D.I.Y MICKEY MOUSE COSTUME

Happy Halloween DIY
Make your own Mickey Mouse Costume.

Mickey Mouse Costume

DIY Mickey@Lillian the Domestic Engineer

Shake yer BOOTIES Mickey!
These little booties are a whole lot easier to make than they look.
I worked from the pieces of a Simplicity Pattern for a bear costume that I bought some time ago.
I managed to find the exact amount of fabric, in the perfect color at the bottom of a Halloween Bin at the local Salvation Army for 0.75!
 This entire costume came together in bits and pieces as though it were meant to be. I am thrilled with the results. It was a joy to sew with this red color. It is bright, happy and easy to see...black is as I come to know a whole different story. Mood lighting, aging and stitching just don't work well.

Cut 2 yellow booty pieces and sew with right sides together at back seam and front foot. (as shown below)

Make Mickey boots

                                                      
                  Then fold the upper ankle edge to the inside about 1/2 inch. Press in place.
                      Lay a 1 inch strip of quilted fabric around the  top of booty
                    just below the folded fabric line, as indicated by the black band above.

Then fold the top inch of yellow fabric (with the finished edge)over the batting. Pin and Hand stitch in place.

Best Craft Blog

                              Turn the booty right sides out and roll down the top if desired.
                               Stitch a 4-6 inch length of elastic to one side of booty bottom.
                           Stretch across sole of shoe and stitch to other side of bottom. Cut off any excess.

                            Gotta Hand it to you Mickey! 
 Mickey and Minnie have only four fingers on each hand.
Cut the gloves middle finger slightly larger to accommodate both the ring and the index finger.
Using the glove pattern (that you have drawn out larger than your hand) cut four pieces from white material for the 2 outer gloves. Cut out on outside of line and stitch together on the drawn line.
Sew right sides together. Trim seams around fingers and turn glove right side out.

Also cut four hands from a quilted fabric. Cut on the line and stitch together 1/4 inch inside the drawn line.
Sew with right side together. Do not turn inside out when stitched. This glove will  be inserted into the slightly larger white outer glove.

Mickey Mouse Gloves

                                        Outer Glove               Pattern               Inner  Glove

         

Mickey Gloves DIY

                        Insert the liner gloves into the outer gloves. Stitch together at cuff.
                   Make a cuff by folding the glove over and hand stitching at wrist area.
                                                             

Mickey Mouse Costume

                                          
                                        Finally draw the animation marks on the gloves.
                                         I used a thin black sharpie.
                                        Make sure to put them on the right side of the glove.

                                        
 I purchased the black hat at the dollar store. 
To ensure that the ears would stand up I inserted a strip of thin foam into the hat, to stitch the ears to.
The ears are created with a circle of the blue foam sandwiched between 2 black circles of fabric.
The three layers are hand stitched together before attaching to the hat and the felt strip.

Mickey Mouse Bow Tie

                                                               Bow Ties are easy. 
      Cut out 2 rectangles and sew right side together,  leaving a 1 inch slit opening to invert.
            Turn Bow Tie  right sides out. Stuff gently with quilt batting if desired.
              Cut a 1/2 inch wide by 2 inch long piece of fabric to wrap around center of tie. 
            Stitch or glue the wrap in place. Stitch or attach Bow Tie to outfit with safety pin.

                                               Polymer Clay to the rescue!
  I had originally cut the buttons from the blue foam and covered them in the same cotton I used for the gloves. After attaching them to the pants I wasn't thrilled with the results so I removed them and went back to the drawing board.
After much contemplation and careful scrutiny of my craft drawers, I came up with the Polymer clay.
I rolled out the Polymer into the oval shape, used a seam ripper to make the stitching marks around the buttons outer edges, poked the holes in for stitching and finally baked the buttons.
 They are just perfect and really make the pants originally authentic! (in my humble opinion!)
    The pants were fashioned from a Simplicity pattern for Men's Boxers.
  I added the length as needed and cinched the pants in at the calf area for overall effect.

Mickey Mouse Costume

Handmade Polymer Mickey Mouse Costume Buttons

Mickey Mouse Pants +Costume

Make Mickey 's Bow Tie + Costume


Trick Happy and Treat Safe!

                                                    Make Minnie Mouse Costume CLICK HERE
                                     
                                                   More Crafting at For the Love of Crafting

MINNIE MOUSE COSTUME

 Happy Halloween!
Tis a wonderfully colorful time of the year
Lillian the Domestic Engineer

Minnie Mouse Costume

This year I have risen to the challenge and enjoyed the process of creating Mickey and Minnie Mouse costumes for one of my Sons and his Lady friend.
I was thrilled with the end results and happy to successfully work within the budget.
Less than 15.00 for each costume went into purchasing the materials needed... the blood, sweat and tears in the labor were lovingly provided for free.


After unsuccessfully scouring our local second hands stores for the perfect red fabric , I turned to the Dollar store next door in hopes of purchasing a red fabric table cloth. There instead, I found the perfect red fabric in a  beautiful fleece blanket (which nicely lent itself to the overall animated effect of costume)
At 3.00 a piece and being as good as yardage (in that I am not fiddling around with say a dress to recover the fabric) I purchased two blankets and with great glee headed home to get started!

Minnie's skirt would be cut from one blanket and Mickey's pants from the other.
I cut and stitched Minnie's skirt according to the Simplicity Pattern instructions that I used.
The new belt was purchased 2nd hand .
 The gloves are made as per instructions on Mickey Mouse Costume Post
and the white hearts have all been hand cut from white felt and applied with Speed Sew Adhesive to the finished skirt.
Minnie's Blouse Yolk picks up on the hearts and because they were Adult costumes I also gave Mickey a "Heart On" on his butt!
 Minnie's ears are made as per instructions on Making Mickey Mouse Costume Post.
I attached her ears to a furry headband that I found in the .75 bargain bin that had originally sported a different set of ears. I carefully cut off the other ears before stitching Minnie's directly onto the fuzzy band.
 I hand stitched the three layers of her ears together with a gold metallic thread and attached the mini bow
directly to the headband.

Minnie Mouse Costume

Minnie's darling Bag and Ears!

   




   In the same bin at the Bargain Store 
where I found Mickey Mouses yellow Booty felt,
 I discovered this darling Bag! For a whole 3.00 It was just too good to be true.

   Assemble the yoke pieces

Minnie Mouse Costume. DIY

The pearl pendant, complete with mini black bow was found hiding in my treasure box of broken bits. It really was the perfect fit for finishing the yoke. 






I found the little Mickey Mouse Earrings in the second hand store for a dollar and simply painted the stained surface with a copper Metallic Paint.

Minnie Mouse Costume Blouse Yoke

After holding out in hopes of finding or possibly borrowing a Crinoline Skirt, I finally had to set about
Making a Crinoline Skirt.

Minnie Mouse Costume

Minnie Mouse  Bag and Ears!

                                          DIY. Make Mickey Mouse Costume CLICK HERE
                                       
                                             Visit my page For the Love of Crafting HERE

Harry Potter House Elf Costumes

                              HARRY POTTER
                               House Elf Costumes, Completed
                                             

Harry Potters'  Costume

                     
The clothing for the costumes were created from 2 queen size bed sheet that I had  purchased second hand. After cutting the dresses out I stained the garments in a black tea bath before stitching them together at the shoulders and sides. I also cut the belts from the sheets. The long johns and the shirts that were worn underneath were purchased second hand. The slippers they both had on hand.

I found the glasses at the dollar store and initially thought to use them for the eyes. Too dark to be worn in the evening the kids decided to use body paint on their faces and other exposed skin. I think they did a wonderful job of completing their costumes.

Dobby and Winky Costume

  The bulk of the work for these costumes was most definitely in the creation of the head gear.
I used an old white t shirt for the head gear which was also stained with tea to create the aged effect. 
 I cut and stitched together two caps from each of two shirts, to create the two head pieces.
The stretch in the T-material allows for more maneuverability with the fabric when it is wet with the fabric stiffener.
(see pic below)

 The first cap was put onto the head and secured with a small knot at back. The second cap was then put over the first and brushed with fabric stiffener as as I worked my way around from front to back, tucking, stretching and folded as needed.
The excess material on the outer cap was folded up and manipulated into wrinkles on the forehead and the upper face area.
 Two ties for each headpiece were cut from the T-shirts, stained and stitched at back to the outside cap, allowing the finished head piece to be pulled to the back and tightened with a knot.

  The ears were also cut from the t shirt pieces, stained, stuffed,stitched and attached to the head gear.

Harry Potter Costume

 I formed two Elf  Nose forms out of Polymer clay (different on each elf) and then baked them to a hardened finish. Strips of tea stained T- shirt fabric were then brushed with fabric stiffener and wrapped around the Polymer nose forms. After leaving them dry and harden overnight I then removing the polymer nose from the basic hardened shell of a nose. Several more layers of stained, stiffened cloth were applied to the nose to add bulk and durability before stitching it to the cap, between the two layers.
 The cap should be put on before securing the nose to the head piece, to ensure that it will hang down and sit properly on the wearers nose bridge. Because the nose is hollow it will lay down onto the real nose BUT they complained that the hardened fabric ends rubbed their noses the wrong way so I rectified the problem by gluing a brown piece of felt onto the inside end of the nose, leaving enough slack that the nose rested up inside the soft fabric while sitting comfortably over the bridge of their noses. Finally I used an  awl to poke nostrils holes into the noses.

Dobby and Winky Costume

Harry Potter Elf Costume
The knot at the back of the outer cap is seen at bottom here.

              Inside the caps









See More Home Made Costumes on my For the Love of Crafting Page
HERE

Costume Crafting Away

Twas the sweet smell of the autumn air seeping in from the opened window in my kitchen, just above my sink where I fill my morning pot with water to run through the aromatic granules of coffee that awoke and sparked my motivation this morning.
Wafting up my nostrils was the distinguishable smell of fallen leaves dampening on the ground outside, mixed with the annual aroma of manure being loving spread across the country fields, mingling with the scent of snow that soon will blow. In fact, it is forecast for Sunday, so now we've been told!

For the last two weeks now I have been engrossed in whipping up this years requests for Halloween Costumes. I enjoy the hunt for materials, the challenges of construction, the originality of the end result and the smile on the face of a satisfied customer!
 I know from experience that whipping up these costumes, largely from re-cycled or luckily found pieces is not an overnight process. The greatest challenge of production is finding the right piece in the right place,
at the right time, before running out of time.
 

DIY Mickey Mouse Costume

Once upon a time I made up their minds.


I would stitch as I saw fit and they would wear any of it. Those were the days.
The candy was more important than the costume one wore.

 I now give the boys a 3 week notice prior to Halloween to make up their minds. If a costume has not ordered by October 1st, the request will be deemed as too late to start.


This year I received requests to make Mickey and Minnie Mouse Costumes and Dobby and Winky Costumes(House Elves) from Harry Potter.

Check out my Posts on the Mickey HERE
Check out Minnie Mouse HERE 
Check out Harry Potter HERE
Check out Buzz Light Year  HERE


The other two boys (still on the cusp of enjoying the candy more than the costume) dug through the tickle trunk of costumes past, to emerge as odd characters of mix and match.
The end of October is now obvious as the reflection of self in the window. It is 8:00 am and it's still dark outside. Autumn has come and Halloween is near, I've run out of time for playing in here.
I'll now head outside to put hoses away, to store deck chairs and tuck the tables away.
I'll string out the webbing and put the ghosts in their place,before digging out the candy and painting my face.

Tomorrow is another day. Time to clean up and put Halloween away.
Christmas is now only 60 days away.
Happy Autumn to you and yours.
Craft, Laugh and play!

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR Costume DIY

   Thank you for the memories.

Lillian the Domestic Engineer

I'm enjoying arriving at a time when my kids have aged through the awkward stage and the opposition era.
A time when nothing I said, did or made was
 or would ever be considered remotely right or even possibly plausible!
Each, slowly arriving at a time when they are willing to acknowledge and even employ their talented Mother
(if I must say so myself) and dare I say,  if I don't toot my own horn who will?
 I jumped this year at the request to create a Buzz Light Year Costume for one of my boys.
For help with this Costume I must first  give credit where credit is do. http://mojoturbocostumes.wikispaces.com/Buzz+Lightyear+Costume

Thank you to Mojoturbocostumes for being patient enough to record detailed step by step instructions
for creating the BUZZ LIGHT YEAR Costume on their page. I referred to the pictures and notes there as I set about to built my own Buzz Light Year step by step. Altering and improvising as I worked along at creating a costume for a 180 pound 6 foot man!
Buzz+Lightyear+Costume

Best Craft Blog

The gloves were purchased at the dollar store and brushed with a coat of mixed Silicone, white acrylic paint and Modge Podge, a white pase like primer for painters.  Left to dry for 24 hours I then painted the green, purple and white acrylic paint on the glove. They are then outlined with a waterproof ink, fine tip Sharpie Pen.

 The Gauntlets are created from wrist protectors that I found in the front closet, initially purchased for working with barb wire fence. I glued a layer of white construction paper to the inside to lengthen them and then coated the entire thing with the same mixture used on the gloves above before painting the final coat of  green and white.

DIY @ Lillian the Domestic Engineer.Blogspot.ca

 The body Armour and the Jet pack were constructed from a thin, blue foam mat that I found in the garage. 

After drawing out the pieces I would need, I cut two of each and glued them to their mate using contact cement. On areas where the layered areas would be seen, I applied a strip of the blue foam that I had cut to exactly the same width as the two layers were wide. It gave a clean finish to the end product.   
As visible in the neck area on the Chest Armour above.
Once all the pieces were assembled I applied several coats of the mixed sealant mixture (as noted above) and left it all to dry over night. The purple, green, red and white paints as well as the Lightyear sign the exhaust area and the logo were painted. 
A cloth strap was glued onto the side of the front panel allowing them to be pulled back together and fastened using the strip of Velcro on each. The finished front and back pieces are finally connected at the shoulders with a cloth hinge that has been glued in place.

 The purple head piece was fashioned from the pattern of a bear costume I altered. 
I stitched the black bands into the elbow to represent the joints.  The black at the waist was stitched onto a quilted piece of material before being stitched into the shirt, creating the tubing effect seen on Buzz's waste.
The pants were cut at the knee and cardboard was glued to the inside of the pants to create the knee joints. The bolts were glued together and painted before being hot glued directly onto the pants. The bottom trim and the belt were made from the blue foam that had bee primed and painted before being attached with hot glue.

 Buzz Light Year Costume. DIY

  

 I come in peace... seeking candy!

DIY Mickey and Minnie Mouse Costume

See more HERE

.