Hunger Games Clove DIY Costume Vest

Earlier in the week I posted that Victoria had decided to be Clove from the Hunger Games for Halloween. She looks like this:

Source: google.com via Melinda on Pinterest

We were able to find clothes to approximate a lot of this look, but the knife vest was a little trickier. I briefly considered sewing a vest from scratch, but, for less than the cost of a zipper at the fabric store I was able to get an old winter coat to turn into a vest. The coat part was important, because I was able to use perfectly matching fabric from the sleeves and hood I cut off to make knife pockets. 

The knife handles could be a little shorter, but these were available at the dollar store and stood out way better against the black vest than the $2 black handled knives at the party store, even if they were a better length. 

We tried hard to find a hunting type knife to put on her hip, but that's just not popular for Halloween costumes, so we ended up with an old looking dagger with a skull on the handle. I made a sheath for it from some embossed felt I found at the Hobby Lobby that looks just like tooled leather. 

It should be interesting to see how it all comes together on Halloween...and if anyone has any idea who she is! 

Hunger Games Clove Halloween Costume for Girls

Source: google.com via Melinda on Pinterest

Has Hunger Games fever hit your house? It actually seems to be dying down here a little bit, but it was still first choice for Victoria's Halloween costume this year. Initially, she wanted to be Katniss, and I'm not sure what changed her mind, but by the time we went shopping she was all about Clove. I've spent a lot of time and dedicated a few Pinterest boards to this idea, so I thought I'd share what I've come up with and a couple ideas that may come in handy at your house, too! 

The basis of Clove's arena outfit are some basics that you may already have on hand, or that may not be unreasonable to buy if your daughter is the type who will wear these clothes regularly. 

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Melinda on Pinterest

Some cargo pants in any shade of brown or olive. Victoria is strictly a leggings and jeggings girl, so ours were purchased for $1.49 at the thrift store, but these are way cute and totally reasonable! 

A maroon, deep red, or burgundy tee. Victoria says this has to be a v neck, but I am finding that pretty darn impossible. They don't make many plain tees for girls, let alone plain tees in red. Purple, pink, neon green? Sure. Red, maroon or burgundy, not so much. The best thing I have found so far are the unisex tees on Hanes.com. They come in both maroon and deep red and short and long sleeved. 

A matching windbreaker. Yeah, this one is hard too, again, not something they really make for girls and the reason I listed so many colors for the tee. I really think maroon is the best match to the movie look, but I dare you to try to find a maroon windbreaker! The best I have found is this deep red at LL Bean. 

Source: llbean.com via Melinda on Pinterest

That jacket is $35, though, and like the cute little cargo pants, probably totally worth it if your child would get a lot of wear out of it, but mine is picky about her clothes. I personally think the jacket is optional, especially for Clove who has the awesome vest of knives! 

Last, but not least we have the boots! I pinned quite a few under $30 that I thought walked a nice line between Hunger Games movie feel and everyday wear-ability. My number one pic is this $19.99 pair from e-Bay.

Source: ebay.com via Melinda on Pinterest

But, when I showed the board to Victoria she picked a similar pair in a faux suede as the ones she would actually wear to school after Halloween. So, as cute as I think they are, I'll be leaving these ones on e-Bay for your kids! 

This pretty much covers the stuff you can buy, now, what to do about that wicked knife vest? Stay tuned to see our solution!