Sunday, October 25, 2015

ROOOOOOAAARR!!!!


There! At last.  My patience was rewarded as the elusive Toddlersaurus Rex entered the clearing, seemingly unaware of my presence.  I held my breath, careful not to make a sound and scare her away.  She was a beauty!


I moved silently, closer to the bushes.  She was foraging for food, happily humming her ABC's.  I inched forward with my camera trying to get a close up.  The shot of a lifetime.  I was determined.  But then, my foot slipped and....


SNAP!  I stepped on a branch and surprised her.  She was startled!


She lunged for me and let out the most ferocious roar I've ever heard!  It was terrifying.  Just when I thought I had met my demise, she turned.  She ran back in to the foliage.  It seems she was just as scared of me as I was of her.


My later research has revealed that the enigmatic Toddlersaurus Rex is not a meat eater, lucky for me and that fateful encounter.  They seem to prefer things like cookies and apple juice.  And bananas and croissants, too.


I really had a ball making this costume, if you can't already tell.  Especially this year since this was completely at Jane's request.  I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween.  Her first response was, "cow" followed by "dinosaur."  And then dinosaur it was.  She has talked about this costume for well over a month.  And sorry for the picture overload.  We had fun taking pictures.  There were too many to choose from. 




It's really an unoriginal costume.  I got the idea straight from the internet.  Actually, I first saw the dinosaur tails on House of Lane and mentally filed it away for my dinosaur loving girl.  So when she requested a dinosaur, I looked up those dinosaur tails and found umpteen etsy shops that sell them along with dinosaur hoodies.


But of course, I am a die hard DIY-er.  And a handmade Halloween costume is going to be my tradition. So I made it.  I used McCalls 6782 for the hoodie.  My original plan was to use real apparel fabrics (nice sweatshirt fleece) and make this something a little more sophisticated that she could actually use after Halloween.  But after ordering two lengths that didn't work (bad color and really thin) I gave up and went to Joann's to buy the cheapest fleece I could get my hands on.  My toddler came with me and picked the colors.  She was very specific!  And there's not a whole lot you can do to make lime green and hot pink fleece look polished.


The McCalls pattern is a good one.  I chose it because it was on sale.  But I was impressed with the fit.  This is a size 2 and it is spot on my two year old.  Usually I find Big 4 kids patterns to be huge.  I cut the back piece down the middle to add the dinosaur spikes.  And then I lined the hood and back to cover up the ugly seam that sewing the spikes made.  Actually, I planned on lining the hood all along to add a drawstring just like the poncho I recently made.  I used a Pellon product called Flex-Foam for the spikes instead of stuffing them.  This stuff is really cool.  I kind of want to make myself a bag with it.  Great structure but it's soft and squishy.




The tail was just free handed. It's about 20 inches long.  I traced a salad plate for the circle that sits against her bottom.  The straps are 4 inches wide and 10 inches long.  For a child any bigger, they would need to be longer.  I placed the straps slightly higher up so the tail would sit right.  The tail is so adorable, I almost can't stand it.  It will make a great play item long after Halloween is over.


She loves it.  I sewed it all it one day, too, if you can believe it.  I sewed like a maniac and am so glad I finished it.  Anybody else sewing costumes?  I've been kind of m.i.a. in the blog world lately.  And no, I'm not apologizing for that, but I miss it!  I'm going to have to spend some time with my blogroll soon.  I've been swamped at work and my free time is nil right now.   I'm kind of proud of myself for sewing this costume (and blogging it!) this weekend.   I have a huge art show at the beginning of December, a really formal one.  I'm very excited about it but it is eating up all my time.  I'll be thrilled when it's over.  I'll catch up one day!  If I can make it to Thanksgiving when all the art is due, I'll be good.


Happy Halloween, friends!

38 comments:

  1. Adorable! And I love the nature documentary style blog post- so creative!

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    1. Read it in the voice of Steve Irwin! That's how I wrote it :)- ha! Thanks!

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  2. So cool and your baby girl is turning into a little lady! Loved all if the pics and great costume!

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  3. So, so cute!! I love it! And your story was cute too, Mini Jane seemed like she was enjoying the photoshoot. :-) I did Mario and Luigi this year for my boys. I have a tall thin boy and a short chunky toddler, so it worked out perfectly. ;-) I had to rush to get mine done in one day too--they had a costume contest Friday eve, and I didn't get done with office work until after noon, so I feel ya!

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    1. That sounds adorable! The kids at school love Mario.

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  4. OMG this is the cutest thing ever. Love it all down to the ruffle and the striped tights.

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  5. Super adorable! I am impressed that you pulled this one off in a single day! That flex foam looks interesting....definitely what you need for costumes.

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  6. This has to be the cutest dinosaur costume ever! You are very talented and your dinosaur toddler is the cutest :)

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  7. Oh my goodness, she is the cutest dinosaur I've ever seen!

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  8. So much awesome, I can't even...!!!

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  9. Fabulous, great costume. She really looks like she is enjoying wearing it and that is the main thing. Good luck with you exhibition.

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  10. Well isn't that the coolest and most awesome costume ever! I think you managed to make pink and green look very classy with all those black details. Have a t-ROAAARiffic Halloween!

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  11. So fantastic! She obviously loves it, and no wonder :-)

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  12. This is adorable! I'd definitely save this one. I have a box of keepsakes for each of my kiddos. When it was super obvious of a love for something, I put it away for them.

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    1. I am definitely hanging on to all the costumes I've made her. Hopefully she'll appreciate them one day!

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  13. Oh this is so stinking cute!! I love the tail! And I could totally see that hoodie being worn after halloween, because sometimes a girl needs to get her dinosaur on in, say, February! Good luck with your art show!! I'm working on a big one right now (not my own work - organizing a big group show) for right around Thanksgiving and I'll be so SO pleased when it's all over!!

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    1. Ha! Yes, she is already asking to wear it as a jacket so I guess I'll just have to get used to the fact that it's so bright. She does love it!

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  14. This is ridiculously adorable an I love it- I've also been on the lookout for a good zippered sweatshirt pattern for the kiddo - so thanks for that too!

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    1. Yes, it's a good one! I should have mentioned that I did shorten the sleeves. They were the perfect length before I added the cuffs, so I shortened them by that much first. But that's an easy alteration. Otherwise, it was a perfect fit. I'm thinking about using the tee shirt view with some of that sweatshirt fleece I ordered.

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  15. Awww this is so cute! I can totally see that hoodie being worn all year round too.

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  16. This is brilliant!! Jane is so cute in her dinosaur outfit!

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  17. Ummm can I steal this idea and make it for myself? Freakin' love it. The colors are perfect. Great taste, baby Jane!

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  18. This costume and the photo shoot are adorable!! She looks so happy and cute in it, and I think she's totally gonna want to wear the hoodie all the time. Great job!

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  19. awesome - costume AND the girl!!!

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  20. This is SO GREAT! I kinda want one of the hoodies...

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  21. Very creative! And the pictures are adorable. She looks so happy.

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  22. So, so perfect! I love the outfit, and the "documentary" blog post! I've finished 3 of 4 halloween costumes... such an epic slog, I should have started back in August. I do love making their outfits every year but it kind of takes over the whole month of October!

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  23. OMG so cute!!! Imogen totally needs a hoodie to match her dinosaur tail. What an epic halloween outfit. I bet she loved it!

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  24. That is ADORABLE! She looks so happy in it too. Great job :)

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  26. I'm dying!! This is WAY too cute! Love the pics!!!!!

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  27. Haha! it looks like you're both having so much fun with the costume! This is too adorable for words! :)

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