I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time spending between $20 and $30 (sometimes more) on a Halloween costume. Even when I rationalize the purchase by convincing myself it will be used by more than one child. The fact of the matter is, they never are. Each child wants to be something different.
A couple of years ago I began using sweat suits as a base for every costume. They are warm and roomy so the kids can wear long underwear, other clothes or pajamas under the costume and a coat won’t have to hinder the effect. In addition, they are easy to turn into just about anything your child can imagine, and when Halloween is over, the decorations can be removed and the sweat suit can be worn again.
The ideas are endless! Two years ago my children went as the Cat-in-the-Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. The Cat-in-the-Hat was a black sweat suit, Thing 1 and Thing 2 wore red. We purchased white and black self stick felt (if self stick felt isn’t available there is a product called “Sticky Stuff” which creates a removable, re-stickable bond) a yard of red fabric and a yard of black fabric, and purple yarn at our local craft supply store. The Cat’s hat was purchased at Oriental Trading Company. The cat was assembled as follows: We cut one sheet of felt into a large oval which was stuck to the center of the sweat shirt – this is the cat’s white belly. The red fabric was cut into a long strip (I hemmed it, but that is optional) The strip was used for the huge red bow around the cat’s neck. The black fabric was cut into a strip approximately 8 inches wide, this will be tail so you’ll have to decide how long you want it to be based on your child’s height and how you are planning to attach it. You could attach it to the waist band of the sweat pants and have it hang straight down, it could hang down then you could have it form a lop at the bottom, bringing it back up to the back of the shirt, or you may even want to attach it with a long string to your child’s sleeve so the tail moves with your child’s arm. Check with your child to see how he/she would like it. At any rate, the long strip of fabric should be folded in half and sewn up the open side and across the bottom. Then your child could stuff it with poly-stuffing, scraps of newspaper or other fabric before attaching it to the costume.
