The Jack-O-Lantern Doll Costume

Our doll's costume is complete
 with a felt ghost candy bag.

         This Halloween costume was so easy to make! We dressed our American Girl doll in black pants and a black tee. Then transformed an infant's pumpkin cap into the decorative feature of our doll's costume.

Supply List:

• infant Halloween themed knit cap
• quilter's thread to match
• hem tape or narrow strips of fabric cut from matching color of fabric
• fabric glue (optional)
• black knit fabric for pants and shirt (I used recycled tee shirt material) 
• Pattern by McCall's M8378 or Simplicity S9406 for pant and top in black
• 1 inch wide black ribbon 

Step-by-Step Instructions: 

1. Use a seam ripper to remove the top stitching across the upper cap seam of a knit infant's cap.
2. You can use a bit of fabric glue along the edges of the knit opening to keep it from fraying. This step is optional if you are familiar with how to sew very tight stitches across the edges of cut knitting.
3. Now sew on a bias tape across the open seam using a straight stitch and then turn it over on itself, stitch shut to create a neat casing about the loose seam. See photos below.
4. Cut four black ribbons approximately seven inches in length and attach these on the inside of the hat at the shoulders so that the knit hat may be worn snugly about the doll's torso.
   

Left, the seam across the top of the baby cap is undone. Right, the satin bias tape is sewn on
 the edge of the seam to both prevent it from unraveling and to also cover it up neatly.

Left, the cap's details up close. Center the ghost candy bag craft. Right, the backside
of our doll's jack-o-lantern costume.

Left, our doll in profile. Right, all clothing items included in our doll's costume: the altered
pumpkin cap, black tee shirt, black pants, black shoes, Halloween socks.

Heather Handmade demonstrates how to make a

 felt jack-o-lantern costume for children.