Project

Three Musketeers Halloween Costume

All for fun, fun for all! A night of adventure awaits our dashing Three Musketeers. It's easy to transform modern-day kids into the swashbuckling buddies made famous by Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel. Start with a white shirt and colored jeans, then add simply constructed vests and capes, ruffled collars and cuffs, and floppy hats with plumes. Wooden toy swords and scabbards complete the legendary look.

Photography: Glen Glasser

Source: Martha Stewart

Introduction

We made two types of vest: One is open on the sides, and the other is closed. There are also two methods to choose from for adding a fleur-de-lis crest. For the hats, we bought unblocked hat forms made from wool felt (they are big and floppy). Trim the brim if needed, turn it up and tack in place, and tack in feathers as desired.

materials

Unblocked hat form

Basic sewing supplies

Feather

Three Musketeers templates

Assorted fabrics: corduroy (for vest), medium-weight cotton (for crest), shirting-weight cotton (for sleeves), 5-inch-wide eyelet trim (for sleeves and collar), and velvet or linen (for cape)

Fabric glue

Center-creased velvet elastic

Elastic, 1/4-inch width, 1 yard

Acetate, or iron-on paper and iron

Cutting mat and craft knife

Stencil brush

Fabric paint

White button-down shirt

Colored jeans

Assorted ribbons: think white grosgrain (for collar) and twill tape (for cape and pants)

steps

For pullover (gray) vest, use vest templates to cut out front and back pieces from corduroy fabric; with right sides facing, sew side and shoulder seams. Hem bottom, then turn right side out. Use fabric glue to secure center-creased velvet elastic around neck and arm openings.
For each shirt sleeve ruffle, cut an 11-by-20-inch rectangle from shirting-weight cotton; pin eyelet trim to one long side, as shown. Fold in the other long side 1/2 inch, then again; pin and stitch, making a 1/2-inch channel. Sew eyelet in place; turn it to the other side of white fabric, and stitch 1/2 inch down from seam, making a second channel. Sew sides of "sleeve," leaving channels open. Use a safety pin to thread elastic through each channel. Cinch elastic and stitch ends to secure. Pull these sleeves over shirt sleeves.
For open-sided (gold) vest, use template to cut a single piece of corduroy; glue binding material around neck opening and sides.
For crest, use crest template to trace the shape onto medium-weight cotton. To add a stenciled design, print fleur-de-lis template onto acetate. Working on a cutting mat, cut out design with a craft knife. Place stencil on crest shape, and use a stencil brush and fabric paint to fill in design; cut out crest. To make an iron-on design, print the fleur-de-lis clip art from the template on iron-on paper; cut out and iron onto crest fabric according to package instructions, and cut out crest. Glue or stitch crest to vest.
For collar and cape, sew a channel in the straight edge of a 44-inch length of eyelet trim; thread through with white ribbon, gather, and tie it around the shirt collar. For cape, cut a rectangle (ours are 32 by 54 inches) from velvet or linen. Fold over one long end 2 inches, and sew a 1/2-inch channel 1 1/4 inches from fold. Feed twill tape or other ribbon through channel, and tie around neck or tack ribbon ends to vest.
For pants, glue or tack ribbon down sides of jeans.