Although the sun is shining right now, it will soon be time to pop on a witch’s hat and celebrate Halloween and this means one thing – FANCY DRESS. For some, the thought of fancy dress may lead to blind panic but for others, it’s the cause of celebration. However you feel, we have put together a list of the best simple Halloween fancy dress ideas we have picked up over the years.
Black Halloween Cotton, Spooky, Huh?
It might be a good idea to keep these ideas in the back of your mind for World Book Day too.
Make a Pumpkin Costume
Is it even Halloween if no one dresses up as a Pumpkin? Possibly not, and there are many options out there for how to do it, depending on how much time and energy you want to spend. Just briefly looking at Pinterest, one option for both adults and children is a sweet felt beret type hat which is both chic and Halloween ready. But if you are looking more for a whole-body pumpkin costume it seems pretty simple. And these instructions from Heather Handmade explains how to do it perfectly.
Orange Fabrics at Fabrics Galore
Although she has used entirely felt for this pumpkin costume, we think it could work just as well with a bright orange fleece which also doesn’t fray and the colour is just right for a pumpkin. But the best news is our felt squares could easily be used to make the very cute little hat which really adds to the whole outfit.
Felt Fabric Squares at Fabrics Galore
Make a Witch Costume
Image Credit: Brian Woodcock for Country Living
You can’t have a Halloween party without anyone dressed as a witch; it is a classic for a reason and with the Harry Potter series still fresh in everyone's mind there are plenty of options to choose from. If you were thinking about showing a darker side, maybe go for the awful Bellatrix Lestrange look, in which case you will need plenty of our black satin, black lace and of course black velvet for a cape. But if you were thinking more of the best witch of her age, Hermione Granger, then maybe you just need a black cloak made of anything black to pop over a school uniform….
Shop for Black Halloween fabrics
But if neither of these are what you are looking for you might get inspired by this list of 25 witch costume options from Country Living Magazine.
And you can also download a fantastic free witch hat pattern from AriNico Cosplay
Make a Ghost Costume
Photo by Olga Simonova on Unsplash
If you are really struggling for time, the quickest fancy dress costume for Halloween has to be the Ghost but it doesn’t mean you have to just throw an old bed sheet over your head.
If you watch the YouTube video by Love Your Clothes and you will be able to create an excellent Ghost Poncho complete with scary face and a hood. We thought that actually our White Cotton Panama in Chalk would be a great fabric choice for this because it’s heavy enough that whatever you wear underneath won’t be visible. This is also good because it means you can wrap up warm underneath in case we have a chilly October….
Shop for White Halloween fabric
Make a Cat Costume
You cannot go wrong with a cat costume at Halloween and we simply love this free pattern from Kirsty Hartley, author of Wild Things to Make for a fancy dress cat. If you wanted to add a bit more to it this year, how about adding a tail and maybe even some little paws. Our Dressmaking Black Long Haired Fur would be for perfect.
Shop Faux Fur Fabric at Fabrics Galore London
If you want more ideas on how to get into the Halloween mood do check out our Pinterest page full of Halloween costume ideas and party decorations too…
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/fabricsgalorelondon/halloween/
Crowns fit for royalty
If you’re bored of the standard witch and cat costumes, why not try making a little Halloween crown for your princesses and princes? You can use any cotton fabric for this, depending on the type of royalty you are looking to dress, but really you want it to be good and spooky. We are thinking skulls, spiders and bats....
Discover these and more in our Halloween Collection
Not only are crowns a bit of a scrap buster, but they can also be made a few sizes too big with extra fastenings so that you don’t need to make them again next year. You can even make an extra set for Christmas too. We have found this simple free tutorial from Crafty Sewing Sew, so be sure to take a look.
Multi-purpose wings
Should you want to try something a bit more complicated, what about whipping up a pair of wings? These can easily be used for anything from fairies and butterflies to dragons and bats, and many things in between.
You can use a simple cotton to make wings, but to add some structure it’s best to line them with wadding. After all, no one wants a flimsy wing. Here at Fabrics Galore, there are many different cotton options to suit every costume idea, from the deepest black for something a bit creepy to the perfect pink for a super sugar plum fairy. This free pattern from Crazy Little Projects is ideal as you can adapt the shape to whatever creature you are thinking of dressing up as.
Simple yet effective capes
Back to a very simple idea; the cape. Perfect when fighting for good as a superhero or causing havoc as something a bit darker, a cape is super simple to make and depending on the size of your caped crusader, it doesn’t require a huge amount of fabric either. Of course, capes can also easily be customised by adding initials or even a trim depending on how fancy the character is that you’re dressing up as.
Browse our great collection of Skull Print Fabrics
Our plain black poplin would add an extra layer of swish to any classic witch costume and our colourful skull printed fabric would make a great cape for a Grim Reaper perhaps. If you have a small person who wants to dress up as Little Red Riding Hood or maybe Snow White, don’t worry we also have a plain red poplin and even a spotty poplin for a fun alternative.
Naturally, capes are a necessity for fighting all sorts of crime and protecting the earth, so in our plain poplin collection, we have every colour you need whether you are looking to become the God of Mischief, an Amazonian Princess or just simply to use the force.
If you are making a cape for a small person, you may only need half a metre. They’re unlikely to be more than a metre tall and their shoulders are probably less than 50cm wide, and here at Fabrics Galore nearly all of our fabrics are at least 112cm wide.
‘Scary’ animal tails
When you’re thinking of making something for a little monster, you may find you need a dinosaur tail and as always, we can help you out. This pattern is something that we’re very excited about making ourselves and it is such a brilliant idea from Andreas Notebook.
As the pattern states, you can use any fabric that isn’t stretchy which means the possibilities are simply endless and this could be another way of using up the scraps from other projects. Whether you’re dressing up as a dinosaur or a dragon, it would be great to use some of our faux suede to give your dinosaur spikes some added texture too.
Discover our faux suede collection
Whilst we are on the subject of tails, if you’re planning a classic costume this year and you need a cat's tail, check out our Velboa selection. Not only is this perfect for tails, but it would also make some very good cat ears by simply attaching the fabric to a hairband.
But if you wanted something more than just Cat Ears have a look how cute this Free pattern is from Made By Toya. And there is even a Zebra Option too.
Patterned leggings
If you already have a great little space fancy dress costume with planets attached to a jumper, for example, and you’re struggling with what to wear on the bottom half, have you thought about adding some constellation leggings? Not only will they make the fancy dress costume really pop, but even better still, they are ideal for kids’ casual wear too.
Browse all our space fabrics
It’s not just a space costume that would be aided by a cute pair of leggings either, they’re great for animal costumes like zebras and leopards as well.
Animal Print Dressmaking Fabrics
Preparing for Halloween this year
Even after all these ideas, if you are still struggling with what to dress up as this Halloween, there is lots more inspiration waiting for you both in our Halloween fabric collection and also on our Fancy Dress Pinterest Page.
