🎃🧢🐇 sewing my own halloween costume! aka chaotically making the newjeans bunny hat (Patreon)

Hello! 😈🧡

As Halloween approaches, I started thinking about what costume I'd like to wear this year. One idea came to me so clearly and forcefully that I immediately set to figuring out how to make it happen. It was practically obvious based on what I've been drawing, listening to, and watching:

THE iconic NewJeans OMG music video outfits. When I tell you this styling has not left my head the moment I first laid eyes on it-

I started breaking down the individual pieces I would need to put together my version of the outfit. I initially tried looking up the actual items they were wearing and quickly nixed that option when I saw a pair of pants would easily run me $500. I decided I would thrift a pair of pants and use existing items from my wardrobe for the top and accessories. All that was left was the question of the bunny hat.

Retailing for $130, the bunny hat posed an interesting dilemma: to buy or to make? $130 felt a bit steep for a hat that would only be worn for a costume and the largest deterrent to making was the task of sewing. I hadn't sewn anything in over a decade, leaving me with rusty skills and a shaky sense of confidence. It felt scary to do something hard and likely fail, but the more I sat with the idea, the more it seemed I could figure something out. A plan began to form in my mind and the next moment I made the sweeping decision to sew the hat and welcome all the ways in which this choice would inevitably change me.

The journey begins! ✂️👕

First things first, I chop off the sleeves on the hoodie I thrifted to use for fabric. The first cut is always nerve-wracking, but once it was out of the way I felt excited to take the next step.

With no pattern, no prep, and sheer delusion I dive straight into winging it, eyeballing everything as I go. Is this shape/length/size right? Only one way to find out *snip snip snip*.

Sewing shenanigans 🪡

I follow along with youtube tutorials on how to handsew and they recommend pinning the fabric together. Finding no pins in my vicinity, I opt for a cute button instead. It does the trick for the time being.

My first attempts at handsewing and tying off threads. Things look pretty shaky and I'm laser focused on my work trying to monitor my steps and make sure I'm doing things correctly.

As I progress, I realize I can use sewing needles as pins to hold the fabric together, so I do exactly that and am relieved by how much easier that makes things. Now I can actually focus on just the sewing instead of worrying every few stitches if my fabric pieces are properly aligned.

FIRST EAR COMPLETE!!! I'm proud and surprisingly tired. The ear looks a little weird, but I look past it in my excitement and move onto attaching it to the hat.

Pure, unbridled joy tinged with deliriousness of working on something for 3 hours straight.

The joys of making mistakes and learning 🧵

Using what I learned from making the first ear, I move onto prepping ear #2. Look at her, all properly pinned and what's that? An outline drawn in marker indicating where I need to sew instead of just guessing? The amount of time and energy a little bit of planning saves in the long run truly cannot be understated.

EAR #2 COMPLETE! This one turned out SO much better than the first one. A little bit too much better. It's making the first one look bad in comparison. >_>;; I contemplate remaking the first one, but am 3.5 hrs deep into sewing at this point and am too tired to even think of taking that on. I temporarily convince myself one wonky ear is fine.

Day 2 and remaking 🫡

The next day, I return with renewed vigor and decide to take on the task of remaking the first ear. Yup, it's happening.

Feeling proud and showing how my sewing has improved in just one day. So clean and neat compared to my first try. :D

REMAKE OF EAR #1 COMPLETE! Ahh, it was well worth it. I'm much happier with how this one turned out. ^_^ Now the ears are actually matching instead of looking like distant cousins.

The current state of the hat! I added some doodles with sharpie based on various designs from the members' hats. The star motifs from Hanni and Minji's hats are my favorite and I also like the heart clip from Haerin's. ^.^

Kuma was my sewing buddy during day 2. It's always nice to have a sleeping cat keep you company. ≽^•⩊•^≼

☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★ฅ/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\ฅ☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★

I learned so much making this hat and I'm so happy with how it turned out! I'm immensely proud of myself for trying something new rather than opting for the easy route of buying the hat and missing out on this experience. I realized I actually enjoy sewing, the act of which is rather therapeutic in its repetitiveness and still involves creativity and making something you get to wear or use at the end. Fashion is one of my first and most longstanding creative modes of expression and to rediscover a skill that can aid me in that area is very exciting. I have so many ideas for things I want to make and try out now that I feel comfortable with the basics of sewing, it's like a whole new world has opened up!

What are you going to be for Halloween this year? What plans do you have for the occasion? Let me know in the comments and thanks so much for reading!

As always,

Vicki

p.s.: Patreon recently released a new chat feature (I think it's only available on the app, not desktop) and I post there more regularly, like fun doodles, updates, and cat pics! it reminds me a lot of discord and is a chill lil place to say hi, so feel free to check it out if you want to see more between my longer full posts. ^^