Bay Bat Costume

I got a Halloween request for a purple baby bat; cute!
The patterns that I found all started at 6mos., but I was dealing with a 3 month old, so I folded the pattern to reduce it to the baby's measurements.

It was still too big when I did the fitting, but  I was in the ballpark. I thought black satin wings and ears would look good, with contrast purple stitching.

The ears came out super cute!

 

I ended up using the same basic ear pattern for my own bat costume...

Here is the body, finished...

The pattern had a center back zip opening, which seems like kind of limited access for a baby costume, so I added inseam snaps, like you might see on a long-leg onesie, and kept the back zip for dressing ease.

Totally different it challenges than I normally work with, so overall this was an interesting project.

Patrick Costume

A long time friend of ours was counting on getting a Patrick Starfish costume from a vendor online, only to find it was discontinued. I had made a Fireball Mario costume for him in the past, so now he asked me if I would tackle Patrick.


Patrick's proportions are pretty ridiculous...

But I figured I could tweak it to work on a 6'3" guy, without also being 5' wide!
The version that had been available online has Patrick's outline, but was basically flat (no belly shape in side view) and the wearer's entire face was exposed.

After talking about design options, he wanted to go with something in between the basic one he'd seen, and the full-on formed mascot version. A soft shape meant his ability to host a party would not be too compromised.  Also, the hood needed to leave the mouth exposed, but provide visibility through concealed eye holes.


I started with a footie pajama pattern I drafted for my 6'4" husband, and about 6 yards of pink fleece. After changing the arm and belly shape, and making a hood and foot-coverings, I was pretty close. The hood and main body had added shape with fusible interfacing, and the waistline was supported with a double hoop of plastic boning. I measured the proportions of the facial features, and enlarged them, cutting them out of black and white felt. I copied the flower design from the shorts onto purple cotton, and fused it to the lime green shorts fabric.


I added a feature for convenience; the wrist has an overlapped slit opening, in case you need to pop your hands out for eating and drinking. Zigzagging elastic along the edges keeps the fabric from stretching out of shape from taking your hands in and out.

My helpful husband tried on the costume (several times!) for fit...


Since my friend lives in Florida, I didn't have pictures of the costume in action, until he sent me these after the party :)

This is from the email I got after the package arrived:

"THANK YOU for all the work you did on Patrick!!!  He just got here and I immediately had to try it on.  It's hilarious and perfect!!  I love it!!  Haha!  I can't wait to get pictures to send you."

 It's kind of nerve-wracking doing custom costumes long distance, but I love it when people are happy with the final result :)