I love costumes.  In my younger years,  I did cosplay at anime conventions and at event meet-ups. For the past few years,  my priorities have shifted and I haven’t been focusing on sewing costumes.  This year,  Halloween really crept up on me and I didn’t have a block of time to make a costume. I was scrambling to finish my pumpkin quilt.

At work,  we could wear costumes on Friday for Halloween so I decided to pull together something. I have this fantastic appliquéd anchor skirt my sister made for me years ago that happened to coordinate well with a striped blazer I often wear to work anyway. Time to become Nautical Nancy in the 45 minutes available before catching the train!

STEP 1: Ransack closet for clothes that fit the theme (you can attach an anchor to a skirt and wear a striped shirt if your closet is not pre-equiped with anything in the nautical theme). ?

STEP 2: Make a cutesy sign. ?

To make the nautical theme more obvious,  I decided to make a sign that says “Ahoy!” Luckily,  I had stencils and paper on hand. I used cardboard from the back of a scrapbook paper package for support.

After laying out the phrase and a little sailboat, I secured it with peel and stick laminate to be sure that everything would remain where expected throughout the day.

For the stick,  I used a floral chopstick. I stuck it on with tape,  then added a layer of the lamination peel and stick as well for extra durability.

STEP 3: Make a bandana scarf. ?

I decided to make a scarf.  A standard bandana measures 22″x22″, so I trimmed a leftover piece of cotton fabric down to 22″x44″ (width of fabric) ,  folded it in half right sides in,  and sewed a scant seam around the perimeter while leaving a gap to turn it. After flipping it inside out and giving it iron,  the bandana was done.  To wear,  I secured it around my neck with an elastic band.

Happy Halloween!