There was a lot of back and forth this fall before I finally got the boys to settle on their Halloween costumes. For a while, I thought they were going to be superheroes again but then they finally settled on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I was pretty excited because this seemed like a fairly straightforward costume. I would start with the same base as last year and then add the accessories. It ended being a little more of a brain-bender than I had anticipated figuring out how to make everything, but in the end I’m super happy with the results!

My one qualification with handmade costumes is that if I’m going to spend a ton of time on them, I want them to be wearable the remainder of the year. Last year’s costumes got worn as pjs all year long, and I was hoping for the same results this time….meaning everything needs to be washable!

I started with a very basic outline: Flashback Tees for the tops (sized 4&5)and Fancy Pants leggings for the bottoms (sized 4&6). Eliot’s pants are a wee big but at the rate he’s growing hopefully that just means they’ll last a while longer! The green fabric is Laguna Jersey in Grass which Rachael at Imagine Gnats was so kind to stock for me when I contacted her to see if she had any of this green color I needed! Other than that green jersey, all fabrics are from my stash.

I used some more laguna jersey from my stash to make the elbow and knee bands. They are stitched on with some stretch thread so that the threads won’t break with movement!

The shells on the front of the tees are made with yellow Kona cotton and a layer of quilt batting in between the tee and the shell. I wanted something to add a little bulk but since it had to be washable, I didn’t want too much bulk. The quilt batting gave the perfect extra layer to the shell. I just free cut and stitched these based on some pictures I had of the cartoon ninja turtles.

The belts are made from some strips of brown laguna jersey: velcroed closed at the front and the felt initial circles are stitched on over the velcro.

The back shells are little backpacks made of felt. Not washable but not meant to be worn all the time either. I stitched a shell design on the green felt and then stuffed the backpacks with fiberfill stuffing and stitched them closed. I also added a piece of cardboard inside them against the back of the backpack to add some firmness to the shell.

I made the boys some masks with more jersey scraps but they’re not sure they want to wear those. Eliot completely boycotted his and Oliver only wanted to wear one for a few pics. We shall see what happens at Halloween. Masks are always a bit iffy so I didn’t spend a lot of time on them .

These crazy boys and their photoshoots… I asked them to act like Ninja Turtles and these are the poses I get! But they really love their costumes, and I’m so happy I got them finished! I have plans for a full family set of Ninja Turtles for our Halloween costume party this coming Saturday but we shall see if this very pregnant lady can manage to get the adult versions done too! At least the kids are good to go now.