Sunday, October 12, 2008

My very own Wonder Woman!

We all know I'm my very own Wonder Woman (modesty at its best), but I'm not talking about me this time. Hubby and I transformed Ms. Pi into Wonder Woman.

Pi's school Halloween party was yesterday (a wee early, no?) and we didn't start thinking about costumes until last week (because its early!). First we checked out the stores on the avenue. Their run of the mill costumes were anywhere from 30-50 bucks and I just refuse to shell out that much for a costume that'll only be worn a few times. Besides, Pi didn't even like what they had.

So we raided my mom's house. With 15 year old twins that dress up every year, we were bound to find something. They've got a whole box full of costumes...that my dad "stored" and can't find now. Insert bad words here. Just as we were about to give up. my 20 y/o sister found a Wonder Woman cape that hadn't been thrown into the box. Progress!

Other than the cape, we didn't have anything that would make Pi look like Wonder Woman, so hubby and I got creative. We ran to the fabric store and bought some gold metallic fabric for $4, plus the matching thread.

I came home, googled Wonder Woman as a guide, and pulled out Pi's drawing paper. Using fancy equipment, like a paper plate, I drew and cut out a preliminary belt.



To make it a diamond shape, I folded the paper in half before cutting to make sure all the sides were the same.



Then sewing! Yes, the sewing machine was on a card table. I didn't want to sew in the dining room, so the card table had to do. The machine kept acting up and I was getting frustrated. It wasn't the machine's fault though. The fabric frayed like crazy and that matching thread was thick and kind of brittle so it snapped easily.

Hubby took pity on me and dragged his chair to the other side of the sewing machine. He helped me fix the machine when it was acting up and helped to hold the fabric flat so it had less chances of fraying while I was working with it.



After repeating that process for the headband and wrist bands, this is what we had.



Hubby also took pity on the fact that I can't draw an even star for my life. He made a star template and I cut these stars out of leftover felt I found in my craft bag. For the red stars, we just painted the white stars because I didn't have red felt.



Accessories: check! But what about clothes? We raided Pi's summer clothes to see what she had. We found navy blue shorts that would work perfectly as Wonder Woman's bottoms. We glued the stars on and viola! It actually looked better than we expected. A red fourth of July t-shirt that had stars on rounded out the outfit.

Pi has a box of old ratty costumes that my mom gave her 3 years ago to play dress up. None of the costumes fit anymore but we did find white boots that were perfect. One of the twins had dressed up as a space anime character and worn these boot years ago. Thank goodness we kept them.
Put it all together and you get Wonder Woman!


Pi loves the way the costume turned out. She didn't say so out-right, but catching her dancing in the mirror was proof enough.



For our first costume making adventure, hubby and I are really happy! Best part is that it cost less than $10 bucks to make!
P.S. - Pi had a great time at the party. I even got to stay because they needed help with the Pre-K class, so I was able to sneak in some pics of her and her friends.

13 comments:

Caroline said...

Pi looks great! Its better quality and better made than any ole store bought costume. Kudos to you and you ingenuity!

Bezzie said...

NICE JOB! Which reminds me, I gotta get crackin on Batman's suit!

Kristina P. said...

What a cute idea! I love it!

Anonymous said...

I am so proud of you.Sewing is a wonderful adventure.I have a closet full of homemade costumes that I made for my kids throughout the years.I have thought about getting rid of them,but I have loaned them out a few times and just this year my grandkids are going to use them.All I have to do is replace the old elastic,a good cleaning and they are ready to go.How fun to watch another generation use my efforts from years ago.So much more fulfilling than anything you can buy.Great job Christina.

Anonymous said...

Look at you... you're a pro now! I've been trying to catch up on my blog reading and I see you've been sewing. Made your own pattern and everything!!!! Way to go. The costume looks great. I've been way too busy to get anything completed on my end. I just purchased fabric yesterday to make my older 2 costumes. I'll get through it somehow!

Laura said...

Wow, that is so awesome! The costume looks great! I so need to get a sewing machine one day.

I knew prices were overinflated there in NYC compared to the Midwest, but I didn't realize they were that bad - Halloween costumes here at Walmart go for $15-$25 for a kids' costume. Still, I have to buy two, so it does add up.

That was so sweet of your husband to help you with the costume!

My kids' school has Halloween parties for every grade, but only the kindergarteners are allowed to dress up. I'm not sure why it is. My daughter gripes about it every year though.

Lesalicious said...

Look at you coming in handle with that sewing machine. Great job on the Wonder Woman outfit. Pi looks happy.:)

Anonymous said...

WOW!!!!

Louise said...

Great costume! And briliant ingenuity!

Anonymous said...

You guys did a great job on her costume. After all these years as a mother, I still haven't done a homemade costume. *hangs head in shame*

I see you've become a sewing pro as well! :-)

craziebunny said...

great job!

Dragonflymom said...

I loved Wonder Woman!! Great costume, I think you did a great job on it.

Cami said...

this is the cutest thing ever! she makes a great wonder woman