This was Celine's very first 100th day of school celebration and I totally wanted to go BIG!! When presented with the project, my husband of course wanted to go with the typical and common "elderly" costume/look to celebrate the holiday. However, I wanted to come up with something unique and more fitting to Celine's personality. I brainstormed for a couple of days, did some pinterest searches, and came up with this fun, easy, and beautiful "100 Days of Blooming" costume. (*You can also name it 100 Days of Growing. I let Celine choose between blooming or growing.)
The costume is basically a tree in full bloom with flowers growing from it's branches. Here's what I used to make it:
For the Headpiece:
-an old headband that you no longer use or you can purchase one at your local beauty supply or dollar store
-bouquet of faux flowers (purchased at Michael's)
For the Eye Mask:
-an old spider man mask or you can use felt to make your own
-bouquet of faux leaves (purchased at Michael's)
For the Dress:
-1 yard of felt fabric in Brown color
-a Brown turtle neck long sleeve shirt
-faux leaves
-Letters & Numbers stickers
For the Wristbands:
-faux flowers
-velcro stickers
-felt fabric
Other Items You Will Need:
-Hot Glue Gun
-Glue Sticks
-Scissors
-Wire Cutter *Optional
-Sewing Machine OR Hand sewing needle and thread
-Measuring tape
-Chalk
First, I started by creating the beautiful floral headpiece. I really wanted it to stand out and make a statement so I used many different types of flowers instead of just one single flower. I also wanted it to resemble flowers on a tree therefore, I made sure to include stems of leaves of all kinds. To affix the flowers to the headband, I simply wrapped the wire of each steam around the headband and used a hot glue gun to make sure it won't slip off. Start at one end of the headband and keep adding until you get to the other end, making sure you leave about 1-1 1/2" without flowers on each end.
Next, I worked on the face/eye mask. I used an old spider man mask from a birthday party Celine had gone to that she no longer wanted and was okay with me using for this. If you don't have an old eye mask, you can make one using some felt. I was able to find a bouquet of just leaves from Michaels which helped with all the parts of the costume that required leaves. Celine helped by cutting off all of the leaves from the stems as I worked on carefully placing them and gluing them on the mask. I tried to fit them as best as I could around the shape of the mask and later, I cut away any pieces that were covering the opening of the eyes.
Here's a look at the finished mask and headpiece!
Now for the dress! I used 1 yard of brown felt fabric. I would recommend making sure you get a fabric that has a little stretch this way you don't have to worry about adding any zippers or buttons in order to accommodate getting it on. The first thing you want to do is measure how long you want the dress to be. If you are making it for someone that is taller than 4 1/2 feet, then I would suggest getting more than one yard of fabric so you can get a floor length dress. So you want to use a tape measure to measure the person who will be wearing the dress from their shoulders all the way down to the floor. Add 1/2" to that measurement. (This will be the length measurement for the dress.) Next, measure the person's chest circumference. Add 1/2" to that measurement. Fold in both sides of the fabric towards the center.
Next, draw in half of the front dress shape along the left fold using chalk. Be sure to make sure you draw the chest wide enough according to the measurement you took. Also be sure to draw the side long enough according to the length measurement. Once, you have it all drawn out, cut along the chalk lines. Do not cut the fold. *When you unfold the piece it should look like one full front dress piece.
Use the front piece to draw out the back on the opposite side of the fabric. Trace around the side, hem, armhole, and shoulder. At the neck, draw a neckline a little higher than the front. Once all is drawn out, cut along the lines making sure to not cut the fold once again.
You should now have two pieces, one for the front and another for the back. Using a sewing machine or hand stitching, you will now sew the side seams and shoulders together. Once all the seams are sewn, you got yourself a full a-line dress for the human tree trunk!
Now all that's left is adding the wording and leaves to the front of your dress. Using the glue gun, add some leaves along the front neckline of the dress. Be sure to secure the letter stickers with glue to avoid them falling off.
To make the wristbands, grab some of the leftover felt fabric and cut two rectangles that are about 4 1/2" long by about 6" wide. Decorate the front with some leaves and flowers. Place velcro stickers at the edges in order to close the bands on the wearer's arms.
Here's a look at the finished "Blooming Tree Look"!
This look is perfect even as a Halloween costume. It's easy to make, inexpensive, and looks so beautiful. If you try something like this, please tag me on instagram or leave a comment telling me all about it!
This was definitely a win for the books for this mama...
...Sew This is Life!!