Suchi’s NDAD Creation – Halloween Edition!

Oct 27, 2012 | 26 Comments

More costumes today!!  This one was submitted by Suchi and I’m pretty much wishing I had this costume put together for the week!

Hi Marisa - I hadn’t planned to send this to you, so there are no good “before” shots, but I truly believe that following your blog has given me the confidence to try things I never would have!!  I made this costume for my daughter Eva. She is in love with the concept of long, flowing cloaks (have you ever watched the BBC series Merlin?), and after watching Lord of the Rings this summer she decided to model her costume after the elven character Arwen.

Here’s the before shot!

New DRess A Day - DIY - Halloween Costume

Suchi – Before

Let’s see how the rest of the costume turns out!

 I made the cloak using a pattern (and the color would totally go with your new hair!), but the rest of the outfit is repurposed á la Marisa. The dress was one I had bought her years ago, but which she never wore because the shiny fabric was stiff and scratchy – so off with it! I hemmed it, took in the waist, and added a thin leather thrift store belt with gold designs to help hold her sword (an old toy we had that she added autumn colored jewels to).

New DRess A Day - DIY - Halloween Costume

Arwen Costume!

The boots, also a thrift find, were nice and slouchy, but the navy suede did not go with the earth-tone theme, so I sprayed them with copper glitter.  Her pants were white nylon pajamas from the thrift store, which I died a beautiful cocoa brown.

Eva designed a headpiece using a necklace pendant she had…

New Dress A Day - DIY - Halloween Costume - headpiece-front

Headpiece!!

…which I attached to some old lace and ribbon (using some kind of metal bra clasp thing I found in a sewing box). 

New Dress A Day - DIY - Halloween Costume - headpiece-back

How resourceful and crafty!!

Through it all I felt I was channeling my inner Marisa – and so I thank you for your inspiration!

Thank you so much for sharing Suchi!  I’m totally in love with what you did and your little gal looks absolutely fabulous!!

In all · Reader Creations
  • Terry

    Very cute! I especially like the details of the spray painted boots and jewel enhanced toy sword.

    • newdressaday

      Jewel-enhanced sword was my fave too :)

  • Sue

    Absolutely adorable. She looks so cute. Wonderful makeover.

  • kissem37

    What a lucky girl to have a mom that can make such an awesome costume!! Nicely done :)

  • Constant Reader

    What I love is that it looks expensive, but piece by piece is actually quite cheap. If she got the dress for a buck and the boots for (let’s say) five, the most expensive parts of this costume would be the can of spray paint and the pattern for the cape. I’m thinking this whole thing clocks in at under $20 and looks like a million. Great work.

  • Bella

    WOW!!! I love going to the local Renaissance Fair when it comes around, and I’ve known people to spend WAY (a few hundred dollars) more money to look half as good as Eva does! GOOD JOB, MOM!!

    • newdressaday

      Here, here!!

  • Diana

    Cute! Nice job!

  • Gale

    Lovely! It’s an amazing costume that looks really awesome!

  • Tori Benick

    This was done so so well! :)

  • Leanne

    Wow! This looks GREAT!

  • Sue Kol

    Absolutely wonderful!!

  • http://foryourtastebudsonly.blogspot.com/ Roxanne

    Love those boots! And headpiece. Good job!

  • Susie

    Great creativity, Suchi! & cool ideas for boot color, headband, etc.–your dtr. looks right out of the movies :- ) Happy Halloween!

  • http://www.facebook.com/stacey.knights.1 Stacey Knights

    what a great costume! Very thrifty and creative! Hope she has a blast!

  • Keenzi

    Great costume–and such great memories being made for you and your daughter to look back on one day!

  • Sarah_H.

    Great costume! I love the thought you have given to the details. Especially the copper on the boots and dyeing the pajamas. You have made a great looking costume from so little! And it does look expensive.

  • Suchi

    Thank you for all your kind feedback! It was fun to read. I have to confess that this was not exactly a thrifty remake. Maybe if I had spent time hunting garage sales I could have found better deals, but I made do with the local Salvation Army and in my area they don’t have many bargains. Constant Reader was right – the spray paint ($14!!) and pattern/fabric were the most expensive parts. Pajama pants were $4, boots were $5, belt was $2. The dress was about $16 on eBay three years ago, but she never wore it so I was glad to get some use out of it. But this wasn’t about saving money, it was about the challenge and having fun and trying to do what I have watched Marisa do.

    • newdressaday

      You’re amazing Suchi!! And honestly, to have even bought a costume like this you would have spent more money. I’d wear that headband all the time too! So fabulous!

  • Violet Baudelaire

    This is amazingly crafted. Just imagination and creativity in this costume! You did a great job! It looks so authentic, are you sure she’s from this century, haha.

  • Jamie

    That is so beautiful! I love unique Halloween costumes and this is definitely that! :D Great job!!

  • http://twitter.com/jodywallace Jody Wallace

    Awesome!!!

  • Doo

    She looks like she belongs on Game of Thrones!

  • Paprikati

    What a wonderful, unique costume and gorgeous daughter! I love all the attention to detail and color. Homemade costumes are so much more creative and memorable, even if they take longer. SO worth all your trouble! Eva looks like she’s loving being from another era. Great work, Suchi!

    • newdressaday

      So amazing, right?!

  • sheryl k

    OK, this is it….next year my granddaughter and I are making her costume!! She has a “skeleton bride” outfit this year, which looked cute in the online pic but…not so great in person. :-(
    As Suchi says, it’s about the experience—CREATING is way more fun than ORDERING! Thank you for this blog, Marisa, you are a beautiful inspiration to women, young and old!