Pinocchio Themed Family Costume
In keeping with our yearly Halloween tradition, I've spent the last few weeks brainstorming a solid theme for our family costumes. After feeling entirely proud and satisfied with my picks over the last two years, finding a strong theme ended up being quite challenging! Pinocchio won my heart this year, and I'm happy to report that everyone in the family was just as excited as years past! Let me introduce you to the Blue Fairy, Figaro the cat, little Pinocchio, and Geppetto. :)
Let's get down to the DIY, starting with our star: Pinocchio. This costume was very simple to throw together. Here's what you will need:
Pinocchio Shorts: I started with some red leggings and cut the legs off. I hemmed the cut part (or you can leave it raw if you want, it won't really fray). I bought some red ribbon for the suspender straps and sewed that on, and then measured Poesy's shoulders to properly place the buttons. The last detail was adding the trim to the sides of the shorts. I glued those on with Tacky Glue and sewed the top and bottom so the trim would be extra secure.
Pinocchio Collar: For the collar, I measured Poesy's neck and cut a collar shape from felt. I cut two rectangles of blue fabric, sewed them both into tubes, and then attached them to each side of the collar ends. I did it this way because I knew there would be many layers along her neck and shoulders, so I was trying to keep the costume as comfy as possible. The very last step was cutting a simple vest from felt. For costumes, you really can't beat the simplicity of felt!
The Blue Fairy costume was simpler than expected. I looked around for an existing dress that I could just alter, but no dice on short notice. The next step was to find the perfect fabric, and you can't really beat shimmery baby blue crushed velvet! Here are the steps for the dress:
Blue Fairy Dress (top): The first step to creating this dress is to pick an existing dress that fits well. Trace around the top portion of the dress (plus 1/2" all the way around for hemming purposes). Sew the bodice and measure the armholes. Measure out your sleeves to fit the armholes and pin in place. Stitch those in place with your machine (or by hand sewing), and flip rightside out.
Blue Fairy Dress (bottom): To finish out the bottom, trace around the bottom of your existing dress (plus 1/2" all the way down) with your added inches for length. Stitch the sides up with your sewing machine and finish the waist using the same method as this tutorial.
I kept the top portion and the bottom portion unattached and simply tucked the top into the skirt. It seemed to work out nicely.
Figaro the Cat Jacket (front): The simplest way I found to create a pattern for a fur jacket like this is to fold your fabric in half and have the person who will be wearing it just lay down on the fur. Trace around the person (arms and all) and cut out the shape. Stitch up the outside and inside of the arms, shoulders, and sides. Add a little white fur embellishment to the middle.
Figaro the Cat Jacket (back): After you get the general shape stitched up, cut straight down the middle of the back. Add ties (as shown above) to the back for a simple way to open and close the jacket.
The cat ears are from this tutorial.
I truly love homemade costumes and this one might be stealing the slot for most favorite so far. Piecing together things from your closet along with handmade items can be so whimsical! I definitely can't wait to wear these to a Halloween party this year.
You can check out our family costumes from last year and the year before right here and here! xo. Katie
Credits // Author: Katie Shelton. Photography: Janae Hardy and Katie Shelton. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.
