Halloween in Australia has only started to gain momentum in the last eight or so years. Our shops these days stock all sorts of Halloween lollies, costumes and decorations, and the vegetable stores now sell the big fat pumpkins for us Aussies to try out pumpkin carving.

When my children were little, say 10 years ago, there wasn’t many trick or treaters walking the streets, so we didn’t decorate the house or dress up. We actually would try to hide inside on Halloween night while we ate our dinner and every now and again would curse the front door bell, “This is Australia Not America, why do they trick or treat”

Any way the kids would always ask why can’t we go trick or treating, and I would always make an excuse. It’s not safe, people don’t want you knocking on their doors and disturbing them, it’s a bit rude asking strangers for lollies.

The constant nagging eventually got to me and one year I told my husband, If you can’t beat them lets join them. I knew a lot of my eldest daughters friends wanted to go out on Halloween too but everyone thought it was unsafe, so in 2008, I organised a SAFE trick or treat halloween night. For all the children who wanted to come they would meet at our house, which we decorated, and then we would walk in a group to each of the children’s houses to receive treats from their parents. I had so much fun and the children did as well, so the halloween night became a thing. The next year we did the same SAFE halloween meet up and walk. After the second year we noticed there were a few more people decorating, and handing out lollies.

 

I started to go all out and in 2011, the kids and I made tombstones, and pumpkins out of wood. Painted them and decorated the house. We had kids and parents coming and taking photos, knocking on the door and lying on the grass pretending to be in the graves. We were the only house that went all out and decorated. Over the coming years we have seen an increase in our area with people decorating, dressing up and handing out lollies. Since 2009  we have had a steady increase of kids coming and knocking on the door. In the beginning we could count them on one hand and then to last year, where we had 80 children knock on our door, all dressed up and excitedly shouting trick or treat. This year we are hoping to get 100 smiling happy faces that we can scare while we open the door.

I always dress up, I love to dress up.

what other time of the year can you wear a red wig with devil horns, snakes and spiders around your neck. Only on Halloween, you can get away with all sorts of costumes.

This year I wanted to be little red riding hood so I thought I would attempt to make a hooded cape to wear.

But as always, I leave things to the last-minute, so with work and life I didn’t have time to go get some red material. (I was going to cut up the red christmas table cloth but thought christmas is round the corner, I just might need it) A look in the stash and I found some green cotton and some purple flannelette star material that I had found at the op shop.

I was going to be a cute green wizard.

“You’re a wizard Harry”

A quick look on the all important Pintrest and I got an idea of how to make a cape. Some were very complicated and needed patterns or darts but I thought the circle with a slit and hole in the middle idea would work just fine.

Something easy as I didn’t have much time.

Realising I didn’t have enough material for a full circle I thought a semi-circle would still work. I wasn’t confident enough to cut an accurate semi-circle but I remembered I had a found a flared skirt costume pattern from the op shop. I used the pattern to get the shape and cut one each from the purple stars and green.

 

I didn’t have a pattern for the hood so I just winged it, making sure that it would be big enough for my head in the height.

As the flannelette can stretch a bit when sewing, I used a lot of pins to hold the materials together. Sewing the cape pieces right sides together. leaving the neck open. (Also I didn’t leave an opening on the side for bagging out. I forgot so I had to unpick an opening on the side later, after I had put in the hood.)

Also….

I had to add into the side seams, up at the neck, a piece of ribbon so I could tie the cape together. I forgot, so again I had to unpick a bit and sew the ribbon in.

The hood was the next to sew and this is when I thought I could make it a reversible cape.

Cool…I could have a green cape one day and a purple cape the next. Two in one.

To do this I attached the cape in a round. green against green purple to purple right sides together. I matched the side seams and back seams and I had a bit more material so I made two little box pleats either side of the back seam on both colours.

Then I bagged everything out and top stitched around everything.

voila !!

One reversible cape.

 

It only took me a few hours, but without two cups of tea, putting on dinner, and bringing in the washing I think I could have easily made this in an hour.

I hope everyone has a great Halloween. Be safe.

What do you do for Halloween ?

Have you ever made a Halloween costume before? or are you like me and throw something together the night before?

My daughter and her friends just bought a white shirt, cut it up and put fake blood on it. Now that’s an easy make.