Bought one, made one.

I made a toddler clown costume a few years ago. It was bordering on lame at the time; never did I dream that it would be edgy by 2016.

Just bought at Party City for 25% off. $17 costume for toddler DC FTW.

I always buy them

I have zero attachment to homemade costumes, so I'll always buy. That said, DS is a fireman for the fourth year in a row, so he already has the outfit, and dd is using a princess dress she already had, so we didn't actually have to buy anything special this year.

Buying costumes is totally fine!! This year I bought some components and we're doing a bunch of sewing to create the final costume. I like that my DC had a creative vision but partly wish the vision was easier or something I could just buy and be done!

We hit the thrift store and add touches.

Plenty of people buy costumes! Don't even think about it.

Sewed a kid version of the Christine dress last year:


So this year bought this:

And lo and behold it was way too long and I still had to open my sewing box. Of course, it didn't take dozens of hours like last year's costume!

Bought at a consignment sale. $4 for an adorable dragon. Which he refused to wear to the party tonight, so I'm glad I didn't spend more. Yay, 2 year olds.

Sometimes I make them, I made an adorable Alice in Wonderland outfit a few years ago, cost a fortune. This year she wanted to be a Unicorn. Target had Unicorn one piece pajamas. Sold!

Bought from Etsy for 9 month old. Probably a waste of money but I'm a sucker.

I've done both. I can't sew at all so I'll only "make" a costume if it involves putting together regular clothes with some accessories, craft felt, glue gun, etc. often the costumes made that way are more comfortable and practical. Like when my son wanted to be Batman, I bought black long undershirt at target, used yellow stick on felt and a sharpie to make the chest emblem, then just bought him a small black cape and mask and had him wear grey underwear on the outside of his sister's black cotton leggings. The costume was much more comfortable than the polyester store costumes and he got a lot of wear out of the long undershirt.

I'm not making a princess dress, though...we buy those!

Sometimes I buy and sometimes I make. But it's always cheaper to buy.

My mom or relatives always made mine as a kid, and then I made my own when I got old enough. (By "made my own," I mean I bought some pieces and then made some other things out of paper, cardboard, etc. -- not that I sewed elaborate things.) For me, it seems like tradition to make a costume, and I really don't like the idea of buying one for my kids.

I've always made my older kid's costumes (except when he was a baby, and we just got him an orange onesie). My younger kid is now still a baby, and we just got him a onesie. I was a little disappointed when my older kid just wanted to be a ghost this year and cut holes in a sheet Seemed to simple!

Anyway, I never judge anyone for buying costumes, though. I just think it's a fun chance to be creative. I also like the idea of not "mass produced" costumes, so I try to steer my kid away from "characters" to other things. I feel like it's more fun to be creative and come up with your own thing. But I totally get that other people don't want to do this. Who cares? People shouldn't judge each other so much!!

The nanny made the costumes.