Guest Post! Costume Making Tips with Marissa of Rae Gun Ramblings!

Today I have a real, live pro-fessional costume maker for you! Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings has visited here before with an upcycled dress tutorial of the Summer of No Pants and a crazy Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake recipe (yeah, you should definitely check that one out). Today she's going to share some tips on how to simplify your handmade costumes. Here's Marissa:

 (snow white and her dwarf)

Hi, I'm Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings.

I blog about all things crafty, tasty, pretty and just plain life. I'm an insanely huge Harry Potter fan, food addict, and married to a super talented musician.  I also run a handmade baby and toddler clothing shop on etsy called Rae Gun and I love love love Halloween. Every year I sew hundreds of costumes for my etsy shop and of course a handful for my friends and family. I wanted to share a few tricks and tips for those of you who are still thinking of whipping up costumes for your little ones. I am so busy before Halloween making the costumes I sell that usually the costumes for my own family are left to the last minute so I've had to use some of these ideas myself. I hope you find them helpful.

(my matador and baby bull nieces)

1. If you're are not a seasoned seamstress don't stress yourself out by forcing yourself to sew. You can easily make cute costumes by cutting cheap articles of clothing you already have on hand or find at a store. For example Peter Pan or a Pirate and can be made from an oversized T-shirt and cutting some points out of the bottom and tying it with a sash. And the sash doesn't need to be sewn. A strip of fabric will do the job just fine. Also fabric glue will do the the trick in many instances.
2. Think about how long you need this to last. If it's just for the night or the weekend make sure the time and energy you invest is proportional. Lots of people try to do costumes all out with lining and lots of time consuming detailing. But most of these costumes are going to be on kiddos in bad lighting moving very fast so the detailing might not even be noticed. Don't kill yourself trying to reach perfection if these are just for a day or two.
3. Don't under estimate the power of embellishing premade clothing. Try to use items you already have or can purchase from a store. It's easier, faster and you'll probably get more wear after the trick or treating is done. You can sew or glue fabric or felt to make a contrasting tummy, owl feathers, dinosaur scales or more to a sweatshirt that will probably get more action than a lot of other costumes. 
4. If you've got girls consider taking advantage of the tutu costume trend. Tutus are super easy, cheap and quick to make see my tutorial here. Throw on some cat ears for a cute kitty, make her any princess with a crown and septor.  Pretty much any girly costume can be made with a few accessories and a tutu. Plus you'll have a cute tutu to play with after Halloween is over.
5. Finally if you do want to sew. You can do things simply. There is no reason for crisp clean edges on costumes that are only going to be worn once. My niece's dwarf costume was made in about 20 minutes. I just sewed shoulder and side seams cut a big B and stripe of fabric for the sash. I made the hat with two weirdly shaped triangles and she looked darling. Think about what is necessary and if you don't want/need this to be something fancy smancy save yourself some time and energy and simplify. 

 (wonder woman costume for my friend)



Thanks, Marissa! If you haven't visited Marissa's Etsy shop, you are missing out on the cutest butt ruffles and Halloween costumes (I especially love the Pebbles and Bam Bam costume!). Go check it out!




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