Handmade Halloween

This years Halloween was pretty fun.  I returned to my favorite mask designer, Oxeyedaisey, on Etsy and purchased her fox and skull mask patterns and went to town.  I made all the masks from wool felt this year, and purchased pieces from Prairie Woolens - what an amazing selection they provide!

I stayed with a traditional skull for my husband but worked embroidery into my mask and turned it into a Catrina theme with flowers and a veil.

The pirate designed and developed her own costume from the (sadly) increasingly neglected dress-up box.  My three woodland creatures took a bit of help from me.

The fox was straightforward and we added an improvised tail from flannel and fake fur.  The hedgehog mask was purchased from on The Masked Menagerie on Etsy.  I self-designed the body suit with lots of inspiration and a tutorial from Alida Makes.  The whitetail deer was improvised off the base pattern from the fox, with inspiration for coloration and details from Magical Attic on Etsy.

Overall the costumes turned out great and the masks will be heirlooms in our costume closet.  Indeed, this holiday I loaned out our wolf, rooster and hen masks to friends for Halloween fun!

"Who" knows what next year will bring...maybe a family of wise owls?!

This is Halloween...

This year we had a whole ensemble of characters for Halloween.  A witch, a wolf, little red riding hood, a bunny, a hen and a rooster.  All the costumes came together really well and I had a lot of fun - most especially with felt mask making!

 I found a pattern for the hen and rooster masks on Etsy from oxeyedaisy - they are incredibly detailed and came together relatively easily.  I love them - and with a feather boa they finish off beautifully.

I think the pattern is one size, and they do fit our faces, but if I were to re-make them I might extend them slightly down the cheek and towards the ears for an adult. 

She has so many incredible designs that I am going to try to convince the kids to do a full family next year - maybe a herd of unicorns, flock of wise owls or family of bears?!

The little red riding hood costume was courtesy of Martha Stewart - she had a set of costumes based on hoodies which seemed to make more sense this year instead of sewing custom full body suits.  Arn't those yarn braids the best?!  The mask for the big 'good' wolf was from a website, Oh My Handmade, found here.  I went for the stripped down version and only cut and glued this mask - not too many stitching details for this first one.  We finished it off with fake fur wraps for the neck, wrists and ankles.

The bunny costume was an upcycle from last year - I was able to re-use the snowy owl body suit from last year and just glue on a tail!  I made a new hood from the left over fabric and some pink from the stash, and reused the same pattern from McCall's.

The witch is an oldie but goodie from the dress-up bin paired with a mask from the thrift store.

Overall another great holiday.  I am really happy that we have been able to continue in the making/assembling of our costumes as the years roll by..