Little Hula Girl Costume {Tutorial}

Every year, my extended family gets together for a reunion, where we reconnect, play games and have a blast. This last reunion, we had a Hawaiian theme night and we all dressed up in our best tropical attire.We listened to luau music, ate delicious tropical fare and even limbo-ed. {I didn't win, by the way.} It was such a good time and it was so much fun to dress up and wear leis and grass skirts.

I decided to make my youngest a little hula girl outfit for the occasion, since I couldn't find a tiny grass skirt to fit her {she's one}. And I'm glad I did, since it turned out so cute! It would be such an adorable Halloween costume and it was super simple to make, not to mention really cheap! It is a bit of a spin off from Jamie's Rainbow Ribbon Dress and could easily work for any age using either a onesie like I did or a shirt like Jamie did for her dress.

Materials Needed:
- Onesie that fits child
- Green ribbon {I used 5/8" width ribbon for the waistband and 5/8" and 1/2" width for the skirt}
- Brown ribbon 
- Scissors
- Fray Check or lighter
- Sewing Machine
- Brown fabric
- Heat n Bond Lite {you can find it at your local crafting store or follow this affliate link to amazon to purchase:Thermoweb Heat N Bond Lite Iron on Adhesive 17"X5 1/4 Yards 3525}  

1. After finding a onesie that fits your child {I just used a plain white one that I already had}, measure the width of the onesie to determine the length of the waistband. {I believe mine was around 18" but I added a few more inches and cut the waistband at 20".}

2. Cut your wide ribbon the length you need and then figure out how long you want the skirt to be and begin cutting your ribbon for the skirt.

3. I wanted my skirt to have different textures and colors in it, so I began by pinning down the dark green ribbon and the sheer green ribbon to the waistband ribbon, pinning them about an inch apart and alternating using the sheer ribbon. If you want the skirt to be all one color, you can skip to step 5. .

4. Pin the contrast ribbon all the way across.

5. Now take your main green ribbon and begin pinning, overlapping the previous ribbon by about half. {At this point, I removed the first pins and made sure all three ribbons were pinned down with one pin.} When you flip it over, it should look like this:

You can go ahead and Fray Check the ends of the ribbon at this point. {NOTE: I did not seal the edges of my costume with Fray Check or a lighter and that was a mistake. The ribbon unraveled quite a bit more than I expected and it was a bit of a pain. So be sure to finish your ribbon's edges so you don't have the same problem. I got your back. :) }

6. Once you have pinned the whole length of the waistband, sew along the bottom edge, making sure to catch every ribbon in your stitch.

7.  Now pin it to your onesie, making sure to stretch the onesie a bit as you do this, so it will be easier to put on later. To make it easier to pin, I stuck a piece of cardboard inside the onesie so I was sure I didn't catch the other side while pinning.

8.  Take it back to your sewing machine and sew along the top edge of the ribbon to attach it. You can go back and sew along the bottom as well, but it's not needed {unless you have a grabby one-year-old, like I do and want to be sure she can't pull it off}. Fold over the ends of the ribbon at the back, for a nice, finished look. The skirt part is done!

9. Moving on to the coconut top, figure out how large the circles need to be and after applying the Heat n Bond to your brown fabric, trace your circles, then cut them out.

10. Lay out the circles where they should be on the onesie and line up the brown ribbon so it will tuck under the circle. Make sure the ribbon is long enough so it can tie in the back. Pin in place.

11. Sew the brown ribbon in place. Iron coconut circles in place, following Heat N Bond instructions, making sure to cover ribbon attachment site. You can sew around the circles if you want, but that didn't sound fun to me, so I didn't {Hey, it's just a costume right?} and there wasn't a problem with it.

12. All done! Accessorize with a lei and a flower in the hair {my little girl is not a fan of anything in her hair so we skipped this} and get ready to say Aloha! And Trick or Treat!

My daughter loved her outfit and played with her ribbons all night.

She also loved to dance in the costume and watch the "grass" skirt move. She is just too cute. {Mom's can be biased, I know.}

We all had a fabulous time dressing up and my youngest daughter was the hit of the night.

Have a fun and safe Halloween, trick or treating with your little Hula Girl!