heigh-ho... heigh-ho...

next up in the halloween costume department is my 5 1/2 year old daughter sylvia and the little man of the house, 2 1/2 year old oliver.

sylvia is our reigning princess, fashionista, diva, you name it. i've always thought she would make a cute snow white so that's what we did this year! i used simplicity 2563 which was great because i didn't have to make any design changes. i used this pattern last year for the cinderella look so i knew i'd have to make a few adjustments. i don't know why but the cut straight off the pattern is so curvy! as in tiny at the waist and tapered out at the chest. now, my kids aren't particularly busty (???) so i fit the pattern at the chest and brought it out at the waist. also the neckline is cut really low so i raised it by a full inch. doesn't someone test these things out first? i mean, really! busty and low cut for a toddler pattern??? c'mon. fortunately i knew all that going into this dress so i could make the adjustments ahead of time.

i used a basic acetate satin, same as the bee, in fact. since it is a little thin i underlined and lined the bodice. not trying to go all crazy on this one, but i wanted the point at the front of the waistline to stay in place so since i happened to have a small piece of boning laying around, i put a strip of it down the center front. yes, i know, a 5 year old doesn't need boning in a costume... but it always bugged me about the cinderella dress i made last year. the point kinda sticks out and without support this would have done the same. don't judge me, i'm not crazy. oh, wait...

i lined the skirt with taffeta to give it some body and up the "swish" factor. i hand stitched the yellow bodice lining, made the detachable collar and red headband... this dress has far more details than i realized when i started it so it definitely takes a while to put together. but, it is a great snow white replica so i won't complain. some of the patterns out there are way off base! i do kinda wish i had done the bodice in a navy velveteen or something, but as i will never make this dress again(!!!) i'm not going to dwell on it.

so after all that we thought it would be cute to dress oliver up as dopey to go along with the snow white costume. he was originally going to be something completely different but after an afternoon of mad searching and being unable to find a very key piece... i had to come up with something else. his favorite color is green and he has a speech delay so he doesn't talk much, and since dopey doesn't talk at all... well it's a match made in heaven. he's shy, so he'll probably do a lot more nodding than talking anyway!

this one i pretty much drafted myself. i had a robe pattern that was several sizes too small so i used that as a starting point. the great thing about a dopey costume is that his outfit is huge and disheveled so i really had no need to go crazy about fitting anything! i made it out of fleece for comfort and warmth (and it was 60% off at the fabric store, bonus!). i resisted the urge to line the outfit and simply went au natural on the inside. i barely even trimmed my seam allowances. i sewed big buttons down the front but used velcro on the inside for the actual closure. typically i'm against fake closures, but if you've ever tried to button up a wiggly 2 1/2 year old, you'd know that this was the most appropriate option. i hand stitched patches on the elbows and whipped up a slouchy purple fleece hat. throw on a belt and there you have it!