Costumes!

Thomas is store bought with a few modifications to make him hold his shape. (stuffed with plastic bags and a piece of plastic canvas to hold the face out.)

Princess Jasmine with her magic lamp is homemade. We have (after the photo) added a long sleeve green t-shirt for warmth tonight.

Happy Halloween

198?

The extra bit.

The pattern had this cute purse too!
It is supposed to be quilted, but I used fleece so... I just sewed some x-mas trim to the quilting lines. Sequined ribbon form the clearance bin and a scrap of cording from a grab bag for the handles. and those sew on gems came off a headband from the everything is a dollar store.
I also only decorated one side.

Pants!

I am finished with the costume! There were four overlays for each leg. The pattern called for almost 18 yards of metallic trim for the overlays. I cheated and bought a third of a yard of tulle with gold metallic thread woven in. I cut the tulle in quarter inch strips with the rotary cutter and had all the trim I needed to give just a little sparkle.
Hardest part: the Zipper!

Top in blue and green

It is so pretty! YOU can not tell from the photo, but the fabric under the sheer gathered area at the top is a dark blue with gold sparkly print. The embroidered ribbon was something I have had for some time and had never found a use for. The pearl beads are left over from a Flower girl basket project. I had to sew them on by hand. The gold trim is a spool of left over trim from a pirate hat project. The blue and green beaded trim is the one we were lucky to find in the clearance bin, in the perfect colors. The green fabric is a Prom dress project remnant.

I really love it when I dig through what is on hand a the finished project looks so great. Like I spent hours at the store matching all the trims and buttons up.

Now to get the pants sewn up. The dark blue and the sheer fabric will show up better in the pants.

Halloween sewing

I am working on Myra's Costume, Princess Jasmine. It is turning out to be more complex than I had thought but it is super cute. Finishing up the top half today and will start the pants.

It is a nice mix of blue and green fabrics. I would share a picture, but the batteries are dead in the camera. I got really lucky and found some beaded fringe in the Clearance bin 90% off. We are really digging through my collection scraps of trims and finding some nice complementary stuff.

I think it will turn out really fancy. ( and hopefully not tacky)

Happy Halloween

One pumpkin had to be scary, and the other scared.

Scary Flower!

Thanks to Bitter Betty for a great tutorial and idea.
I really had fun making this artificial plant.

Sweater Completed!

I found the Fitted Ribbed Turtleneck pattern in the Leisure Arts Leaflet, “It’s Your Time Sweaters for the Real You!” by Suss Cousins. It is also in the book "Hollywood Knits" by Suss Cousins.

Changes I made to the pattern included; working in the round from the bottom up, adding four stitches to the Large size to make it x-large, and changing needle size while making the collar to get the puffy looser look.
I also borrowed from the public library " Knitting Without Tears" by Elizabeth Zimmermann. This helped a lot in making the sweater seamless.

While working on it I was constantly afraid it was going to be too small. The knit 1, purl 1 ribbing was very deceptive. It turned out very comfortable. And is the main piece of my Halloween costume. But I think I will be wearing it quite a bit after that.

The yarn is Bernat Softee Chunky, Hot Orange(less than 6 skeins). Most of sweater was knit with US 9 needles. The collar was knit using US 9(5 inches), US 10(5 inches) and Us 10.75(7mm)3 rounds and the bind off).

Black Capes...

...Or a puzzle.
I had two queen Size flat sheets from the clearance aisle and needed to cut out two capes. One in an Adult medium the other a child's size 3. The puzzle was to cut out all the pieces for both capes and still have all the grain line going the proper direction. I am happy to say that I did get all the pieces to fit. But the sewing will have to wait until my back recovers from the pinning and cutting.

Flower Fairy

Yesterday, A lot of rolled hems were done.

The dress was finished except for the Zipper. But I have the opening all fixed and awaiting the Zipper. and it is much easier to get on and off.

No sewing today. I am having a Yard sale. So I started knitting my second ever pair of socks. I Started the Through The Loops Mystery Sock Knit along on Ravelry.

Halloween Sewing

I am making progress, but it is going to have to be modified. I made one size larger than Myra's current dress size and it is really difficult to get on and off over her head as constructed. So before I add the skirt I need to decide how to add a zipper to the back. There is a seam down the back of the bodice but no seam in the back of the skirt. so...

Have I ever mentioned I hate Simplicity Patterns? I am starting to think they don't really test the instructions or the final product. and I Hate how they mix the instructions for the different views all together. And the fact that what kind of pieces to cut is very inconsistent. One piece says interfacing, another says tulle, and a third informs you that tulle is used for the interfacing. aack!

(Last year one one of the shirt patterns I used neglected to put the cuffs in the cutting layout. and it said cut two on the pattern piece, when you really needed four!)

Rhappy Rhallowreen!

Zoinks! It's Scooby Doo!
(Hubby did a great job on this years pumpkin.)


Myra is an Oriental Fairy.

Ninja Turtle Noah.

Prince Erik. (based on a online game character)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Candle Tray

The mirror is a light weight plastic, so candles need to be in in glass holders.
The webs are made from scraps of muslin. The leaves are some silk ones I pulled off their plastic stems. Spider rings were sewn on to to webs, with the ring part cut off. The bottom and frame of mirror were covered with fabric. Button thread was used to weave the web (edges securely sewn to fabric covering the mirror). All intersections of the web were glued with fabric glue to keep them from slipping. Fabric glue was also used to glue leaves and muslin webs in place. I pinned everything down while the glue dried. And because I am impatient , I put it on the shoe rack in my clothes dryer to speed dry it.

I am busy finishing up Halloween costumes for the kids.

Myra put here new socks on as soon as she saw I had finished them. She really likes them.

I have added a link for Halloween Part Pictures. Check the sidebar.

Party Time!

The Hatter argues that it was Tea Time. The costumes were fun to make and fun to wear.
The party was terrific fun.
Good Food, Good Friends and Great Music!

The Blue Pirate shirt looks great on it's new owner. And was complimented by the addition of a Jabot in the same fabric for extra ruffles.

I did not take many pictures, but when friends add their pictures to their WEB pages I will add a link.

An Evening Bag for Wonderland

Just big enough for the basics. And really fun to make. All fabrics, except the plain pink lining, are left overs from the costumes.

A Kimono ...

...for the fairy wings.
This Halloween costume will also require a magic wand. I did however, talk Myra out of wanting to carry a big paper umbrella. She needs to keep one hand free for the bag of candy. Just a few hems to do and this will be all finished.

Still sewing....

A vest and a shirt, for the Mad Hatter.

And a start on some fairy wings.

Halloween Madness

We have been invited to a Costume Party! Fun!

Madly sewing up a couple of outfits.

Friday already?

Thrifty find of the week!
A dragon for Halloween or just for rampaging around the house.

I made some Homemade stencils and quilting began.

Stencils are made from the front of a three ring binder that came apart.
The long pattern is a "feather" without the central circle. I did away with the circle in order to make the pattern more continuous.
The circle pattern is from the
motif book I mention in a previous post.