I got it done! Hooray, I finished the costumes! Maybe not 1 hour a day for 7 days  in a row, like the KCW challenge – but they are done! And one full day before Halloween! Oh, and Happy Halloween to you and your family… The kids wanted to be princesses again this year, but (rightly or wrongly) I dissuaded them because every girl this age is a princess – and we did the Cinderella thing last year. Still we ended up with a princess – but at least a Pirate Princess – and my youngest is Izzy, both from Jake and the Never Land Pirates. And – most important – my girls are very happy!

I realized soon after starting, that I was never going to finish them if I did a full tutorial – but if you are curious how part of it went together please feel free to ask! I am going to post a tutorial (ignoring the fact that it will be after Halloween) for the Pixie Dust bag Izzy carries and the Pirate Hat on my oldest because I think they will transfer well into other costumes and party ideas. And the little bag would be a cute matchy addition to a little girl’s handmade dress. Or a boy’s treasure bag if you shorten the strings – maybe for carrying all of those tiny cars around?!

Izzy photo via

Here is a run-down on the Izzy costume. I used the raglan sleeve dress pattern from ikat bag again to make the shirt. She has kindly provided a size 5 and a size 3 version – but it is very easy to add extra room to this style of dress if you want to re-size it – just add the width to the edge that is on the fold when you are cutting the fabric.  I used the size 5 and added a bit of width because I want it to fit over her fall jacket. The leggings are Fancy Pants Leggings in a super sparkly stretchy purple knit. I about pulled my hair out stitching these the first time, but sorted it out when making the second pair – since they each have one. Seems my machine would stitch horribly through 2 layers, but it worked great with 3 layers. So I cut 3/8″ wide strips and fed them in under the presser foot along the seam allowance as I went. Now we have amazing sparkly seams on the inside too! I would show you but the pants are with my daughter at school – hmmm… forgot to think ahead there.

Izzy’s Pixie Dust bag tutorial will be coming soon and I’ll try to remember to link this post to it. (*Update: Izzy’s Pixie Dust Bag tutorial link) The bandanna was not too bad – a triangle with extra length at the corners for tying. I hemmed the front edge, added elastic in a large rounded shape so it would gather, then tied it on my daughter’s head for size so I could stitch the tie in place – Now they can play dress-up without asking me to tie it on each time! The white swirls are “puffy paint” dried in 10 minutes with a hair dryer (yes, I am that impatient!).

Pirate Princess photo via

For the Pirate Princess (does she have a real name?!) I was required to be a bit more creative. Again, an ikat bag dress as the shirt with elbow length sleeves. I wanted the dress to be elasticized across the back – similar to ready-made ones, so they can fit more than one size. To do that I made the front fabric a bit slimmer than the original size 5 pattern and added extra to the back dress bodice piece.  I cut the vest to the same size as the shirt pieces and stitched them on together. Then I added elastic across the back in two places so it still fits without being too baggy.

The vest “corset” lines are yellow bias tape stitched under and over the edges of the vest fabric. The skirt is a long rectangle rounded on both bottom corners with a ruffle along the edges. The waist is sparingly gathered leaving room for stretch and then attached to an exposed elastic waistband. I attached the shirt to the elastic as well so it is one piece – easy on and off for the kids (again with playing dress-up in mind!). The “real” Pirate Princess carries a sword with a diamond on the end to make rainbows – but we already had a diamond wand at home and there have been no complaints, so we’ll leave it that way! Ditto on the boots – they are “supposed to be” purple with a scalloped yellow edge – but that takes more time so the purple rain boots stand in. I’ll link up a tutorial to the Pirate Princess hat when it goes up as well.

It’s a good thing my kids aren’t too picky about the little details yet! I was sewing these like a crazy person and used my pinking shears to their full potential to finish the edges on all of the (one fold) casings and hems. Saving time is very important around here!

We’ve got a rainy day today – with the potential for a very wet night. And of course it is chilly, being up North, so Izzy and the Pirate Princess will look like they have gained a bit of weight with coats underneath! But I’m sure they will be excited to get their fill of candy anyhow – wet or not. And I know these costumes will get a lot more use because the kid’s love to act out their favorite shows – one reason why I still “bother” to sew their costumes! Ok, that and the look on their faces when I am finished – makes it worth every hour spent!

Did you make your kid’s costume? I’d love to see it. If you want to check out more costumes I am linking this one up to the Project Run and Play costume link-up, and to the KCW site as well (click below) – since it really was a KCW project anyhow!