How to make Mal and Evie costumes from Disney Descendants 2
When my kids were really little, I used to love dressing up together (you can see some of our favorite past family costumes here.) Now that my boys are older, they want to choose their own Halloween costumes but sometimes my girls will still dress up together. When the Disney Descendants 2 movie came out this summer, my girls couldn’t wait to watch! They quickly became obsessed and told me months ago that they wanted Mal and Evie costumes for Halloween. One of my favorite things to do is to make DIY Halloween costumes for my kids. It stretches my creativity and allows me to add lots of fun details that aren’t found on store-bought costumes.
DIY Descendants 2 Costumes
The challenge was that my girls wanted to be in specific outfits from the movie that aren’t the traditional Descendants 2 costumes in the stores. My oldest daughter wanted to be Mal in her short purple coronation gown from the end of the movie. My youngest daughter wanted to be Evie in her red jacket and red boots (which is an outfit she wears for a short scene in the movie.) Here’s how they turned out! I can’t wait to tell you how I made them!
How to Make a Mal Descendants 2 Costume
I started by going to the craft and fabric stores to find my materials. I really don’t love to sew, so I figured the easiest way to make it would be a two-piece outfit. I’ve made tulle skirts before so I knew that would be an easy underskirt, and then I found an awesome tutorial for a circle skirt for the top layered piece.
I found the purple satin fabrics and this really cool crushed looking plum material at JoAnn Fabric store. I also picked up a small piece of purple faux leather for her glove embellishment. This 20-minute circle skirt tutorial was so easy to follow! I’m not a seamstress by any means and I did it! I made the base of the skirt out of the plum fabric following her tutorial, and then I cut a smaller circle of purple satin to layer over the top. I pinned and sewed all the layers together to the black soft elastic waistband. It really worked perfectly because the circle shape allowed plenty of room for the full tulle skirt underneath.
*This post contains affiliate links for some of the materials and items I purchased for the costumes.
For the tulle skirt, I used a combination of dark plum, black and purple glitter tulle. I got my rolls of tulle at Hobby Lobby, but you can find similar tulle here. I used a piece of thin black elastic as the waistband, then just started tying on strips of tulle in the desired length of my skirt. Here is an easy tulle skirt tutorial, if you want to see how this is done.
One of my favorite parts of the costume is the black lace detail I added to the top and skirt. I actually had an old black lace dress in my closet that I cut up for the lace (but I know they have similar lace material at the fabric store.) Just cut the lace along the edge of the pattern to create a beautiful cut-out look. I machine-sewed the lace to the plum colored dance leotard I purchased, and then hand-tacked a separate piece of lace to the skirt to make it look cohesive and more like a dress, rather than 2 separate pieces.
When I make costumes for my girls, if I do have to purchase ready-to-wear items or accessories I try to make it something they can wear again and get more use from. So, I found this awesome dance leotard on Amazon, and it was the perfect color purple! The black lace detail makes it beautiful just on it’s own, so I know she will be able to wear it to dance class after Halloween.
The last accessories to finish
The only item I bought at the Halloween store were these black arm covers with a cool cut out detail. I added strips of faux purple leather with hot glue inside of the gloves so you can see that through the cut out lace design.
We added a few bracelets from my jewelry box, the Mal pendant necklace that came with the DVD set of Descendants 2, and some wine colored boots that my daughter already had at home. All in all, I spent $58 on her entire costume, which I know is more than some people would spend typically, but I feel like it is such a special dress and when I would have spent about $40 on a store-bought costume, I think it is definitely worth it! I also should mentions that both my girls have fall birthdays before Halloween, so I usually take some of their birthday money and use it for a nice costume or DIY version they will dress up in year round. As you can see, she loves her costume and feels like the real Mal when she’s wearing it.
How to Make an Evie Descendants 2 Costume
Now, moving on to the Evie costume….
If you are a true Descendants fan, you will recognize this look right away as the outfit Evie wore when she had to tell Ben that Mal had left and gone back to the Isle of the Lost. I loved this outfit because it is opposite of her signature blue jacket and moto style pants, and the red jacket looks amazing with the blue dress underneath. Here is an inspiration picture for her outfit:
Another thing that’s really fun about this jacket are all the details on the lapel and sleeve… I had so much fun adding the gold embellishments to recreate this look. I started with a red jacket we already had at home that matched the style of Evie’s jacket perfectly! I got it at Old Navy several years ago, but I found an even cooler red moto jacket on Amazon for around $25. If you added studs and other Evie embellishments to this jacket and personalized it for your daughter, she would have an amazing fashion jacket to wear this fall. Here are some of the embellishments I got at JoAnn Fabric:
You can find small packages of metal studs at your local fabric or craft stores. I picked up a bag of square studs, and a bag of round studs. Then I found an assortment of vintage looking buttons that had gold hearts and a few others I used on the jacket lapel. I also grabbed this sheet of tiny gold stud stickers that I mixed in and adhered with fabric glue. I love how it turned out!
I also found that cute little letter “e” charm in the jewelry making section at JoAnns. Here is a view of the sleeve embellishments:
My favorite EASY project for her costume is the heart & crown Evie pendant. It only cost $5 to make! I found this perfect gold charm in the same jewelry aisle at JoAnns, it was $2.99:
Then I just added a red jewel heart that came in a package of 6 (also at the craft store), I used hot glue to attach it to the charm, and that’s it! I got a gold chain on clearance to make the necklace. It just finishes off the outfit perfectly!
I got a few of the main parts of her costume on Amazon, the blue dress (which she will definitely be able to wear again) and these amazing red boots! They already came with the gold studs and everything! For less than $20 and prime shipping. Win win!
Here are the exact items I ordered on Amazon if you want to get them too: Red moto boots & Blue long-sleeved skater dress
And even though I didn’t use this one, I think this red motorcycle jacket for girls is to die for!
My daughter is in love with her costume (and wig!) I spent at total of $48 on her whole outfit and shoes, but I caved last week and bought her the blue Evie wig at the Halloween store for $15. Still I think it’s a great deal for all of the clothing items she will continue to get use from. What do you think about the final look?
These two villain kids are definitely ready for their Descendants debut next week!
My baby boy is going to be Harry Hook (the pirate in the movie) and I can’t wait to see how he looks. You’ll probably have to see his costume on IG to be honest! I have a week left to get it done 🙂 If you liked my Descendants 2 costumes and DIY ideas, I’d love it if you would pin this post!
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