Once again, Jenelle whipped out her sewing talents for Halloween this year. Autumn gave us a ladybug costume for Annika, so Jenelle made a ladybug costume for herself and a manbug costume for Jonathan.
Annika also went trick-or-treating for the first time. She wasn’t so enthusiastic at the five houses we went to, but we know she really enjoyed it, since she’s already talking about “next year.”
Incidentally, the German word for bug is Wanze, which is pronounced with a V-sound, a lot like “Vance.”
Hey, I was just wondering how you made your awesome lady bug costume?
Per adult costume, you will need:
1-2 yds. very stiff batting (I bought mine at Joann’s on the bolt)
2-3 ft. black elastic
1 1/2 yds. inexpensive black cotton
1 1/2 yds. colored fabric – any type of fabric would work. The red I used was some clearance stretchy stuff, which was a little trickier, but still worked. The blue was also some sort of clearance stuff, but not stretchy and much easier to use.
Matching thread
I cut a very large circle (or ovalish if your husband is tall like mine) out of a double layer of the stiffest batting I could find. You could also adapt this to a child, but you’d have to sue smaller everything, of course. For ours, I estimated by first pinning some overlapping folds to give the batting a roundedness and used that as a gage by holding it up to ourselves. You can always make the circles smaller. Then I cut about six slits around the circle, maybe 6 – 12″ long for an adult. Then overlap the pieces of the slits and pin. This will create the round effect of the shell. This is a good time to hold up the shell to the wearer and test for sizing and adjust as necessary. When it looks about right, sew (I hand sewed) the slits in place and cut off the excess batting. You can see a picture here: http://photos.vancefamily.org/v/jenellejonathan/Fall2008/img_3009.jpg.html?g2_enterAlbum=0
Next lay your colored fabric over the batting. Cut around the batting layer as a guide but with about 4″ extra around that you can fold under the batting. Now follow the same routine as above and start pinning folds that you will eventually sew. Keep in mind, however, that these will not be sewn in overlapping fashion like the batting; you will keep the fold with right sides together and sew (I used machine) so that when you open the fold up, it is more like a dart, if that makes sense. Make certain you find a way to mark a couple of spots on the fabric to coordinate with the spots on the batting (markers symbols on the back of the fabric to the same symbol on the batting. Believe me – it will make it a lot easier to get the fabric back on.
After you have sewn all the darts into the fabric, refit the fabric onto the batting and make sure it really fits. If it doesn’t, adjust by making more darts (I had to do this a couple times to get it to fit right without a lot of big puckers). Once it looks decent, you are ready to add the black details. Cut a long strip of black fabric, about 2-4″ wide (whatever looks good). Make sure the length extends about 4″ past the batting on either end as it will also be folded under with your colored fabric after it’s attached. This will be the wing divider. Now use a large round object like a bowl and trace out some spots – maybe 4 – 6″ in diameter – onto the black fabric. Pin the spots onto the fabric (but not the batting). Take your fabric off the batting. Sew the strip first and then the spots. I did both a straight stitch and then followed with a zig zag stitch to prevent it fraying as much.
Next put the now-spotted fabric back on the batting. Now fold the fabric under the batting, and pin. Hand-sew the fabric on the inside of the batting using large stitches. Next, take your black fabric again and place your batting on top. Cut/trace around the batting with about a 3-4″ extra border. Sew the black circle you just cut to the inside edge of the batting/folded-under-fabric, making sure to fold any extra of the black fabric to the inside of the dome. This will look like a flat piece of fabric against your back when it is done.
Finally, hold up the bug to the back of the wearer. Take your black elastic and wrap around the shoulders, pinning to the costume at a place it will be sewn. Make sure it is not too tight, because even if it is elastic, it can be a pain to wear or get the bug on/off otherwise. Hand sew the elastic onto the costume.
For the antennas, I got a couple of inexpensive headbands, two black pipe cleaners, and two pom-poms (per headband). Curl the pipe cleaners around a pencil or your finger to give some stability to the pom poms. I think I just wrapped the pipe cleaners around the head band and the pom poms and maybe taped the headband to the pipe cleaner on the underside of the headband. I was in a hurry by then, as I made these costumes in just a couple of days. You could wrap the headbands with some black ribbon, which would also secure the pipe cleaners better most likely.
We just wore black long-sleeve shirts and black pants to complete the costume.
Let me know if you end up ever making this. We got a ton of great compliments. People are always impressed to see you actually made something out of fabric that wasn’t last minute. We love dressing up and have a blast! Good luck!