Before I had kids, I was sure that I'd be the kind of mother who sewed all her kids' Halloween costumes. Now that I'm actually a parent, I can't believe that I've sewn even one such costume. Here it is!
Simplicity 0733 gets good reviews from Pattern Review and deserves them. The two suggestions from reviewers are both spot-on: shorten the skirt and cape lengths by at least 5" (even on my tall girl) and line the bodice (I didn't, and my daughter refused to put the dress on from the very first, shaking-with-excitement moment until we located a suitable t-shirt to wear beneath it). The appliqués at the end seem ridiculously fussy but they were super-easy, especially if you only do a few instead of the full dozen or so they suggest. Just remember that you're going to shorten the cape before you start fusing those suckers on. I skipped the part about fabric-painting the edges of the appliqués and suffered no ill effects.
Since I mostly sew with organic cotton knits, this was a really fun change of scenery. So much sparkle! So much bang for the buck! The zipper was a slippery disaster of puckers but everything else was a breeze.
If you're shopping for these fabrics at JoAnn or another big chain store as I did, I recommend pushing beyond the Frozen fabric display area and heading to the dress fabrics section. You will save 50% or more per yard: for example, the bodice fabric on display in the front of the shop was $25/yard but in the back I found something similar for $10/yard. You do really need 4 fabrics and 2 trims, but you can buy a lot less of the appliqué fabric if you know you're going to whittle down the number of appliqués. For the full allowance of each fabric, I spent $30 on supplies (not including pattern or zipper).
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