit is so heavy!! There was a stencil for the face but i felt like it was too big so I ended up cutting the pieces out free hand. Using a few bits of ‘Wonder-Under’, I fused the face to the front and appliquéd them with a simple zig zag stitch.
The pattern called for a casing to be made at the hemline with elastic inserted to make it puffy. However with the fleece, there was already a nice shape to the pumpkin. Instead, I trimmed the fleece lining to be about two inches shorter than the outer layer. Turning one inch of the outer layer to the inside, I machine stitched the hemline.
Ok- my favorite part of the whole costume is definitely the hat. When I made it, H was quite happy to wear it about the house for an afternoon so I really hope she wears it on Halloween. It looks so darn cute on her. I made it during a nap time, guessing at the sizes and it was too big for her. There wasn’t a clean way to fix this without doing a lot of seam ripping. I had to rip one seam on the pumpkin and it was difficult to manage with that puffy fleece fabric. So I cheated and took a little tuck and just stitched it up. The hat is still a bit large but better than before.
When I left I had not had time to run out and buy some velcro which was needed for the shoulder straps. So I left it unfinished and my daughter-in-law took care of it. I received some really cute pictures of H having fun with her costume today.
I am glad they had a little party at her daycare. I hear they are supposed to have a lot of rain tonight so that may put the kibosh on any trick or treating.
Just in case there was a chance for trick or treating, I also made her a tiny treat bag to carry.
This was designed off the cuff and I didn’t write down any measurements. If I had to guess, I would say it finished at about 8″ x 11″ or so. Maybe even a bit smaller. I had that polka dot ribbon on hand (actually had all of the supplies on hand) and I took two pieces and sewed them together (wrong sides together) just to make it a bit heftier.
The bag is lined, which makes it a bit stronger. Since she does not yet know what trick or treating really is, she won’t be disappointed this year if they skip it due to weather. She can play with this bag or use it next year.
While I was there H and I made a festive bandana for their dog Wusha. I think Wusha looks a bit embarrassed to wear it but this dog will do anything my grand daughter asks of her. I had the triangular pieces cut and pinned and then had H sit on my lap and help me feed the fabric through the machine. I tried to take a selfie because it was so sweet but I am really, really not good at those and didn’t get much of a picture! But we had fun and she was thrilled to help Gram-gram sew for a few minutes.
One last project while we were there was to make a little ghost to hang in the dining room. We had been taking walks around the neighborhood and she really liked looking at the neighbors decorations. She loved the ghosts and a few little scarecrows we saw. I asked her if she would like to make a ghost and she was so excited.
This was super easy. One styrofoam ball from Wal-Mart and a packet of cheesecloth from the grocery store. I cut the cheesecloth in two strips and with the help of one happy two year old, layered the ball with the cheesecloth. Then we worked together to cut the eyes, nose and mouth. I had gotten her a glue stick that starts out purple and dries clear. This way she could see where she was putting the glue to put the pieces on. The addition of the bow on her head turned this little ghost into a girl. H and I had so much fun with this project and it was the perfect amount of work for a two year old.
My son took the photos of H and her ghost – they are so sweet! We really enjoyed our time with the kids and can’t wait for our next visit. Grand parenting is the best and it would be even better if we all lived on the same side of the country!! Someday…
Linking up with a few fun places, including the monthly Favorite Finish party at Meadow Mist Designs. Be sure to check the top of the page under Link Ups!
Bernie, this little costume, as well as all the other projects are just adorable! She’s the cutest pumpkin I’ve seen all year!! LOL I hope you didn’t catch that virus and everyone has recuperated. Have a happy Halloween!
Lots of fun projects! Thanks so much Brenda. Hope all is well with you. On to November (already!?!)
Oh my goodness, she is just adorable! (And she’s growing so fast!) I’m sorry to hear she was sick and so were the others, but what fun sewing projects you had!
Thank you Wendy. She is growing so fast. We were amazed by her vocabulary this trip compared to when we saw her in June. Just incredible. It was a wonderful visit!
Sweeter than candy!
Absolutely!! I think toddlers always are. I love this age.
What a precious little pumpkin!!! She could not be any cuter🎃
Thank you Janice. She made such a sweet pumpkin.
Bernie, this is the cutest post ever! H is just adorable and I’m so glad that you and she had such a good time together. The pumpkin costume is the best! I love the hat, too. And Georgie ghost! It’s quite icky here, so I’m sure she needed that extra fleece up in Vermont. Thanks for the uplifing photos!
Mari, she is so much fun. I know you relate! She didn’t trick or treat because it was raining hard but luckily she didn’t know she was missing anything. Next year she will be clued in though! I loved Georgie Ghost too. That was super fun to do with her.
Your Halloween projects are so fun! And that little pumpkin is SO cute! Well done, Grandma!
Thank you! Such simple projects but she really loved them. All good fun for sure. She is a delight even with her Terrible Two moments that come up now and then. I do love being a Grammy!
That is the cutest pumpkin ever! Sorry people were sick but glad you were able to sew her delightful costume.
Thank you. I am sitting here coughing and sounding rather unhealthy as I now have the bug. Oh well, it is totally worth it!! We enjoyed our trip immensely.
Hi Bernie! Oh gosh, H is just the cutest little, happy pumpkin ever. She is adorable and Wusha looks quite festive as well. We had our two-year-old come down with croup just a few weeks ago. It just breaks your heart to have them feeling so poorly with nothing you can do. I’m glad you didn’t get it!! ~smile~ Roseanne
Hi Roseanne, yes, croup is awful. Two of my kids were prone to it and it was always miserable when they had it. Sounds awful and scares the child. (Well and the parents too…). Have a wonderful weekend! Will there be time to sew a bit?
How adorable is she! Pretty little bag too, and great bandana for the dog ;D
Wow, what an amazing array of Halloween goodness–and cuteness!!!! H is the most adorable pumpkin I’ve ever seen! I love the ghost you made together, and the Halloween cheer for the dog. I keep meaning to make a trick-or-treat bag for my little guy but still haven’t gotten to it–we’ll see if it gets done while he’s still of an age for trick or treating!
Thank you Emily. I hope Halloween was fun for you guys this year. That ghost would be such a good project for your little one. He could do the whole thing himself. Have a lovely weekend.
What an adorable costume you made! It’s just perfect, and she looks so happy – and cute! – wearing it. You’re so very fortunate to have a granddaughter (says the Nana who has four grandsons). Love her little bag too, and the dog’s bandana. You’re a wonderful Gram-Gram, and I’m happy you had a chance to spent time with her. Now, everyone be healthy!
Oh Bernie she is so cute! That costume is the best; you did an amazing job on it, especially the hat. The bag was the perfect touch. She can use that for a long time. All the pictures of her are adorable, but my favorite is that last one. I’m so happy you enjoyed your trip. From what I’m reading about the power issues in your area, maybe moving to Vermont wouldn’t be such a bad idea. 😉
Sorry you had illness during your trip. I hope everyone is healthy now and that you are feeling better, since I noticed in your comment above that you were now coming down with the bug. 🙁
My daughter made a flower pot costume for Delaney for Halloween. She bought a big plastic flower pot at Home Depot and my son-in-law cut out the bottom. He attached straps to it so she could “wear” it. Then they taped artificial flowers on the inside of it so they stuck out of the pot. She wore a green top and leggings and had a flower in her hair and was the hit of Trunk or Treat at their church! 🙂
Too much cuteness!
So. Much. Cuteness!
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I just found this. Planning to make the pumpkin costumes for my three grandchildren, ages 1-4.
They live in North Carolina. Do you think fleece, with batting, cotton lining would be okay? I am going to get light weight pajamas for the under layer.
I made this for my grand daughter when she was living in Vermont. It was made out of a thick fleece and she wore matching pajamas under it. I think you plan is totally fine. They will look ADORABLE!!!