Handmade Lalaloopsy Doll Costume

Hi! If you found this post from the Costume Blog Hop at Really Awesome Costumes, Thanks for stopping by! If you found me some other way, click on over after reading this post for 80+ Halloween costume ideas!

I’m teaming up with Jamie Dorobek and her handmade Halloween costume site, Really Awesome Costumes to bring y’all tons of easy ideas to craft up DIY Halloween costumes for everyone including your pets, family costumes, and even a trunk or treat idea!

Beyond holiday decorating, I love to sew; so when Halloween comes around, it’s a perfect storm of all things “Jenny.” The sweatshop opens and I spend late nights after the kids are asleep sewing and crafting and watching endless episodes of “Law and Order” to the point of delirium.

Today I’m sharing costumes that I made for my two girls a couple of Halloweens ago. They were just in LOVE with LaLaLoopsy Dolls at the time (Anna and Elsa have since stolen their hearts), so I made them these fun costumes to wear for trick-or-treating.

The costumes became one of their all-time favorites right away! The dresses hung around the toy box for dress-up until they could barely button them closed and the wigs still get used now and then. They also came in handy for a Madhatter tea party we attended the following spring, fitting right in with the whimsical theme of the party.

For the dresses, I simply googled images of the LaLaLoopsy Dolls and tried to get a feel for each of the characters’ outfits. I tried to keep the fabric patterns whimsical and fun. I chose polka dot pink and yellow gingham on the main body of the dresses. Plenty of ruffles, lace, and pom-pom trim too.

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For the actual pattern, I used a couple of my girls’ existing dresses and copied the bodices to make a pattern. Wasn’t sure how to make those poofy princess sleeves so I googled that as well (what would I do without the internet?!) . Check out my LaLaLoopsy Pinterest board for a catalog of inspiration.

Ava went as “Jewel Sparkles.”

Lyla was “Sugar Crumb Cookie.”

I loved the pom-pom trim and big yellow bow on the front of the dress! I was able to find striped socks in Target’s $1 section to go with the outfit. Lyla already had a pair of striped legwarmers to go with her dress.

I know some people are really creeped out by these dolls and their big dark button eyes that resemble some sort of black hole of death, but I just saw the cute stitches and silly hair and was smitten.

For the girls’ makeup, I gave them light pink cheeks with acrylic paint I had on hand and winged out some eyeliner for fun looking doll lashes. No black eyes!

The wigs!

The wigs were a last minute do or die moment of desperation. It all started with my extreme frugality. I had used coupons at Joann’s on the fabric and had each dress done for around $20, then when I went looking for the wigs, I about crapped my pants when I saw the prices. They cost more than the dresses! So, I started to improvise on how I could make my own.

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I found a tutorial online by Athena at The Owlchemist that used plastic mesh tubing covered in yarn and thought that looked pretty close to the real thing. So, off I rushed to craft store in a frenzy the day before Halloween to find mesh tubing. I searched high and low for the tubing to no avail, and finally had to scrap that idea.

By the way, it’s everywhere. I see it EVERYWHERE now. Michael’s has it on practically every endcap of every aisle of seasonal decor. Go figure.

After giving up on that one, I tried to glue yarn on a nylon stocking, Cabbage Patch Doll-style.

That was horrid. Much like the eighties. Too Raggedy Ann for me.

We attended a trunk-or-treat that evening and used it in a pinch while one daughter got spray on hair color.

Shame on me! I couldn’t handle it. I’m sure it’s just fine for the 99%, but I’m a neurotic perfectionist when it comes to these things.

That evening I went home trying to figure out how to make spiral shaped hair when an image much like this guy popped into my head:

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Remember these? I don’t because I wasn’t born yet, but I’m pretty sure these are why clowns scare the hell out of people. They are right up there with crocheted toilet roll covers. Every once in a while, I come across one at Goodwill and shudder for a second.

Anyway, there is so much to be learned from old crochet patterns. I was thinking the crochet curlicues those legs are made out of would be just the thing to make LaLaLoopsy curls.

So, I started my wig with a basic beanie hat pattern. I crocheted in a coil using a size J hook, single crochet stitches, increasing the pattern to accomodate my kids’ head size (There is an awesome hat size reference chart on my pinterest board). When the top of the cap was large enough to cover the crown of their head (Luckily, I had the girls close and could just have them come in while I fit it to their head), I just winged it and started stitching in various directions to create a “hair-like” effect.

Think plastic Ken Doll heads. I wanted a yarn helmet of hair.

I stitched back and forth across the back so the hat started to look like a mullet, then stitched a quarter round circle pattern over each side to cover the ears. Here is an extremely crude rendition of the inner workings of my brain:

For Ava’s wig (light pink), I made vertical stitches across the front to make bangs. I used a darker pink and made a little crown out of chain stitches, then weaved some wire in there to give it stability. For Lyla’s wig, I did a few extra rows on one side of the curved sections so they would meet and the wig looks like the hair is parted to one side.

Then came the coils. I made coils ranging from 20 to 40 stitches long. There are about 6-10 on each hat. The really long ones are tacked on in a few places, while the shorter ones are just attached at the top so they can hang nicely.

I finished Ava’s wig the night before Halloween then woke up early on Halloween morning to make Lyla’s. Hers was ready about a half hour before we left to go trick-or-treating. No rest for Mom!

This is why I never have tutorials for these things.

I like to live life flying by the seat of my pants!

That’s it! Wish I had a step by step of the entire process, but I made the dresses in a couple of days and just forgot all about it. I hope you will find them inspiring for your little dolls this Halloween!

And now it’s time for tons more DIY Halloween costume inspiration! Join in on the BLOG HOP! Click on the links below each collage to get the detailed instructions about how to make the costume pictured, just like mine above. Don’t forget to follow the Handmade Halloween Costumes Pinterest Board for even more DIY costume greatness!

1. Handmade Baby Hamburger Costume 2. DIY Baby Game Boy Costume 3. DIY Minecraft Steve Costume 4. Football Brothers Halloween Costumes with DIY Pads and Onesie 5. Star Trek Halloween Costume for Kids 6. A Bee and Her Keeper 7. No Sew Magician Costume 8. Flint Lockwood Costume 9. Pinocchio 10. Marty McFly 11. Princess Wedding Dress Costume 12. Handmade Lalaloopsy Doll Costume 13. Homemade Toothless Costume 14. DIY Mermaid For Less Than $20 (No-Sew Option) 15. Easy Tinker Bell Costume 16. Mario and Luigi Go Kart Costumes 17. Dog The Bounty Hunter and Beth 18. Family Monsters University Costumes 19. Scooby Doo family costumes 20. DIY Storm Cloud Costume

21. Cheap and Easy DIY Spider Costume 22. Easy Tin Man Costume 23. No Sew Bee Costume 24. Planet Halloween Costumes 25. DIY Cheshire Cat Costume 26. DIY Instagram Board 27. Elsa crown 28. Dog Collar Ruffles 29. DIY Pineapple Baby Costume 30. DIY Lego Movie Costume 31. Weeping Angel Costume 32. Disney Planes Costume: Dipper 33. Easy Pirate Costume 34. Easy Costume Idea – Renaissance Girl 35. 10 Minute Homemade Jellyfish Costume 36. DIY Cat Costume 37. Lucy And Ricky Costumes 38. Easy Frozen Costumes 39. Easy Greek Goddess Costume 40. DIY Family Willy Wonka Costumes

41. DIY No Sew Maleficent Costume 42. No Sew Pineapple Halloween Costume 43. Graveyard Bean Bag Toss: Trunk or Treat Car Costume 44. DIY Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Costumes 45. DIY Raccoon Costume with Printable Mask 46. Easy WildStyle Lego Movie Costume 47. Simple Hello Kitty Costume 48. No Sew Minnie Mouse Costume 49. DIY Inspector Gadget and Penny Costumes 50. DIY Frozen Elsa Dress Baby Edition 51. Fairy Princess Dog Costume 52. DIY Hashtag Halloween Costume 53. Toddler or Baby Egg Costume 54. Easy No Sew Olaf Costume 55. DIY Baymax Costume 56. DIY Tooth Fairy Costume 57. Baby Short Stack Pancake Costume 58. Elephant and Piggie Halloween Costumes 59. Instagram Halloween Costume 60. Peter Pan & Mr. Smee Halloween Costume

61. Wildstyle Costume from the Lego Movie 62. Fred and Wilma Couples Costume 63. Viking Family Costumes 64. DIY Cruella de Vil Costume for a child 65. Disney Frozen Olaf Halloween Treat Bucket 66. How to Make a Minecraft Steve Head 67. DIY Harry Potter Costume 68. DIY Duck Dynasty Costumes 69. No Sew Cupcake Baker Halloween Costume 70. DIY Skunk Mask 71. Ghostbusters Proton Pack DIY 72. Frozen Anna Costume Tutorial 73. Candy Corn Costume 74. Paw Patrol Halloween Costume 75. No Sew Toothless Dragon Costume 76. DIY Robot Costume 77. Wonder Woman Costume 78. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Costume 79. Thrifted Gentleman Spy DIY Halloween Costume 80. DIY Boy Garden Gnome Costume 81. Group Costume: Bob Ross, Happy Tree, & Squirrel 82. DIY Blues Brothers Costumes 83. Snow White Costume 84. Peacock Princess Costume 85. Scarecrow Costume 86. Easy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Costume 87. Handmade Teddy Bear Costume 88. Princess Elsa and the Spy Kid 89. DIY Baby Koala costume

What handmade costume ideas did you love the most?! Be sure to click over to get the costume instructions, pin the costume, and let them know you love it! Also, follow the Handmade Halloween Costume board on Pinterest!

Follow Jamie Dorobek {C.R.A.F.T.}’s board “Handmade Halloween Costumes” on Pinterest.

Check out my DIY Halloween Yard Sign if you are looking for some spooky yard decor too:

5 Comments

Alexis Middleton says:

September 27, 2014 at 3:39 PM

The hats are PERFECT! So cute!
Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke says:

September 27, 2014 at 4:46 PM

So so so so cute! Just pinned, my daughter LOVES lalaloopseys, we had a party a few years ago around it!
Sarah Nenni-Daher says:

September 27, 2014 at 10:21 PM

Such a wonderfully creative (and easy) set of costumes! Stopping by from the hop (#14 mermaid). Pinned this to share!
Mariah says:

September 28, 2014 at 8:48 PM

Darling, I love the hair it definitely makes the costumes that much cuter!
Cinda says:

October 20, 2014 at 3:25 AM

These are so cute! My friend found these on pinterest and asked me if could make them for her. I have a few questions. Could you email me so that I can ask questions about your pattern, Thanks!<br />cinda.krause@gmail.com

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