Beatrix Kiddo (The Costume)

Pattern: Self-drafted doggy tee
Fabric: 1/3 yd vinyl
Cost: $15


Happy Halloween everybody! 

For her first Halloween, B decided to go as her namesake, Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill. (I couldn't help myself.) If you haven't seen the film, Uma Thurman plays a former assassin whose team attempts to murder her and her family on her wedding day. Armed with a Hattori Hanzō sword and dressed in a yellow jumpsuit, Beatrix Kiddo aka Black Mamba exacts her revenge, one by one. 

Being the evil killer that she is, B had no problem putting on her vinyl jacket, picking up her sword, and getting ready to slay some treats. She doesn't seem to mind wearing little outfits (I tested it out with a t-shirt a few days before), but man is she hard to photograph!

The sewing itself was a new experience for me. I had never made anything for a dog before, and fitting is a completely different story - especially with a very sleepy model! I started with a Big 4 pattern for a dog jacket, but it did NOT work for her. French bulldogs are much more stocky than the average dog, and for the pattern to work I would have needed to rotate the sleeves a full 90 degrees forward. I took a deep breath, went to the fabric store for a yard of muslin, printed out a different pattern, and went to town. After about 7 tries, I had a t-shirt that worked pretty well for her. (Might post that later with some thoughts on sewing for doge.)

Next was sourcing the fabric (I wanted stretchy vinyl but ended up with something more akin to upholstery), borrowing my mom's embroidery machine to make patches, and sketching out my final design with the help of Mr. Made. We also watched Kill Bill Vol 1 for good measure, which came with this great little sword.  


Below is the final result. I still need to add the snaps on to the top and bottom, but other than that it's complete. I gave it the motorcycle jacket look by adding yellow patches down the side, and also stitched on "Kill Bill" and "B. Kiddo" patches to make things a bit more obvious. My mom's Bernina does letter embroidery, so the patches were pretty easy to do. The whole thing closes with a separating zipper, which makes it easy to get it on and off. For a bit of added stretch, the black stripe down each side is a stretch pleather remnant.




Of course, now I have nothing to wear for myself, but I'm hoping I can pull something out of the archives. We're taking B to a friend's Halloween party tomorrow, and I need to figure out if I should go as a theme with her or not - perhaps another Kill Bill character, a Quentin Tarantino character, or maybe just go with the whole kick ass super hero theme and recycle my Batman costume... It doesn't matter though because B always steals the show!

Happy Halloween everyone! I leave you with this adorable outtake of B trying to eat a treat...


14 comments:

  1. Super cute … super creative … B is adorable :)

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  2. I saw this in person last weekend and it is so darn clever...and cute! great costume.

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  3. B looks fantastic! You did such a great job. I love Kill Bill, and although I'm not one for dressing up for Halloween, I did browse Beatrix Kiddo yellow jumpsuits on Pinterest this year because, you never know.

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  4. Oh My Gosh! My head is spinning... B is super adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love this costume!!!

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  5. Loved seeing it in person (dogson?) and even better on Beatrix!!! Adogable! 4 paws up!

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  6. Oh My Gosh, adorable!!! Great costume and Beatrix looks very pleased with it! My mum knit my cat an argyle sweater vest for his Halloween costume: http://gjeometry.com/2014/11/01/preppies-knitters-a-new-feature-on-the-blog-packed-with-free-sewing-stuff/
    They should have totally gone trick or treating together!

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    1. OMG adorable. Truth be told I've been wanting to do some dog knitting, too!

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  7. B looks so snazzy! Great costume and so well made too!

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  8. awww so cute!

    not long ago Ginger made this:
    http://gingermakes.com/2014/10/12/ginger-made-undercover-hood-hudson-pants/
    (go all the way to the end of the post, you'll see)

    she has pugs, but I believe some of her advice could help.

    I loved this!

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    1. Yes, thank you! I actually saw Ginger's post a little while after I made this, and promptly downloaded and made a sweatshirt. More soon!

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  9. This is too good. I love a cute dog costume but this goes above and beyond- so clever and your execution is spot on!

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  10. omg! this is adorable!

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