ladybug wings

I know, it's November and Halloween is over but this is a tutorial that can be used any time of the year... what child doesn't want a pair of (fairy, ladybug, bumble bee...) wings?

This year with two kiddos to dress up I knew that I had to plan everything out, and make sure that I gave myself plenty of time to get their costumes together.  Our oldest at first wanted to be macaroni and cheese, but then later decided she wanted to be Princess Belle.  More like when we went to the store for a few things she saw the costume and did a 180 and decided she had to be Belle.  And in that same trip I found a red onesie with black polka dots in my youngest daughters size and instantly knew we'd be having a little ladybug for Halloween.  And the best part was that her costume wasn't going to cost me a fortune, total it only cost me about 15.00!

Here's how I made the wings...

You'll need : 

-2 5" embroidery hoops, just the inside ring.  You can go bigger or smaller depending on the size of your child.

-a pair of black dress socks

-needle & thread

-ribbon

-elastic

the inside ring of a 5" embroidery hoop

black dress socks, the stretchy tight-like socks work the best because they have the best stretch.

Start off by putting the inside of the embroidery hoop in the sock and making sure it's all the way to the toe end of the sock.  

Like this:

Tie the two socks together using a knot.

With the ends of the socks that were left I put them back over the embroidery hoop, making it two layers.

Now, take the two top ends of the socks that meet in the middle and sew them together.  Doesn't have to be anything pretty (mine wasn't...).  It just needs to stay together.

Using black ribbon, cover where you just sewed and either tie or make a bow.

I liked this look best.

Using the elastic measure around your childs arms, cut and sew the ends together.  It'll look like a big elastic circle when you're done.

Now, sew the elastic under the ribbon so you're left with two loops for your childs arms to go in.

Whitney modeling her new ladybug wings

Here's a shot of the back.

Surprisingly she didn't even bother with them, she just went about playing.

Brooklyn a.k.a. Princess Belle and Whitney a.k.a. Ladybug all dressed up!

How cute are they?!