Wonder Woman Costume

Mia is 2 this Halloween, so still a little young to pick her own costume. Johnny, my 4 year old, decided to assign her, her costume this year. Since he wanted to be Spiderman this year, she had to be a super hero too. So Wonder Woman it was.


I did a little research on existing Wonder Woman costumes out there and decided it wouldn't be that hard. A fun little t-shirt, a little tutu, crown and cuffs.....and viola!

Mia loved the finished product, and I was one happy Mama. This was so fun, and I secretly wanted one in my size.

Before I start explaining what I did, please keep in mind that not only am I new to sewing, but also to blogging and tutorials, so I may have failed to capture some crucial pictures in the excitement of getting to the next step as I was doing it. 

Ok, so I first went online and did a simple google image search of the wonder woman logo. I found a simple one in black and white and printed it out. I printed out a few different sizes to test which would be the best size for the size shirt I was making.  Then I pinned it to some yellow felt and cut it out.

 

I then drew out a pattern for a t-shirt from an existing shirt that fits her. (Pattern coming soon.) 

So you should have 2 pieces for the back and front of the shirt. Notice that the back piece has a higher scoop for the collar.

Before you start sewing the shirt pieces together, you should sew the logo on first, just makes it easier. For this step, be sure to go slow and readjust your foot as you move through curves.

 

After you finish sewing on your logo, You will need to sew the shoulders together:

With right sides of the T-shirt front and back together, line them up at the shoulders, pin, and sew them together using a straight/normal stitch and iron out your seams.

Next up is the wonder woman belt. This will be in 2 pieces. One piece for the front and for the back. So start with cutting out the belt pieces as well as a red star. I did these out of felt. The star should be sewn on first to the front belt piece and then proceed to sew the belt pieces on the t-shirt.

Sew Ribbing to Neckline

Lay the shirt open flat at the shoulders and place the folded neck ribbing over the neckline.  As you can see it’s smaller than the space it occupies.  This will make a comfy fitted neckline.
• With the raw edges of the ribbing pointed up, pin the ribbing to the raw edge of the neckline first at the center back of the t-shirt, then pin the other side of the ribbing to the center front of the neckline.
• Then stretch the ribbing with your hand so it fits around the rest of the neckline and little by little, pin the ribbing around the neckline so it’s evenly spaced.  Be liberal with the pinning. (refer to below photo)
• Sew the ribbing to the neckline using a 1/4 inch seam allowance and a ZIG ZAG stitch.  A zigzag is important here because it allows the thread to stretch with the fabric as it goes over a child’s head.
• As you sew, use your hands to stretch the ribbing slightly so there are no gathers or folds in the fabrics.  Don’t over-stretch it.  Just stretch enough so it looks taut.  It helps to hold the pins as you stretch.
• This step can be awkward with all those pins poking at you.  So remove each pin after you sew past it.
• If you do notice any gathers in the fabric after you’ve sewn, simply remove a few stitches with a seam ripper, smooth it out, and re-sew that area.
• Iron the ribbing flat at the collar. 
• For an added touch you may want to sew a top-stitch around the edge of the collar on the T-shirt fabric Do this with a zigzag as well or your stitching may break as you stretch it over a head.

Sew sleeves to the armholes.

With right sides of the fabric together, pin the middle of the sleeve curve to the middle of the armhole.   Continue pinning the sleeve down one side of the armhole to the end of the armhole.  Do this for the other side of the armhole as well…and for the other sleeve too.
Sew the sleeve to the armhole and iron out your seams.

 

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With right sides of the T-shirt together, fold the Front of the shirt over the Back of the shirt and pin down the sleeves and sides.  Start at the armpits, matching up the armhole seams.  Then pin the rest of the sleeve and then the side seams.
Starting at the end of the sleeve, sew down the sleeve, down to the armpit, and continue sewing down the side seam with a straight stitch.

Sew the hem. I fit this on Mia at this point and figured out where my hem should be. Be sure to iron your hems, so get them nice and crisp, ultimately making it easier to sew a straight line.

 

Now for the tu-tu. This couldn't be easier. I bought about 4 yards of blue tule and laid it out on the living room floor length wise. Then proceeded to fold it over 4 times width wise. Now this is a little tricky but you need to fold over an inch wide seam and pin it down as you go. This will be the pocket for the elastic. Now sew it down length wise and feed in your elastic and sew elastic together using a zig zag stich.

 

I cut out white stars from white felt and applied them to the tu-tu using a dot of hot glue.

 

Here are my munchies with their loot after a successful night of trick or treating. Success!