I made a cow and a dalmation costume (with matching ears/horns) when the guys were really little. They wore them forever, and not just for Halloween, as they were furry and snuggly. I think I still have them in the closet. Also made capes and various Purim costumes over the years. Good times.
Capes and make-up were our formula.
I had a patient who couldn’t afford her co-pay. I had navy velvet, so she used that to make a cape in 2lengths. Son wore those when they were floor length to knee length.
My D loved fabrics and draping them to make capes. She was often on some sort of knight or warrior, rarely anything “feminine.”
We picked out some very cute/pretty costumes for D2 when she was a baby. She was a puppy, a ballerina, princess, etc. When she was 3 she wanted to pick out her own costume because her older sister was doing it. I asked Dad to take them shopping because it was more of his thing. When I came home I was surprised to see a witch costume. Her dad said as soon as she saw it, it was what she wanted. He knew I wouldn’t be happy, so he tried hard to talk her out of it, but she was determined. Of course, she was the cutest witch in her pre-school class.
I loved when my children were younger and wanted homemade costumes, especially when the kids had a group theme. Among others, we’ve had a sun and a rooster; a fridge, stove, and chef (the stove and fridge were adorable, but funnily cumbersome); rainbow fish; a hermit crab (concept and creation by my teenage D); a peasant; and cotton candy (concept and creation by another D), and a ballerina dancer Pavarotti (which was my S–and not an entirely homemade costume, but certainly unique).
@palm715 , I adore the idea of handing out flowers to nursing home residences as a flower fairy and may copy that idea!
When the kids were little, I sewed several of the Tom Arma animal costumes. As they grew older I made cosstumes astronauts, flamenco dancers, Queen Amidala, Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, musketeer, ninja - but my favorite was the one costume I made without a pattern. In 7th grade S wanted to be the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man. We ratcheted up the creativity and came up with a really cool costume!
One year, I made my son a Pikachu costume and my daughter was Dorothy from Wizard of Oz (one of my favorites). When my youngest was 3, she wore a large box that I made into a mini iPod.
One of the saddest days of my life was when my kids said they wanted store-bought costumes! I’d always made them costumes. This year as college sophomores they both asked me to make costumes for them. Too late.
One of my daughters went through a Dorothy phase. Well, it lasted for 4 or 5 years, so more of a lifestyle choice. She wore her Dorothy dress for all the time and her sister had to be all the supporting cast - a winged monkey, Glinda the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch; all made by me. One day a cashier said “Oh, you’re all ready for Halloween.” My daughter was appalled! Why would anyone wear a Dorothy dress for Halloween? You are supposed to wear a COSTUME for Halloween, not a regular dress. When she saw girls dressed as Dorothy on Halloween, she was equally shocked. Did these people not know what Halloween was for? Why didn’t they dress up?
I love this thread - so many great ideas! When my niece was tiny (before DS was born), I made her a peapod costume. Then I got carried away and made a beet for myself, and an ear of corn for DH (he had long, fine hair that was great for the silk; I even put a worm in the kernels. BiL did his own carrot, and we all went to a party.
When DS was tiny, we did Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Complete with a little halo.
I made a Blue costume (from Blue’s Clues) for DS, before we realized that Blue was a girl. Oops, but he didn’t care, he was only about 2 or 3 and loved that show.
Then Bob the Builder (lazy year). Then I made a dinosaur costume, which we passed on to some friends, who ended up having 3 kids. Their little girl loved it and practically lived in it for a year or two. DS is 19 now, and that costume is still being worn by their youngest! It was very tough cloth and I sewed it tough, too - good thing!
Then we got into the Harry Potter years. I was so surprised the year he went as Ron - he wanted me to dye his hair! We wanted it to look good and he agreed that the semi-permanent dye had better colors than the temporary, so he was a ginger for a few weeks. Even then, he was serious about his theater.
But my favorite costume of all time was when I was a tween (or young teen, not sure), and made a cell costume for myself. I made two frames out of wire, stretched saran wrap around them, and made organelles out of all sorts of stuff. (I was a biology geek.) I wore black leotards and hung the big cells on my front and back like a sandwich board. That was awesome (after a few years of really lame costumes because my parents basically left it up to me). I think it was my last costume as a kid.
My twins one year were Siamese twin Siamese cats, joined at the tail. Tan sweat suits with dark ears, tail, socks and mittens. The tail was toddler sized stuffed black tights. Someone in my house going thru the costume box just found the Newt Gingrich mask and the pink Hershey’s kiss.
One of my favorites was when D1 was one. H and D went as Dilbert and Dogbert. The techie neighbors thought it was spectacular, the others were completely confused.
It was my sons’ favorite holiday, hands down. Me, I used to dread the pressure of getting it just right. LOL.
My daughter was Hermione Granger for at least three years running. She had a (still has) Harry Potter obsession sine the age of 5. She still has the black cloak that she asked her grandmother to make for her for Halloween. When she finally decided to do something different, she was in the fifth grade and wanted to be Miranda from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Go figure. She put the costume together out of various skirts, blouses, vests and ribbons from our closets. When my husband walked her up to people’s houses on Halloween night they would ask her who she was supposed to be, and when she told them, they had no clue. But she was happy as can be–just being her. We still laugh about it now. It was a memorable Halloween.