This is the first year in a while that I've had the time to make Halloween costumes. In fact, my son has never had a homemade costume (it's possible he is the reason I haven't had time). My mom made costumes for my sisters and I, including my many-years-worn witch costume, and the most epic Rainbow Bright costume that made its way through three kids over many years before it was lost to time. (Mom! Do you have a picture of it?) You can see a glimpse of the Rainbow Bright costume in the background of my witch costume (Yep, that's me. Wasn't I cute?)

In Oregon Halloween means being prepared for everything from freezing temperatures, to pouring rain, to a warm evening. If this year lives up to its promise, It will likely be raining. Costumes that can be worn with rain boots are a plus, an incorporated rain jacket? Even better.

I'm feeling pretty lucky that neither kid wanted anything shiny, sparkly, slippery, or otherwise annoying to work with in order to make a costume that will be worn just a few times. My 6-year old wants to be Mal from Lumberjanes. That means jeans, sneakers, a red plaid flannel shirt, a cropped utility vest complete with Lumberjanes merit badges, and a head shaved on one side. My 3-year old wants to be an ice cream truck driver; cardboard ice cream truck, white button up shirt with bowtie, and paper soda jerk hat.

One of the perks of the kids' choices this year is that everything I spend time making is going to be wearable outside of Halloween. I spent about 20 minutes making the most adorable tiny bowtie ever out of some Liberty of London scraps I had laying around. We have a wedding coming up next year and I'll be making another one to match the Bride's colors. It is. So. Cute. On. The lining of the vest for my 6-year old is also going to be squeezed onto a Liberty scrap I had been saving. This is why I save scraps of my best fabrics even when they are too small for adult use.

I'm not drafting patterns for this, why re-invent the wheel when the garments are meant for kids and don't need an exact fit? Instead I am using patterns from one of my favorite independent pattern makers Shwin Designs. I'm using the Johnny B Good shirt for my ice cream truck driver, and the BBC Vest for my Lumberjane. The bowtie pattern is from Tie-A-Tie. I also picked up some official Lumberjane merit badges from a great local bookstore Books With Pictures. PS. None of these links are affiliate, I just genuinely like these things and wanted to credit my sources here.

Only three weeks 'til Halloween!