Welcome everyone coming here from Project Run + Play!  I’m in disbelief that I’m still around for the third week…and completely honored to still be in the running.  Thank you so much for all of your support!  This week’s theme is Halloween (which is basically my favorite holiday EVER).  Are you ready to see what I made?

BUT FIRST!  Are you stopping here before heading to the PR+P site?  Before you read any more, head HERE to place your vote for your favorite Halloween costume!  Go go go!!

I love to make Halloween costumes for Louis.  It’s super fun.  You can be as weird or ridiculous or out there as possible and there’s no such thing as theme-ing it too much.  It’s also my favorite holiday because of the kitchy-beyond-means ways about it.  However…I had the hardest time of PR+P with this week.  We even had to reshoot these pictures because I waited too long and it was starting to get dark and my flash and I weren’t being friends.  It was like a mini curse on my sewing extravaganza.

The only thing I can think of is that this is super early for costume making and I like to put it off for a while longer.  Last minute costume sewing is the only form of costume sewing, am I right?

HOWEVER.  The second shoot of this costume resulted in Louis killing it with photos.  And my excitement was immediately dialed back up to eleven.

We went with Louis to a Halloween party last year and there was a little girl with a vampire costume on that he played with a bunch.  From then on…Louis has wanted to be a vampire for his next Halloween.  Some people have children who change their minds twenty times the week before Halloween.  And then there is Louis, who decides a year in advance and won’t budge an inch.  A classic vampire is super fun.  But I was worried about how to translate it into a sewing competition.

We decided to go red/black/white for a classic movie-vampire look.  So starting with the pants, I made him some Pirate Playground Pants in a black ponte.  Super quick and easy and they have more than enough room to layer underneath (in case it’s cold on our trick-or-treating night).

My second piece included taking the Lumberjack shirt and making a basic white dress-shirt, kicked up a tiny notch by giving him some Victorian-inspired sleeves.  Louis is a kiddo who rolls every single long sleeve he owns up.  So I thought making his sleeves a little shorter would be better for him, and the bell-sleeves wouldn’t drive him nutso while wearing them.  Plus, I plan on chopping the sleeves down when Halloween is over and adding this button-down to his closet for that always-needed-never-seem-to-have-it staple shirt.

The last two pieces of sewing were both self-drafted.  I created a vest with some fun, dramatic points and curves on the hem.  And then I cut a ton of bats in varying sizes out of a black knit and fused them onto the vest, in a cascading manner.  In hindsight, I should have just saved myself some time and cut/ironed them on with some heat transfer vinyl.  But I wanted to keep it all fabric…and apparently torture myself a little bit.

The cape was also self-drafted.  And easy once I started making it.  Believe it or not, I’m not out and about making capes all day.  So I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to tackle it.  In the end, it was a quick design and, with the help of some stable fusible foam in my purse making stash of goodies, I had a stand-up collar.

I went back and forth about needing to make an ascot for Louis or not.  In the end, I decided to have the ties on Lou’s cape be extra wide and long.  That way, we could have the look I was going for with an ascot, but not have to make one.  I think it worked out well!

Dracu-Lou was loving being in character for these photos.  He’s been really fun to do these shoots with and has been making up a lot of his own poses.  It’s quite refreshing to not have to bribe him to cooperate any more!

Want some info on the outfit?  No problem!

Patterns: Pirate Playground Pants by Patterns for Pirates | Lumberjack Shirt by Patterns for Pirates | Cape (self drafted) | Vest (self drafted)
Fabric: all found at my local JoAnn Fabrics

**As always, you’ll find some affiliate links scattered within my post, which means I receive a small amount of compensation if you end up purchasing something I’ve recommended.  Thanks for helping to feed my sewing habits!