Hello Sewing friends! I'm showing off my son's finished costume today. Introducing Tom, the hero from Beast Quest.
Tom - the Hero from Beast Quest
My son has been really into this great easy chapter book series called Beast Quest. My husband has read this series aloud to all my kids and it has been everyone's favorite.
The Beast Quest series is about a boy who goes on adventures fighting beasts and breaking magic spells. This is just the kind of drama that little boys love. My son's name is also Tom so being "Tom" for Halloween was extra exciting for him. He also dressed up for book character day at school.
How I made Tom's Beast Quest Hero Costume
The costume came together pretty easily. Tom helped me pick out the perfect knit fabric colors.
For the Pants...
I sewed up some pants using a pair of pajamas as a pattern. I traced the pants while they were inside out and then added a couple of inches at the top for the elastic casing and an inch at the bottom for the hemming. It worked out great! You can also just download a Pajama Pattern to use if you don't want to have to think about it too hard.
For the shirt...
I traced a shirt that fits him and extended the length to make it more like a tunic. I created a facing for the neckline and added a simple collar. This fabric was polyester so it didn't fray which meant I could hem it very easily by folding over the raw edge only once.
For the Laced Shoulders...
The pictures we found of Tom in the Beast Quest book show lacing on the shoulders. Here's how I recreated that look. I sewed the sleeves on under the armpits and folded the raw edges over to make a quick hem instead of sewing it the rest of the way. Since knit doesn't fray I just made a tiny hole in the fabric with some sharp scissors to thread the laces through. For the laces I just found that the selvage edge of the brown fabric we bought had a little rolled edge so I just cut that off and used it. It was perfect!
For the Collar and Neckline...
The collar and neck opening was kind of tricky. I cut a facing to hem the front slit and top stitched all the way around to hold it in place. I improvised a collar based on the size of the neck opening and attached that next. It turned out a little big in the neck but it's a costume so imperfection is welcome and expected. Costumes are a fun time to experiment, learn new skills, and get creative. I had fun with this one.
For the Sword and Shield...
We grabbed an old NERF sword and shield from our accumulated personal armory and added a sheet of craft foam to the front of the shield it using a hot glue gun.
I cut out all of the front symbols from felt and glued those on as well. The symbols are all parts of the beasts that Tom collects on his adventures.
The Beast Quest costume held together well for trick or treating so overall I'd say it was a success!!
Now what about you? did you make costumes this year? Do you LIKE making costumes? I love it and will be so sad when I don't have to make them anymore. Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween weekend!
Happy Sewing!
