Okay, the 3rd and final costume is ready for this year’s Halloween.
In case you missed the first 2…..I made Elli a Rapunzel Costume and Connor a Flynn Rider Costume.
They both turned out so fun………I can hardly look at them without grinning/gushing/laughing. And both Connor and Elli were just as thrilled. Whew!
But my third little one, Chloe, doesn’t quite have an opinion yet. I thought she’d see Elli’s dress and want to be a “PRINCESS”! But she didn’t…….so I continued on with the plan my older two requested.
And that was to make Chloe the silly and animated little Chameleon, Pascal.
She kinda….. Ate. It. Up. This little Chloe of mine is the hammiest of all hams. And she took her role seriously! :)
And those eyes on that hat……I think they are my favorite thing about the whole costume!
Chloe’s favorite part??
That while doing her famous “shake your bum-bum” dance………her tail does its own little dance behind her. So while dancing in her Pascal costume, she now says, “shake your tail-tail, shake your tail-tail…“.
She’s a nut, this one. :)
**Sorry for the grainy look…..animated .gif images always do that. Anyone know why?
This Pascal costume is completely made of fleece……so yeah, kinda perfect for a cool Halloween night. The hands and feet are connected to the sleeves and pant legs….but are strapped in place with elastic.
The costume zips up in the back (don’t be afraid of zippers!!) and the main bodice is slightly stuffed with batting (to give the torso added roundness and some shape) and is cinched in at the bottom with a little elastic. (Oh wait….look a little familiar? Yep, the bodice is very similar to the Penguin Costume from a few years ago.)
Once your little one slips into their Pascal costume…..they’ll know what to do! :)
I was actually worried that Chloe would take her hat off….but I think she’s now old enough to think it’s fun.
In fact, she did the opposite. She kept pulling it down over her eyes, so the eyeballs would be in the right place.
…which resulted in THIS:
We laughed and LAUGHED and laughed (and I’m laughing again just looking at these pictures)…..and would ask her to do it again. And again. And again.
She would. We would laugh. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
After a while, she tried peering at us under her hat, trying to figure out why exactly, this was so funny.
Ha! Little turkey.
Oh, yes, you are so fuuuuuunny!
Now, go and find Rapunzel……she’s around here somewhere. And Flynn? He isn’t so bad, once you get to know him! :)
I’m so happy you’re enjoying dressing up little Chloe……because these years will pass too quickly, I’m sure!
Want to make your own Pascal??
Let’s get started then…
Here’s what I needed to make a Pascal costume for my 2 year old, who wears a size 2/3.
Supplies:
To begin, check out the Penguin Costume that I made a few years ago. Pascal’s main shape is made the same way……and will be referenced a lot throughout this tutorial.
And then cut out your back piece and your two front pieces, just like the Penguin.
Now, for the belly section, create a long oval that doesn’t quite reach the bottom but matches the neckline of the front piece.
Sew the oval down all the way around (including the neckline) nice and close to the outer edge of the oval….but leave an opening at the very bottom, big enough to stuff with some batting. Now, don’t overfill with batting or stuff tightly. You just want it to puff slightly, to give Pascal’s body some shape.
Then sew the bottom shut. (Remember….this is fleece and the edges won’t fray. That’s why you don’t have to tuck the edges of the oval under.)
Now, install your zipper along the back pieces….just like the Penguin Costume.
Then, attach the front and back pieces together at the shoulders, with right sides together.
Now, this is where Pascal differs from the Penguin. I decided to add sleeves to the costume….and so I cut 2 sleeve pieces that fit the length of the arm hole opening. (Need help cutting and fitting sleeves? Reference the Wolf Costume if needed.) Just be sure that the stretch of the fleece is going left to right on the sleeve (not up and down) so that the sleeve will stretch when it’s worn.
And then attach each sleeve to the arm hole opening, with right sides together. Pin in place.
And then sew each sleeve to each arm hole.
Then place the costume together with the front side facing the back side, with right sides together. Then sew along the sides and sleeves, like shown in red below.
Turn the costume right side out and turn under the sleeves under a 1/2 inch and then stitch them in place, using a zig-zag stitch (because this will allow for more stretch).
Now, onto the tail. You don’t have to make this perfect…….and you can make yours more narrow or wider. But just keep in mind, that whatever you make will work just fine. Create a wider base and a more narrow tip. Cut two pieces that are exactly the same. Sew them together with right sides together, along the sides and around the tip. Leave the straight end open.
Turn right side out and fill with batting.
Fold under the end a 1/2 inch and sew to the back of the costume……below the zipper. (Play around with the placement and pin the tail in place at first and try on your subject to see if you like where it’s hanging…..and then sew in place.)
Then roll the tail up almost all the way up to the top.
And then use a needle and thread and stitch the rolled tail in place, randomly around the rolled tail.
For the feet…….let’s start with the arms first. Pascal has 3 digits on each foot. So start by making a paper pattern first that is the same width at the base of the foot shape…….as the opening of the sleeve. Then use the pattern to cut out 2 pieces of fleece for each foot…..but add an extra 1/4 inch around all the edges for a seam allowance.
Sew the two pieces together (with right sides together) with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, all the way around the outer edges and curves…….leaving the straight end open.
Turn the foot right side out and poke the little toes outward. Then fill with some batting….but not too full or stiff.
Then pinch the opening of the foot closed and slide it inside the end of one of the sleeves…..leaving it out as far as you need it to cover your subject’s hand. Pin in place. (Be sure to position it on the sleeve so that the it sits on the top of the subject’s hand. It should be exactly opposite the vertical seam of the sleeve.)
Then sew the little foot in place with two rows of stitches. (The smaller the sleeve opening, the harder it will be to slide under the sewing machine and not sew your sleeve shut. It is possible…..but if you’re having a hard time sewing it in place, consider hand stitching it in place.)
Then, add a strip of elastic to the back side of the foot…..and hand stitch it in place. This elastic will rest across the palm of your subject’s hand. So fit it across their hand, to be sure it’s snug enough, before hand stitching in place. Cut another 2 feet pieces and repeat with the other arm.
Then……create some leggings out of your green fleece, with a simple elastic waistband. (If you’ve never made leggings before……try this Simple Leggings Tutorial.)
And then create some feet that you will attach to the very end of each leg opening. I created feet for the legs that were larger than the arm ones (from up above) but attached them to the ends of the legs, in exactly the same way. (You may notice that the ends of my leggings aren’t hemmed under. That’s because I cut the legs a little too short to include a hem…..but figured, it doesn’t matter because fleece doesn’t fray. Plus, it’s just a costume…..so no need to be perfect! :) )
Now…..for the hat. I created a hat for Chloe’s head……exactly like the Penguin Costume.
For the eyeballs……I used a styrofoam ball as the base. If I would have had a 3 inch styrofoam ball (like I listed in my suppl list above), that would have been perfect. Then I would have just cut it right in half…..and would have had 2 eyeballs. However, all I had in my stash was like a 5 inch styrofoam ball. So I cut like a 1/3 off from each side and then used my knife to shave off the sides a bit and round it to be more like a smaller styrofoam ball that I just cut in half. If that sounds confusing…..just stick with a smaller ball and cut it right in half! :)
Then, cut some white fleece, slightly larger than one of your eyeballs.
Then, glue the fleece to the back side of the eyeball with hot glue.
Trim off the excess fleece.
Now, time to create those brow bones or extra skin (whatever it is) that sits behind chameleon’s skin. I cut 2 half circles for each eye, that were slightly wider than the eyeball.
Then I sewed two of the half circles together (with right sides together) around the curved edges (shown on left) and then turned it right side out (shown on right).
Then, I shaped this half circle around one of the eyeballs, so that it kind of stood up around the top edge of the eyeball………and kept the raw edges hidden along the back side of the eyeball.
Then I glued the raw edges to the back of the eyeball.
Then, I cut out a larger circle for the eye, a smaller black one for the pupil, and then a little white triangle for the “catch-light” effect.
Then I glued all three to the eyeball. Then I did the exact same thing to create a second eye.
Then, I hand stitched the eyes to the front of the hat, grabbing a little bit of the eyeball with a little bit of the hat…..and created a hidden ladder stitch. (Need help with hand stitching?) Just be sure to try the hat on your subject to achieve proper placement.
For the scale along the top of the head, I used a piece of plastic canvas for the main shape and cut a curve along the bottom edge to fit the curve of the head. Then I cut two pieces of fleece that were a 1/2 inch larger along the top curved side and about 3/4 of an inch larger along the bottom side.
Sew the two pieces together (with right sides together) along the top curve, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
Turn right side out and place the canvas up inside.
Place a small amount of batting on both side of the canvas….but don’t shove too full. You only need a small amount to slightly puff out the shape.
Then, tuck under the raw edges and hand stitch to the hat, starting at the crown of the head…..going on down the back. (Again, trying it on your subject and testing it out in different spots is helpful.) (Need help with hand stitching?)
And whew…..that’s it!!!!
A sweet little Pascal costume for your little (or big) one! :)
Enjoy!
-Ashley
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Featured Sponsor
Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!
