Winchester Fiber Arts

Winchester, Massachusetts

Halloween Costumes

Costumes made for my children over the years, some from patterns, some planned out in my head and figured out along the way.

One of my biggest joys when my children were younger was making their Halloween costumes. Some I’d make using a pattern, and others I’d plan out in my head and go from there. I’ve also made costumes for myself and my husband.

The dragon was foam and fabric over a bodysuit. The robot was mostly bottle caps, foil ducting and a bucket. The hobbit outfits were the fussiest: a tailored waistcoat and a laced bodice, both drafted rather than bought.

A child wearing a red dragon costume, with a sculpted head, curved horns, layered scales down the body, gold spines along the back, wings, and a long tail ending in fabric spikes.
The dragon, built from foam and fabric over a full bodysuit.
  • Two children in silver alien costumes with clear domed helmets and pink antennae, trimmed in gold and purple sequins, holding trick-or-treat bags.
    A matching pair, trimmed in gold and purple.
  • Two adults in hobbit costumes, a tailored green wool waistcoat with wooden buttons over a full-sleeved cream shirt, and a bright blue laced bodice over a ruffled blouse.
    Adult costumes: a fitted waistcoat and a laced bodice, both made from scratch.
  • A toddler in a gray fleece elephant costume with large floppy ears, a sculpted hanging trunk, white felt tusks, and white toes on the feet.
    Gray fleece, with a sculpted trunk and felt tusks.
  • A child in a silver robot costume built from a boxy body panel studded with blue and yellow bottle caps, a dial gauge on the front, ducting for arms, and a bucket helmet with a glow stick.
    Bottle caps, foil ducting and a KFC bucket, with a working dial.
  • A child dressed as Pippi Longstocking in a blue patched pinafore over a white men's button-down shirt, with striped knee socks, brown boots and braided red-pink plaits.
    Pippi Longstocking: patched pinafore, striped socks and wired plaits.
  • A child wearing a round stuffed and quilted costume made as a world map, showing North America and the Atlantic, worn over a long-sleeved top.
    Globe costume: continents were turned-edged appliquéd onto a blue sphere costume pattern.
  • A toddler in a white duck costume, a wide smock with a yellow-trimmed collar and a yellow bill hood pushed back behind the shoulder.
    The duck, with its bill hood pushed back.
  • A child in a gray squirrel costume, a hooded one-piece with small round ears and a large knitted tail.
    A squirrel costume, with a knitted tail.
  • A child in a spotted giraffe costume with a face painted in matching markings, the costume's long padded neck and head standing well above their own.
    The giraffe, with the neck standing high above the wearer. Can you find a face?
  • A child in a long red colonial coat with a row of round buttons, worn over a white shirt with a ruffled jabot, with tan breeches, white stockings and buckled shoes.
    A colonial coat, with breeches and buckled shoes.
  • Two adults on a porch dressed for a seventies party, orange flared trousers with a patchwork belt worn with a white turtleneck, beside a patterned shirt and white trousers.
    A seventies party. The flared pants and the patchwork belt are both sewn by me.

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