By: Hera Ashraf <[email protected]>

Every October, sophomore Hannah Lencheck starts to prepare for Halloween. And just about every year, she said, she makes her own costume. She said it has become a tradition for her.

“My friends and I went to several neighborhoods (last year). I think I was dressed up as Thomas the Tank Engine,” Lencheck said. “I found the parts of the costume at a little retail shop in downtown Carmel called The Little Shop Around The Corner. It was a really good deal and only cost me about $10.”

Nancy Hatch, fashion and textiles teacher said that she thinks that making your own costume allows students to be creative.

“I think the biggest benefit of sewing your own Halloween costume is having something original that no one else will be wearing. Also, you can be creative, choose the fabric you want, and make it fit specifically to your body,” Hatch said via e-mail.

“I get different parts of the costume from different places, such as Goodwill or Party Tree House, and then I put it all together to make a costume,” Lencheck said. “It is hard to find grown up costumes of something you want to be and it can be expensive.”

Lencheck said this year she is planning to be Peter Pan or the Cheshire cat from “Alice in Wonderland.” “I will probably look for things to make my costume with at Goodwill, Target, Party Tree or Hobby Lobby. If I don’t find everything I need, I’ll probably go down to Broad Ripple to look for things to make my costume with,” Lencheck said. She said she usually finds inexpensive materials for her costume in small stores.

Hatch said that she thinks making your own costume can give you a better result than the store product. She said she thinks that students get to wear something unique and different from everyone else.

“I personally sewed all the Halloween costumes for my two boys when they were young. Some of the costumes were a clown, a dinosaur, a baseball player, a ninja, a crayon and even a shark,” Hatch said.

Lencheck agreed. “When you make your own costumes with your friends, or even alone, you get a much more unique costume and the whole process is much more fun than just buying from a store,” she said. Lencheck also said that she thinks when you decide to dress up, you should go all the way.

“Having a costume half done looks like you put something up in a couple minutes and it’s boring. When you decide to dress up, dress up like something you like. Maybe you and your friends can all dress up alike. Just put some work into it and go all out. Otherwise, Halloween just isn’t fun.”