Happy Halloween from Nico Fox!

Happy Halloween everyone! I debated on if I should make Nico a Halloween costume or not. I thought I wouldn’t have enough time since he’s been in the “don’t let Mommy sew” phase, but I took off a couple days of work to get this done. Shockingly enough this was finished one full week before Halloween – GO ME!

I decided to make him a fox because 1. I love foxes and 2. we were originally going to name him Fox but thought that “Fox Plaza” didn’t sound like a real name. We were watching A LOT of X-Files while I was pregnant 😉

Seriously though – how cute is he?! I love this costume so much <3 We went to IKEA a few days ago for their trick-or-treat night and decided it was the perfect place to take tons of pictures, so be warned - this is a picture heavy post!

When I first started planning this I had a lot of trouble finding a good orange/red color fabric. I didn’t have enough time to order anything online so I went to JoAnn’s. I searched that entire store and all they had was either tangerine orange, very orange, construction cone orange or red. I settled on the tangerine toweling fabric. I figured this way he could also clean the floor since he’s always army crawling around the house.

I started trying to figure out how I wanted to make the outfit. Did I want it to be a one piece? Two piece? Did I want it to have feet attached? Was I going to do a hat or a hood? So many questions but I decided to stick with 2 pieces: a hooded jacket and a pair of pants. I didn’t want to do feet since he’s always pulling himself up to stand and I thought maybe feet would make him slip and fall. And I didn’t want one piece because if it were two he could wear the hoodie again later.

I had forgotten to grab a zipper while at JoAnn’s on the first trip so I went back and they were having their 50% off fleece sale and crazy enough they had THE PERFECT FOX ORANGE color – I was psyched! So I bought 3 yards of it because I didn’t know how much I would need and didn’t want to have to go back, again. Of course though, I ended up going back because I forgot to buy black. I swear, I can’t just remember to get everything I need, nope… never. Anyways, fleece was the perfect choice because Halloweens in Cincinnati are usually cold and rainy.

For the jacket I used Brindille & Twig’s hoodie (#014) pattern. I made a size 9-12, in ready to wear Nico wears 12 months. I’ve noticed that B&T patterns usually run a little big so I figured that was a safe bet. To be extra sure I made a test knit hoodie for him and it’s a bit large, so 9-12 in a non-stretch fleece would be perfect. I added an extra inch to the fold line of the front because I knew I would be adding a zipper.

For the fox face on the top I just Googled fox outfits and free hand sketched a pattern from it. I gotta say I love fleece for applique because you don’t need to do anything to the edges – they don’t fray! The ears were simple and I added a little bit of stuffing. I now wish I would have added a lot more because they don’t really stand up since I washed the outfit. (Side note: fleece doesn’t strink or bleed when washed – yay!) I sketched out a circle for the tummy and also drafted a pattern for the tail. I added the tail on and then added a band of fleece at the bottom. I wanted to make sure the jacket was long on him and covered his bum. There is also a little bit of stuffing in the tail.

The pants I laid down a pair of fleece Carter’s pants that he already wears and copied those. Mine ended up a little bigger and I should have taken in the sides, but I figure it looks cute a little baggy. I did borrow the idea of adding a gusset to the back from B&T’s Streamline Pants (#075). (Yes, I happen to own too many B&T patterns and need to do more reviews on them!).

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to do the cuffs but decided on a brown lycra stretch knit. I figured that most fox’s paws have brown on them. The cuff on the jacket is a lot smaller than the cuffs on the pants because I wanted to pants cuffs to go over his shoes.

He’s now worn this twice and both times I’ve gotten compliments on it. It’s always exciting when a stranger asks you where you got something and you can say you made it. 🙂 He will also be wearing it on Halloween night.

Overall I’m super excited about the costume! I hope to make his costume every year, as long as he lets me. I debated on making a matching costume but then thought maybe that was going too far? I know I’m already a crazy mommy.