Sew Saturday: Halloween Costumes

This year my niece wanted to be a "Barbie Musketeer." I'm not sure if your familiar (I sure wasn't), but barbie wears an apron that can be converted to a cape. Yep. So that's what I made this week. 

It was pretty simple. The way you make the bottom skirt is a lot similar to a simple receiving blanket or burp cloth. 

I forgot to take pictures mid-project, so I made this diagram...

You will cut 2 separate pieces of fabric, then sew them together. I kept the top at 44" (the width of the bolt of fabric) then cut the edges so they were rounded. The height depends on your little Musketeer. I just measured her from her hips to ankles, then added 1" or so for seam allowance.  

Sew both pieces, right sides together. Clip seams around the corners. Then flip so it's right-side out. Iron edges.

Topstitch about 1/4" from the edge.

Then do a set of basting stitches along the top of the cape (the 44") and gather until it's your desired finished width. Mine was around 14". You don't want it to go all the way around their waist, just around the front.

 Gather a couple layers of tule and sew to the bottom cape fabric. It takes some time to play with the widths and spacing to make it look good. Then sew all 3 layers together, and finish by sewing ribbon or bias tape along the top.

The final skirt is totally reversible, and totally cool.

For my costume this year, I wanted to dress up, but I wasn't in the mood to make an obnoxious bulky outfit. 

So this is what I came up with: 

 The preggo Skeleton Shirt.

Technically not a "sewing project" per say, but cute nonetheless.

I used white fabric and Heat'n bond to make the skeleton parts. I don't have a pattern, I just looked at a picture and free-handed the pieces. I placed them all just right on my T-shirt before ironing. (I also found a great tutorial that uses freezer paper stenciling here.)

We found out we're having a baby girl at my ultrasound that day, so I sewed on the bow for a cute touch.