Diagram for pillowcase costume

Halloween is usually a fun time for kids, there's all that anticipation for trick-or-treating, costumes, parties, fun foods and so on. However, for children on the autism spectrum, it can also be a trying time, especially where costumes are concerned. A lot of autistic children have sensory processing disorders that make it tough to wear most commercially made costumes with itchy fabrics, badly stitched seams and scratchy velcro fastenings. Here's an easy-to-make costume that can be used in a lot of different ways, with no limits on creativity.

Hand-decorated Pillowcase Costumes
The basic idea behind this costume tip is to use a standard pillowcase as the base, a 'tunic' worn over your child's favorite shirt and trousers or shirt and skirt. This is great for autistic kids because it involves a minimum of fuss getting changed, the fabric is lightweight, and soft.

To make the costume, buy a package of two standard white or other solid-color pillowcases - they're usually sold in twin-packs rather than singles, though you can also pick up just one pillowcase if you can find just a single. Alternatively, if you have old pillowcases that you can't use for linens anymore and the patterns aren't too 'busy' or 'bold' those can be used as well.

Most standard pillowcases measure 20 inches wide by about 30 inches long. From each edge of the pillow case, along the closed seam, measure in 7 inches using a ruler and make a small mark. Then cut a shallow half-circle between the marks, from mark to mark. This will give you an opening that will fit most kids' heads. if you need to make the opening bigger, just cut another shallow half circle, no more than a half inch or so at a time, until you get a good fit. If you don't want the 'neck' to gap too much, find the middle of the pillowcase by folding it in half. Measure down about 4 inches and mark it from your neck opening and cut a slit from the opening to your mark. Only do this on one side of the pillow case - the slit can be at the front or at the back depending on what kind of costume your child wants to make.

To make arm openings, flip the pillowcase inside out. Measure down about 2 inches from the top of the pillowcase along each edge. Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut the threads in the seam. From the place where you cut the threads, measure down about 3-5 inches and put a mark there. Pull out the thread between your first cut and the mark. Have your child try on the pillowcase and check the fit on the arm openings. If you need to pull out more thread, keep going. When you have a good fit, use the long ends of the pulled out thread to retie a knot in the seam. If needed you, can put a spot of glue on the thread to hold it if it's snapped off and gotten short. Up at the top pull out just enough thread to re-tie the knot or pull the threads through to the same side and glue down with just a very small amount of glue. A hot glue gun can work really well for this, or a dab of rubber cement if it will stick to your pillowcase fabric.

Once you have all of your openings ready, you're ready to decorate! Use glue-on decorative items, paste-on felt or fabric paint, fabric markers to draw right on the 'tunic' pillowcase. Draw shapes on the other pillowcase from your pack and cut them out to paste or sew onto the front or back of your 'tunic' pillowcase. The ideas for making the 'tunic' into a costume are almost limitless, let your children go wild decorating and exercise their creative muscles. You can even have a small costume-making party with one or two other friends from school, daycare or your neighborhood and turn it into a social skills exercise in sharing materials and joint creating.

One idea for children drawn to gardening is to make a daisy or similar petaled flower. Have your child make the petals of the flower by cutting out round or leaf-shapes from your second pillowcase and decorate them as he or she wishes. You can also cut out a long stem and leaves from the second pillowcase or craft felt. Then paste or sew on all of the pieces with the stem and leaves down the front and the petals around the neck of the costume. A small watering can makes a fun treat basket to go along with this costume idea. If your child's shirt to wear underneath does not have a collar, a piece of ribbon can be sewed or pasted around the neck to keep any itchy bits away from skin.

Another idea can be to draw the faces of favorite characters. Thomas the Tank Engine for instance is pretty easy to draw the big round circle of his face with big eyes and mouth and then some blue rectangles around the face on the front and tail-lights on the back and you're all set. If your child enjoys knights and castles, a pillowcase tunic is a great base for a knight costume with some heraldry drawn on the front and a plastic sword and shield as accessories.

If you don't use your second pillowcase for another costume or to decorate your tunic, open up the end seams on each side of the hemmed part of the pillow case, thread a ribbon through and tuck the trimmed open pillowcase ends back. This makes an easy-to-carry treat sack that can also be decorated in the same way

The great thing about pillowcase costumes is that they're easy, fun, inherently washable (as long as any decorations added are also washable!) pretty cheap and can be re-used for costume play throughout the year. They also shouldn't cause any adverse skin reactions or too many issues with getting ready to go out trick-or-treating, to a party, or to bring/wear to school for school parades, which is a boon for kids on the spectrum who may have difficulty with fussier costumes or increased stress and agitation if a costume is too tough to manage in the school environment. Very creative costumes can also be saved as works of art in a lightbox to make an heirloom.