Just Halloween Crafts

Need to make a quick hood for a cloak or cape? Here's my DIY tutorial outlining how I made one when I was asked to make a hooded cloak in a hurry. The hardest part of making the cloak was constructing the hood for it and then attaching it onto the cape once done. This post will walk you through how to make a quick DIY costume hood without a pattern and then it will lead on to another article which will explain how you can sew it on to the cape.  It may be that you already have a plain cape like a black one which is often used at Halloween and you want to know how to make a hooded section for it. So this post with photos will explain what you need to do.

Now is the time to get crafting in earnest for Halloween because October 31st comes around so quickly every single year. I love making things from felt fabric because I find it an easy material to sew with. Bucilla, who are renowned for their wonderful applique kits, have come up with some incredible looking Halloween felt applique kits just perfect for the spook time season.  You don't need to worry about edges fraying with felt because they stay just as you cut them. It is a joy to sew with and easy to push the needle through for hand stitching because it is soft.

If you enjoy making some pretty butterfly themed crafts, having your own good template that you can use to trace around becomes pretty invaluable. To make things much quicker and easier for you, I’ve got a free design butterfly silhouette template that you can print off and use. This is for quite a large design which should fill most of a letter or A4 sheet size when you print it out. I've created plenty of simple outline shapes based on these pretty winged insects before. But never a silhouette style of design with cut-away sections on the inside of the wings. You may even be lucky to print this a much larger scale depending on your access to a suitable printer.

Wreaths can make really wonderful wall and door hangings that you can use to adorn your home come the Fall and autumnal season and also Thanksgiving. You can celebrate the occasion by taking the time to sew a pretty felt kit or by buying one to gift to a special friend. Bucilla make some really amazing looking felt applique wreath kits that contain just about all you need to make some wonderfully intricate and detailed decorations.   The instructions are normally pretty detailed and, should you get stuck, there are always helpful YouTube videos and pages online that can aid you with certain stitches and finishing details too. I found a couple of sets here which are just ideal for the Fall season.

Making your own wreaths for occasions such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fall, birthdays and other events and themes is really easy once you understand how it is that you can tie or attach the tulle netting fabric to your base or frame. No matter which style of base you have for your handmade wreath – the basic principle of tying your tulle strips on remains exactly the same. You’ll learn how this is done with these step by step photos below. Your base can be as simple and inexpensive as a circle frame cut from a thick piece of cardboard (packaging such as Amazon boxes make a nice, sturdy choice) or they might be a wire frame that you’ve made yourself or bought ready-made or even a styrofoam one.

Love butterfly crafts? Why not make some fun no-sew hanging butterflies as decorations for Halloween. Make one larger statement piece or make lots in smaller sizes to dot around a room. I've made this hanging butterfly in a bright pumpkin orange felt fabric overlapped onto dark gray with a black body section. Also try combinations with purple and green wings for colors that work well with this occasion. This makes for a fun hanging decoration that can be suspended from a ceiling or archway as if in flight or hung flat down a wall. They also make great motifs too for other craft projects. 

My daughter needed a cloak for a school event and rather than go out and buy one I decided to make my own. I had a large piece of old green and gold curtain fabric that was ideal to use for this project. Without having any pattern to follow, making the cloak all came down to measurements and guesswork but we got there in the end. Follow my post so you can see how to sew a cloak without having a pattern too. This post explains how I made the hooded cloak from start to finish. Hopefully you will find this useful if you need to make up a DIY one in a hurry yourself. I worked out how it was done so you don't have to.

So you've rustled up a quick hood for a costume (tutorial provided in this post if needs be) and now you may be wondering how on earth you sew it to a cape to make a hooded cloak. This photo tutorial gives you a good guide on how to attach a hood onto a cape or cloak which has no fancy extras such as lining. You'll see how I did it with photos provided. Not everyone wants to go to the time, bother and extra fabric expense to line a costume or dress up cloak when it may only be worn a few times for Halloween. I certainly didn't. Here's how it is done.

Tulle wreaths are easy for most people to have a go at making and they can be made in a matter of hours too. See how easy it is to make a tulle wreath for Halloween that you can display. This fabric is a stiffer netting which makes it ideal since it will stand vertically and not just flop down as most fabrics would. It's ideal to use this netting for any decorations that you will use certainly indoors.  Tulle can be used outdoors on a fine day but remember to bring it inside overnight as damp will not benefit it at all. You are better off using a unique and much stiffer material called Deco Mesh for items that you want to place outdoors and that's because it's more weatherproof.

No longer seen as an old fashioned craft, pom poms are very much back in vogue and are perfect for so many crafts and decorations. Pom poms are now also made from fabric and tulle netting which is pretty modern and cutting edge. Wands that you want to make for kid's dressing up and for Halloween costume accessories look especially good topped off with tulle netting or satin fabric pom poms. Tulle is fun but satin fabric versions have a gorgeous silky sheen and a really raggedy shabby chic style which works brilliantly for a witch wand.  Today I'm making one in purple and black witch themed colors. You can change the styling up to make different versions for fairies, princesses, wizards and many other magical beings. It's quick, fun and easy which is just the kind of craft I like best of all!

Pumpkins make a really cute motif for the Fall season. You can turn this widely recognized design into a really cute little pumpkin trick or treat bag that kids can carry around this Halloween. This is an easy and inexpensive sewing project made using craft felt and you can either sew it by hand or use a sewing machine which is quicker and makes stronger seams to hold all the candy or loot. If you're new to sewing and wondering whether you will be able to make a bag - you can. This is a simple, beginner project so more experienced sewers will find it a breeze. You can make this pattern as small or large as you like.