I Made a Devil Costume (by Cranston Print Works) for Halloween!
So, I hear Halloween is around the corner? Well, this year is my first time "doing" Halloween in the US and I wanted to be in on the festivity. For this spooky season, I made a devil costume (for kids) printed by Cranston Print Works for myself!
To be completely honest, I don't feel the excitement about Halloween like everyone else on my Instagram feed. Growing up, I never celebrated Halloween. Even wearing anything with skulls or remotely "demonic" was frowned upon. It's probably the reason why it was hard for me to be super punk rock as a teen. We'll leave that story for another time. So yes, I had to put quotation marks around the action word for the phrase '"doing" Halloween' because I have no idea what it means.
That said, I can also relate the joy of Halloween - dressing up and eating pumpkin-flavoured Joe Joes, with my own delight with Mid-Autumn Festival. The latter involves strolling the streets with lantern (as a kid), moon-gazing and eating mooncakes. For me, the spooky season is also a chance to sew something out of the box!
While I want to make something "spooky", I also want to limit the amount of waste involved in creating something new. A recent survey by Fairyland Trust found that Halloween clothing and costumes generate about 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste in the UK (2019). Obviously, the most green thing I can do is to use whatever I have in my wardrobe as a costume. But I decided that a compromise would be getting something "old" and secondhand.
And so, instead of buying brand new materials from the fabric store, I decided to buy an old fabric panel by Cranston Print Works via eBay.
A short history on Cranston Print Works
Cranston Print Works is a textile printing company that was founded in 1807 by a governor in Rhode Island, USA (Cranston Print Works, n.d.). The Cranston textile printing factory was permanently closed at the end of May 2009. Does this mean that any fabrics you find with the "Cranston Print Works" stamp is from May 2009 and earlier? Honestly, I am not 100% sure but I am guessing it is.
More costumes by Cranston Print Works
While searching for a Halloween costume fabric panel, I came across several other adorable designs by Cranston as well. All but one of these designed are made for kids.
Candyman costume (for kids)
Pumpkin costume and mask (for kids)
Tiger costume (for kids)
Big pumpkin costume
Bear pumpkin costume (for a teddy!!!)
Vampire cape
The computer kid
The Little Devil Costume by Cranston Print Works
My devil costume for kids is made using a Cranston Print Works fabric panel printed in 2004. It is named "Little Devil Costume - Cape and Hood" and appears to be designed for a child between the ages of 5 - 8 years old. I am guessing this based on the length of the printed cape and the illustration provided on the fabric panel.
Modifying my devil costume (for kids)
Before cutting the fabric panel, I knew that the cape would not go over my hips like it does on the illustration. However, I knew I could wear it like around my shoulders like a capelet and make it a vintage 1950's style. So, I didn't have a problem with having a shorter cape costume.
Additionally, since the human skull approximates adult size around the ages of 6 or 7, I was fairly confident that I would be able to make the hood fit my head. That said, from my experience of sewing hats, I also know that my head circumference is average or slightly below average range.
Watch my process of sewing the devil costume
Sewing the hood
Hood circumference
Ok, as it turned out, I did have to make modifications to the hood. The original hood was a little tight around my head. I ended up cutting a little strip of black fabric from the collar piece and added it between the centre-back seam of the hood. This little strip of fabric just added about 0.5cm of width around the back, but it was enough to make a difference.
Hood length
After fitting the hood around my head, I also felt that the hood was a little short. It sat above the nape of my neck and I wanted a look that wrapped around my neck more. So, I ended up cutting using the rest of one of the collar pieces to add length to the bottom of the hood.
Hood closure
Since I planned on using bias tape to make ties for the cape closure, I didn't want another tie on my hood. I felt that having 2 ties on a costume (i.e. one under my chin and one in front of my chest) would be too visually messy. So, I decided to use a piece of foldover elastic and some snap closures to make an elastic chin strap for holding the hood on my head.
Devil's horn
I made no modifications to sewing the devil's horns. In fact, they are my favourite part of making the costume! They are filled with polyester filling saved from chewed up dog bed and sewn to the hood by hand.
Sewing the cape
Originally, the cape is designed to be sewn with a collar piece. But since I had used the collar pieces to modify the width and length of the hood, I made my cape without a collar. I briefly thought about cutting some black fabric in my stash to make a collar, but decided to save my black fabric for more important projects instead.
To make my cape a little fancier, I added some pom pom trimming along the bottom curved hem. This black pom pom trimming travelled with me from Singapore all the way to Texas!
Styling my devil costume by Cranston Print Works
And here's how I would wear my devil costume (for kids)!
For trick-or-treating
For hosting a Halloween party
But these are just photos, I'm not actually doing either
I'll probably just stay home, watch a spooky movie, drink chai and eat pumpkin-flavoured cookies. Whatever you're doing for Halloween, stay safe and say no to excessive plastic waste!
Sources of costume fabric panels listed above:
Candyman Costume:
via eBay
Pumpkin Costume and Mask:
via 'LetsSewThis' on Etsy
Wizard Costume Hat and Cape:
via 'handmadememoriesbys' on Etsy
Tiger Costume:
via 'SpareClosetVintage' on Etsy
Big Pumpkin Costume:
via eBay
Bear Pumpkin Costume:
via 'KoopsKountryKalico' on Etsy
Vampire cape:
via eBay
The computer kid:
via eBay
Reference
Fairyland Trust (2019). Halloween Clothing & Costumes Survey 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://www.fairylandtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Halloween-Plastics-Clothing-and-Costumes-Report-2019.pdf.
