This is Halloween, this is Halloween!!

Okay, I know that this is really November 2 but I am posting about Halloween.

 

 

 

First I have to go backwards to Halloween 2011. I saw the most AMAZING life-sized Jack Skellington at Running With Scissors .  Jess was not only so cool that she made it in the first place, but she shared how she did it.  So last year I used her basic directions and made my own.

This year, since I  was giving out candy for the first time in about 18 years (I always took the kids out while Dad stayed home to hand out)  I decided that I was going to have fun and dress up.  And that Jack needed a Sally.  So I looked at the licenced costumes for sale and didn't like what they call "Sassy" Sally (you know the type of costume... short skirt, low neckline...) and I certainly didn't like the price tag on the more authentic costume. Sixty dollars!  Can you imagine?  For $60 I could have purchased a low-quality, very thin dress, a yarn wig and sleeves.  No thanks.  I decided then that I was going to just dress up as my daughters' Mom and hand out candy.

 

My husband, however, told me that I should make a costume. 

Me?

I'm not that good with a sewing machine.  I have a huge problem with seam allowances and I have no idea how to make a dress.

But he was insistent that I could do it.  So I went out and bought what I thought was appropriate fabric.  For a whopping $12.65.

 

Then I washed it and ironed it. (See?  I do know to do some things!)  I think my next project may be a new ironing board cover...

Then I got to work.  I looked at pictures of Sally's dress and did my best to piece together colours the same way that they are on her dress.  I was determined to do a good job with this.  I even pinked and pressed all the seams.  something I usually don't bother to do, which I am sure has added to my past failures.

Once I was done that, I had two big pieces of fabric to work with.  I admit, I only used three large pieces on the back.  Plus a little black patch to disguise a mistake. (shhhh)

Then I used a T-shirt as a guide and sewed my pieces together, adding sleeves.  Once I was pretty happy with the dress, I pulled out my paints and added details.  I have to say, at this point, I had impressed myself!  I wasn't totally happy with the fit of the dress, but if I fixed that now, the day before Halloween, I would lose a bunch of my painted details and I didn't have time to re-paint them.

Sorry it isn't a great photo.  It was taken with no flash at night and was the best I could do.

Next year I want to add Zero, Jack's ghost dog to the family, but for this year, I put Zero on my pumpkin.

I want to make a stuffed Sally as a decoration.  My plan is to make her a big doll (because Sally is a rag doll!) but have a zipper up her back so that stuffing (Hubby suggested shredded newspaper) can be removed so she can be easily stored.  And she can borrow my dress and wig and I will just take them back when I want to wear them!  Jack is a nightmare to store, (See what I did there? haha) so Sally has  to be manageable.  I also plan to make a better wig.  I got this one for $5 and it is too sparse and too short.  Hopefully I can still use it and add to it rather than start fresh.
I have a whole year to forget about these plans and scramble next October.


Here I am with the Jack Skellington I made last year:

And here are the real Jack and Sally, in case you are not familiar with them.

This picture is from the Disney Store. Check out all the Nightmare stuff they have!

Thanks for looking!! Pin It