Eleanor is still little enough to let Brandon and I choose her costume for her, but she’s big enough now at 2-1/2 to be excited about Halloween and the chance to dress up. August, being eight months old, goes along for the ride.
I had a hard time coming up with ideas for Halloween costumes this year. I don’t know why it took so long to settle on the Gruffalo, since Eleanor’s favorite books right now are The Gruffalo, and The Gruffalo’s Child, but E was all over the idea. With one modification: She wanted to be the Gruffalo’s child.
Happy to oblige, I set about figuring out how to make her costume. Because of course I was going to make Halloween costumes for both kids. No matter that I’m busier than ever, borderline overwhelmed with work as it is, and oh yeah… I have two kids now, not just one. And I’m not that great at sewing. And I’ve never worked with fake fur. And Halloween was coming up fast. And our house has been a hot zone with one of more persons here being sick for the last two weeks.
What? Awesome! Bring it on.
I started the costumes on Friday night. The fabric store had been pretty well picked over by the time I had gotten around to shopping for fabric. I had more than enough fleece for August’s mouse costume, but it was going to be tight for E’s. I started with the mouse so that I could get a little practice in, which helped. I made a few (mostly minor) mistakes that I learned from before starting on Eleanor’s.
I had a pattern for the costumes, but when I opened it and saw eight pages of instructions, plus confusing and tissue paper thin templates, I gave up on the pattern pretty quickly. The diagrams did help for making the hat though, so it wasn’t a total waste. I just held up the kids’ pajamas to get the sizing right on the rest of the costumes.
You guys, I did it. Yes, those costumes took hours upon hours, but it was worth it.
August’s pants were too short so I had to pull his socks up to cover his legs, but I decided he looked cute. Like Angus Young as a mouse.
Eleanor had been nursing a cold, and she exemplifies the worst toddler traits when she isn’t feeling well, so I was afraid she wouldn’t want to wear her costume. She refused to try on the hat when I asked her to the night before. She woke up feeling better though, and she wore the costume all day!
August is still pretty sick, so he stayed home with Brandon while I took Eleanor out to trick-or-treat. We had been practicing our Halloween etiquette at home (and teaching her the whole “smell my feet” song), but she gets shy and quiet around strangers so she just stood there and thrust out her bucket at each house.
August was out of his costume by the time we got back, but Eleanor stayed in hers all night. I think she enjoyed answering the door for people more than she liked hitting up the neighbors houses. She went to the door each time, yelling “hi kids!” and passing out candy. She did ask later though, “Mama, we trick-or-treat tomorrow?”
Being a parent is so good.
Related Posts
No related posts.
They both look great! Good job, mama!
Congrats on a job well done SUPER MOM! You have achieved what every mom should try their hand at even if they are not so friendly with their Singer.
SO CUTE!! you did a great job, especially for being “not that great at sewing.” they look awesome to me! :) happy halloween!
Super cute costumes!
They turned out SO WELL!
I remember so many pre-Halloween late nights with my Mum hunched over the sewing machine, making sure we looked fantastic. They are some of my favourite memories, my Mum-Made costumes :)
That’s sweet. I hope Eleanor and August have memories like that too.
fantastic work! I agree, wearing mummy-made costumes is a vivid childhood memory (although I seem to remember my sister having the coolest ones.. little mermaid etc).
Holy cow! I was certain that you must’ve run out of time and bought the outfits. They’re *THAT* good! Awesome job!
The final result was great. I wish I had time to sew something this year. Had to go with store bought.
There were many points in which I wished I had done store bought costumes.
My goodness Nicole! Eleanor is just beautiful.
TDM xx
Clever you for doing the costumes yourself. Your reference to Angus Young made me giggle – my little boy (who’s now 7) is called Angus, named after his Dad’s guitar hero from AC/DC. Naughty Daddy sneaked the name under the radar when I was 8 months pregnant, extremely hormonal, not thinking straight and unable to find a boy’s name that we liked. Love it now though and the name suits him. Your two tots are adorable – and they have a very chic Mummy! xxx
That’s funny! I love the name Angus though.
Ah they both look adorable! I can’t believe you made those costumes, they are amazing. Well worth all the effort. Can’t wait for some sewing tutorials…!
Oh, no. No sewing tutorials. I couldn’t offer tips — I just wing it!
I know this is about the kids – but what is the source for your dress and necklace? I love!
I wrote about the necklace here, and the dress was from Target.
Oh my gosh! I don’t think she could look any cuter! Well done!
too cute for words!!
They look adorable! I have been known to tear up while trying to thread the sewing machine, so I am super impressed!
Congrats on a job WELL done!!!! They look adorable.
Dianne
Grandiose! a good plush kids and a beautiful mama!
it’s a pity that we do not have such events, but I look forward to the creation of costumes for my two sons(sorry for my English :)
you look fab! (the little ones are cute, too) your hair, the dress, the colors…beautiful!
Lovely job on both costumes. You are an inspiration to me, managing your work life, the blog, and your personal life so successfully. Keep it up!
Thanks. It’s a struggle, but I’m getting along all right.
You did such a good job! The costumes look great and you can tell Eleanor loved Halloween. She looks so grown up in some of your pictures!
AHH! They ARE PRECIOUS! Those costumes are too sweet!
Yay for homemade costumes!! Great job. :)
Your kids are getting so big! And kudos to the adorable costumes- I know how hard they can be to make, but also how fulfilling it is when they come out so cute.
Thanks doll,
The Glamorous Housewife
so sweet! great job!!!
Beautiful costumes, you did a great job! I can only imagine how much work it took! It took me four hours to make just a cape for my daughter (and I was even too lazy to use the sewing machine) and sew a whole bunch of Christmas ornaments on it. And to cover her pink rainboots in silver plumber tape to match. She was dressed as Winter-Snow Queen-Snow Flake whatever, which is a pretty scary thing in Canada with 6 months of winter coming upon us.
And I only embarked on this journey because I remember so fondly my mom making beautiful costumes for my sister and I when we were kids. We didn’t have Halloween in communist Romania, but we had winter carnivals/costume balls.
Your kids will definitely appreciate the effort and thought you put in all this when they grow older.
And, of course, I have to say that Eleanor is more and more beautiful with each picture.
Such lovely costumes AND lovely children!
Fantastic job.
Wonderful job on the costumes. They are so cute! Love the Angus Young reference.
The costumes came out so cute! Working with faux fur isn’t that much different than working with other, non-stretchy fabrics.
But I do hear ya on the patterns. I always trace the pieces I need onto tracing paper…and the 8 pages of instructions, well, probably not all 8 of them are for one costume.
The fur was slippery, but thick at the same time. I thought it was hard to work with! The fleece for August’s costume was much easier.
ok. You are brilliant!!!!!!!! absolutely love both costumes, you did an amazing job!
Amazing job on the costumes! Who says you don’t sew well..? I think you did an amazing job! Eleanor looks so cute. I wish my child liked putting a costume on – he’s almost exactly the same age as Eleanor, but he hates it.
Oh. Em. Gee. Those are the cutest little munchkin costumes ever. Well done!!
AH-dorable!! Well done! I can’t believe these are hand-made, they almost look store-bought. Super duper cute.
I’m glad you’re making your kids’ costumes – I’m a teacher and at our parade at school there was a shocking lack of imagination in the costumes and abundance of store-bought polyester junk.
Keep on keepin’ on!
The kids look adorable. You did a great job on the costumes. However, what I can’t get over is your HAIR! You look AMAZING!!!!
So cute and I’m sure they’ll be worn again and again! My mom made a similar lion costume when we were little and it was worn by my brother, then me, then my sister as we each grew into it.
That’s sweet. I hope August loves the Gruffalo just as much as Eleanor. He can wear it EVERY DAY, as can Eleanor, to make up for the time I spent making it. ;)
What adorableness! Your costume making stress made me want to call my Mom and thank her for making my costumes. Fabulous Job!
You totally should.
Aw, you did an AWESOME job! I’m very impressed! I managed to get the Little Guy’s Thomas the Tank Engine costume done the day of the Trunk or Treat event we planned to attend. He just loves it and has been playing with it ever since we started the project together. It’s so fun to be able to do these types of things for them, isn’t it? I will be posting about his costume tomorrow. Take care!
WHOA! I thought those were store bought–they looked so amazing! And what cuties! Awww!!! Well done!
These costumes are fantastic! I recently moved from Oak Park to LA — as much as I love the weather here, seeing those leaves makes me miss the beautiful autumns there!
Excellent job on the costumes!! I too, make patterns by placing clothes over fabric….Pattern paper is far too confusing. :)
Amazing! My proudest achievement in sewing is my little Finn’s crib skirt, but a Halloween costume? That’s incredible!
And ditto the question about your dress/necklace? Where are they from?
The necklace was from J. Crew, and the dress was from Target.
They are so adorable – can’t believe you made those costumes – brilliant! Torin loves both of those books too – we bought him “The Gruffalo’s Child” last Christmas.
Aren’t they cute? Eleanor randomly recites lines from both books.
Those costumes are unreal. I am incredibly impressed.
These costumes are so precious. Your children are adorable. And I agree, being a parent is the best thing ever!!
Julia
Amazing job! The costumes look so great, they look adorable in them!
maybe it’s your photography style or the lighting… but your girl is so pretty/adorable in a very classical way… with a little editing, i often could mistake photos of her of being from the 1960s or something. so pretty.
Lovely post lovely kids and happy family :). Totally love the costumes though,looked very comfortable for fall season too.
LOVE their costumes – they make me want to learn how to sew!
Impressive and adorable!
What kind of camera do you use? I love the quality of your photos!
Nicole, you did a wonderful job! They both look so cute!