10 Go-to Hacks for Last Minute Halloween Costumes
Costume season is upon us, and we’re guessing this weekend might have you heading to costume stores, thrift shops and the closet of your friend with way too many clothes. Before you get stressed about spending tons of time and money, we’ve got 10 must-know style hacks for killing it in the last minute costume department.
Adhesive Polka Dots
Need polka dots in a jiffy? Grab a pack of VELCRO Brand Sticky Back Coins and you can add them to any garment in a matter of minutes. Best of all, you can take them off when you’re done!
2. Hair Chalk: For a temporary pop of hair color, grab a hair chalk kit or regular old chalk and add a few streaks to your mane. Use hair spray to set the chalk, and then rinse it out with shampoo after you’ve taken a sufficient number of selfies.
Maxi Skirt
A maxi skirt is not only versatile for everyday use, but happens to make a great costume base for Halloween. For this set of costumes, we turned the red skirt project for our Sewing 101 E-Class into four totally different costumes. Just add in a few key accessories and you’re good to go.
4. Hot Glue Hems: Forget the sewing machine — Halloween costumes are all about the hot glue hem. Use it to hem up too-long skirts and pants, to totally change the shape of a dress or to attach other pieces of fabric to an existing garment. It will definitely last all night, or even all weekend if you’re going for a Halloweekend bender.
5. iPad Belly: Still have no idea what to be? Get your iPad involved. Cut a hole in a shirt and use glue to attach the edges of an iPad case to the shirt so you can easily pop your iPad in and out. What you display on the iPad is entirely up to you — if you’re an expecting mama, a sonogram is pretty adorable. Other options could be: a magic 8 ball; intestines and gory inside-your-stomach things; a jukebox and more.
6. Mylar FTW: Mylar is a really awesome material for making party decorations, but you can also make wearable decor! In this case, we turned a trio of shiny mylar rosettes into a headband fit for a flapper.
7. Monogram It: The ’80s and ’90s called — they want their style back! If you’re going for a little #TBT action this Halloween, there’s a chance you’ll need a jean jacket that is funky, fresh and personalized for you. No need to channel your grandma’s embroidery skills — to create these monogrammed jackets we spray painted flat back studs, and then glued them right on! Done and done.
8. Glitter + Mod Podge: The best way to add glitter to a garment is NOT glitter fabric paint. Okay okay, glitter fabric paint is fine if you want something that is washable, but the combo of glitter and Mod Podge is definitely the best. Mix up glitter into your Mod Podge, then paint it onto your shoe, jacket or garment. Then press more glitter into that, and layer again with Mod Podge.
9. Fabric-Tac: Another genius no-sew technique is a trusty bottle of Fabric-Tac. This lets you easily bond trim and fabric to fabric without tons of mess or equipment needed. It’s best to let things set overnight. We used this to create this blinged out collar t-shirt — we think you could do a whole bunch of cool t-shirt-based costumes using a similar method.
10. Feather Boa Wig: And finally, put a boa on it! It’s super easy to turn a feather boa into a wig in under an hour, and who really needs a costume when you have a giant pile of feathers on your head?
