DIY ON THE FLY: Halloween in April, Christmas in July

no, unfortunately the awesomeness of the mad hatter isn't me. it's chameleon paulway chew

This is a super oldie, but it's been eating me away to post this...

I HATE buying Halloween costumes. I'm totally against spending large amounts of money on something so poorly made that will never work its way into my wardrobe, and will never be worn again. I'm all about the DIY costume. It's the only way I don't feel guilty for dressing up at Halloween.

 I've been meaning to post this, but never quite got around to it....so here goes. Maybe it'll be much more appreciated now, since there aren't any Halloween posts around!

I'm also against the whole "Halloween is an excuse to dress like a slut", and all the sluttified costumes. Like slutty bumblebees. I'm actually a little familiar with cross dressing for Halloween. In elementary school, my mom thought it would be a brilliant idea for me to dress as Charlie Chaplin. And I agreed. As predicted, totally NOT the coolest costume you can be as a 10-year old girl. I had a bowler hat, suit, and 'stache...although I did have a lot of fun with the whole costume.

 Anyway, I know I don't post many pics here of myself, but if you didn't know, I have pretty short hair (though growing out right now so I have a longerish mullety shag thing going on right now)...correction, I had pretty short hair at Halloween, and wanted a costume that I could work the short hair into so that I didn't have to buy a wig.
(I wanted to be judy jetson, but I guess I'll save her for another year)

This past year, I was Elvis. The white-jumpsuit-blinged-out Elvis. Okay, yes, I did have to buy a few things...but got so much more satisfaction out of my costume than if I had bought it. (and YES, there WAS a sexy caped Elvis at party city) I was one of the judges for the costume contest so I didn't win anything, but I was told by a lot of people I had one of the best costumes. But c'mon, that's expected when you're the hostess- you gotta bring it! (but the other costumes were very good)

Here's what I used to make my Elvis jumpsuit:
-cheap white poly fabric
-cheap gold lame fabric
-puffy fabric paint
-fabric glue
-plastic gems
-HUGE gold aviators
-fuchsia scarf
-white button down
-white flared/wide-leg bottoms
-huge metallic belt

I apologize, but didn't quite take step-by-step pics as I went (I was in a rush), so please use your imagination!

I didn't really measure anything, but made sure the cape would reach fingertip to fingertip, and used as much length as possible. I layered the white and gold (lining) fabric out and folded them in half. Then I traced a semi-circle, and cut out a small curve for the neck. I sewed the two pieces right sides together, then turned it and finger-pressed the edges.

Then I printed a pic of Elvis' famous eagle cape. (google image search elvis cape, there's some awesome images there!) His was bejeweled, but I wasn't about to invest that time and money into a Halloween costume, so it was a few colors of puffy paint for me. I just eyeballed it and hoped I woudn't run out of paint. Not a masterpiece, but definitely recognizable!

Next I bedazzled a button down with gems along the front. I would have actually tacked these on with thread so I could remove them later, but I was in a rush since I left them for last, so glue it was.

Put it all together, with a belt to cover the seam between the pant and top to look more like a jumpsuit.
Finishing touches- lots of hairspray and pomade, add sunglasses, and voila!

Did I look like Elvis? Let me know!