About vampire pumpkins

Bit is just a tad obsessed with pumpkins right now.  It's why my current project is a pumpkin dress from a 70s era pattern.  So far, the pumpkin costumes were technically the worst ever just because of the sheer number of patterns involved.  I started with an etsy and ebay search, looking at what was available, and settled on Simplicity 2788 because it was current and I could get it at one of the Joann dollar sales. 

Thing is, I wasn't all that happy with both their fabric choices (velour and fleece in what will most likely be 70 degree weather) and I hated the hat.  So it was back to ebay to look for a better hat, which I found on the one and only vintage pattern in the whole bunch--

Simplicity 8833.  It has a 1988 copyright on the back, so it's not all that old, but it's still vintage 80s.  The rest of the pattern was a pass, but I loved the pumpkin lid hat... and so did my SIL.  Which led to the next steps--what went underneath.








Boo was easy.  We got a copy of Butterick 5588 at yet another dollar sale.

My SIL chose the onesie style, so this was the one to use.  And I wanted footie pants to keep her toesies warm, so I altered the overalls... but I made a mistake.  I cut the rise too low to fold over for a casing, so I had to cut a waistband.  And I added bows on the front of the onesie, waistband of the pants, and at the ankles of the pants just so we could tell which side was front.

Bit, though, well, just so they matched, (because she kept saying that Boo wanted to be a pumpkin just like her) my first thought was to make her a leotard like from Butterick 5545.  But Joanns didn't have it in her size and I was getting desperate!  There was also the fact that I wanted these to be functional clothing afterwards so that I didn't waste money on something that would essentially be worn only once.  I'm, well, thrifty, I suppose you could call it.  Or cheap.  ;) So I searched the pattern sites and found a t-shirt pattern that I already owned-- New Look 6016. 

I suppose that I could have used the leggings from this pattern, too, but I'd already altered Jalie 2920 to be long enough and I already know it's a good fit because I've made it before.  And, of course, I put a little green bow on the front waistband so we knew which side was front.

The last bit was the covered feet, so I went back to my go-to pattern for feet covers--Simplicity 4024. I used it before for Foofa two years ago. I put bows on them, too, so they'd match Boo's. 



I used a lycra/spandex blend that was four-way stretch for the under bits and the stems so it would all match.

Bit and I sat down together and drew out her pumpkin's face.  She wanted a happy pumpkin with big teeth and fangs, so we came up with this--

I changed the pattern smile to look sorta like it and fraychecked the living daylights out of it so I wouldn't have to satin stitch around it.  (It was faster!) And, well, the pumpkins were labor intensive, because the fleece padding was stitched into each piece before they were sewn together, and then the lining was sewn together, and then sewn on.  Boo's was a little worse, because I had to take in two inches.  1/2 does not necessarily mean it will fit at six months!  Bo's hat was made with the original seam allowances cut off to make it smaller, too.  I think the most interesting thing I did, in regards to construction, was to sew crocheted headbands to the hats to keep them on the girls' heads.  I lined some clips to further secure it to Bit's hair because they seem to stay better on mostly bald heads!

I also got to try out a trick I learned from Make it and Love it to use a double needle for the hemming on my regular sewing machine and it works great!  No breakage and the fabric retains its stretch!  The stems were also handsewn to the tops of the hats.  And I have to say, I'm pleased with the results!