Donald Duck costume

Now that my kids are a little older, they have decided opinions about how they want to dress for Halloween, and I was afraid that my days of a cute coordinating family were over, but this year Logan and Myra want to dress as Donald and Daisy Duck!! I'm all over it.

Donald came first. This is one of those costumes that looks a lot harder than it is. It actually came together pretty easily, once I figured it out. When Logan asked to be Donald Duck, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it work. There are a couple of commercial patterns out there, but they are all full body suits, stuffed with batting and made of fur. I knew that wouldn't work for my guy. Since Logan has some sensory integration issues, the costume had to be soft and simple. I actually started with the pants.

Believe it or not, this is an actual pattern, meant to be worn as daywear. I know. When this issue of Ottobre came out (it's the 04/2011 issue), I actually laughed out loud when I got to the page these pants are on. As ridiculous as they are, they make the perfect duck pants. The upper section is basically bloomers that are gathered into the legs with clear elastic. I used a soft anti-pill fleece from Joann for the "duck butt" section and yellow interlock, also from Joann, for the legs. Soft and simple, with no scratchy fur or heavy batting.

The top is the "Art Camp" shirt from the 03/2011 of Ottobre. It is made of flannel (again, Joann.) so that it would be warm and comfortable. I lengthened the sleeves and trimmed them with yellow bias tape, as well as drafting a sailor collar which I inserted into the back neckline and the front placket. The placket closes with red ring snaps, and the bow tie is just quilting cotton with stiff interfacing, hand stitched over the lower snap on the placket.

From the back, you can see the sailor collar, which I bound around the outer edges with bias tape. I even mitered the corners y'all. They look awesome. You can also see the hat in a little more detail. I'm pretty darn proud of that hat, actually. For some reason, there just aren't many Donald Duck hats available out there. All I could find were cheesy baseball caps or headbands with fascinators and feathers. That was so not going to work. I was a little surprised that Mr. Google didn't turn up any online tutorials for making your own Donald hat. We'll be taking care of that oversight in the near future.

He's pretty thrilled with his Donald Duck costume, and so am I. Up next, Daisy. She's actually even easier, so hopefully I'll have something to show you tomorrow or the next day. Then I'll get on that tutorial. Halloween is just around the corner!!