DIY Star Wars Kylo Ren Costume

When your son asks, "Mama, can you make me a Kylo Ren costume?", how could you refuse?  Not only did his question show his appreciation for my sewing skills, but it was so cute that he asked me. So of course I said yes.  That was back in 2016.

I actually made this costume in September 2016 for Halloween 2016 (and he's worn it multiple times since then), but I never got a chance to blog about it until now.

I studied the construction of the $75 costume that was sold at Disneyland, and noticed a few things:

1. The opening for the bodice is on the back & fastened with three Velcro tabs.  This is not so great if you want your kid to be able to get in-and-out of the costume himself.  It's also not very durable.
2. The hooded scarf is detachable.  This is not great if your kid is prone to losing parts of his costume.
3. The fabric of the costume is the same non-woven fabric that reusable shopping bags are made of. This is not great because it's not very durable & not machine washable.

To address the shortcomings of the store-bought costume, I decided to make a few design tweaks:

1. Put the opening of the costume in the front.  Make the opening a zip closure like hoodie jackets.
2. Attach the hooded scarf to the collar of the costume.
3. Make the costume out of real fabric.

Materials used:

• Upcycled 3 pairs of black pants that were worn off in the inseams (FREE).
• Store-bought zipper ($3.99.
• Kylo Ren mask from Target ($3).
• Kylo Ren belt from thrift store ($1). (In case you're wondering... no, there was no costume accompanying the belt at the thrift store. Only the belt was there. It's an example of how easily kids can loose costume components.)

I used one of my son's hoodies as a template for my pattern.

I then used the fabric from the pants to make the components of the costume.

The first pair of twill pants became the fabric for the bodice.

The second pair of twill pants became the hooded scarf.

The yoga pants became the textured sleeves & the mandarin collar.

 Making those sleeves was very tedious because it entailed making pin-tucks the entire length of the sleeves. That took FOREVER.

I assembled the bodice pieces together first.
Then I attached the sleeves to the bodice.

Then I attached the hooded scarf to the collar of the bodice.

Then I attached the mandarin collar to "bind" the seams of the collar.

Finally I attached the zipper, and it was complete.

My son was thrilled with his costume.  He's worn it many times:  on Halloween 2016, to the 2017 Disneyland Star Wars Light Side Half Marathon Weekend, to Disneyland to meet the characters at Star Wars Launch Bay, and just to play dress-up at home.  It's gotten food spills on it many times, and they've cleaned up easily by just tossing it in the washing machine.

Not counting the time spent making the costume (because sewing creatively is a hobby), this costume only cost me $8 + tax. That's a huge savings compared to the $75 retail price.  Best of all, I have great memories creating it & watching my son wear it.

RUN10FEED10 virtual 10K swag

The swag bag for the 2017 Womens Health Magazine RUN10FEED10 Run Your Own 10k virtual race arrived in the mail yesterday!  

It contains:

- RUN10FEED10 tote bag (15" H x 13.5" W x 4" D)

- Geico plastic water bottle

- Poise samples

- Always samples

- Aveeno sunscreen sample

- Truvia sample

- Krave pork jerky (1 oz, FULL SIZE)

- RXBAR (FULL SIZE)

The tote bag has a cute design. But I've noticed that over the years, the materials of the bag are getting cheaper each year, and the amount of goodies in the bag is getting less each year.  Nevertheless I'm happy with it all.  My favorite items in this bag are the Krave beef jerky and the RXBAR.

But I still have FOMO for the FEED bracelets that they handed out to the runners at the in-person race events. I'm curious to see what the bracelet design is for this year, or if they even gave out bracelets this year. The Chicago RUN10FEED10 race takes place tomorrow, October 28. So I guess I'll be checking Instagram to see what people post. 

Upcycled baby clothes: DIY Donald Duck inspired Minnie Mouse Ears

I had been wanting to make a pair of DIY Minnie Mouse Ears for quite some time. After sifting thru the "to donate" pile of my son's baby & toddler clothes (for upcycled fabric), and browsing thru Pinterest, I finally decided on what to make.  On Pinterest I saw a Christmas ornament inspired by Donald Duck. I really liked the mix of primary colors & knew that I had those colors in the fabric.

I didn't take photos of my process, but I essentially followed this YouTube tutorial.  I used sew-in interfacing similarly to how she layered two different fabrics together. The main difference is that I machine sewed each ear together. I also sewed a fabric cover for the headband.  I did use a glue gun to temporarily hold each ear to the fabric-covered headband, but then I hand-sewed each ear to the headband to make it really secure.

The only new material purchased was the plastic headband. But the rest of the materials were upcycled or from my stash:
- polyfill (upcycled from an old pillow)
- yellow fabric (upcycled from my son's onesie)
- blue fabric (upcycled from my son's toddler pajama shorts)
- white fabric (scraps from an upcycled undershirt from another project)
- sew-in interfacing (scraps from an upcycled oxford shirt from another project)
- foam sheet (from my stash)
- red ribbon (originally was part of retail packaging for a throw blanket)

I'm quite pleased with the way that headband came out. I ended up giving it to my Mom as a gift for an upcoming Disney trip. Besides the fact that it's made from my son's baby/toddler clothes & handmade by me makes it all the more sentimental & meaningful for her.