Homemade Halloween outfits

Before Hallowe'en costumes were widely available years ago I dressed the DDs as a witch and her black cat. We had a circular long black skirt from a dance show and I made a cape etc for the witch, you could add some stars etc and buy a hat; someone did lend us a black cat outfit but you could make a tail and ears etc. and paint on whiskers with face paints.
If one is a boy then a wizard?

I don't like the blood and gore outfits myself though!

If you look on You Tube there may be some helpful hints too.

Ghosts !! Old sheets/bedding, or find them in a charity shop.

One circle/piece of fabric fitted around the neck and down to the calfs of the legs, two holes for the arms to come through. A pillow case over the head with eye holes, or even one big hole for the face. Easy peasy. No sewing needed. If any minimal sewing was required there'd be no need for anything but tacking stitches, or wonderweb, or even safety pins.

Old pink sheets for a girl ghost, perhaps
Any colour except pink for a boy

I just love love love the home made stuff. Anyone can just go buy an outfit. Home made is special.

toilet paper wrapped round= a mummy

They could use a permanent marker pen, a Sharpie, to draw spiders onto the ghost sheets.... A couple of stitches would secure cobwebs onto the fabric ( you can buy on line for a couple of £.)

Oh... I'm on a roll now

Black cape, white shirt, black trousers + face paint = Dracula

orange + green crepe paper plus cardboard can be fashioned into a pumpkin

I'm not sure I'm up to the pumpkin!
I love the idea of the spiders on the ghost sheets though... Sure I could find a couple of spare sheets going begging.

I dressed one of my daughters as a witch for a fancy dress. Black elastic skirt from a charity shop bought a black t. shirt and hat. We had fun making card stars and moons to pin on.

I also made a little red devil. Red outfit and ribbon tail Sewed hand felted horns onto a red hair band.

Home-made is best and safer ref Cludia Winkleman!!!
I was once told 10 minutes before leaving the house, that my son had to go to playgroup in fancy dress. He forgot to tell me as did my neighbour.. I cut three holes in an old pillowslip, wrote "half pint" on the front, squeezed him into it and then covered his army helmet with silver paper. He got second prize! I didn't have the nerve to tell anyone that I had done it at the last minute.

Get some black clothes tops and leggings trousers or such.
Cut out some bone shapes for a skeleton, main bones, rib cages arms and legs etc (find some old sheeting or such) and sew them onto the top and trousers front and back. its not as difficult as it sounds.
There are a lot of photos to get the shapes from. I if you need to buy fabric though it might be cheaper to just buy a cheap one in home bargains.
These are the bits of fabric and other rubbish I keep in my loft for such things. you never know when they might come in useful. But you do need to have space to store them.which is not a possibilty for everyone.

I once had to make a last minute outfit for ds-sacrificed a brown single sheet, cut hole in the middle for his head and tied it round him with a piece of rope. Folded matching pillowcase in half and stapled it round edge of the hole for a hood and covered staples with gaffer tape. Voilà....the mad monk!! He still remembers it but why on earth did I have a brown sheet in the first place?!?

Our charity shops in our town have lots of things. We also got some things for our gd. Also good for costumes for her drama school, when they put on plays.

Those strong white cotton bed sheets were always used when my children needed fancy dress in the 70s. They made ideal ghost costumes for Halloween, and could then be remodelled into angel costumes with lots of tinsel added for the Sunday school nativity play.

I have a brown sheet and pillowcases, I wish I had someone to dress as a mad monk! Can't see me ever using the sheets again.

Last year DGS's friend was dropped off for trick of treating clutching a roll of toilet paper. We wrapped him up, sellotaped him, added requested felt tip blood. He set off as a mummy but returned having shed quite a bit of his costume, DD thought she'd picked it all up.
Next morning I went to the shop. To the casual observer I was gathering up more bloodstained toilet tissue as I went!
Hint: If you make this costume ensure that the mummy goes to the loo before you wrap him!

Try face painting! Much safer than plastic masks and doesn't interfere with their vision. There are plenty of 'how to' videos on Youtube. Search for "Face painting kids Halloween".

I've posted a link....but there are so many other cute ideas...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD4TqA4K9Jc

Best of luck and Happy Halloween!

I made my grandson a magnificent velvet dracula cape with a stand up collar from and ex curtain. He was very disappointed - he wanted a plastic outfit like his friends.......

Seadragon, thanks for reminder, there's a plastic vampire cloak in a cupboard. It can go to the first trick or treater who'd like it!

I have twin brothers who are 12 years younger than me. Over 30 years ago, they forgot to tell us it was the Cub Halloween Party. We sent one in a brown paper sack, with a newspaper hat - he was a paper boy! The other poor soul wore my gold satin " disco trousers" with a box covered in tinfoil on his top half, and a tinfoil covered crash helmet. He won the first prize, but when Akela asked what he was, he said, "I don't know! My mum & my big sister dressed me up!"

This is our “bin bag witch” costume. The dress is a bin bag with stars etc made from kitchen foil. The hat is a couple of cut cereal boxes. The broom is made from twigs collected outside. We made it three times and won prizes at each Halloween party.

The skeleton idea is good- done that. If you are no good at sewing buy a hot glue gun. They're great. Ripped t-shirt, raggy trousers and green face paint- Hulk . Ripped t-shirt or shirt, raggy trousers and face paint- a zombie.

Bandages top to bottom: A mummy.

The best Halloween costume I ever saw was homemade and was easily the scariest I've ever seen. A white boiler suit, belted at the waist and tucked in at the legs, into wellies. A clear water dispenser bottle, with the neck cut off, and put over the boys head, resting on his shoulders. He had 2 empty plastic coca cola bottles taped together and stuck on his back to mimic oxygen cylinders. A plastic tube ran from them, over his shoulder and into a hole at the front of the water bottle to mimic a breathing tube. In the dark, he looked terrifying!

I have crocheted my DGS's skull beanies, and for my DGD I crocheted a "lost souls skull shawl. They love Halloween, it's their favourite "holiday".