Halloween is the Perfect Time to be a Wild Thing

In this post:  DIY your very own Max and the Wild Things costumes from Maurice Sendek’s Where the Wild Things Are.

Remember the plastic Halloween costumes of yesteryear that tied around you like a hospital gown?  They came with full-on plastic face masks than had an elastic string to hold them on.  Every year I was sure to snap my face with that elastic string.  I hated those costumes.

There was, however, a secret stash tucked way up in the attic of Grandma’s house.  An ancient dresser full of special costumes she had made for her own children of REAL fabric.  No face masks.  These were the holy grail of Halloween costumes, as far as I knew.

I want to be THAT Nana!

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Fast forward a few years.  I am raising the Warriors and remembering the joy of Grandma’s attic thinking I’m going to build up my very own secret stash of costumes, albeit in a cardboard box.

 

 

2018 marks the first opportunity for me to create something soft, exciting, fun and well, awesome for Favorite Pixie’s first Halloween.  Being that  Where the Wild Things has been on the brain lately, I just knew I needed to create a little Max costume for Favorite Pixie and Wild Things Costumes for her Mama and Daddy.

 

 

I started Googling and searching Pinterest for tutorials and finally came across one to get me started.   I bought the fabric and thought I’d better start first with Favorite Navy Wife’s monster costume.

Step 1:  Grab an A-line shift dress to use as a pattern. ( Make sure and have a few measurements on hand also – clothing sizes, neck to floor length for each, arm length, inseam etc.)  Lay the dress over the fun fur fabric and began to cut.  I was so nervous that I would make it too small, that I got carried away and made it too big for her!  Oh well, it is a costume.

 

 

Step 2:  Cut the neckline a little lower in the front and finish the neckline by turning over and zig zag stitching.  Add a zipper or velcro to the side or back and finish the armholes the same way.

Step 3:  Cut several strips of jagged felt to be used for the legs.

 

 

Sew them to a piece of scrap fabric to create this type of scale pattern for the lower legs.

 

 

Step 4:  For Favorite Second’s monster costume I purchased a long-sleeved white t-shirt and grey sweatpants.  Using RIT dye I dyed the t-shirt a burnt orange color.  I then took some brown fabric paint and painted stripes onto the shirt.  Make sure you put some cardboard in between the layers so the paint does not fuse the shirt front to the back.

 

 

Step 5:  Cut the bottom of the sweatpants in a jagged line.

 

 

Then take your sharp scissors and cut several “V” shaped cuts into the fabric.  Be very careful as you do this not to overlap the cuts or you will end up with a big mess!

 

 

Step 6:  I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I forgot to take pictures of the headpiece as I was working on it.   Suffice it to say that I used this hood pattern and the measurements I had on hand.  And for the tail…  cut fur fabric to your chosen length and sew together.  Stuff with stuffing and attach to the pants.  Easy Peasy.

Now for the really fun part.
Could she be any cuter in this Max from the Wild Things costume?

 

 

Step 7:  First of all, this youtube tutorial is the bomb.  It was great inspiration for these Max and the wild things costumes and especially for the foot covers.   To begin, I took a little romper outfit in Favorite Pixie’s size as a pattern to cut the fur for the Max costume. Once cut out I added a zipper to the front and cuffs to the sleeves.

 

 

Step 8:  Next, I used a little hoodie in her size to make the hood for the costume and attached that.  I grabbed a piece of gold felt and measured it to fit her head circumference,  cut it into the shape of a crown, and stitched.  Then I added a bit of fur to the edge of the crown.

 

 

Step 9:  Hand stitch the pipe cleaners for the whiskers onto the hood and wooden buttons onto the front of the costume.  Stitch a few pieced of velcro to the hood and crown so that they can be connected easily.  Using the same fur as the crown, cut a tail, sew and attach.

Step 10:  Lastly it’s time to make some monster feet.  Cut the matching fur for each costume in this shape.

 

 

Step 11:  For two of the costumes I used felt for the claws, and for Favorite Seconds I stuffed some white cotton.  The claws were then stitched into shoe covers.  I used elastic for the heel and to go under the shoes like the tutorial above suggested.

 

 

Step 12:  Since Max is the king of all Wild Things, there must be a scepter!  Attach a styrofoam ball to the end of a wooden dowel.  Spray paint the entire thing in metallic silver.  After it dries, cut a piece of gold foil and glue around the ball.  I used a small pom for decoration on the top.  I think she really liked

 

 

 

And that’s it! Little Max and the Wild Things Costumes.
The Wild Rumpus is about to start and these three are going to be right in the center of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special shout out to Melissa Bennett Photography for the beautiful photos.  And to Favorite Navy Wife, Favorite Second Son, and Favorite Pixie for playing along.

Friends, if you have any questions about this project or need any further explanation please contact me directly.  I would love to help you out. 🙂