Someone Special

The Sophistique Noir theme for September (how is it possible that it is September already?!) is Someone Special.  Cliché as it is, I chose my hubby.  And with Halloween fast approaching, what better item to feature than a costume I made him a few years ago?

The husband has ridiculously curly hair.  At one point, he decided he wanted to grow it out.  For a long time, it just got bigger instead of longer.  As Halloween approached that year, I was trying to think up costumes for us.  I had already decided to be a privateer (and was leaning towards the same for him), when he came downstairs one morning with a serious case of bedhead.  The leonine nature of his coiffure lead to me announcing he was going to be a lion that year.  He just yawned and asked if there was any coffee, which I took as consent. The pattern in question here is Simplicity 2853 (which includes a gorilla, bear, and cat in addition to the lion; if you want to make a leonine, simian, ursine, or feline family, the children's version is 2855).  The costume is unisex, but is based on chest and hip measurements.  It isn't abundantly fitted, but I think a particularly hourglassy lady might have some trouble with the fit. I did not make the hood for the lion costume (since hubby had a mane already) and just made the ears.  I measured his head and cut a piece of elastic accordingly, which I covered with the same fabric as the costume.  The ears were hand-sewn onto that.  I imagine attaching the ears to barrettes or clips would also work well.  You could probably could use a plain old headband too. The suggested fabrics listed here are fur, long-haired fur, fleece, faux leather, sherpa, and suede.  I used basic polar fleece.  The party I hosted that year was entirely inside and he got hot pretty quickly.  If you're in a cooler clime than we are, this would probably work if you're going trick-or-treating or partying outside and don't want to wear a coat.  Otherwise, I would suggest a lighter fabric - while it won't look as good, it won't matter how nice the costume is if it's too hot to wear.  Flannel would probably work, but still might be too hot for some.

As for the sewing itself, I think I knocked the main body of this off in the evening and finished the gloves, spats, and ears the next night.  Though tackling heavier fabrics (especially fur, ugh) can be a challenge, I think an amateur could tackle this costume.  The really tricky part was aligning the front belly part (because it needed to be symmetrical).

I will be posting more past Halloween costumes this season, with the big reveal of this year's coming on Halloween itself.  Stick around for the pumpkiny goodness!