When my 11-year-old told me she wanted to be a 3-headed hydra for Halloween I had no idea how in the world I could pull that off. I love making things. I love making homemade Halloween costumes, but really?

She might as well have asked me to build an airplane. I really didn’t think I could pull this off.

I like a challenge though, and I would do anything for my kiddos. So we got some material and I just sat down with it and went to town. No pattern. No real plan.

Sometimes that works. I’m very much a plotter in my writing now. I used to wing it a lot but that created too many plot holes.

Thankfully I still know how to wing a few things.

First, I figured I needed to get the heads made. That was the hardest task.

I imagined the shape I needed. Drew it on the fabric and cut. Then I sewed it like a pillow, working on the outside, leaving one edge opened. Then I folded it inside out to offer a nice clean finished edge.

I cut out some eyes and sewed pupils on them, cut a mouth, nostrils, teeth, ears, and of course, spikes and sewed those on.

I was pretty unsure about it all. It looked so stupid and wonky.

Then I got to stuff everything. It started coming to life! (Much like a rough draft being polished and turning into a readable work)

I did have to cut some excess fabric off the forehead and sew that back up before adding the spikes to give it a rounder look, but I finished the heads in one night (even though I am DEFINITELY NOT a seamstress). This was done while everyone slept, well everyone EXCEPT the 8 month old baby who kept waking up to eat since she is currently teething. #MomLife

The next morning, I was determined to finish! Sewing the heads onto the body piece took some time. I pinned it while my daughter wore it and took care to sew the heads to the sides of the hood to make sure they sat up and looked ahead properly.

Then, I made a belly piece to put on the hoodie my daughter picked out for the costume and got all the spikes sewed on.

I had to keep stopping to chase after the toddler and play with my 5-year-old while the older girls read and did some lessons.

Finally, I saved the tail for last. I knew it would be easy since I had watched my mom make a tail for my kangaroo costume when I was a kid. It’s pretty simple.

Just make a big long triangle and then match the edges, sew, turn inside out and stuff. Then attach to the pants.

But we’re going to a Halloween ice skate Friday, so I needed to make the tail stick out so it won’t drag and trip her up. To make the tail stick out, I cut an old wrapping paper tube to fit the tail and put it inside before stuffing it and sewing it on.

My daughter loves the costume and I’m just so happy that I could create it for her.

You can make anything if you try hard enough. You just have to give-it-a-go and see what turns out. I’ve attempted plenty of failures, but this one takes the cake for costume success!

Happy Halloweek! I hope everyone is enjoying the fun of this spooky season.