DIY Supergirl Costume

Every year I go into Halloween with the mindset I’ll let the kids go buy a costume at the store, or that I’ll finally snag a non-pink superhero costume for a good price in the size we need. The last few holidays I’ve had my eye set on a really cute looking Supergirl/Superman costume with a blue velvet top, metallic red skirt and red boot covers. It’s sold everywhere, and gets mixed reviews – the curse of ‘cute’ clothes/boots etc.

I say, “I can make it better! Don’t worry.” This is followed by a quick sigh from the kids and then my enthusiasm is met with “can we make it SPARKLY!?” Yes, all the glitter and sparkles we can find!

With most of my ideas I start with super over the top, and then it eventually it comes down to something a bit more doable. I really like the idea of soft cosplay, which Darling Stewie does a lot of. Take a major element, like the color or style and build an outfit on that, without literally being that character. For example, Snow White, maybe a yellow sweater over a white shirt, and a blue skirt, paired with an apple necklace or something. So for my daughter, I wanted to make a skirt that she could wear again, because these girls LOVE skirts.

Circle Skirt

I get by with sewing, I need to take an intro class because I abuse my machine in ways it probably shouldn’t be in the name of getting things done. I have a sewing machine, a manual, some random needles and lots of clear thread. I did some searching online for easy kids skirts because the last one I made from a pattern could have turned out better. (Tried making a red skirt for Strawberry Shortcake a few years back.) I read a lot about circle and square skirts and they looked amazingly easy and cute (I think I’ll be making one for myself!)

I decided on this skirt tutorial from Make it & Love It, and cut the material in a circle. (Other cool links: Square Skirt Pattern Generator, Embroidered Circle Skirt with a finished edge, and another tutorial with how to draw the circles and account for fabric stretch .) Luckily JoAnn’s was having a sale on all their fabrics, so I picked up 1 yard of some easy to use and wear red jersey knit material to make the skirt out, mostly because the metallic red fabric was out of stock at my nearest store. Then I found some 2″ metallic gold elastic to use for waistband. Perfect! The zig-zag stitch is my friend.

Red Cape

For the cape, I selected this cape tutorial from CraftBuds.com. I really liked the idea of a magnetic closure because Velcro can generally be annoying especially on shiny, easy to fray fabrics.

After I picked the fabric for the skirt, I went to find red fabric for the cape. I suppose you could do it either order, but I felt it was more important to find the perfect red for the skirt rather than the cape. I picked out 2 yards of some silky red charmeuse fabric that looked exactly like Superman/Supergirl girl and matched the skirt fabric amazingly well. I had to modify the neck size of the free pattern just a bit for my elementary aged daughter. (Just place on the back and guesstimate how much more you need to cut out.

Cape and skirt = done! (Accessorized with a Superman shirt we had on hand.)

Supergirl Boots

Ever since I got the bug to cosplay, I have always been intrigued by the duck tape tutorials. The first one I found was for kids boots on Brown Paper Packages, but never had a reason to use it until now. I bought gold eyelets and shoelaces to make the Supergirl Boots, but found I didn’t need them since I ended up making these boot covers from My Crazy Blessed Life. They were really easy and took less than an hour.

Pick a pair of boots and wrap all surfaces with plastic wrap. I started with a piece of tape around the calf to hold the plastic wrap in place, and then another at the bend of the boot. Cut pieces of tape to slightly overlap all the visible surfaces. I taped a bit over the top edge of the boot as well. My daughter is playing Minecraft while I tape her feet up!

I bought some Red Glitter Duck Tape (buy* affiliate link) to use for accents, plus it fulfilled the glitter requirements. The glitter tape isn’t as sticky as regular Duck Tape, so I had to modify my plans a bit and go back over some of the edges with red duck tape. (I used a coupon at Michael’s to buy the Duck Tape which brought the price down to $6ish dollars, which is about the same price as Amazon. Target did not have red glitter duck tape, but they did have some other colors for about $6.)

Since my daughter is wearing these boots outside, I cut off the bottom part of the cover to expose the sole of the boot. I was not sure how secure it would be, but everything stayed in place. I cut a piece of duck tape and taped it in the space between the sole and heel, just to make sure everything would stay together.

Voila!

Finally, for Halloween pair all these items with your favorite Superman/Supergirl shirt and you’re done! Easy peasy and the skirt and cape can be worn again! (Will update with a completed costume picture on the big day!) I have a feeling I will be doing all this again next year in black and yellow for Batgirl/Batman!

Now to write about that Ariel yarn wig I made for my other child….

https://www.thesugarpixie.net/2014/10/30/diy-supergirl-costume/DIY Supergirl Costumehttps://i0.wp.com/www.thesugarpixie.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/superman_supergirl_DIY.jpg?fit=531%2C700&ssl=1https://i0.wp.com/www.thesugarpixie.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/superman_supergirl_DIY.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=12018-09-09T11:12:38-04:00thesugarpixieHow-To / DIYclothing,cosplay,halloween,kidsEvery year I go into Halloween with the mindset I'll let the kids go buy a costume at the store, or that I'll finally snag a non-pink superhero costume for a good price in the size we need. The last few holidays I've had my eye set on a...thesugarpixie thesugarpixie@gmail.comAdministratorThe Sugar Pixie