Raise your hand if you are knee deep in Girl Scouts.... Yep, apparently I am.
Below is my project from last weekend. Cookie costumes for the girls to wear at cookie booths. Four costumes for $15.00 YEP!
I started by searching Pinterest. Surprisingly, I didn't like anything I saw. Either too ugly, too complicated, too simple... Nothing I went, yeah, that's it. So, I took components of some and came up with the other ideas myself.
I started with some sketches. I knew if I was making one, I was making a bunch as they would be easiest doing all at one time instead of over the course of time. So, I planned for three. A thin mint, thanks-a-lot, and caramel delites!
Supplies needed:
two rolls of 9 feet green satin ribbon
white puffy paint
1.5 yard fusible two sided interfacing- heavy duty
20 inches cream felt (from a bolt)*
20 inches tan felt (from a bolt)*
36 inches of dark brown felt (from a bolt)*
8 inches red felt (from a bolt)*
8 inches of black felt (from a bolt)*
8 inches of white felt (from a bolt)*
brown thread
JoAnn coupons!
*felt was on sale for $2.99/yard
Items not at the store:
pins
sewing machine
iron
towel
scissors- good fabric scissors
hot glue
rando piece of cardboard
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| My cart. I was dropping bolts everywhere! |
One of the things I dislike most on the costumes on Pinterest were the size or structure. They were either too big- who the hell wants to store that. Or too flimsy- oh look, that little girl is wearing a poop costume. Yuck. I decided that 16 inch diameter circles with a backing and ribbons to hang around necks (like a giant necklace) would be easy, not too big to store, and hold their structure while the girls wear them and still sling cookie boxes.
My patterns below. Patterns needed:
16 inch diameter circle
18 inch diameter circle
eyes
pupils/thanks-a-lot circles
lips
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| Nothing special. Just hand drawn pieces. Eyelashes* were a must. |
*Note if using fusible webbing. Make sure you fuse right sides of eyelashes. They are the only pieces not symmetrical so it matters which side you use the fusible on. You need a pair of lashes not all the same way.
Once the patterns were made I started cutting felt. The 16 inch circles are for the backs and the interfacing. The 18 inch circles are for the fronts. The faces are self explanatory. I cut an extra 16 inch dark circle for the front of the caramel delites to made the squiggles. Also, I used 14 pupil circles for the circles for the Thanks-a-Lot. I cut everything I needed. I ended up having enough felt for a fourth cookie. Welcome, Mrs. Peanut Butter Patties!
*specific parts for each cookie listed at bottom of post.
Here's where I took a left turn. I had so much interfacing left that I decided to abort my original plan to sew on all the felt pieces and used the interfacing instead. Had this been my original plan, I would have bought the applique type of interfacing for this. All I had was the heavy-duty. It worked fine but it is thick. Seeing a bit of the white under the face pieces wasn't enough for me to make another run to the store!
So, I used the interfacing to get all the faces onto the 18 inch circles. I ironed the pieces onto the fusible then cut them out.
Next, I moved onto the ribbons. Everything I saw on Pinterest had cut out felt letters. Who has time for that? #threekidproblems I opted for puffy paint. I cut the ribbons with two inches on each side when I like where they were placed. I like uniformity, so all the ribbons went in the same place on each cookie. That's how I roll! Then I wrote the cookies' names on each ribbon in the puffy paint. I free handed it with different fonts for each cookie type. Then I let the ribbons dry over night.
As they dried, I put the cookies together. I made sandwiches. The 18 inch circle was the face, interfacing centered inside face and then 16 inch felt on back. The finishing is coming. I promise.
Day Two- After the puffy paint is dry!
I used hot glue to adhere the ribbons onto the fronts. I glued in a zig zag hoping it be harder for the girls to pick at. I scrounged up a piece of cardboard for the fourth unplanned Peanut Butter Patty. It would totally work with just cardboard on the inside and not the fusible webbing but I doubt they would last many years...
Next came sewing them together. Using a technique for sewing a circles including notching every twoish inches out a triangle of fabric, I sewed the two inch lip that is left from the 18 inch circle around to the back. Felt doesn't fray so you don't have to worry about hemming. I did hem the ribbon ends and then tuck up under the felt on the back side. I like using the dark brown thread. Even on the lighter cookies. The accent color didn't bother me and I HATE replacing the bobbin thread! (The cardboard cookie got hot glued.. it won't last long but looks good for now!)
Last step is the shoulder straps (ribbon). I simply took the ribbon I had left and cut into 8 same size pieces. I used a lighter to quickly melt the ends to help stop them from fraying. If any piece of the costume is going to fail, it will be these ribbons. They may fall off if a girl snags the cookie or is rough on it. Or the ends may fray or get dirty looking. Knowing this, I purposely put them on last as they would be really easy to seam rip off and replace. I just put them at about 10:00 and 2:00 on the back of the cookie facing straight up (parallel). I sewed through them following the seam I just used to close the cookie but I left about 3 inches out in the direction towards the center of the cookies. I hot glued these pieces down to give a bit more support.
That was it. The girls will just tie them around their necks and be done!
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| My favorite Girl Scout! |
*Specific parts for each cookie listed below:
Caramel Delites:
1 tan 18 inch diameter felt circle
1 tan 16 inch diameter felt circle
1 dark brown 16 inch diameter felt circle
1 16 inch circle double sided fusible stabilizer
5 feet green ribbon
1 mouth
two eyes
two eyelashes
two pupils
fusible webbing for all felt parts
Thin Mint:
1 dark brown 18 inch diameter felt circle
1 dark brown 16 inch diameter felt circle
1 16 inch circle double sided fusible stabilizer
5 feet green ribbon
1 mouth
two eyes
two eyelashes
two pupils
fusible webbing for all felt parts
Thank-a-Lot:
1 cream 18 inch diameter felt circle
1 cream 16 inch diameter felt circle
1 16 inch circle double sided fusible stabilizer
5 feet green ribbon
1 mouth
two eyes
two eyelashes
two pupils
14 tan pupil size circles
fusible webbing for all felt parts
Peanut Butter Patties:
1 dark brown 18 inch diameter felt circle
1 tan 16 inch diameter felt circle (I ran out of dark brown. It's only for the back. No one will notice!)
1 10x10 inch piece of tan for bite of peanutbutter
1 16 inch circle double sided fusible stabilizer
(or 16 inch cardboard circle!)
5 feet green ribbon
1 mouth
two eyes
two eyelashes
two pupils
fusible webbing for all felt parts
Happy cookie slinging!
See more mommy sewing projects:
Thanks Santa- Baby Alive Diapers here!
