As an adult, I like costumes to be unique, so this year I made Buddy a Lego Ninjago Green Ninja costume and his friend is Kai, the red ninja. I am still working on lego hands, but in a pinch $1 mittens from the Joann's are a suitable substitute. If I had time to do it over, I would choose something other than felt to work with. Felt was super easy to sew and insert the boning into, but it pills easily just from normal wear and really badly when I applied the paint. Ideally, I would've like to work with some cotton backed with foam (has structure and easy to paint). Aside from the hands, I will probably add some more elastic to the bottom of the shoe covers. I think that's it for the sewing.
Here are some detail shots. Sorry for the poor quality. This is the semi-action pose of Buddy as the Green Ninja. Apparently, when they get to be this age, it is hard to get them to do any normal kind of pose or smile.
I made the mask sightly big on purpose. Though a tight fitting mask might looks more realistic, it is not nearly as breathable and cuts down on your visibility (bad for trick-or-treating). The silver detail is made using puffy paint, which the boy likes because he thinks it looks like metal. I should have sewn it, but I was lazy. I have this nice pleathery silver remnant I picked up from the fabric store a while back that would have been perfect.
Details are hand painted using fabric paint and a foam brush or drawn on with a Crayola fabric marker. In hindsight, I should have made a stencil, then applied the paint. And that thing sticking out of the neck is the ninja weapon he made from straws and tape. My boy LOVES tape.
Thanks to buddy for this shot. Boots, mask, pants, and vest. That's pretty much the homemade portion of the outfit. I bought a green sweatshirt (thank goodness all the ninjas are primary or combination of primary colors.) for $5 from Target that is worn under the vest.
