Halloween Costumes

This year, I made the girls' costumes. Because I'm crazy.

I made a purple and black dress for The Bean, from Simplicity 2569 and a "wady-buggy" costume from Simplicity 2788 for The Belly.

The dress was made out of satin, crushed velvet and tulle--3 fabrics I had never sewn with before. The satin and velvet are really slippery, which made cutting them out somewhat tricky. I had to re-cut a few pieces before I got a bodice I was happy with. And have you ever tried to rip stitches out of tulle? It's nigh impossible.

However, the final product was a huge success. After a switch of witch hat for wings, and antenna from bumpy chenille stems and a headband, a beautiful butterfly was born.

The ladybug costume was easier to make, but had its own challenges. The body is lined with fleece, gathered at the bottom with elastic and the wings and shoulders are attached with velcro. The dots are just ironed on with strong fusible webbing.

The elastic casing on the bottom was a little hard to sew, just because of the fabric thickness. I also made a change to the wings. The pattern calls for 2 layers of felt to be fused together with webbing, but they were too floppy for my taste. So, I put stabilizer between the felt and sewed around the edges, using double-fold bias tape as trim. The pattern also includes a jumpsuit, made from velour, but I decided The Bean could wear a black shirt and pants and save myself some sewing.

She wasn't a fan of the antenna hat, so she went without, but was still incredibly cute.

Bedsheet Shirt

Not all my projects turn out well. I really only like to talk about the good ones, but trust me when I say I have my own share of failure. Sometimes I just give up and sometimes I have enough gumption (or stupidity and raw materials) to try again.

I had a bunch of cotton broadcloth in a neat black/teal/pink/white design from a project I never started. I figured I'd finally get on the tunic/leggings trend that's been going around and decided to make a long shirt. I found Simplicity 2255 and got started.

Everything was going well until I tried to put the collar on. I couldn't get everthing to line up properly and some sailor-blushing words started coming out of my mouth. I figured I'd cut something, like the buttonhole facing or front pieces, wrong, so I increased my seam allowance (which meant re-doing the hem, due to the pattern) a little. Still no go. I threw it all in the trash.

For some reason, I didn't want to let this fairly easy pattern go without another try. I didn't want to go out and buy a bunch of new fabric in case things didn't work out again. So I looked at what I already had.

And what I already had was a sheet set. I was going to use the flat sheet as a quilt backing, but I had the fitted sheet and pillowcase left over. I cut the elastic off the fitted sheet and cut out my pattern pieces. I eventually figured out that I'd cut the actuall pattern piece for the collar out wrong, so I re-traced it, re-cut it, and had a success.

I really like it. It's very comfortable and flattering. There are 2 bust seams and 2 back seams, so there's enough shaping to look good, but not so much you feel squished. I'm a little stumped on how to style it. With black leggings and a black belt, I feel a little 80's, but not in the modern way (is that an oxymoron?). I still have the pillowcase, so I might make a tie belt and some carriers and see how I like it.

It's not quite making clothes out of the curtains, but it was definitely a creative use of my stash.

Jackets and skirts and purses, oh my!

So, I gave up on the Martini Weekender Jacket. The written instructions were sort of confusing and I really needed an illustration or two just to figure some things out. I think I'll email Hot Patterns, but I honestly don't love the piece enough to try again. I'm not really a jacket person but I've seen enough What Not to Wear that I hear Clinton and Stacy in my head telling me to "lock and load the girls" in a nice, structured jacket. I personally think the girls are happier in a sweater.

The other reason I shelved the jacket is to work on some pieces to wear during my trip to Montreal at the end of the month. It's a more dressy city than Denver, so I needed some things that weren't yoga pants or cargo capris. I decided on a denim pencil skirt as a great piece I could wear a lot. I found the Simplicity Amazing Fit Skirt 2475 and some lightweight denim at JoAnn's.

I ended up making an inadvertant muslin of the skirt because I realized I needed to shorten the length without losing the fun kick pleats and also, maybe, enhance my bum a bit. My body type is an inverted triangle, so I'm busty with narrow hips (even after 2 kids). I first made the pattern in the Average cut, but found the Slim fit worked much better for me. And I got to put in my first invisible zipper. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

The other project I wanted to work on was another version of Amy Butler's Frenchy Bag. I found a great Paris-themed home dec fabric and coordinating jaquard fabric for the top and lining.



The pink dots on the lining remind me a bit of Andie's prom dress in Pretty in Pink, but I think the whole effect is really fun. I finished it just the other day and have already taken it out for a spin.