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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Thursday, October 29, 2009 12:00 PM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Erin Pitt, Burlington, paints a “Batman” insignia onto a belt Monday morning. The belt will be part of her son’s Halloween costume. Pitt has been making costumes for her children for 13 years. “My kids would rather have a costume I’ve made than anything else,” Pitt said.

Mom has halloween costumes all sewn up

Create your own

By RACHEL HAWKINS, Herald Staff Writer

Erin Pitt likes things that are simple and do not cost extra money. She likes things that allow her and her children to be creative.

That’s why she makes their Halloween costumes each year.

“It just gives the kids a chance to be unique,” she said.

Pitt, a former Ottawa resident who lives in Burlington, said they make costumes out of things they find from around the house as a way to save money. One year, one of her sons wanted to be a puppy dog so they took an old gray sweatshirt and turned it inside out. They made a tail, ears and spots and pinned them on.

“That’s part of the fun of it,” she said. “And it doesn’t take any extra money.”

With the economy the way it is today, Pitt says making Halloween costumes is the way to go this year.

“All you have to do is come up with the idea,” she said.

This year, Pitt’s 7-year-old son told her he wanted to be Batman and Robin Hood.

“I just found a pattern and went with it,” she said. “It’s going to be black, red and yellow. And he gets to help with it, which is the fun part.”

She enjoys making Halloween costumes, but Pitt has worked on several other sewing projects in the past. This year, she made several gypsy costumes for the color guard at Burlington High School.

“I had a week to make them all,” she said. “I had to take two days off from work. I spent probably 14 hours in front of my sewing machine.”

Pitt also made her wedding dress, which she wore to her wedding last year at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival.

“The hardest part was coming up with the pattern,” she said.

She said she spent about 12 to 15 hours on the dress over a week and a half.

“Having to adjust the pattern for your size, your height,” she said. “That’s what made it tough.”

Pitt and her husband attend the festival each year, and she usually makes costumes for them to wear when they go.

“It’s just a hobby that I have,” she said.

Although Pitt doesn’t anticipate herself, the Batman and Robin costume will take nearly as long as the gypsy costumes or the wedding dress, she still thinks it will take about two or three days of work.

“It’ll be fun working on it, though,” she said.