Let me start this by saying that making anything by hand is extremely difficult and you have my undying respect if you have attempted this at any point. It’s Spooky Season, so we’re obviously all thinking about Halloween and our costumes. For me, costumes have always been a way for me to express myself throughout the years. Yes, I am the girl who would wear her costume to class. That being said, sometimes, you just can’t find what you’re looking for on Amazon and you don’t want to wear an unlined, cheaply made shirt that may or may not fall off of you at some point throughout the night. That’s why I decided to make my own costume this year. It hasn’t been easy. Here are some tips I would have appreciated before I unknowingly started this journey.
Be Real
This means that you need to be honest with yourself. If you have never made a single piece of clothing and you want to make a period-accurate ball gown, you may want to reconsider or try asking for help. For me, I have been on the journey to recreate the Barbie cowgirl costume from the movie coming out in 2023. I am a complete novice, and most of the people around me don’t have any experience either. So, I recruited help by watching lots of YouTube videos.
make sure you have the resources
This means physical resources as well as time. I started my project in September. As a busy college student, I knew that I needed to give myself more than enough time to complete this project. You may be able to do it in one night, but I would give yourself at least two, just in case. Also along these lines is making sure that you have the physical resources as well. I had to ask to borrow a sewing machine (I would not hand stitch this costume by any means). I also found it extremely frustrating to have to go to Hobby Lobby four times to have all of my materials.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
In the beginning, I was extremely concerned with being completely accurate to the movie depiction of the Barbie movie. I stressed over raw edges, uneven seams and color matching. This led me to realize that I would not get the costume done in time. I eventually came to the conclusion that in semi-lighted parties, no one would be looking at my seams. I highly encourage you to try as hard as you can to not be a perfectionist.
Patterns, Patterns, Patterns!
Please make a pattern. It takes a good bit of time, but it is a huge help in understanding how the clothing will fit on your body. I gave myself at least an inch of seam allowance, and although I had to take in my pants many, many times, I knew that I could not uncut fabric. I cannot emphasize how helpful this step was for me, especially since I didn’t buy a pattern. Because I was super cheap and decided to make my pattern from old clothes, it did mess up the proportions a bit, which I caught while making my test pair of pants with scrap fabric.
When in doubt, just take the leap and get started. I’m really excited to wear my outfit this year because I know how much I put into it! Halloween is a time when you can truly express yourself, so why settle for less?