I have such fond memories of making my own Halloween costumes with my mom. She didn't sew, but that never got in the way of her craftyness. One year, we stretched her old pantyhose over bent wire hangers, spray-painted them silver, and made glittery butterfly wings. Another, we hot-glued the contents of our recycling bin to a stuffed black trash bag, and I was garbage!
She even got in on the fun and dressed up herself. Once, my social worker mother wore full vampire bride regalia, complete with a thrifted wedding dress and blood-soaked fangs, to drop me off. Kids asked me, "that was your MOM??" and I've never felt so cool.
Occasionally I looked on in jealousy at other kids' store-bought princesses and superheroes. But the time I spent with my mom making my costumes, and the freedom to make whatever hare-brained idea I had happen, more than made up for my FOMO.
I'm carrying on the tradition with my little guy. Two years in a row, he was an ice-dyed dragon in flame colors. I knitted his sweater with yarn I dyed and stitched up a tail and wings from a Twig and Tale pattern.
The next year, after spying some fabulous iridescent alligator print fabric at Joann, he declared he would be a mer-dragon. I attached wings and fins to a black polar fleece outfit I sewed with a pattern from Brindille and Twig.
Last year, we switched it up and made him a red lego brick. We cut and glued red Solo cups to a box and went wild with spray paint.
I loved taking him to Joann's to pick out his costume fabrics. And I loved seeing the Halloween crowd at Joann's, excitedly deciding on their costumes and chatting at the cutting table. Halloween was their biggest fabric season, and they were the best in-person source for wild fabrics. Your local quilt shop just isn't going to carry iridescent alligator print, or every color and pattern of faux fur.
Now Joann is gone. My kiddo wants to be a spotted seal this year, so we ordered the faux fur online. It's a bittersweet ending, as there isn't an easy replacement lined up for Joann. Add to that the irony of many Joann locations becoming Spirit Halloween stores selling ready-made costumes. It's like they're dancing on poor Joann's grave!
I'll keep making my son's Halloween costumes as long as he wants to wear them. It's a rare opportunity to amaze him with my sewing wizardry. I can make wings and a tail appear out of thin air! I relish any chance I get to craft with him, and Halloween is a magic combination of imagination and practical problem-solving. We just won't have that in-person shopping experience with Joanns, which is a shame.
RIP Joann, we remember you and miss you most during this spooky season.