It’s September! It’s September! Do you know what that means? FALL! And do you know what THAT means?? HALLOWEEN!!!! I am a Halloween freak. Prepare yourselves, people, because I am even more in love with Halloween than I am with s’mores. It’s true. So let’s start by talking about COSTUMES! Have you ever heard about the cute website Really Awesome Costumes? What a fun site idea, right?! It is brought to you by the Jamie, the same genius behind the blog C.R.A.F.T., aka Crafting Really Awesome Free Things. I met Jamie at SNAP and she was just as fun and charming as her blogs. Loved her. I am so excited to be the first person in Jamie’s 2013 Really Awesome Handmade Costume Series. I will be sharing with you the cutest little pirate costume and play kit that I made for my son last month using supplies from The Ribbon Retreat. Isn’t he sweet wearing it?!
Now let’s check out how I made this cutie his dream pirate costume and play kit!
I spotted this fabulous Riley Blake Pirate Matey’s quite some time ago, and I have been racking my brain ever since trying to come up with a project for it. And then I remembered a pretty FABulous Car Play Mat and Storage Bag from The Creative Vault that I spotted on Pinterest over a year ago.
I thought it was astonishingly cute, but far too complex for this lazy lady. However, when I was mulling over how to make a play mat/satchel this Car Play Mat danced back into the back of my mind, so I took a second look at it. While I am far too lazy to do all of the adorable little pieces and embellishments that she did, the idea of a circular tote and drawstring was actually quite brilliant and simple, so I went for it! Since she didn’t include a tutorial on the sewing I am going to share what I did with you. Obviously, hers features finished edges and complex piecing, which mine does not. But this will get you started in the right direction if you want to try hers down the road after seeing how much your little man loves his pirate play kit.
Let’s get started! Here are the fabrics that you will need. They are all from the Riley Blake Pirate Matey’s (PM) line. You may need a bit more or less muslin and PM Red Stripe depending on how old your kiddo is, since that is what I used to make the actual costume.
1 yard Basic Muslin (adjust order to accommodate child’s age and size)
1 yard PM Red Stripes (adjust order to accommodate child’s age and size)
1 yard PM Red Skulls
3/4 yard PM Cream Main
2 1/2 – 3 yards large red rick rack
90 inches of rope
toilet paper or paper towel roll
Mod Podge and/or glue
Red Puff Paint
coordinating thread
First things first. I was trying to invent my own pattern for the pirate costume, but then I thought to myself, “Why reinvent the wheel?!” So I looked up a couple of tutorials from a sewing tutorial pattern site I have used and trusted before. I used the PJ Pant for Babies and Kids and the Basic Tee tutorials MADE for the costume. Here’s a little tip for you: make the shirt pattern BIGGER. She intended it to be made with knits. It fits my boy, but he can’t get it off without help since muslin doesn’t have any stretch in it. Whoops. My bad. Sorry, kiddo.
The only modifications that I made to the costume pattern were stylistic. I made the sleeves a bit longer and cut them in zig zags prior to sewing, and I did the same with the bottom of the top. Then I cut a V in the front neckline of the shirt, which looks “piratey” to me, and it also allows him to get the shirt over his noggin. On the pants I made them shorter, like man capris, and cut them in a zig zag prior to sewing. Other than that I followed the patterns. I did not hem either piece at all. I am embracing frayed edges, as I believe it looks more authentically pirate!
Now let’s get sewing the Pirate Play Kit! You will need to cut TWO squares of the PM Red Skull fabric that are approximately 22 inches across. I folded my fabric in half like a triangle and cut, as shown below. Also cut one 22 inch square from the PM Cream Main fabric.
One of the PM Red Skull squares is your bandana. Set that aside. Take the other remaining PM Red Skull square and the PM Cream Main square and fold them in fourths. Now round off the edges. I used a huge bowl as my guide, as you can see, although you could also freehand it. Let’s be honest, it’s a kid’s Pirate Play Kit…..it doesn’t need to be perfect! Mine actually looks a bit more like a rounded edge square, but I’m cool with that.
Sew around the edges of your bandana with a 5/8 inch seam allowance. I did NOT fold under the edges to create a hem, because, as I mentioned above, I chose to embrace frayed edges with this project because frayed edges feel very “pirate” to me. However, the sewing around the bandana may slow or stop the fraying a bit, so I went for it.
Now lay your two circles (or rounded squares in my case) wrong sides together and cut pieces of large red rick rack that are approximately 5.5 inches long. These will create your loops for your rope to slide through. I had fifteen loops, because at that point I ran out of rick rack. You may want to try doing even more, but I wouldn’t recommend doing less.
Fold the rick rack pieces in half, tuck them between the two layers, evenly spaced, and pin them in place all over. Now sew around the edges, trapping the rick rack, using a 3/8 inch seam allowance, followed by a 5/8 inch seam allowance. I wanted to be certain that those loops were going to stay put! Once again, don’t worry about the edges. Leave them free and embrace the rugged pirate way of life!
At this point I threw the Play Kit and the bandana in the washer and dryer to rough them up a bit. When they came out I used red puff paint to create a large red X on the beyond-fabulous PM Cream Main pirate map fabric. That will be the inside of your Play Kit. That fabric is seriously too fabulous for words.
Finally, I threaded the 90 inches of rope through the loops and tied it.
As a finishing touch, I used part of the extra PM Cream Main map fabric to create a telescope for the play kit. I glued it to the tube and then covered it in Mod Podge to seal it in place.
Voila! You are finished. When the outfit is not being worn the bandana, pants, top, and telescope can all be stored inside the cinched bag. I got the fun pop gun from World Market last fall. We also have a pirate sword from Halloween somewhere in this house, but for the life of me I can’t find it.
When your little one is wearing the costume then the Play Kit becomes a tote or a treasure map! Fun!
If you are looking for other costume ideas you may enjoy the following posts:
30+ Handmade Halloween Costumes
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Jamie says
September 2, 2013 at 9:16 pmCUTEST. pirate. ever. LOVE that you added a telescope 🙂 Thank you so much for participating in the 2013 Really Awesome Costumes series 🙂
Sarah says
September 3, 2013 at 4:54 pmTHanks! I agree. 😉
Lolly Jane says
September 3, 2013 at 4:56 pmSeriously adorable!! I am already planning for family pirate costumes next year and am loving how simple this is to DIY! Thanks Sarah! (: xo
Sarah says
September 3, 2013 at 5:22 pmThank you thank you!!