Crafting an Ursula Costume for Halloween
In 2020, my mom fulfilled my daughter’s request of being a star for Halloween. She made the girls actual literal star costumes and they were adorable!
I wanted to continue this tradition, and creating a costume for my daughter was the perfect first project to take on as it was less about fit and more about theatrics. It proved to be a lot of fun! My girls had just watched The Little Mermaid and became obsessed with the soundtrack. My older daughter loved Ursula’s laugh and listened to the song “Vanessa’s Trick” on repeat.
In the fall of 2023, I took a course called Intro to Industrial Sewing which was a prerequisite for future apparel courses. I took it because I wanted to gauge what I knew about sewing and what I still needed to learn in order to actually put something together. I knew I had some knowledge of sewing from watching and helping my mom over the years - straight stitches, ripping seams, hand stitching hems, and attempting to tighten my faux leather knee high boots in high school (which failed miserably), but I wasn’t sure if I could put those skills to use just yet.
Adam Grant, in his book Hidden Potential, describes working towards a larger goal using a compass in order to gauge whether you’re heading in the right direction. It turns out that course was my compass which helped me learn that I knew a lot of the basics of sewing and could start producing garments.
During a visit to Ikea with my daughter, we came across a stuffed octopus toy. I decided to buy it and had planned to deconstruct it to learn how the tentacles were made. I didn’t have the heart to take it apart because the kids loved it so much, but I did gain valuable insight about how to construct them. Several Youtube videos and inspo pictures, a few sketches and mental planning, and I was ready to begin. I purchased some lilac plush bubble fleece from Fabricland and used some of my mom’s fabric stash for the rest of the costume.
Creating the tentacles proved to be a challenge. It required sewing elastic into the curved seam, which in hindsight, I could have just used elastic thread in the bobbin like you would when shirring fabric. I spent most of my time stitching and unpicking these seams. Eventually, I figured it out and constructed 8 tentacle casings. I clipped the curved seams and stuffed them with polyester filling using a large wooden spatula. I ironed interfacing to a 1.5 inch belt to which I attached the tentacles, spreading them out evenly around the waist.
The final steps included a bust piece and sleeves in a fabric that could handle the weight of the lower half of the dress. It took me a few samples, and I landed on a soft linen fabric from my mom’s stash. I added some final touches, including a skirt under the tentacles, bias binding around the neckline, and a zipper, and it was finally complete!
An Ursula wig, a nautilus necklace and some drag makeup, and my 6 year old was transformed into her favourite Disney villain! And I can’t forget about her sweet baby sis, her princess, dressed as Ariel. The joy and excitement on their faces the night of Halloween made all of the hard work worth it! I look forward to our next creative adventure, knowing that whatever we dream up, we can bring to life with a little bit of imagination and a lot of love.
