If you follow me on Instagram, you know that last year, our family of 4 (with one on the way) dressed as the characters from Peter Pan for Halloween! Although we did not trick-or-treat, we weren't going to let the pandemic ruin my favorite holiday and an excuse to make and wear some fun costumes. Our neighborhood had an outdoor cookout where we got to show off our costumes (with masks on) and see other families' fun looks, too. So now that it's October again, it's time to show you how I created these costumes- they're so easy, you can do it, too!
All children grow up.
Except one.
And if you'd like to create his costume, check out this simple tutorial!
Supplies:
-Green felt [sketch out your pattern to determine how much you need!)
-Red craft feather
-Green tshirt
-Green leggings
-Sword
-Brown belt (not pictured, because I bought it too early and he outgrew it before Halloween!)
1. To start, you want to create a pattern for the tunic. Grab a t-shirt that fits your Pan well, tuck the sleeves in (so it looks like a tank), and fold it in half so that the shoulders are on top of each other. Lay it on a large piece of paper (a roll of wrapping paper works well, especially if you have the kind with a grid printed on the back, but you can also use kraft paper, tracing paper, printer paper even, if your Pan is a tiny one) and trace around it. You're probably going to end up with something that looks like a rectangle with an arm hole cut out of it; if you want, you don't have to really trace the neckline of your shirt, you can just leave it as a right angle. It certainly makes sewing easier, and you're just going to cut the front of the tunic open in a wide V anyway, so you don't have to worry about pretty curves. If you choose to go this route, make a mark on your tracing of where the neck opening begins on your sample t-shirt; you'll need to know this later.
2. Now you need to add seam allowance and extra length to your pattern. Because this is felt and it does not unravel, and also because Peter Pan is a wild lost boy whose clothes can probably look unfinished, I chose to NOT HEM the bottom of the tunic, the ends of the sleeves, or the neckline. If you're going the no-defined-neckline route like me, add 1/2 an inch for seam allowance to the top of your rectangle-with-an-armhole-cut-out-of-it (make sure to repeat your mark that denotes where the neckline of your sample t-shirt started). Add that same 1/2 an inch seam allowance to your armhole curve and to the side of the shirt beneath the armhole as well. Do NOT add seam allowance to the side of the shirt that was folded; you're going to cut this pattern out on the fold. To remind yourself, you can write the word FOLD in bold letters on that side. For the bottom of the tunic, you want the finished product to extend below the waistband of the pants in a zig-zag pattern, so that there are those classic points hanging down. Decide how long and how wide you want those points to be (I went with 2 1/2" for the length) and go ahead and draw them on the bottom of your pattern. You can freehand this, or you can measure it all out so that each little triangle shaped point is the same exact size. You do you.
3. Next, you need a pattern for your sleeve. This is a REALLY rough way of doing this, fyi, and only works because felt is sorta stiff and has its own structure, and again, I was going for a rough-and-unfinished look for our lost boy. What you're going to do is measure the height of the arm hole on your PATTERN (not your sample t-shirt). Place your ruler at the top point of the arm hole (which would lay on the apex of the shoulder) and measure straight down to where the bottom of the arm hole falls (which would lay under the armpit). If you imagine this curve on your pattern as a right triangle rather than a curve, you would draw the horizontal side of the triangle from the armpit point inward, and you would draw the vertical side of the triangle from the shoulder point down, and you would draw the hypotenuse from the shoulder point to the armpit point; the measurement we're interested in is the straight line down from the shoulder. Got it? Now, get some more pattern-making paper. Draw yourself a rectangle. The height of the rectangle is that measurement you just took- the height of the armhole- plus an additional 1/2" for seam allowance (you only need seam allowance where the sleeve is sewn to itself, at the bottom). The length of the rectangle is going to be whatever you want the length of the sleeve to be- measure your Pan from the point of his shoulder down to where you'd like the sleeve to hit (I went with an oversized short sleeve)- plus an additional 1/2" for seam allowance (you only need seam allowance where the sleeve attaches to the bodice, since you don't have to hem felt). Finally, you're going to add some points to the sleeve just like you did for the bottom of the tunic. Depending on how you measured your sleeve, you can either draw zig-zags to add additional length to your rectangle, or cut a triangle shape out of your existing rectangle so that the sleeve length you decided on represents the tip of the points. Just to remind yourself, go ahead and write the word FOLD at the top of your rectangle (perpendicular to where you put your zig-zags), because you're going to cut it out on the fold.
4. You're going to cut out 2 identical bodice pieces on the fold, and 2 sleeve pieces on the fold. Use that knowledge to determine how much felt you need to buy (or be like me and drastically over-estimate because you fear you'll screw it up and have to start over several times). When you cut out your bodice pieces, you need to transfer that mark you made denoting where the neckline starts (if you're going the right angle route, like I did, and didn't draw in a neckline shape). To do this, take a piece of tailor's chalk (or a straight pin) and mark the place on the top of your cut piece, then, leaving the piece still folded, turn it over, turn your pattern paper piece face down, and make a mark on that side. This way, when you un-fold your bodice pieces, you have two marks blocking off what will become the hole that Pan will stick his head through.
5. Assembling this tunic is really, really easy. Place the bodice pieces on top of each other, right sides together, making sure to line up the arm holes (and the nice thing about felt is that there is no right or wrong side, so just lay them however). You're going to attach these pieces together at the shoulder seams- but if, like me, your bodice has no defined shoulders separate from the neck, just a straight line, this means you're going to start each seam at the outer corner, and stop at the place where you marked the neck. Use a serger if you have one, or, if you don't (like me), then use a zig-zag stitch.
6. To attach the sleeves, you're going to open up your tunic and lay it flat on your table, right side up. Then, take one sleeve rectangle and pin it, right sides together, to one armhole curve of the bodice, so that the zig-zag edge of the sleeve is pointing in towards the neck hole. Pinning a straight line to a curve is tricky; line up the place where the rectangle was folded with the seam you just sewed at the shoulders, and line up the corners of the rectangle with the corners of the armhole. Use lots of pins, and fold the felt in little pleats to make the rest match up (either evenly spaced and purposeful, or a bit more haphazard for that I-live-in-a-forest look). Do the same on the other side. Sew with a zig-zag stitch again.
7. Now, fold the whole tunic together again, so that it looks like a shirt, with the wrong side facing out. Line up the sleeves with themselves, and the sides of the tunic. Sew in a continuous line from the outer edge of one sleeve, down the side of the bodice to the bottom. Repeat on the other side.
8. To finish the tunic, we're going to create that front neckline. Measure your Pan and decide how deep you want the V to be. Find the exact center of the front neckline and cut a straight line that length. Simply fold open the fabric and press and it will probably hold its shape, creating a pointed collar of sorts; if it won't stay on its own, you can tack the corners down with a quick hand stitch. Ta-da!
9. Now for that hat. You need to measure your lost boy's head in a few places. Find the crown of his head- the highest point- and measure down to his forehead, or where you want the front of the hat to lay, and call this measurement A. Now measure from the crown down the back of his head to where you want the back of the hat to lay, and call that measurement B. Finally, measure from the crown of his head down the side to just above his ear, and call that measurement C.
10. Get some more of your pattern making paper. Draw a straight, horizontal line that is A + B + 1 inch (assuming a 1/2" seam allowance; adjust accordingly based on your preference for seam allowance. Now, from the left side, measure in a distance of B + 1/2" (or whatever your seam allowance is). From that point, draw a perpendicular line straight down a height of C + 1/2" (or...you get the picture). Now, draw a curve from one end of your line to the other so that the lowest point of the curve is at the end of your perpendicular line; you'll end up with a sort of half-teardrop shape, or half-ovalish thing, that's thicker on one end than the other. Separately, draw yourself a rectangle with a length of A + B + 2" (NOT 1/2" like in the picture, my bad) and a height of whatever you want the height of the brim of your hat to be + 1/2". Cut one teardrop-shape piece with the straight line on the fold, and cut 2 rectangles, not on the fold.
11. Lay your two rectangles on top of each other and sew the short ends together, both sides, so that you're left with a tube. Open up your teardrop shape and decide which side is going to be your "right" side (the outside of the hat). Take your tube and pin it with its right side against the WRONG side of the teardrop shape, making sure the seams on the tube line up with the very front point and very pack point of the teardrop, respectively. Stitch them together, then fold the rectangle tube up and out of the hat, so that it becomes the brim. If you press it down, it should hold its shape, because felt is so stiff, but if you need to, you can tack it down in a couple of places by hand-stitching.
12. Last, find where you'd like your red feather to go. Draw two short parallel lines, 1/2" apart from each other, just tall enough so that you can slip the feather in. Use an exacto knife or very sharp scissors to slit those lines open, and slide the feather in so that the quill points towards the front of the hat.
Your Peter Pan should wear green leggings and a green t-shirt, then wear the tunic on top. (Felt can be scratchy, and the extra layer will provide warmth if your Octobers are cold.) If he has a brown belt that fits, buckle it around his waist (you can even snip in some belt loops, the same way we created a place to slide the feather in his cap). Wear the hat on his head and carry a toy sword or dagger, for dealing with those pesky pirates. (If the hat won't stay well on his noggin, you can pin it to his hair with Bobby pins crossed over each other in an X, one X on each side of his head.)
Is your little one going to fly off to Neverland with the lost boys?
Much love,
The Geeks
