Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Costume




I always said that when I had a baby someday, I would want to the be the kind of mom that makes his Halloween costumes!

This was my very first attempt at a Halloween costume for my little guy!  I am so happy with how it turned out!  This is not really a tutorial but I am including some pictures that I took of my process along the way.

What I used

I am not a fabulous seamstress, but I do know how to run a machine and I know some of the basics of construction.  This was however my very first experience with pattern making.  I used an outfit that was in Aiden's size and had a similar shape to what I was aiming for. I used the newspaper because that was all I had that was large enough to make a pattern out of.



I added some length to the bottom because I wanted the costume to go passed his feet.  Once I had my pattern, I laid out strips of fabric in a variation of green patterns and shades to mimic the collage look created by Eric Carle.


I sewed each of the strips together.  My initial idea was to make it a typical seam but my husband suggested I sew them one over the next so the frayed edge would show and it would appear "hairy". This made the sewing super easy.  I did two panels with one seam in the back.  In the seam I places ribbon to match the picture in the book.


For the front, I again did two panels and one seam but I also put in a zipper so Aiden could fit into it easier since the fabric was not stretch.



I put elastic between each of the colors to give it a segmented worm look and put elastic in the bottom to cinch it closed.

For the hat. I couldn't find a red hat so I bought a white one and dyed it.  I sewed on felt circles for the eyes and used pipe cleaners for the antennae.

Aiden loved it.  He crawled all around the living room like a little caterpillar.  It was the cutest thing ever!








1 comment:

  1. Hi Kal, I work for Penguin Kids and we love this Very Hungry Caterpillar costume! Is there a way for me to connect with you about possibly featuring your costume on our Penguin Kids social channels?

    Please let me know! My contact info is below.

    Best,
    Erin Henry
    Penguin Young Readers Group
    ehenry@penguinrandomhouse.com
    212.414.3468

    ReplyDelete