Halloween Costume Contest 2002 Back to Index Oswald the Octopus Entry by Kelli Benson

"Hello,
I saw your contest, and since I spent so much thought and time on my son's costume, I thought I'd enter and at least share my creation. My son is 2 1/2 and he loves the Nickelodeon cartoon Oswald the Octopus. I have never really sewn before, (buttons and small tears here and there), and it was just two weeks before Halloween when I started so I knew this would be a challenge. The fabric I used was felt. (Felt by the yard for the body and then felt squares for all the rest). I did not know how I was going to make the round so I bought the Simplicity pattern for the pumpkin (#5846). I did not know of a pattern for the rest, so it was up to me to figure out. I just cut out pieces from the felt to form Oswald's legs. I then stuffed them with fiber-fill and inserted part of a hanger that I had straightened with wire cutters into each leg so they could bend in different directions. Then I ended up hand sewing all 4 legs on by hand. The other four legs would be my son's arms and legs, which I found a perfect matching color turtle neck and pajama bottoms from a thrift store. I ended up sewing the pant bottoms to a point, but leaving the arms open so my son could still hold onto things. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to stuff it, especially when my son would want it on and off. I decided to sew the neck of the turtleneck to the top of the inside of the round and the bottom of the shirt to the bottom inside of the round and stuffed between the two with fiber-fill. With felt squares, I also made by hand, Oswald's friends, Daisy, Henry and Weenie."