Lana's Puppy Costume: A-not-at-all-sophisticated How To.

A few people have asked me questions about Lana's Halloween costume, so I thought I'd sum up my embarrassing process: (click on photos for a larger view)

Sweet Puppy Girl!

 

I just made a few alterations to an inexpensive Simplicity pattern.  

Here's the pattern:

 

You might be thinking, Hey, that's a cute lamb and a cute monkey, but where is the puppy? Well see, this pattern was on sale for 99 cents. The pattern for just a puppy costume was $8.99. You can bet my frugal sensibilities made it impossible for me to pay $8 more for the "real" thing. I figured with a few alterations, I could easily make the cheap pattern work.

I chose the softest, fluffiest puppy fur I could find. I think it was a poly-blend and it proved to be quite difficult to work with. (Seriously, I've sewn with satin, brocade, crepe, rayon, etc...and brown puppy fluff is by-far the trickiest.) Because the fabric liked to move and slip, thin rolled hems like those needed at the neck hole were dang-near impossible to achieve. After being frustrated for way too long, I just gave up on the hem and decided to use brown knit ribbing around the neck hole instead.

 

It made all the difference in the world and ended up cleaner, neater, and more comfortable than the hem would have been.

 

The pattern called for a simple velcro closure for the hat piece, but I chose to add a snap as well. I think it closed more securely and held up to a three-year old's constant movement and activity.

 

(Oh, you can just go ahead and ignore the ugly, ugly stitching on the velcro. Apparently I was sewing in the dark with one hand tied behind my back. And tired. Or drunk. Definitely probably one of those.)

I also used the knit ribbing on the head piece. It was definitely easier to attach the pink collar to the ribbing than it would have been to attach it to the brown poly fluff.

I used the pattern for the sheep "ears" but instead of gathering them at the base to create the folded sheep ear, I just left them flat so they would be dangly puppy ears that flop around.

I followed the rest of the pattern instructions pretty closely and was pretty dang happy with how it turned out.

 

I think Lana the Puppy Girl was more than pleased. And in the end, that's really what matters most, right?