Samarra: Why stop at painting the town red this Halloween, when you can bring the whole brilliant rainbow along with you?! This Paint Palette Costume is the perfect trick-or-treating masterpiece for that special little art-loving, creative person in your life.
Materials
- 1 yard of Paint Palette Costume in Minky*
- Foam stabilizer – each piece should be 18.5 x 34.5”
- Sewing machine
- Pins
- Fabric Scissors
- Fabric Pen
*Please note: this project can be ordered on any fabric available at Spoonflower but in order to receive the additional paint bucket trick-or-treat bag pieces, you must order a fabric that is at least 54″ wide.
1. Cut out the front and back panels along the black line; each panel measures 20 x 36”.
2. Cut a piece of foam stabilizer for both the front and back panels; they should measure 18.5” w x 34.5” h each. Pin the stabilizer panels to the backsides of both the front and back panels.
Pro tip: I first cut my stabilizer to size, then measured in and trimmed off an additional ¾” from each side to achieve the correct size.
3. Holding the front panel right side toward a window or light-box, trace the outer edge of the magenta oval onto the foam stabilizer, using a fabric pen. This will become the hole for the wearer’s face to look through.
4. Ensuring that you don’t cut into the front panel, carefully cut out an oval from the foam stabilizer that is 1/4” smaller than the marked circle you drew.
5. Now, cut a starburst of darts out of the front panel fabric, making sure not to cut too closely to your foam stabilizer oval edge.
6. Wrap all the darts around from the front to the back –trimming closer if needed– to create a smooth oval edge. Pin in place on the front side so the pin points are facing away from the wearer.
7. Carefully test the oval cut-out hole on your small friend’s face. Adjust sizing if needed.
8. Stitch the oval in place, using black thread (make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end). Remove the pins.
9. Flip over and trim starburst tips off.
10. Your face cut-out hole should look like this:
11. If using fusible foam stabilizer, begin by smoothing the pile of your minky fabric in its natural direction and then place a damp cotton cloth on top before ironing. This will ensure the pile stays flat as you move your iron around and the pile won’t get bent in the wrong direction while you’re fusing the stabilizer to the fabric. Then follow manufacturer’s instructions on how to fuse your layers together correctly.
12. Hem the entire outer edge ½” all the way around on both the front and back panels.
13. Once hemming is complete, sandwich the front and back panels together, right sides out, pin and topstitch, using white thread. Before you begin, refer to this stitching diagram for where to stitch and where to leave the arm hole openings:
14. You’re now ready to try the costume on your little trick-or-treater and refine the armhole size to fit. If you’d like the holes smaller, simply mark where and topstitch closed as needed.
Pro tip: For a more temporary custom fit, use safety pins instead.
Complete! Want to accessorize your Paint Palette Costume with the bonus coordinating Trick-or-Treat Gesso Paint Can? Find out how sew your own here.
It’s all treats and no tricks when your kids are sporting handmade costumes! Shop more of our favorite DIY costume projects here.
About the Guest Blogger
Samarra Khaja creates wacky, wonderful, whimsical art, reimagining the unexpected out of the everyday. She happily admits to spending less time on her hair and more time drawing and eating chocolate.
Check out Samarra’s latest Skillshare class on how to design surface patterns like a pro.