Halloween: Welcome to the Dark Side

Brothers in Common: a Halloween story

two brothers joining the dark side for Halloween

Hand sewn Darth Vader Costume 

 During halloween I can get pretty busy, but it was such a treat to work with this client who hired me to make her two sons costumes. The oldest of the two requested a Darth Vader costume, and he wanted his little fifteen month old brother to be a storm trooper. How cute is that!? The best part about this project was working with new materials and challenging myself to create something similar to the actual Star Wars character while still being comfortable and play worthy.

I had a lot of fun learning about new materials and interfacings that added to the sculptural element of some of the pieces of armor. Using vinyl was a new challenge and allowed my ingenuity to surface when the fabric wouldn't quite slide through my machine. It was especially fun to work with measurements and custom tailoring, my client was gracious and allowed me two sessions for measurement and sizing. 

It is hard to say which costume I enjoyed making more, Darth Vader or this cute little storm trooper. I used a toddler PJ pattern to make the base layer. I used snuggly flannel and a stretch knit to make this costume warm and comfy. Felt paired with thick interfacing made the armor come together nicely. The outer details had a slightly rigid quality that hinted at armor while still remaining practical for play and comfort.

Flannel base layer with felt accents 

Because the littlest of the two boys wasn't big into having a mask on his face I fashioned this felt storm trooper helmet out of felt and made a small stretchy beanie to sew it to. 

Felt mask sewn to a stretchy beanie hat

All in all I was super pleased with how these came out, if I did it again I would sacrifice the warmth of the flannel in the Darth Vader costume for a stretchy knit fabric after hearing back from my client.