Let me preface this post by saying that I am NOT anti-homemade Halloween costumes. In fact, I think they’re the bomb dot com and are obviously the ones that always stand out in a crowd of trick-or-treaters. But for a full-time working mom with an almost-two-year-old and another little on the way, the thought of making an awesome costume from scratch can be a bit daunting (or in this case, a bit haunting).
Growing up, Halloween was never one of my favorite holidays. Ghosts, ghouls, and goblins just weren’t my thing. Yet, each year when October rolled around, my mom would dust off her sewing machine and we’d take a trip to JoAnn’s to pick out a pattern for my costume. I think it’s important to note she was a stay-at-home mom whose grandma taught her how to sew, and there wasn’t a costume she couldn’t make. From the Statue of Liberty one year to an elephant the next (we were big Republicans in case you can’t tell), a butterfly, 50s sock hop girl and witch ensued… ALL HANDMADE.
But the truth was, I longed for a trip to the Halloween costume store – you know, the ones that set up shop in the local shopping center each year. It’s where all my friends went to get their costumes, and I always thought they were so much cooler than mine – even though there were at least five Disney princesses in all of my class parties in elementary school. But my mom never gave in to my pleas for a store-bought costume, so to the fabric store we went.
Fast forward to 2017. Last year was my first Halloween as a mom, and the pressure was on. I scoured Pinterest for a costume I could make for my son with no sewing required (let’s be honest, my only sewing experience consists of a 4-H project I completed when I was 13 that my mom practically did for me). I didn’t want to be “that mom” who took the easy way out and just bought one, even though the Carter’s baby costumes are so stinkin’ cute! I settled on a donut (who doesn’t love a little baby donut?), and the supplies seemed simple enough – felt, stuffing, colored foam sheets, velcro and a hot glue gun. Sounds easy peasy, right? Um, think again. Did I forget to mention I’m a Type A, OCD, perfectionist?
I restarted that darn donut at least three times. I spent endless hours at my craft table. I burnt my fingers with hot glue. I finished the costume with less than an hour to spare. And my son wore it for a total of probably 2 minutes… but he did look absolutely scrumptious. Lesson learned – homemade Halloween costumes may not be in the cards for my littles each year. And, that’s ok! I’d rather enjoy the festivities with my family rather than stress over making the perfect costumes year after year.
Does this mean I’ll never make my kids’ costumes? Of course not! But I’ll try not to set the expectations too high, know my limitations and recognize when a trip to the Halloween store is the only thing saving my sanity.
Happy Halloween to all of the Dayton mummies out there and your little monsters, no matter whether you’re a homemade-costume-maker or a frequent shopper at Spirit Halloween!
Love this! My precious MIL gave me a sewing machine as a wedding present. Both she and Mom are great sewers! I wanted so badly to be that Stay at Home Mom that could sew anything and everything. But after six years of tears, frustration and collecting dust…that sewing machine found a new home this year. I am just not a sewer, and the freedom of realizing that was amazing!
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