Last weekend I spent 9 hours over two days making Pac-Man and Clyde the Ghost costumes for my 13 year old son Parker and his best friend Will. I had no pattern to work from and little idea of how to put the garments together, knowing only that the boys wanted dimensional costumes and that I was to create what they described.

Once the boys explained what they wanted, I found a patio table that was about the right size for the circle shape of Pac-Man and started from there. We designed as we went, discussing different options and the pros and cons of each. We brainstormed about how we could construct the pieces so that Parker and Will would retain the ability to move around in their costumes, at least enough to be able to function at school on Friday. We ironed together for two hours, with me on one iron and the boys, on their hands and knees on the floor, using the other one. We cut out the shapes of the characters and I pinned.

When it was time to for me to sew, Parker and Will helped by holding up the costume so that I could manipulate the material under the machine. It was hard, fun, and tiring work. We bonded in that way you do when everyone is working together toward a common goal. By the end of it all, I had hand cramps, Parker had burned his leg with the iron, and Will had climbed in and out of his costume so many times he was completely exhausted.

When the costumes were finished we were all happily surprised at how great they turned out. And here is the part where I talk about the memories: As I was driving the kids to middle school they were so excited they could not sit still. Parker said, “This is going to be so epic, we are going to be telling our kids about this Halloween. Everyone will remember us.”

And that is when I knew that, as a mom, being a willing risk taker is so important. Working together as we did to bring our creative ideas to life for such great results was so worth all our effort.

Here is a breakdown of the ingredients I used in my fantastic recipe for Pac-Man and Clyde Halloween costumes:

• Two teenage boys, both age 13
• Two irons
• One sewing machine
• Tons of pins
• Pliers for pulling the pins back out
• 10 yds. fast2fuse fusible interfacing
• 3 yds. yellow fabric
• 4 yds. orange fabric
• 1 yd black fabric
• One t-shirt
• Some blue fabric scraps
• 1/8 yd. Lutradur®
• One red and one yellow Liquitex® Professional Acrylic ink! (to match fabric)
• Fabri-tac glue from Beacon Adhesives
• lots of imagination and laughing = memories for a lifetime!