For someone who loves any excuse to DIY, and especially one that involves sewing, I've been surprisingly unmotivated about homemade Halloween costumes in the past, content to hand my girl a headband with ears and let her be a cat for the third year in a row.
But this year she said she wanted to be an octopus, and I found a pattern that looked doable, a free download from Martha Stewart, so I decided to give it a whirl.
I'm so glad I did.
The pattern is a basic cape, with the bottom shaped into eight arms. Using a polka-dot printed cotton for the inside of the cape gives the effect of suckers on the underside of the octopus's tentacles.
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You stuff the arms and in between the layers of the hood with fiberfill, turning the project into a delightful hybrid of clothing and softie.
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I'd been prepared to hate the pattern. I think Martha Stewart's material is often aesthetically pleasing but impractical, and unnecessarily complicated. (I've been burned by a couple of her recipes before.) At first it seemed this project was heading in the same direction when I downloaded the pattern and discovered a single sheet of 8.5x11 paper with instructions to enlarge by 400%. A free pattern that requires a $10 trip to Kinko's is...not so free anymore, is it?
But things improved from there. The further I got into the project the more fun it was to sew. I was grinning when I finished and floated on the high all evening.
Best of all, my girl wore it happily (sadly never a given with hand-mades). It still seems a shame to do all that work for an item that only gets worn for a half-hour or so (we are not big trick-or-treaters; when the girl announces "I think I have enough candy" we don't argue). So I'm thinking a trip to the aquarium, in costume, is in order sometime soon.
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Man, I really need to work on my photo-shoot skills. |
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Ah well, the octopus is known to be a shy and moody creature. |
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As well as being highly intelligent. |
The sources:
- Pattern by Martha Stewart Crafts.
- Red ultrasuede/moleskin (sorry, I can't remember exactly what it was) and polka-dot quilting cotton (DS quilts line) both from Joann's. (I was so tickled when my girl chose the fabric designed by Denyse Schmidt--it was totally her independent choice, I swear! She just has good taste.)
The pros:
- As a science geek, I really appreciate the accuracy of the design--the shape of the head really is octopus-like.
- It's also quite practical--a simple, one-piece costume that is easy to put on and easy to wear; it doesn't restrict a child's movement.
- The use of bias tape to enclose the seam between the cape and the hood is a really nice feature--it makes for a clean finish and the bias tape extends into the ties that keep the cape on. I'm guessing this isn't a groundbreaking technique in cape construction but I appreciate those little details.
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The cons:
- The aforementioned trip to the copy shop. Come on Martha, practically every idiot with a Blogger account knows how to make a tiled PDF these days. (Well, you know, except for this idiot. But Martha has no excuse, she has staff!)
- There is an error on the pattern sheet. The back pattern piece says to place on the fold and cut 2 of each fabric. In fact, you should only do this if you want an octopus with 12 arms. (Cut 1 on fold, is what it should say.)
- I don't think this is really a pattern for beginners. The instructions only have words, no diagrams, and there is a bit of spatial reasoning involved in putting the cape together. But that's not a con so much as a caution.
- The hood did not stay on my girl's head when she was wearing the costume. I know, that's a pretty major drawback, isn't it? But it may have been partly my fault, because I used a slippery ultrasuede/moleskin type fabric for the hood, rather than the quilting cotton called for. I would recommend using quilting cotton, which would be a bit grippier on the hair, at least for the lining of the hood. It's also possible that the hood should have been stuffed more firmly, and/or that it just didn't fit my girl's smallish noggin very well (when I wore the cape--come on, it's totally normal to try on your kid's Halloween costume--it stayed up much better).
- My girl requested button eyes instead of the two-layered fabric applique that the pattern calls for. I think that actually makes for a more true-to-life appearance. At first I placed them pretty far back on the head, then I moved them up to try to make the hood a little less back heavy (it didn't fix the hood-falling-off problem, but in any case, that's why you can see eyes in two different places in the pictures).
- As mentioned, I used an ultrasuede/moleskin fabric for the outside of the cape and both layers of the hood. Again, score a point for scientific accuracy in capturing the octopus's velvety skin--but this probably wasn't the best choice for the hood lining.
- The instructions say to baste one layer of the bias tape together with the hood and cape portion to join the costume together. What I did was to baste the edges of the hood together, then baste the edges of the hood together, then the hood and cape to each other, and then--only then--baste the bias tape to the garment. As you know, I hate feeling like I'm fudging when I'm sewing, and this enabled a nice, smooth, accurate sewing experience. Ahhhh..... I think my new rule is to only join two layers of fabric together at a time. The extra work seems totally worth it to me.
The costume is so awesome thanks for sharing and reviewing. I wonder if I can size it up for an adult costume?
ReplyDeleteYes, you can! the pattern sheet says to enlarge by 460% for an adult costume (and extend the arms if you like). Additionally, I am 5'3" and the child-size costume was passable on me--no, I wasn't engulfed by octopus, but I could wear it without embarrassment. :-)
ReplyDeleteThis looks Adorable. The Octopus costume pattern on the Martha Stewart website is different as of 10/2018. BUT, video of the original project and the PDF for the "Spider" version was still up there. The applique's are for the Spider theme, but I think I can figure out an octopus eye. Thank you for the review.
ReplyDeleteHi there. I would like the pattern for this for our kindergarten concert. Please can someone share it with me I cant find it anywhere.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much
years later... thanks for the review - these are the colors we're going with. You can still get the octopus pattern at: http://www.marthastewart.com/sites/files/marthastewart.com/ecl/images/content/web/pdfs/2009Q4/1026_102809_octopus.pdf
ReplyDeletehello, the pattern is lost somehow- any chance you may saved it and can share with me?
ReplyDeleteDid you ever get a copy of the pattern? I’d love to get a copy also…
Deletesearch for Martha steward octopus pattern PDF, it should come up
DeleteYes, I searched for the pdf file that another poster directed us to. If you paste below URL in your browser you will get the pattern.
Deletehttps://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://assets.marthastewart.com/d11/1026_102809/1026_102809_octopus.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjQlMmrg8fzAhUbgtgFHU3PD34QFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3t972q_uNqUR8oow_H2JHM
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DeleteI'm giving this a try so I can by my students' octopus teacher. I originally bought some purplish satin fabric for the exterior and a bumpy minky gray for the interior, but I just found some purplish-bluish batik cotton from Joann's, so I'm switching the exterior. Thanks for pointing out the error in the pattern. I wanted to make two of the legs sleeves for my arms, but if I run out of time, I might just keep it as is.
ReplyDelete