Monday, October 24, 2011

Dragon Costume!

Hendrix, who is two and a half, has been talking about having a "bwack fwagon" costume for at least 2 weeks straight now. I thought this would be the last year that I got to choose what he would be, but no. His mind was made up.

At first, I was trying to talk him out of the black, because I was thinking it would end up a little too evil looking for a 2 year old. But black has always been his favorite color, and I guess he was thinking of the main dragon in "How to Train Your Dragon."





But now I'm really glad he wanted black because it was easy to find cheap black sweats at Target, and it just looks super cute with the blue and green accents. He absolutely loves it, and I think it's my favorite costume yet as well. It really is more fun to make what they want. (Last year he was a fox, and he spent his first Halloween as a garden gnome.)



The tail is sagging here, but usually it's very um, erect. I used this tutorial, which is awesome. For the rest of the spikes up his back, I just cut the hoodie completely in half, attached a row of spikes and sewed it back together.




For the wings, I just drew the shape I wanted on to the felt and cut, added a little black trim and the decorative black stitching, and hand stitched them on the jacket. 




Before I sewed the two halves of the hoodie back together, I also cut into them from the top to halfway down each side of the hood, about an inch back from the edge. Then I attached the ears and horns and sewed that back together. This of course took the hood in a little, which is why it doesn't quite cover his huge noggin. But it still stays on fine. I stuck pipe cleaners inside the ears to keep their shape. I think it's definitely the ears that keep the whole costume cute and not too black demon-ish. Nick says they are dopey ears. 




I also added the blue felt on the front for a belly, first stitching decorative scales onto it. I love the way that detail looks. 






The feet just tie around his ankles with black straps. Let me know if anyone would like more details about those or the ears and horns. Those things could be adopted to lots of easy hoodie-and-pants costumes. 


I really love Halloween. Like a lot. It's probably taken the lead over Christmas as my favorite holiday since becoming an adult. I grew up in Florida and I just don't remember it being as much fun there as it is up here. Probably because fall is kind of non-existent there. Here in Ohio, there are so many Halloween and Harvest events going on in October you couldn't possibly do them all. I love it and I'll be sad when this month is over and the holiday blur begins. I mean, I love Christmas too, but Halloween is still about fun and not stress. Anyhow, that's my unsolicited opinion on holidays, so stick that in your back pocket. 


When Hendrix first put this on, he immediately said he had to go fight in the sky. Love this kid.
















24 comments:

  1. So cute! Great job, Jessica. I bet Hendrix will want to play in that outfit long after Halloween is over. ;)

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  2. fabulous! though now i'm feeling guilty that i'm making the girls pick from dress-up clothes in the bin in the basement. hmmm...

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  3. How freaking cute is he?! Good job on the costume!!! He should wear that hoodie every day until it gets too cold and he has to wear a winter coat. :)

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  4. dude, that is WAY too cute. great job

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  5. so awesome. i hope you're prepared for him to want to wear that hoodie every single day! i checked out your old links and my daughter was on ohdeedoh during their "homecrafted halloween" roundup last year, too! she was a tiny dorothy. your gnome was so cute, as was the fox!

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  6. The scales are most definitely my favorite part. This is one seriously adorable costume, only outstaged by the cuteness of Hendrix.

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  7. Sooo cute & so sweet! Precious!

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  8. He is adorable as a "bwack fwagon"! I'm loving the way the blue looks against the black.

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  9. So cute. Loo took a look and said. "That's me when I was born." I love the detailed stitching on the front.

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  10. It is so stinkin' cute. I love all the stiching details - um - it's perfect - and am impressed that you used a cheap sweatsuit. That's brilliant really. I briefly had that idea while tracing and cutting the 23+ pattern pieces for my son's Halloween costume that I started over the weekend. Your little dragon is perfection!

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  11. Adorable little costume and an even cuter little boy.

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  12. I love this!! It's a great costume and looks wonderful on your little boy. The scales and the wings make it even better! great job!

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  13. This is SO cute.
    I'm wondering if the feet could be adapted to chicken feet? My 3.5yo wants to be a "Cowboy Chicken Guy". Which, O-Kaay?
    If you have another picture of the feeties I would be eternally grateful.
    x

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  14. this is so well done! i really need to start on my girls costumes, i hope they turn out as good as yours, great job!

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  15. OMG I love this costume. For some crazy reason I decided to make Luca a costume this year (haven't started yet), we are so worried that Vinny won't wear a costume that we are having them dress the same since he looks up to her so much. Good thing she didn't pick a princess! They will be bats. Unfortunately I am making the wings out of velvet and that is no treat to sew. I agree that Halloween in areas with seasons is more fun. A few years ago in was 75 degrees here at night and the poor kids were sweating. Last week when we went to the pumpkin patch I got a sunburn.

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  16. Genius!! He's going to get a lot of awesome play out of that costume!

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  17. Oh.my.goodness. love! I want to make this for my little hudson next year! He loves how to train your dragon too. :-)

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  18. Such an adorable costume! We lived in NW OH when the children were young and they ofter had to wear winter coats over their costumes as it was so cold~~At least here in FL, most parents know not to get too heavy a costume~~and no winter coats to hide them! Last year it was about 70~~this year may be a bit cooler, I hope!

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