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You are here: Home / Halloween / Costumes / DIY Costume Repair – How to Fix Your Halloween Costume

October 10, 2015 by: Jennifer Priest

DIY Costume Repair – How to Fix Your Halloween Costume

This post was sponsored by ilovetocreate. All opinions are 100% my own and do not reflect the opinion of the sponsor. Post contains affiliate links.

Halloween costumes can be a big investment and to me it seems they get flimsier and flimsier every year. That's why I have started just making all of my costumes – it might not be as cheap but they last longer than just one night.

Cinderella-Halloween-Costume-Repair-Jpriest

But what if you spent $50 on a costume and it busts before you get to the four Halloween parties you've been invited to? There's a really easy way to fix your costumes without sewing, using Aleene's Fabric Fusion sheets! These work like a sticker to fix holes, tears, ripped seams, and more for DIY costume repair, darning, and tailoring. You can even build your whole costume with these.

https://www.smartfundiy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Princess-Dress-Repair-BEFORE-GIF-base.mp4

An Expensive Halloween Costume Falls Apart

A few years ago, my parents helped me buy Katie a gorgeous winter Cinderella costume from Disneyland. She had to have it and I want to say my investment in it was $65 so that means it cost MORE than that. Ridiculous, I know but when you have one girl and one childhood, well, you gotta make the dreams happen, right?

10-31-06-Trick-or-Treating-(2)

After the first night she wore it, she got hot cocoa on it AND the thin silver fabric tore. This costume then sat in my closet for nearly 10 years while I tried to figure out how to fix it. Fabric glue wouldn't work because the sliver fabric was non-porous and there was nothing to glue it to. Sewing would not work because it seemed every time I touched the dress, the silver fabric frayed even more. The hole wasn't that big when it first started but it grew to over 3″ long with me fiddling with it. So the costume sat in my closet, in a bag, while I waited for a miracle.

10-31-10-Halloween-jpriest

A few years later, we made the mistake of shopping at one of those big temporary Halloween stores that shows up in strip malls. Katie got a Snow White costume. I swear the seams were ripping before we got out of the store but it was at the last minute and we were stuck paying over $50 for a costume that might as well have been made from tissue paper, it tore so much! It seems that the quality of costumes has gone down the hill year after year. On a side note, nice to see how far I've come in taking pictures. Dang, these are bad! LOL

CHA-Mega-Show-2014-Hydrangea-Hippo-Design-Remix-Westcott2 CHA-Mega-Show-2014-Hydrangea-Hippo-Design-Remix-Westcott3

Discovering Aleene's Fabric Fusion Sheets

A few years ago I was in a crafting competition in the Westcott booth at the Craft & Hobby Association trade show where we had to turn thrift shop clothes into a fashion piece in 20 minutes (or something crazy like that). We had Aleene's Fabric Fusion Sheets available for making the costume. They were so awesome! Peel the back, stick it on fabric and instantly that fabric becomes a sticker. It's washable once in place and it will stand up to regular wear and tear.

Cinderella Halloween Costume Repaired

When I found the costume in my closet this summer, I remembered about the Aleene's Fabric Fusion Sheets and decided to try it out. I found a piece of soft knit fabric at Michael Levine's Loft in LA, a remnant shop, and cut it to cover the back of the tear. Then I placed the fabric on the Aleene's Fabric Fusion Sheet, cut it to size, and pressed it to the back of the tear, making sure to line up the trim on the front of the dress to cover the hole. I pressed down hard and then it was ready to go!

How to repair a Halloween costume:

Next, I sprayed the stains with a stain remover and put the dress into the wash on the gentle cycle. It came out perfect! You'd never know there was a tear on it at all.

So before you get rid of your costume, buy another, or slap duct tape on it, get to the craft store and get Aleene's Fabric Fusion Sheets! They're also great for patching holes in jeans. Just sayin', as a mom of a boy, I kinda know these things.

What's a costume catastrophe you've had in the past? How did you fix it? Tell me in the comments!

Halloween (2)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Be sure to check out all of our 30 Days of Halloween videos and posts over on our YouTube channel.

30 Days of HW YT THUMBNAIL - Charlie Brown (1)

A huge thank you to these 30 Days of Halloween sponsors for this post!

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Thanks again for stopping by!  See you again soon!

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Comments

  1. Anne says

    October 29, 2015 at 7:38 am

    This is SO SMART!!! The fabric on those costumes just frays if you try to sew it! I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for later this morning that links to your tutorial: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/?p=85154 –Anne

    Reply
    • Jennifer Priest says

      October 29, 2015 at 12:22 pm

      Thanks so much!

      Reply
      • Maureen Stone says

        June 17, 2016 at 5:00 pm

        I have a costume that has gold in it. everytime I wear it the gold flecks off. Can I spray paint it to repair. Will that hold up

        Reply
        • Jennifer Priest says

          June 18, 2016 at 9:34 pm

          Try a clear spray sealer — that might work. Test it on a small area that isn’t very visible to see if it works before doing that to the whole costume 🙂

          Reply

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