spider costume

do you remember on Friend Makin Monday a few weeks ago, when i said

my kids wouldn't dress as anything scary this year?

well, apparently i lied.

:o

Pottery Barn Kids sends me emails from time to time.  about a week ago i saw a cute spider costume and thought to myself, "hey, i could make that! well, not that, but something close enough."  {i'm not even going to show you the PBK spider costume. 'cause, well... i'd rather not compare them! ;) }

in case you need a quick last-minute costume, here's what you'll need:

a solid black long-sleeved knit shirt/leotard

solid black knit pants

2 pair solid black knit knee-length socks

{women's knee socks were more economical for me, but you could use girls tights if you wanted. 

i bought mine at Walmart for $2/pair. tights were over $4.}

craft batting {Polyfil or something like it}

safety pins

black yarn or ribbon

6 lb or more clear fishing line

sewing needle {don't worry, you're not really sewing}

i made 4 of these for my 4 daughters {ages 9, 5, 3 1/2, 1 1/2}.  each one was different. i measured the socks with the arms of the shirt, making them a little longer, to make up for their hands.

once you know how long you want them to be, you can stuff them with the batting.  i did mine in sections- filling the foot part with batting and then tying that off with the yarn.

{now that i think of it, you could use just the fishing string if you wanted.}

next, you fill the next section and tie it off too. leave enough to attach it to the shirt.  for my girls, i folded the top of the sock into itself or even over the full length of the top section and tucked it into the yarn. does that make sense? so you're either folding the sock into itself a couple of times or folding it over itself till it blends in with the top section and isn't visible. you want to leave just enough to attach it to the shirt as closely as possible.  do this for each sock.

lay the shirt on a flat surface. you'll want to measure under the arms to place the "legs".  now, look for the bend of the heel in the sock and point the "leg" downward.  space the sock under the arm of the shirt, so that each side will have 2 legs added to it. i pinned the shirt to the socks from the inside using 2 safety pins for each sock. place the shirt into the opening of the sock and pin on each side.  do this for each leg.

now, you're going to want the legs to move with their arms. that's where the needle comes in. using the fishing line and needle, stitch through the sleeve {wherever you want- the wrist or elbow} and each leg.  to make it extra strong, we doubled the line and fed it through twice {so we went through the sleeve, each leg and back up}.  be sure to tie it off good, fishing line can slip out.

you're done! 

super easy and the best part is that it's completely reusable! :)

feel free to embellish it however you want. black gloves would look cute, or adding a spider web or something.  we tested the costumes out at our local Zoo Boo last Friday and the girls loved it! everyone knew what they were and they'll tell you- it was way more fun than wearing a store-bought costume! :)

~

we may spice 'em up before Halloween.

{2 of the girls used spider Trick-or-Treat bags I bought on clearance at GAP years ago.  perfect! also, we bought them glow stick necklaces since it was dark and their costumes are not reflective. if you aren't planning on reusing the socks or clothing, you could have a lot of fun with reflective tape or paints!}

~

{our son wanted to be a mummy, but the cheesecloth fell apart pretty easily

- we'll have to do a better job for Halloween ;) }