Choose Your Level of Spook

Another calendar page has turned. August is here, with its back-to-school sales and end-of-summer energy. My tweens & teens are talking about classes and 1st-day-of-school clothes and Halloween costumes.

Yes, Halloween costumes. Which makes me smile. Halloween can be so fun. I love that they're looking forward to costumes & candy & kicking back with friends.

I'm not one for scary movies or scary Halloween, but I do love Spooky Season. Sometimes I want my season more fun, sometimes I want a bit more spook. But, let's face it, I tend to lean toward a not-so-spooky Halloween. Ghosts, (not scary) skulls, jack-o'-lanterns with silly faces, candy, simple bat silhouettes in both traditional black-and-orange and more modern colors — that's my kind of Halloween. The cheerful, playful, a-little-bit-spooky kind of holiday. If that's you too, let me show you three fabric collections you might enjoy.

Ghosts. Classic Halloween — but with an expanded, not-so-classic rainbow palette. That's Happy Haunting. Lots of curvy shapes in this one to keep it less scary, from all the various ghosts to the occasional filled-in letters in the "happy haunting" text print. Rounded off with stripes and pointy triangles to add a little more edge. Sew the whole rainbow into a quilt or a trick-or-treat tote, dress the table with a runner and napkins, or run up a costume that doesn't take itself too seriously. Or single out one color — I'm partial to black and purple. Or maybe leave out the color altogether and go black, white, and gray. Read more about Happy Haunting on the blog, or take a closer look at the prints & colorways on Spoonflower.

Want a bit more spook in your All Hallows Eve? Meet Spooktacular — these quirky skulls might be just the thing. A bit more haunted than the ghosts. More bold with the contrasting classic black-and-orange. More pointy with the chevron, harlequin, and houndstooth geometrics. The text print features Halloween phrases like "fright night" and "spooky season." Bold enough for a statement quilt, a stack of throw pillows, a costume with a little bite, or a banner strung across the porch. Keep your Halloween sewing light with the brighter orange and light grays, slide into something moodier with the darker rust orange colorway, or shift more toward gothic with the black and dark gray — you choose your level of spook. Read more about Spooktacular on the blog, or take a closer look at the prints & colorways on Spoonflower.

Or maybe you prefer the sugar-rush energy of Halloween parties and trick-or-treating. That's Spookilicious. Zany pumpkins, doodled candies & confetti, and asymmetrical bat silhouettes capture the playful side of Halloween. And the fun keeps coming with circus-like harlequin, doodled stripes, fat polka dots, and a playful text print. It's made for the party — string up some bunting, sew a set of placemats, and dress a pint-sized trick-or-treater in a costume that's all treat and no trick. Lean kid-friendly with the white grounds, add a bit more spook by switching to black grounds, or go monochromatic with one colorway (the teal and black is so fun!). Read more about Spookilicious on the blog, or take a closer look at the prints & colorways on Spoonflower.

If you're feeling nostalgic or you just love the black and orange Halloween aesthetic, you've got options. Go with bright in Happy Haunting, classic in Spooktacular, or kid-friendly in Spookilicious.

If you're in the mood for less-than-scary this Halloween, there's a Halloween-centric fabric collection for you.

Which will you choose?