The Artist's Eyes by Jenn Lee

Here we are less than a week away from Halloween. Many of you have already bought your children their costumes and probably did a little complaining about how expensive they were. I can’t believe how pricey they have become over the years. With two grade school age children myself, I always try to find unique ways to create the kids costumes without spending hardly any money.

My youngest is almost ten years old and she is my most difficult child when it comes to costumes. She changes her mind over and over till the last minute. She had finally decided she wanted to be a genie so I started looking at the costumes available. At ten years old I was not too happy with the prices for genie costumes that really lacked much material. This led me to go through my craft fabrics.

When I say craft fabrics I mean my box of interesting clothing that our family has grown out of, stained beyond repair, broken zippers, straps or tears. I also save sheets, curtains and sheers that are no longer being used. You never know when you might find another use for these fabrics and when you are on a budget, it sure comes in handy.

I even make trips to the local Goodwill stores and gather interesting materials for costume projects. Buying a formal gown or dress with a unique pattern costs between $3 to $5…it’s worth the price considering the cost to buy fabric at a fabric store.

So how am I creating a genie costume out of my treasure trove of materials? I will tell you in several quick and easy no sew or very little sewing steps:

• An old bathing suit that belonged to my older daughter when she was around the same size as my youngest (Out of style or not the tastes of my youngest to wear).

• Leftover curtain sheers in burgundy and gold that just don’t go with my decor any more.

• String, yarn, shoe strings, ribbon (whatever you have available).

• Leftover beads from crafting projects with the girls.

• Hot glue gun, needle with thread.

Take your sheer material and measure out the length needed for the leg covering for your genie and cut to length. If you lay the sheer out flat you should be able to cut it in four equal pieces. With these pieces cut, you then take two panels and hot glue them to the front of the bathing suit (for the no sew version), or you can use a simple loop stitch to attach them to the front of the bathing suit. With either method you will be creating a gathered effect where the material attaches to the suit.

Once you attach the front two pieces, you can move onto attaching the back two pieces the same way. After this is complete, move onto the bottom of your genie legs. You can take your string/ribbon, making sure to measure the circumference of your child’s ankle  and attach it to the bottom of the front and back leg pieces in a gathered effect. When completed, you should be able to tie the bottom of the leg to create that ballooned effect.

After the legs are completed, you can move onto the arms. I took another sheer and cut based on the length of my daughters arms and attached them to the straps of the bathing suit in the same way that I did the legs using the no sew or loop stitch method. At the wrists I used ribbon/string to once again create that balloon effect to the arms. Since I had two different colors of sheers that I don’t use, I layered the sheers to create a little more interest.

Now once you have completed the arms and legs of your genie, you can add the bling to your genie, because you know genies always have bling…he-he. If you have beads leftover from some craft projects they can be strung and attached to the costume. If you don’t have beads, your local craft stores always have a great collection of beads you can purchase for low cost.

I know this only covers making a genie costume, which leaves me to make a no sew/loop stitch costume for my son (he wants to be a ninja), but the same basic ideas will work for most costumes…search your fabrics at home  or the local Goodwill, grab that glue gun or needle and thread…and get creative! Homemade costumes are unique and easy projects for everyone…in this artists eyes.