The Second String Avengers

Characters
Incredible Hulk, Thor, Baby Chick

Mission
To avenge last year's lame halloween (Mom had the pregnancy blues)!

Materials

Baby Chick: an adorable baby, 3 yellow boas (found at Joann's Fabrics), orange t-shirt fabric, hot glue, felt, stuffing, a couple of white Onesies, and total sweetness.
Incredible Hulk: green fabric paint, glue, purple corduroy, stuffing, black yarn, face paint, tights, green knit fabric, and your cousin's Incredible Hulk hands toy.
Thor: hot glue, duct tape, foam, cardboard, stuffing, elastic, fabric, batting, felt, rope, wooden dowel, and shiny blue spandex.

Mission: To be a most adorable ball of fluff to grace the streets.

Materials: 3 yellow boas (found at Joann's Fabrics), orange t-shirt fabric, hot glue, felt, stuffing, and a couple of white Onesies.

Step 1: Body

Create the body using Martha Stewart's spring chicken costume as a guideline. If you only have 24 hours in the day, hot glue the boa around the Onesie instead of hand sewing. Stuff a pillow inside as you glue to allow for your baby's body, or your costume might only fit your 7-pound chihuahua.

Step 2: Hat 

Start by using a yellow beanie. Add height and volume by inserting one beanie inside another and stuffing them, much like the Martha Stewart bodice technique. Create tabs to cover the ears, and sew them into the bottom of the beanie after stuffing. Add ties to the tabs when making them. It will tie the hat onto your chick. Put the beanie on your knee to give it shape, and hot glue a boa around it. Create the beak by cutting a circle out of orange felt. Cut a slit the radius size of the circle, and twist the circle to make a cone shape. Glue to the head. Add black eyes out of felt if you'd like.

Step 3: Legs

I could not find any orange tights, so I bought a plain orange adult t-shirt and made some fitted pajama pants with it. Make them a little long so you can use them another year. I found my chicky feet at the Goodwill.

Mission: Be a lean, mean, green fighting machine. He was definitely green, so we're counting it.

Materials: green fabric paint, glue, purple corduroy, stuffing, black yarn, face paint, tights, green knit fabric, and your cousin's Incredible Hulk hands toy.

Step 1: Muscle Suit

The chest is green knit fabric stuffed with cotton. I eye-balled the chest shape I wanted when cutting. It's much like a tank top. Add extra inches on each side of the top for the muscle space you'll need for stuffing. *TIP: When sewing with knit, stretch the knit as you go. This will let your material move better with you, and heaven knows Hulk is moving around everywhere!
After cutting the shape, sew all the sides together except the bottom. You'll need it open to put stuffing in.
Draw the muscle shapes using a bar of soap or fabric marker, including a line down the middle.
Sew the line down the middle of the shirt, almost sewing to the top and sewing to the bottom. Then sew the bottom of the pec muscles that was drawn.
Next, put some stuffing in the top area (i.e. from the shoulders down to the bottom of the pecs).
Sew the rest of the muscle form by sewing lines where the abs form. Then, you can stuff with stuffing.
Sew the bottom of the muscle shirt shut by top-stitching with a long stitch.
Take some 1/4" elastic to gather the bottom. Pulling the elastic as you sew, sew the elastic near the basting stitch.

Back:
Create the back of the suit just as the front, but trying to mimic back muscles. I did the shoulder blades and then a line down the middle.
Cut the back of the suit right down the middle and add a zipper that completely seperates. They're the easiest to do.
Have your Hulk wear a green shirt underneath- cuts down on the itch factor (who said being a super hero was easy?)

Step 2: Legs

Buy some green tights. If you can't find any, do what any desperate mother would do: buy some white tights and paint the heck out of them. I put the tights on my son to account for when they stretched out. Then, I mixed some acrylic paint with textile medium and went to town. Use some gloves to pull them off, and immediately wash his legs.

Step 3: Hat (This is optional and ended up looking hilarious. I just didn't dare dye his long blonde hair).

Make a beanie or buy your own. There are many making-beanie-tutorials out there, so no worries.
Wind black yarn around your hand about 8 times, then cut.
Glue the yarn onto the hat by putting a strip of glue lengthwise across the hat. then smashing the 8 pieces of yarn on.
Start another strip of glue under the first strip you made. For longer hair, leave yourself a few extra inches between glue strips.

Step 4: Arms

Hulk's arms are made by cutting cloud shapes from a fabric doubled over, ending with a straight piece for the fore arm.
Sew the two sides of the pieces together, leaving the top and bottom open.
Next, slip the top of the piece over the top of a cut out fabric shape similar to the shape of an arm on a long sleeved shirt. Stuff the area between the cloud shaped material and the shirt with stuffing to form biceps.
Sew around the shoulder holes by attaching to the muscle suit.

Mission: Feel as awesome as you can in blue spandex and a winged hat.
Materials: hot glue, duct tape, foam, cardboard, stuffing, elastic, fabric, batting, felt, rope, wooden dowel, and shiny blue spandex.

Thor will love slamming his hammer in the ground and challenging others to try and pick it up. Surprisingly, some will be able to, unlike what usually happens. Hmmm...

On to the steps!

Step 1: Muscle Suit

Sew the body of your Thor suit just like the Hulk, only you don't need to make the back.Instead, criss cross two black pieces of elastic from the shoulder piece of one side to the under arm of the other side.
Cut four circles out of shiny silver material. Iron on interfacing for more sturdiness. Sew on to the front piece of the suit before sewing the two sides together, or attach to the suit with hot glue after stuffing the chest.
For the belt, cut a long strip of foam (about 2 inches wide) along with gold fabric to cover that foam. Leave eight inches of extra gold fabric on each end for tying purposes. Hot glue the fabric to cover the foam, then attach to the bottom of the muscle suit by gluing or sewing it on.

Step 2: Cape

Use lightweight red fabric. This is essential my friends. You don't want to drag a super hero down with some heavy fabric, plus it needs to be able to fly around every which way. Adds to the effect!
Measure your child's width between his shoulders. Take that number and double or triple it, depending on your preference. That's the width of your cape.
Gather the top of the cape with your serger or sewing machine, and then attach to the shoulder's of the muscle suit. You can tack it to the top of the elastic that is crossing around the back, but that's optional.

Step 3: Leg warmers/Legs

Grab your foam and make two tubes from it. Make sure it fits Thor's legs, then glue the long sides together.
Cover with black fabric by gluing the fabric to the foam.
Grab some yellow material and cut it to fit the foam size. Cut slits horizontally in the material, stopping when you get half way. Do the same on the other side. Glue on to the warmers.
Make foam triangles and cover with black fabric. Attach to the front of your leg warmers.
*The legs are made from shiny blue spandex, made like the Baby Chick's legs.

Step 4: Underwear

Grab your kid's spiderman underwear and use as a guide to make new black ones. Remember to add a few inches up top for the elastic.

Step 5: Hat

Make a beanie with that same silver shiny material. Look at an image of Thor online (the classic model, mind you) and cut out some white wings using batting. The batting stays sticking up, especially if you cut two and glue them together to make one wing. Attach the wings on both sides of Thor's hat.

Step 6: Hammer

Shape the hammer by using some cardboard that was left over from your recent move.
Attach small strips inside, lengthwise and fitted tight, to add support for Thor's hammering. Leave an opening between the strips for the dowel to go through.
Cover the hammer with gray duct tape.
Add the wooden dowel. Cut an "x" at the bottom and top and slip it in.
Hot glue around the top and bottom of the dowel that is sticking out for added support.
Attach a rope to the bottom. I double knotted mine, then added a line of thick hot glue a couple centimeters above and below the rope (so the rope's in the middle). Tie a little loop in the bottom where the hand will go so Thor can swing his hammer in circles over and over again!

Step 7: Arms

Thor's arms are made like Hulk's: cutting cloud shapes from a fabric doubled over, ending with a straight piece for the fore arm.
Sew the two sides together, then slip it over the arms of a pre-existing t-shirt. Stuff with stuffing.
Sew around the shoulder holes.
Arm bands are made from felt. Cut a trapezoid shape so it doesn't slip off.