Delete! Delete! Delete!

Halloween is finally over. And I got the costumes made. More or less. I probably made Ali's one size too small, so she won't be able to wear it much longer. And we couldn't brave the SW-PA Halloween temps without covering up the costume, instead of wearing an extra layer underneath. The hardest part of her costume was finding a stuffed animal suitable to be Toto.

Now EJ's costume?  A completely different story.  I think this is the hardest costume I have ever constructed.  It took several near-sleepless nights, an almost all-nighter, and it still wasn't as finished as I wanted it to be by today (let alone the school parade last Thursday).  I never did get the belt made.  And the mask could have been bigger.  And the boot covers were a little too small for his huge feet, so they didn't stay on correctly, and he kind of trampled them.  All in all, it turned out pretty well.  Too bad nobody around here knows what Cybermen are, but they still appreciated the costume.

I realized after I started making it that maybe I should have taken pictures along the way of the construction, but I didn't.  I used a pattern for a man's super hero costume (in XS) for the basic top/pants, which I made out of crushed panne.  I altered other pieces from the same pattern for the metal "plating" parts, and they're made from two layers of baroque satin, with a layer of fleece in between.  I used my machine quilting skills to make all the details, including the Cyber-C.  For the hood, I used a boy's super hero costume, and took the idea for the mask from that.  But the mask is based on a print-out of an actual Cyber-head, and was made from two layers of the satin with two layers of sew-in interfacing between, and has a piece of elastic to hold it on under the hood.  Then I took some sparkly silver "chenille stems" (because we can't say "pipe cleaners" anymore), doubled them up, and stitched them to the shoulder and thigh pieces, as well as the hood and the back of the mask.  I used the one on the mask to attach it to the hood piece after it was put on, and to sort of keep things in place.  I couldn't find any silver ski gloves (go figure!), so we just used stretchy gray gloves.  Never did get the joy buzzer, either.
 
Here's EJ trying to "delete" his sister before heading out for Trick-or-Treating.  And her playing her part with a "terrified" look on her face.
 

So, do I earn my "Geek Badge" for this one?

I have asked EJ to PLEASE pick something next year that has a pattern readily available and that I don't have to alter significantly.  Or else he needs to decide in July want he wants to be, and I have to not wait until two weeks before Halloween to start working on it.  And he can't change his mind once I do start working on it.  The same goes for Ali.  (Yeah, right.  Who am I kidding?  I'll make whatever they ask for...)