Awesome Boo Toddler Costume

I put a fair share of thought into what I wanted to do for my daughter’s Halloween costume this year. Her first Halloween she was only six months old so she couldn’t really experience Halloween as she could barely crawl. This year she is eighteen months old and running all over the place. So, I wanted to make her into something special! I got the idea of dressing her in a Boo costume because I love putting her in pigtails and realized one day that she slightly resembled the little girl from Monsters Inc; plus, how cute would that be?

I am not creative whatsoever and the last time I used a sewing machine was fifteen years ago in middle school. I decided to research and see what was available on the internet. 90% of what I found was homemade costumes so it inspired me. I thought “maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to make one myself.”

I put together a list of the materials I thought I was going to need, found the perfect fabric (shiny purple mermaid fabric?! Heck ya!) and asked a friend to help me with the sewing machine as I did not own one (yet).

And so it began!

I purchased:

One yard of purple fabric
One yard of white flannel fabric
One yard of white minky dot fabric
One package of batting
One pack of Styrofoam balls
One sheet of white felt
One sheet of black felt
One pack of black pipe cleaners
One pack of sew in Velcro
One pack of stick on Velcro
One pack of clasps
One white sewing thread
One purple sewing thread
One mop from the dollar store
I also used a peony support stake which I already owned

I started by wrapping the fabric around my daughter to guesstimate the sizing it would need to fit her. Then I cut the purple fabric, batting and flannel lining all the same size and sewed them all together. After I had all the sides sewed together, I sewed two lines through the middle of the body to create the different sections. Then I sewed the bottom and top of the costume. Next, I wrapped what I had so far around my daughter and figured out where the arm holes needed to be, cut them out, and sewed in the white fabric for the sleeves. I sewed what would be the back of the costume three quarters of the way up. Then, I sewed in my Velcro the the other quarter of the way. I put a clasp at the very top of the Velcro. After trying the body on my daughter, I realized it needed straps on the inside to help hold the costume up, which worked perfectly. I used the white dot fabric for the straps.

Next came the hood, which I was dreading, but it ended up being a lot easier than I thought. I took one of my daughter’s removable hoods from one of her jackets and used it as an example. I cut two pieces of the purple fabric and sewed them together. I knew I needed to attach the hair and eye balls before I went any further with the hood, so I took my dollar store mop and hand sewed the “hair” to the hood, three strands at a time to create Boo’s hair. I took my pipe cleaners (6 for each eyeball), twisted them all together, and inserted them into the Styrofoam balls. I hot-glued them so they wouldn’t come undone. I used a purple Sharpie to color the eyeballs, and I used black felt to create the pupil, which I hot-glued to the ball. I then cut two small holes through the hood where I wanted the eyes to go and stitched them onto the hood.

After my hair and eyes were all set, I cut out batting and the dot fabric for the inside of the hood and sewed them to the purple fabric, leaving a big gap so that I could fit my peony ring into it to create the round hood. I then inserted the ring, sewed it into the hood and put an extra layer of fabric on the ends where the ring ended to make sure it would not poke my daughter.

I planned to Velcro together the body of the costume to the hood, which I did. I also sewed together the front tip of the hood to the front of the body so it was attached, but not completely. I then figured out where the hood would need to be attached to the body, and used my stick on Velcro. After I got it in place, I put a few hand-sewn stitches through the Velcro to secure it. Next, I cut out the teeth with the white felt and hand-sewed them to the costume.

I then looked at the costume I had created, and completely surprised myself with the way it turned out. It looked awesome! I tried it on my daughter and it was a perfect fit. And the best of all, my daughter LOVED wearing it!

This costume ended up being a 2 in 1 costume because I dressed her in the pajamas that the little girl wore in the movie; a pink shirt, purple pants. I also put her in pigtails with the pink ball hair ties. Even if she took off the “monster” costume, she’d still be dressed up!

I decided to make her a matching trick or treat bucket, so I bought a orange pumpkin trick or treat bucket, sanded it down, and painted it green. I then painted on the “Mike Wazowski” face to make it look like the green one-eyed monster from the movie, it came out great!

We went trick or treating on our local Main Street, and we heard “Boo!” coming from left and right! Everyone recognized her, kids and adults, and people were incredibly impressed with the costume. Most people asked what store I bought it from, so it was a good feeling when I shared the fact that I had made it myself. I was/am very proud of what I created with no pattern and no instructions and no experience.

Not only did it turn out to be a great Boo costume, but it sparked a love I now have for sewing and I have a sewing machine on my list for Santa. I am looking forward to all the years of Halloween costume making to come, as long as my daughter will let me.

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