"You are so creative!" I have heard that phrase constantly since I was little. DIY, Refashioning, Crafting, Sewing, Woodworking. I love it all! Now I have a place to keep my favorite projects or ideas organized and share them with you!



Thursday, October 14, 2010

A Whale of a Costume

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My son who is 3 decided after much time and thought that the perfect costume for Halloween this year would be a Killer Whale. Now I am not one to buy costumes in the first place but I looked up Killer whale costumes and found whale costumes for dogs and mascot costumes. After I finished my costume I did see some on e-bay for over $50 used. Ha! No thanks.

I had an idea how I was going to do it, and figured someone else had to have done this before. I did find one other photo on the Internet of a mom who had made a Killer Whale costume before here. I am glad I had her costume to look at for inspiration, it made making the tail fin shape easier without having to look up whale photos. While I did some things a bit differently, for the most part we had the same idea. One thing I didn't have in my original idea was the teeth. It adds so much. She is a genius!
Now, on to my son's costume.

What I used:
A Large Black Hooded Sweatshirt.
Black and White Polar Fleece.
Quilt Batting (you could use stuffing, I just had a bunch of batting I wasn't using that I got for free.
A Plastic folder
Sewing Machine

I started with adding the teeth to the sweatshirt. Since I was so excited about the teeth idea, I forgot to take just a plain photo of the sweatshirt but you get the idea.
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The rest was just making the parts and sewing them on. Things did get a bit tricky moving fins under the machine. Just as a hint always try to keep your tail on the left insde of your machine. It doesn't fit under the other side very well. lol

I was so excited about how it turned out. I just started sewing, and kept going, cutting pieces and putting them together. To make the tail fin and dorsal fin stand up more straight I used a plastic folder wrapped in quilt batting so that it doesn't smoosh after time. Since it is plastic and not cardboard, it should be machine washable, which I think is a must with a 3 year old boy and a costume with white involved.


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 One main request of my son was a robust tail. He was very firm about having a HUGE tail so he could SPLASH!! So I was sure to fill his request. I think it may be a tad bit long considering his height, but he said "no" to the idea of making it shorter, he likes it this big.

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As you can see my client was more than happy.


I think these photos are too funny. Like we have a giant whale in the house.
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That face says it all!
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You know it is a good costume when they don't want to take it off.

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This post was linked in...
Katie's Nesting Spot

35 comments:

  1. What an AWESOME costume!
    You did a fantastic job! He looks so happy.

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  2. Kara you did an awesome job!!! We went to the Omaha Zoo this weekend and Shane's favorite was the shark. He was looking through the Pottery Barn kids catalog and begged me for the shark. No luck ... there is no way I will pay $50 for a costume. Do you want to make another Shark costume for less than $50 :)? You really should start a business. I really want a sewing machine. I think I could have some fun but maybe would need some lessons. LOL!

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  3. How cute! You did such a great job!!!

    I toyed with the idea of making a Nemo costume but felt way in over my head, since I thought too long, my husband ended up buying little man a dinosaur costume LOL!

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  4. I love this. Just a question, is the zippered part of the sweatshirt now unusable and it's just a pullover? Or did you velcro the one side so it could still be "unzipped"?

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  5. Thanks for sharing another great costume idea at A Crafty Soiree. That is way cuter than anything you could ever buy and I'm sure it also fits a lot better too. What a creative idea for a costume; it's a good thing is mom can come through and make it for him! Mine would be out of luck, that looks way beyond my current abilities. See you next time:)

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  6. Dana, The sweatshirt never acutally had a zipper. It was always a pull over, with a front pocket. I did leave parts of the white fleece open on the sides so that my son could still use the pocket if he wanted to. Thanks for your comments everyone. It was really a fun costume to make.

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  7. A Killer Whale? That's impressive - both for your son to decide upon and for you to make!!!

    We would be thrilled if you would come join our Great Halloween Link Up going on through the end of October. Hope to see you there!

    http://lifeinthemotherhood.blogspot.com

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  8. My daughter and I make trips to Sea World in San Antonio every summer. She loves Shamu, so that is what she would like to be for Halloween this year. Thank you for posting this. I am going to do the same thing, and saw that fleece was over 50% off at Joann's Fabric this weekend. I can't wait to try this, and then I will just be hoping that it won't be 100 degrees in Houston on Halloween!

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  9. My son just informed me that he wants to be a killer whale for Halloween this year! My one thought....Seriously?! How am I going to make that?! Thank you for this awesome idea! I do have a question though... When you said to use a plastic folder what does that mean? Like a three ring binder?

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  10. No it was a two pocket folder I had on hand that was made out of plastic. You coud use any sturdy piece you wanted, or just use stuffing. I used the plastic folder I had on hand because I knew the plastic would hold up to washing. It is just what I grabbed.

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  11. Hi there, coming across this a year later as my 3 year wants to be a PINK whale this year! :) did you cut off the sleeves of the large sweatshirt and have your son wear his own sized sweats underneath? wondering if the sweatshirt is so large, how are the sleeves not insanely long also? THANKS!

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  12. I would like to buy one blue whale for my son 4 years old. Please contac me to this email leylasln@yahoo.com Urgent!!!

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  13. My 3 1/2-year-old is asking for a Shamu. I do not have a sewing machine. Will you be interested in selling one? My email is downtownapple@gmail.com. Thanks!

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  14. You did such a fantastic job on this costume! I'm making one for my daughter, and I was wondering how you attached the fin and the tail.Did you somehow tuck the ends under and sew them from the top? Or did you cut a hole for them in the back and attach them that way?

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  15. a plastic folder is use as binder for school?

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  16. I love this costume and I know that my son will too. He's been wanting to be an orca whale since last halloween when he was a dolphin (and I actually stumbled across that costume at TJMaxx). I've already go the oversized sweatshirt and now I need to buy material. What do you recommend: micro-fleece, blizzard fleece or even felt? I'm not great at sewing so I need something easy to work with that doesn't fray and is easy to sew. I'm also wondering how you attached the tail and fin as Liz asked back in 2013. Thanks for your post and help. You can email me if that would be easiest at heidilyn8@live.com

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  17. My daughter is going to be an orca for her schools Halloween event, and I'm so glad I could find an idea on how to do it. It will not look as good as this one but thank you for the stepping stone.

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  18. Your whale costumes good really amazing. As we know at this time dinosaur costumes are very famous among the people. But these costumes price is so high on the other hand animatronic dinosaur is providing best quality dinosaur costumes just at mean price.

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  19. Wow, that's what I was looking for, what a stuff! present here at this blog, thanks admin of this site.

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  20. Are you by chance selling this costume now?!😭🙌🏼 I’m desperately trying to find one (I’d make it too but I just don’t think I’ll have the time to finish it🥺) — my daughter is obsessed with all things orca and the orca documentaries 🥰 I’d totally buy this if it’s available!!! 🤞🏼🙏🏼

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