Batman Dress-up Set Pattern & Tutorial

Great Scott!  It's been a while since I had a tutorial that's good for the little guys, so I thought I'd share this project today: The Batman Dress-up Set.  Now all the little guys (and girls too) can enjoy being a superhero around the house.

You'll Need:

- 1/2 yd solid black cotton (I used Super Black by Timeless Treasures for a rich, deep black) 

- 1/8 yd solid yellow cotton

- 1 yd Fusible Craft/Midweight stabilizer

- 1/2 yd of 1/4 inch wide elastic

- Sewing Machine & Notions (iron, pins, ruler, marking pen/chalk, needles, thread, pinking shears, scissors)

- My FREE Batman Dress-up Set Patterns (fits about 2-9yrs)

Click HERE to download the pdf patterns

To make the mask, with the black fabric folded, cut a mask front & back.  Transfer markings for elastic and eye hole placement  with chalk.  

Fold stabilizer in half and cut a set of masks.  Iron stabilizer onto the wrong side of the fabric.  

On the right side of the fabric, place elastic at one of the side markings (leaving the other end loose) and lay the other mask (with its right side facing down) on top of it.  Sew all the way around with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, leaving a 2 inch gap at the other side marking for turning.  Clip, all the way around seam, with pinking shears.  Turn right side out & press with iron.  

This would be a good time to measure the child's head to trim the elastic for the best fit (Tip: I used at 14.5 in piece for my 6yr old).  Fold opening inward with the open end of the elastic inside.  Topstitch 1/8 inch from edge all the way around to secure.  Also topstitch around eyehole markings.

Clip a small opening in the center of the eyehole and carefully cut out eyes, trimming very close to the stitching.

To make the gauntlets, with the black fabric folded, cut 2 sleeve pieces (since it's folded it will give you 4 pieces total).  Cut 4 pieces from the stabilizer as well.  Iron stabilizer onto the wrong side of the fabric.

With right sides facing, sew together a pair of the gauntlet pieces with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, leaving one straight side open.  Trim around seams with pinking shears.  Turn right side out and press with iron to smooth edges.  Repeat with remaining pieces.

With the yellow fabric folded, cut 6 pairs of the "wings":

With right sides facing, stitch the two longer sides together:

Clip around curves and turn right side out.  Press around seams:

Lay the wings along the raw edge of the gauntlet, with the curved sides facing the curved end of the gauntlet:

Fold gauntlet in half for the straight sides meet and sew together with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.  Trim the raw edge of the one side with pinking shears, then turn right side out.

Now Batman is ready for action:

Sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too - click HERE to check them out!

Halloween DIY Costume & Decoration Round-Up

It's Halloween costume making season, so it's a fitting time for round-up some of my favorite past Halloween costumes & DIYs.

Last year we did a fun upcycled materials DIY Refrigerator Costume for one of our bigger kids:

and a cosy Homemade Turtle Costume for our little lady:

Pair a fluffy tail and matching onesie/sleeper to make this FREE Bunny Hat Pattern into a full costume for the littlest trick or treaters:

For an easy costume for the expectant moms out there, my DIY Pumpkin Maternity Shirt makes a comfy & festive look for the babies brewing up (why shouldn't they get in on the costume fun too?!).  I'm happy to say the shirt's getting use again this year, as 
Sew Can Do baby #5 is on the way!

A DIY Wizard is always a crowd favorite:

As are retro characters from Mom & Dad's youth, like this old school Strawberry Shortcake Hat:

or a Pac-Man Ghost:

or a vintage-style Batman mask & gauntlets:

For costumes that keep you warm, try my Cuddly Pumpkin Costume:

Faux Fur Wig Tutorial (that makes an awesome mad scientist wig):

or do a fleecy DIY Monarch Butterfly:

Decorate with another flying favorite of Halloween, in a Bats In The Belfry Mobile:

So many Halloween possibilities for a fun & festive holiday!

DIY Halloween Costume Round-Up & Costume Pattern Giveaway

Right now I'm knee deep in making Halloween costumes for my kids.  One is from a store bought pattern since it's got several parts & is a bit complicated. The other two are my own made from scratch versions that I'm aiming to share as tutorials in the next week or so.  In the meantime, I thought I'd do a little round-up of some past costume tutorials and free patterns I've done for those who are looking for some fun DIY costume ideas (and toss in a little bonus pattern giveaway too).

Some Costume Tutorials:

My Princess Merida tutorial shows how to modify a basic dress pattern to get the full Brave movie look.  Plus how to make a quiver & belt and a wild red yarn wig to make your feisty red-haired princess complete.

Go vintage cute with my classic 80's Strawberry Shortcake hat how-to.  Add a red dress, white apron & striped tights for a complete berry girl look.

Holy Smokes Batman!  It's a FREE Batman Mask & Gauntlet Pattern!  Use my downloadable PDF patterns to make these classic Batman accessories.  Toss in some grey pajamas & a cape and the look is complete.  Round off the points and use different colors for any super hero style.

And round off the points of the mask pattern and add some other basic items to turn it into an Old Time Bank Robber:

Give a little pirate some extra sense of adventure with my Argh! Pirate Eyepatch tutorial.  

DIY Costume Ideas & Tips:

For some additional DIY costume ideas and tips for making them, check out my Knight In Shining Armor & Enchanted Princess:

        

Classic Roman Soldier (which includes a link to an amazing helmet how-to I used):

And my very first handmade costume effort, our Star Wars Trio: Yoda, Han Solo & Princess Leia.  The Leia-style hairdo hat & gown patterns can be found in my shop.

Costume Pattern Giveaway!

Want a little Leia pattern for yourself?  I'm going to do a quick giveaway for the PDF patterns below from my Etsy shop, The Green Hedgehog too.  One winner will get each of the following patterns:

The cuddly and comfy Dynamite Dinosaur Cape Pattern....

which is easy to customize in your favorite colors & a fully lined design:

The Little Space Vader Hat Pattern for an iconic Star Wars - style fleece helmet:

And the matching Space Princess Gown and Space Princess Hairdo Hat Patterns for a complete intergalactic costume (which can also be used as a fleecy angel):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Halloween Costume & Decoration Round-Up

Halloween is almost here!  Since it's fun to look at festive projects for last minute ideas (or to start to planning ideas for next year), here's a little round-up of some past costume tutorials and free patterns for anyone looking for some fun DIY costume and decoration ideas.

Short on time but still need some trick or treat bags?  Try my Sew Easy Make 'Em Fast Treat Bags - fully lined & padded for the heavy candy haul - they take less than 20 minutes!

Some Costume Tutorials:

My Princess Merida tutorial shows how to modify a basic dress pattern to get the full Brave movie look.  Plus how to make a quiver & belt and a wild red yarn wig to make your feisty red-haired princess complete.

Go vintage cute with my classic 80's Strawberry Shortcake hat how-to.  Add a red dress, white apron & striped tights for a complete berry girl look.

For another nostalgic 1980s look, try a Pac-Man Ghost:

Or go Halloween classic with a Cuddly Pumpkin costume - complete with stem headband:

Holy Smokes Batman!  It's a FREE Batman Mask & Gauntlet Pattern!  Use my downloadable PDF patterns to make these classic Batman accessories.  Toss in some grey pajamas & a cape and the look is complete.  Round off the points and use different colors for any super hero style.

And round off the points of the mask pattern and add some other basic items to turn it into an Old Time Bank Robber:

Give a little pirate extra pizzazz with my Argh! Pirate Eyepatch tutorial.  

DIY Costume Ideas & Tips:

For some additional DIY costume inspiration, and tips for making them, check out my Knight In Shining Armor & Enchanted Princess:

            

Classic Roman Soldier (which includes a link to an amazing helmet how-to I used):

For decorations, there are quick & easy Fabric Pumpkins 

and a Molded Fabric Candy Bowl:

A festive Bats In The Belfry Mobile made with some basic felt & yarn:

Or make some spooky & sweet Mod Podge Porch Pot Ghosts with a bit of gauze:

 Happy Halloween!