Making your own homemade costumes is fun and creative. I love to be able to use my imagination and create anything I want. If you have an idea for a costume, you can make it yourself.
I have worked in the costume industry for many years, so I have had the privaledge of seeing many beautiful theatre quality costumes. Watching a master costume designer at work gave me great inspiration and I want to share it with you.
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Costumes give you freedom to break free of the usual fashion constraints and let your imagination fly.
The only thing holding you back from having a great costume is lack of vision, so go onto the internet, or look in magazines. If you have a Pinterest account, start filling it with pictures that inspire you. Gather your ideas and get started.
I hope to inspire you and show you ways to make a costume you will be proud to wear using sewing patterns and your imagination.
Click any of the links to see more about these costumes.
When my daughter's were younger, they were involved in dance, musical theatre and singing. During this time, I had many opportunities to sew costumes for them. Eventually I was volunteering at their musical theatre school and these were just two of the costumes I made during that time. These two dresses were made for the musical "Oklahoma".
Steampunk Clothing is a popular choice for wedding themes, as well as costume party dress up. I have mentioned before that I work in a costume shop. Requests for Steampunk fashion is rising and this is my latest creation. For a closer look click the photo to the left. |
There are a variety of costume sewing patterns available. If you can't find the exact pattern for the costume you want or need, I will show how to be creative and make costumes using more than one pattern.
Even if you are not a sewer or are a novice sewer, there are easy ways to make great costumes using sewing patterns.
Start by looking at the pattern companies costume pages for costume ideas and patterns that you would like to make. Simplicity.com has the largest variety of costume patterns for all ages.
Burda carries a smaller selection of costume sewing patterns, but it is worth looking at their selection.
My Modern Met is a wonderful resource for costume ideas and free costume patterns. This is just one website to look at there are many others.
Historical Sewing.com in another great historical pattern resource.
McCalls and Butterick and KwikSew have a good variety of period costumes. These pattern companies offer accessory patterns for example crowns, jewelry, hats etc.
When you purchase a costume sewing pattern, the instructions will tell you what fabric is suitable. However, fabric can be expensive, so take the time to look for fabric on sale or clearance.
It can be quite expensive to make a homemade costume, especially if you purchase supplies at full price. Keep in mind it is a costume. There are many places to find fabric for less. If you can find a deal on your fabrics, you may want to spend a little more on the trims.
Your local thrift store is a great way to support your community and find fabric that is much less of a cost than a retail store. The selection will be random, but if you have a good idea for what you're needing and looking for, it's a great place to start.
Historical costumes are a lot of fun for any reason. Dressing up like your favorite historical person gives another dimension to dressing up and creating your own version of fashion from the past is interesting and rewarding.
Have a costume that is complete with accessories makes your outfit that much more eye popping. With a little patience, you can create your own historical jewellery and hats, as well as a purse also known as a "reticule". You've likely seen one of these in a movie or book. It's that little bag with a drawstring closure.
Leave homemade costumes to Go to sewing patterns for more info on how to read patterns.