Children love to dress up in costumes, whether it is for Halloween, a theme party, a school production or just everyday play. Store-bought children's costumes are often poorly made or incredibly expensive. Many parents assume they cannot make their children's costumes because they do not know sew. In reality, they could make wonderful costumes for their kids with little or no sewing but with a lot of paint, glue and creative thinking.
Instructions
Make a Costume Out of a Sweat Suit
1. Purchase a sweat suit that fits or is a few sizes too large for your child and in the base color of the costume you would like to create. White or brown is good for puppy costumes, red is good for tomatoes or candy, orange makes a great pumpkin, green and brown are fine for leaves or Robin Hood, pink or white is good for fairies and angels.
2. Use fabric paint to create a design on the sweat suit, allowing several days for it to dry. Sponge-paint black spots on a white suit to make a Dalmatian dog. Paint black stripes on an orange suit to make a tiger. Use glittery fabric paint to make designs on a fairy costume.
3. Sequins are an inexpensive way to add flash and glitter to just about any type of costume.
Use fabric glue or a needle and thread to secure sequins, ribbon, beads and other attachments to the sweat suit. Glue artificial leaves, flowers and vines onto a sweat suit to create a plant or Mother Nature. Sew on streaming ribbons or yarn to create monsters, pom-poms and fancy dresses.
Create Costumes Out of Used Clothing
4. Costumes are a good use for out-of-style clothing.
Reuse unwanted clothing by turning it into costumes. Stained men's shirts can become pirate smocks. Torn clothing is perfect for zombies, hobos and the Incredible Hulk. Out-of-style clothing works well for period costumes. Frilly or sequined dresses can become princess gowns.
5. Old costume jewelry might look gaudy but adds style to costumes.
Use secondhand accessories to finish off the look. Glittery oversized belts, large clip-on hoop earrings and colorful scarves complete the pirate look. An old beat-up hat and worn-out boots finish off a scarecrow. Old shiny bridesmaid shoes could be perfect for princesses, fancy ladies or even Dorothy.
6. Modify any item you find to suit your costume plan. Bleach it, dye it, tear it, paint it or sew stuff onto it. Your limit is your imagination.
Tags: sweat suit, children costumes, fabric paint, suit make
