The Sora Costume!

It's all Noelle's fault. The story goes like this. I read Noelle's entry about finishing Brody's Where the Wild Things Are 'Max' costume, and I told Eli about it. The costume is amazing and I can't wait to see Drew's! Kudos Noelle! The boys and I got on topic of what to be for Halloween. I decided Jacob was going to be Yoda since about a year and a half ago, but last year I couldn't find him a costume. I got one for cheap this year. Seth wanted to be Indiana Jones which was perfect because he had purchased a whip already, his church bag is a Indiana Jones replica bag, and we already owned a hat from when Eli was 3. I looked around his closet and found pants, shirt, belt, and shoes that would work. I was getting so excited that I had two down and one to go with only spending $15. Eli's first and only idea is a video game character from Kingdom Hearts named Sora. We start looking for costumes and the cheapest Sora costume is 80 bucks! I was in shock, but the craziest part is I actually thought about budgeting for it. That idea ended after I thought it through clearly. The hard part is Sora is such a special interest character that the only costumes are hand made and usually for Cosplay. I know, I know, look it up, ultimate nerdy goodness. (Actually, a friend, Chris Byers, brought it up that my boys are all going trick or treating as cosplayers. Soo funny!)
So Eli says, " Mom, you could just make it. Brody and Drew are getting their costumes made for them by Auntie Noelle. Please."

Me being a stay at home mom with no current hobbies in process said, "I could try. Eli, mommy doesn't sew and doesn't have a pattern, so if it turns out bad we need a backup plan. How about Wolverine?"

"Okay. I like Wolverine. You already know how to do his makeup and hair. Right mommy?"

"Yup, and we have jeans, a t-shirt, and retractable wolverine claws."

"Ya."

So I started getting paranoid immediately. I started looking around the house and found a blue shirt, (hand me down) over sized black cargo pants, blue spiderman 3T pajama bottoms, his snow boots, and a 3T black hoodie. I was inspired for a moment and actually thought I could pull this off. I borrowed my mom's sewing machine, picked up a few accessories, bought some fabric, bought a hot glue gun, and got to work. I drew out a picture and colored it for a guide. I started with the easier things first. The gloves and the boots. I used hot glue for those two parts and they were finished in a couple hours. The shirt was next and that was very easy and it turned out well too. My last items were jacket, necklace, and pants. I did the jacket next. I cut it off and added white trim around all the edges, then started to add the lining to the hood. That was hard, but it worked out. I added shoulder pads on the exterior of the hoodie and hot glued the shimmery grey shoulder pieces. I finished it up fairly easily minus the work on the hood and shoulders. One motivator was every time I finished a new piece, Eli and Seth would give me so much praise and encouragement. They would say its perfect and it looked just right. I took a long time to get the necklace and pants done because I just stopped working on it for a while. I used my dad's dremel for the necklace crown. I drew it out, cut it out, sanded it, and panted it. The chain was a purse handle that I added more links to so it would be the right length. The necklace only took me 3 hours, but over an hour of it was figuring out how to use a dremel! It was fun to learn something new. I like doing that on my own because it feels like an accomplishment. I avoided the pants after attempting to add the white trim between the blue and black between the legs front and back. I called in help from a friend from church. Sis. Greene happily fit me in for 40 open minutes of her day about a week ago. She taught me how to add the trim, but ended up doing that part for me. That was a huge help! Thank you! All the touch up and elastic around the knees was done today. It took me about five hours total for the rest today. I have never been so relieved in all my life. Eli was excited. I decided I don't enjoy sewing, but I do enjoy creating. The necklace emblem was a blast for me. I like power tools! The final aspects of Eli's costume are hair and makeup. We tried the hair yesterday, but I think it'll look better tomorrow and Halloween night. All he needs for makeup is intense eyebrows. I will post a couple more pictures from Halloween weekend to show off the finished product with hair and makeup. I am just glad it's done!