Fourteen Easy to Sew Costumes for Halloween

Halloween is still a month away but time will fly as quick as bats from a haunted house. Finding and buying a ready made costume takes time and can be expensive, especially when you need costumes for more than one. These costumes are fairly easy to make letting you get out of the store and take part in the fun. 

Girls' and Misses' Rockabilly Skirts with Applique

Misses' Tutu Skirts Simplicity 0320

Misses' Costumes, Simplicity 0317

Costume Capes for Men and Miss sizes, Simplicity 0326

Wizard of Oa costumes for size 6 months to 4. Dorothy or the Witch. Simplicity 0335

Misses' Fairy Costumes Simplicity 0318

Girls' Fairy Costumes in sizes 4-8 Simplicity 0336

Grim Reaper Costumes for children and adults, Simplicity 0325

Misses' Bar Maid Costume Simplicity 0324 

Misses' Capes Simplicity 0316

Capes for boys and girls Simplicity 0338

Princess and Knight Costume Simplicity 0337

Batman and Princess Capes Simplicity 0339/0701

Princess Dresses Simplicity 0332

Costume patterns are on sale now until October 12 at GoofingOff Sewing on Etsy.
Post by Eileen of GoofingOff Sewing

The Gift of Make Believe

When I was a little girl, one of the best gifts I received for Hanukkah was a pair of high heels and a little purse. They weren't real high heels; they had elastic straps that would keep them on my feet as I tried to walk with them. With my little purse on my arm and my heels on I would sashay around the house like a grown woman (or so I thought). The money spent on the gift wasn't important, the gift of make believe was.
Costumes are so often left to Halloween yet a cape (Simplicity 0701 and Simplicity 0702) are easy to sew and fun to wear gift.

Simplicity 0701...Batman or a beauty queen...

Simplicity 0702. Little Red Riding Hood or a wizard...there's magic in a cape.

Simplicity 0700. A fancy dress and a little girl is a princess....an easy to sew vest and hood and someone becomes a knight.

Simplicity 0695. A little girl in a tutu is a ballerina twirling and dancing, the living room her stage.

Simplicity 0703

Ahoy, matey! Easy to sew shirts, vests, and pants and watch out, Pirates!

Lyla's Pillowcase Dress

I've been sewing lately, sewing almost anything that can't be welded or nailed down. Just looking for things to sew, ya know? Well, our little granddaughter, Lyla, is coming to visit and that is all the excuse I needed to sew something. I've been eyeing pillowcase dresses for a long time but either wasn't in the mood or I was surrounded by little boys. Now I'm surrounded by little girls. Yippee! Little dresses and handbags! Bring it on, baby.


I found this super cute fabric with super fruit (for real, there are pictures of super fruit on it) at a yard sale. When I first bought it I didn't know what to do with it until the idea of the pillowcase dress came up. The fruit and pictures are perfect for a little girl's dress. I found a pillowcase dress pattern at the "Sew Like My Mom" blog and started cutting fabric.

I used a yard sale dress in her size to give me an idea of the lenth for the total dress and armholes since Lyla wasn't here yet.

 I cut two pieces of fabric 20 inches wide by 22 inches long to allow for hem on the bottom and a casing on the top. 

I sewed the side with a 1/2 inch "hem" that would leave a finished edge for the armholes and a seam that wouldn't ravel....or unravel.

I ironed down 1/4 inch then created a casing by ironing down a 1 inch hem along the top on both pieces of fabric. After the casings were done, I sewed the two pieces together leaving 9 inches from the top on both sides for armholes. 

Then I made a 1 inch hem. I used a semi decorative stitch ( I say semi decorative since I have a pretty basic machine).


After sewing the dress together I realized I didn't have grosgrain ribbon for the shoulder straps so I made my own straps from fabric I cut away.

Here's a picture of the finished dress on the little miss.

Easy peasy and fun to made. Sorry about the chocolate cheek. Grandpa was the culprit.