Wednesday, November 3, 2010

How we became Jesse and Woody


In case you wanted to know how we made our costumes, here is a little breakdown:

Woody's pants (not pictured because they're pretty self-explanatory): any pair of jeans
Jesse's pants and chaps: I got a pair of white flannel pajamas from DI, and then cut them up.  I used a black paint sharpie to make them look like cow hide (the spots ended up getting kind of smeared from when I crossed my legs, so maybe there is a better tool to use for this).  I sewed them to a pair of jeans I owned (though not too securely, since I planned on wearing the jeans again post-Halloween.  I sewed a seam across the tops, and then just did a few ties down each side of the leg.)
Woody's shirt and vest:  I got a plain yellow shirt from DI and then drew stripes on it with a red sharpie (I used a broom handle as a ruler to keep the lines straight, and I put a trash bag inside the shirt to make sure the lines didn't bleed through).  The vest started out as a fleece sweater from DI.  I cut off the sleeves, shortened the length, and then cut it to look more like a vest.  After folding under all the raw edges, I held them in place with a blanket stitch using black yarn.  I used a regular black sharpie to make the spots (my paint sharpie had run out after doing Jesse's chaps.  Note that this type of sharpie also smeared a little after wearing them for a while).  I got the sheriff's badge at Savers and painted it gold (it had been silver, originally)
The pull string was literally made ten minutes before we left for our ward Halloween party.  We used some leftover cord from Jesse's hat for the string, and tape (yes, we are ghetto) to make the ring.  Then we sewed it on with some white thread.
Jesse's shirt: I started with a white shirt I bought at DI a few years ago (I had planned on hemming it a little and then wearing it in real life, but that obviously never happened).  For the yoke, I bought a sleeveless, yellow button-up shirt from DI.  I cut off the collar and then matched it up with where I wanted it to sit on the white shirt, trimmed it so it was the right length, folded under the raw edges, and sewed it on.  Since I only used the top few inches of the front and back of the shirt, I had enough fabric left over to make cuffs for the sleeves.  Keep in mind that I don't have a sewing machine.  They looked somewhat Frankenstein-esque, but they worked well enough.  To finish it off, I sewed on two large buttons, and got red cord from Joann's to add a little detail.  I pinned it how I wanted and then sewed it on with red thread.

 
The hats: Both hats were DI purchases.  Woody's hat was pretty easy.  I just added a brown cord trim.  For Jesse's hat I spray painted it red, added a white cord trim, and the put a little white ribbon around it (sewed in place with a few stitches).

Belt Buckles:  I cut out two cardboard belt buckle shapes, and two bull head shapes.  I glued them together, filling in the open edges of the card board bull with gluestick glue so it looked a little more smooth, and then I painted them gold once they dried.  Bryan had a belt that worked, and I borrowed mine from Marissa.

Woody's Bandana: I found this one at DI for 50¢

Boots:  I already owned my boots.  They were DI purchase for my Robin Hood costume a few years ago (I actually wear them a lot for a costume purchase).  Luck was with me when I went costume shopping because there was only one pair of cowboy-type boots at DI when I went, and they just happened to be Bryan's size.  Seriously, sheer Luck.  The spurs are just four strips of card board (one to go around each ankle, and one to go under each foot), and two spur shaped pieces of card board.  I painted them gold and then stapled them together.

And that is how we made our costumes.

Halloween

We had a lot of fun this Halloween. We carved some pretty nice jack-o-lanterns with Justin and Marissa. Bryan and I both carved something from the Nightmare Before Christmas.
Justin and Marissa carved R2D2 and Darth Vader.
Marissa's sister Amanda and her boyfriend Michael carved the pumpkin on the far left.
Bryan came up with the idea for our costume this year. Our costumes only took a trip to DI, some sewing, a a little paint (well, and a lot of time).



We had fun adding details to Bryan's costume (like the spurs, pull string, and "Andy" written on the bottom of his shoe)
It can be kind of depressing to make a costume and then not have anywhere to wear it, especially since we're too old to go trick-o-treating on our own. We ended up trick-or-treating with Justin and Marissa's nephews in Kaysville, which was really fun, even if it was rainy and cold.
I loved seeing how little kids reacted to our costumes. We had tons of kids point at us and tell their parents, "It's Woody and Jesse!". Our favorite was when we were handing out candy, and a little boy dressed as Buzz Lightyear came to the door. He saw us, did a double take, and then said, "Wow!" He got really excited and introduced us to his little sister. It was adorable.
We had fun dressing up.