diy / halloween ninja turtle costume

michelangelo 

(with batman socks-- its always a toss up between batman and ninja turtles.)

raphael

this years halloween costume was chosen by lincoln. i started on this costume in the beginning of october.. and at that time, i didn't know if baby julius would be trick or treating or in my belly still.

i was able to make julius' costume pretty quickly since i already had all the materials.

it looks like a lot of pieces, but its very little sewing. 

materials:

- white shirt & leggings (or one piece)

- green dye

- 1 yard of yellow fabric for the belly

- fiberfill stuffing / poly fill 

- 1/2 yard of your color ninja turtle (in this case i had some orange and red fabric) 

- 2 yards of pleather or a thick brown material

- black permanent marker

- glue gun 

- plastic weapon.. if desired.. lincoln's nun-chuck goes on his belt. 

1. start by dying your white fabric. if you can find a good shade of green shirt and leggings then go for it, but i really like how the die looks like turtle skin. 

2. once the fabric is dyed and dry, cut out a yellow belly oval. sew this onto the front. sew around the oval leaving about 2 inches open, fill with stuffing.. not too full, but try and make it even throughout. sew the 2 inches closed. then to make the "turtle 6-pack" you just sew a line down the middle, and then two horizontal. 

3. to make the shell, you want a bigger oval than the belly, you want the shell to be a little bigger than the back so it can stick out. i did the leather / pleather shell two different ways for the boys. for lincoln's i cut two ovals and put stuffing in the middle and "tacked" it on the back of the shirt by sewing them together at the top and sides. for julius' i just sewed one leather circle to the back. and then drew the shell's detail lines with permanent marker. 

4. the belt was made using a strip of the pleather and creating the turtles initial and layering, using a glue gun to glue it all together. then the belt was glued to the shell in the back. (make sure your belt is big enough to go over your kids head but tight enough not to sag) 

5. a few strips of the color fabric were cut. one for a mask, which i measured where lincoln's eyes were and cut out holes. julius got a green knot hat and i just tied his mask to the hat. extra strips were rapped around the elbows and knees to replicate the turtles arm and knee guards. 

the boys loved being turtles. lincoln is realizing how fun and amazing halloween is. super heroes and costumes everywhere. he can't believe his eyes. dress up might be a big thing around here.