These veggies are so adorable, you’ll want to plop your child in the garden for a few photos before you go trick-or-treating! Both costumes can be a little time-consuming, but are well worth the effort. The cost for materials is minimal and you can re-use the costume or sell it to a costume or re-sale shop when you’re done!

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.

PEA POD

Supplies:

• 1 1/2 yards of green material
• ½ yard of light green nylon or spandex material (has to stretch)
• Needle and green thread
• 1 square of dark green felt
• 2 green pipe cleaners (chenille stems)
• Poly-fil stuffing

Instructions:

The Pod:
First, measure your child’s height from her chin to her feet. Then measure your child’s head from the top of her forehead to the bottom of her chin. You want the lower section of the pea pod 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. 1 ½ yards is 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. Do not cut this line just yet. You need to make ties for the headpiece. Because the head piece 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 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 strip. Next, sew the top part of the pea pod from the corner to the top of the upper tie strap. Then, pull the bottom of the pea pod and the top of the pea pod inside out so your seams are inside.

The Peas:
The peas are very easy to make if you are using spandex or nylon. First, draw three very large circles on the fabric (they should be about the size of dinner plates). Cut these out. Next, gather the edges and sew them together fairly loosely, leaving a hole large enough to cram stuffing into with a wooden spoon. Fill the peas until they are about the size of a small cantaloupe. Stitch the rest and pull the stitches together to form a tight gather at the back of the pea.

After you’ve made your peas, you need to sew them to the costume. Space them evenly, and then stitch them into place. Be sure they won’t come off if someone pulls on them. If you want, you can gather the sides of the pod material around the peas, so they look like they are embedded into the pod (see picture).

Once the peas are attached, it’s time to stuff the bottom section of the pod. 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 left over material all the way around the top of the lower pod segment (see picture).

Now you can finish the top pod 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 pod too tight, or it will be difficult for your child to hold all that weight on his or her head.

The final touch is to cut out a leaf shape from the felt square and sew it and some curled pipe cleaner to the top of the pea pod. 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.