Both costumes are worn in front of the body and on the head. To ensure that the costume won’t fall off or be uncomfortable for your child, you need to spend some time trying it on him or her before finalizing the center hole. This is probably the most time-consuming part. You don’t need a sewing machine, but it does help when you have to sew the main seam. Hand stitching works well, too.

CARROT

Supplies:

• 1 1/2 yards of orange material
• ½ yard of dark green material
• Needle and orange thread
• Dark orange yarn
• Poly-fil stuffing

Instructions:

The Main Section of Carrot:
First, measure your child’s height from his chin to his feet. Then measure your child’s head from the top of his forehead to the bottom of his chin. You want the lower section of the carrot to be about down to your child’s ankles or feet. Once you have those measurements, lay the 1 1/2 yards of fabric on the floor or large table and fold it in half length-wise. The 1 ½ yards equals about 54 inches, so you need to determine where your child’s head will poke out from the hole in the costume. Draw a half circle on the fold of the fabric, indicating where your child’s head will be.

Next, draw what will look like a banana or crescent moon shape on the fabric, making the widest part of the curve placed in the center of the folded fabric. Next draw a horizontal line half way from the hole to the top of the fabric. Do not cut these lines just yet. You need to make ties for the headpiece. Because the headpiece will be tall on your child’s head, and the costume will hang from the front of his body, you need to leave two long pieces of fabric attached by the head-hole (see diagram).

Picture your child’s head poking out from the hole and then draw where the top tie should be. The top tie will go around the back of the head and tie at the base of the neck. Then, draw the bottom tie that goes under the child’s arms and ties behind the back.

Once you’ve decided where the ties go, you will notice that after you cut away the rest of the material, you have what looks like a crescent moon with a flat top and with two long strips coming from the back of it. Go ahead and cut away the extra fabric.

Sew the bottom seam along the curve until you reach the first tie strap. Next, sew the top part of the carrot, starting at the corner and moving along the straight edge, then down to the tie strap. Then, pull the bottom of the carrot and the top of the carrot inside out so your seams are inside.

It’s time to stuff the bottom section of the carrot. Fill it until it is firm enough to hold a shape, but soft enough to mold. You don’t want a lot of weight in this costume. Once you’ve finished stuffing, sew the top of this section up. For added strength, sew a 2-inch strip of leftover material all the way around the top of the lower carrot segment (see pea pod picture).</</P>

The Carrot Fibers:
Carrot fibers are the stringy thread-like lines that run horizontally along the full part of the carrot. Thread your needle with the yarn. Starting at one side of the carrot, stitch a knot and then lay the yarn over the carrot until you are at the other side. Stitch the yarn into the other side, pulling the yarn so it indents the stuffing. Tie this piece off and start again about an inch below it. Stagger your lines so it looks more natural, and leave some yarn hanging from the sides every couple of rows.

The Carrot Top:</ P> Now you can finish the top carrot section. Before you can stuff it, you need to make the green carrot top. Take the green material and cut it into 3-inch wide strips. They shouldn’t be all the same length. Then sew them onto the top of the head section.

Time to stuff the head section! Because you don’t want stuffing coming out of the top of the costume, you can fill a light pillowcase with the stuffing desired and then place it inside the top segment. Be sure not to stuff the carrot top too tight, or it will be difficult for your child to hold all that weight on his or her head.

Put your child’s face through the opening and tie the straps to see if everything fits. You may need to cut a bigger hole in the costume if it sags over your child’s eyes.