COSTUMES: PART ONE

It all starts with a sketch.

In honour of Halloween month, I thought that I should share some of my secrets to crafting great costumes. Each Monday in October, I’ll deliver a breakdown of one of the three key elements in the costume-making process. In the final installment of this series, I’ll take you through the entire process of making my own costume for this Halloween from start to finish.

I have been gatekeeping my costume-making process for decades now because I take enormous, outsize pride in the intricacy of my own costumes. I have been crafting costumes for myself since I was barely old enough to wield a pair of scissors—scroll all the way to the end for evidence of this.

But now the scourge of crappy plastic costumes upon this earth has finally grown too much for me to bear! The gatekeeping must end! Not to mention, the nights I spend sketching, sewing, and glueing every October are one of the deepest sources of joy in my year, and I hope this brings a bit of the same to you.