I suck.

At blogging.... thank you, that is all for now. :)

The Post-Halloween Post

Ahh, Halloween. My favorite holiday. There is nothing I don't love about it.

I try to make our costumes every year and have been pretty successful with making most of them (except for the few years when my middle son wanted store-bought super hero costumes and couldn't be persuaded on anything else.)  BUT to be honest, the last few years the self-made costumes have been sort of halfassed and thrown together on halloween morning. (As an example - one year, I ran some yarn though some faux fur scraps I had and made my man wear it as a loin cloth and go as a cave man......he felt more then a little exposed and cold that year. :) 

This year was the first year that I really felt accomplished and satisfied with how everything turned out........I think the key was starting early. Who knew? LOL!  At the beginning of the month I started bugging my family to decide what they wanted to be. The nine year old wanted scary, the two year old wanted candy, the man wanted coverage.......I wanted to be able to finish before there were trick or treaters at the door. Still it took two more weeks of pestering to get some firm decisions out of them. I was thrilled when it was decided and I could go to work. Since I had four costumes to make, I decided that I would be a little thrifty with fabric and went cheap. Too cheap. BIG, HUGE MISTAKE! 


I went to the local big-box store and got an arm full of their cheapest costume satin. I had figured that these costumes would be worn for a couple hours and then put away in a box for memories sake. I wrongfully assumed that even cheap-o fabric would be okay for such an easy job. No washing, no daily wear........just look good for a few hours and retirement. 

Well I started on my older son's costume. He wanted to be the Grim Reaper. I used McCall's 5952 for his robe. The problems started immediately. I needed about 6 yards of black satin. I started cutting and the fabric just disintegrated. I don't mean it was fraying. I mean it fell apart. No tugging or pulling necessary. It just fell apart. I tried to double stitch it.....and it wouldn't hold a stitch. It would just fall out.....no ripping sound, nothing........the fabric just refused to stay together. I have never seen anything like it. Yet I refused to give up. I just kept trimming and pinking and working it.  In the end, I did manage to get the robe together but it is just a total eyesore on the inside. THANKFULLY, he didn't notice and loved it. I added a couple layers of shear fabric inside the hood with the bottom neck area left open so that he could cover his face for the blacked out look and still keep it removable so he could see. We also made a homemade scythe. 

On to The Man's costume.......he didn't want to feel quite so exposed this year (I wonder why?) So we decided on a full body costume for him. One 1980's sweater pattern, six yards of red felt, and another yard of neon yellow felt and he was transformed into the ever cool.....ALVIN! 

I think it turned out awesome. I basically wasn't able to use the pattern other then to look at the way they did the turtle neck since I found it in a thrift store and it was a ladies small. After the horrible experience with the black satin, I was THRILLED to work with the felt. Oh sweet felt! No fraying, no slipping, no cussing. It was great. I laid it out on the kitchen floor and made him lay on top of it. I then cut around his body in the general shape. I then stitched it together and made  him slip it on so I could cut the top around his neck and shoulders to fit. I only stabbed him with my scissors once or twice before he started to flinch too much and I had to do the rest by guessing and estimating. LOL! I used one of his hats to make the necessary red ball cap. Only I have never sewn a ball cap before and it turned out a little bit small on him. (Which I found deeply amusing to see him in the itty bitty ball cap - him, not so much) I used the same red felt as the rest of his costume and cut up a cereal box to make the brim. We layed the yellow felt on top of the red cut out front section and eyeballed the placement and size. After the "A" was cut - I quick stitched it on without turning in the edges - because every once in a while......I just don't care to care. ;) All in all, the Alvin costume was the quickest and easiest to make. (Good thing since I did wind up making it on Halloween morning.) It took just a couple hours or so and even though it wasn't the straightest or most carefully done, I really enjoyed it and it got big reactions the whole night. He was covered and warm and his only complaint was that he felt really conspicuous in it as people would see him and yell "ALVIN!!!"  


And The baby.....My little Count Dracula. This was my most labored over costume. It was four pieces; shirt, pants, vest, cape and I wanted it to be perfect. I had a mental image in my mind and wanted to see it come  to life. As a Count, I wanted  him to be smashingly dressed.

I started with the pants. I used McCalls 6222 and a black polyester material (again from the cheap-o section) and red satin to make the pockets. The red satin seemed to hold up slightly better then the black but not a whole lot. It would at least stay in one piece during the cutting and sewing. I choose to go with the straight leg version of the pants sans cargo pocket. (I figured that the Count wouldn't have cargo pockets and I was wanting a dress pant look.
Now I don't know about other people's two year olds........but mine isn't the easiest to get to stand still for fittings and measurements....So I did manage to get the pants on him  once before the big day but it was while he was trying to kick them off......so I just estimated the hem length and hoped for the best (which is really how I do most sewing anyway, hope for the best and expect the worst. LOL!)

Next was the Vest. I used the red satin for the front again, and the hated black satin for the back. It wasn't quite the nightmare as the large robe was but it still wasn't pleasant. I won't lie, I cussed still..........but you can't really use that as a gage, since I'm known for my cussing skills.

I used McCalls 4290 for the vest in view A but elected to only use two buttons since three bats seemed one bat too many. I used the red satin for the tie in the back as an accent. 

I went back to McCalls 6222 for the white shirt. I used the long sleeve version but made a few changes, I didn't but cuffs on the shirt but kept the darts. I also didn't create the opening that would traditionally go in between the darts on the cuff. Instead, I replaced it with small bat buttons to go with our theme. I also didn't use buttons to close up the front. I was working on this shirt the night before and decided that the buttons would be under the vest anyway....so I stitched the front closed about three quarters of the way up from the bottom leaving enough of an opening around the neck to slip it over his huge head of curls and placed a larger bat button at the neck line for a closure. 

I also added ruffles to both sides of the front of the shirt by taking small rectangles of the same fabric and straight stitching five even rows next to each other, I then pulled on the bobbin thread creating a ruching effect. I then stitched the ruched rectangles onto the shirt. I was happy with the look. 

Lastly, The Count's Cape. I didn't have a pattern for this one and made it up as I went along.I really, REALLY wanted the inside to have that coffin-ish feel with the red satin ruched. 

  I used the black satin again....I know, I know.......it didn't fail to disappoint me this time either. Maybe I like the pain a little, but I was determined to use what I had. I basically made a triangle with a curved bottom and a curved neck out of the black to use as my size guide. I then cut the red satin slightly wider and about a foot longer then the black. I used the same ruching technique of  pulling on the bobbin thread. Only this time I did double rows of stitching in case one thread broke. I had to sit and work the fabric down the thread from both ends to get the satin to bunch up over the whole length of the cape. I used interfacing on both sides of the pointed collar to get it to stand up a little more.......I wish I would have used heavier interfacing or a third fabric so it would stand up perfectly, but all in all - I was thrilled with how it turned out. I used a length of black velvet trim I had in my stash for the tie around the neck. It gave it that final fancy touch.

In the end it took me about two weeks to get through every ones costumes and I was sewing right up until about an hour before we had to leave but I felt really good about it. I did run out of time for my costume, so I went as MOM this year...........yelling things like "look both ways before you cross the street" and "let me see that before you eat it" etc. 

 So tell me about your Halloween costume adventures..........

The Great Untouchable Stash (and my plans to touch it)

So I am moving cross country in a matter of months to an entirely new and exciting place! I couldn't be happier as I count the days - BUT - every move I have made in the past has been in-state and each time I have had to go up a size in Uhaul to make it happen. This time I simply can't afford to take everything and some tough choices are going to have to be made to make it happen. 

You see, I have  two rather large (and annoying to move) collections. My books and my sewing stash.  In an effort to move lighter this time around, I am going to need to cut down a little on both. They have taken over one bedroom that serves as my sewing room/office/sanctuary - BUT - because I can't seem to let anything go from either collection........I decided that I could do a selfish destash. 

 I have been building my stash for over a decade and I have a nasty habit of holding onto the things I love the most and not putting them to use. I tend to save them for a special occasion.......and then no occasion seems special enough to use them. 

An example of this horrible hording behavior is the patterns in these pictures. I managed to score them at a thrift store a few years ago. They were half off of 70 cents! I paid .35 cents a piece for them. I KNOW! I was so excited. I was so nervous! I remember feeling like someone was going to steal them out of my cart as I walked quickly to the register. Maybe there was a mistake.........maybe they meant 70 dollars......(Which wouldn't have been unreasonable since I have seen these same patterns for sale for around a hundred each online and these were factory folded, uncut, and even have the vogue sew-in tag that came original in them!) I was in no dream.......they were three for a dollar and they were MINE!

Back to reality.....I have now had them for years. They have their own drawer in my sewing desk. They are kept separate from the other patterns I own. It's not that they are too stuck up to mingle, it's that the other patterns aren't cool enough to hang out with them. I occasionally pull them out and run my hands over them. I dream of the places I would go in them if they were already made. I think of the colors I would make them in and the joy I would feel at their completion. Yet, I haven't ever unfolded a single one. I live in fear of messing them up. I couldn't cut them..I'd have to trace them and carefully refold them. I tell myself that I really don't have anywhere to wear them anyway. In reality, this is totally foolish behavior. I only personally invested .35 cents in them. (Far less then I have in other patterns I own and cut into without guilt) So what is my problem? No really, what is my problem? I am really asking.........

BUT - that was yesterday.......and today I have made up my mind that it's time to use them. I am moving to a whole new climate, a new start in life and a new me. I will be returning to work and school after years of being a stay at home mom and will need a new wardrobe that is appropriate for both the new city and the new job. 

So here is my selfish destash plan. I am planning on working through as many of my patterns as I can in an effort to use up as much of my fabric stash as I can prior to the move. The catch is that I am going to replace an old existing store-bought item in my wardrobe with a new one as I go. That way I am cutting down by getting rid of older less appropriate wardrobe items, building a me-made wardrobe, and using up otherwise dormant items in my stash. 

I will admit that I am having anxiety over using these particular patterns and I am sure that I will start with some of my other patterns and work my nerve up to touch these. .........Do any of you ever feel this way about certain things? Do you hold onto the really special fabric, pattern, stationary, beads, lace, etc.....for some special project and then it never seems to be the right time to let it go?

Tutu Times Two

Well I was able to finish the second of three tutus last week. I wanted a much more wild look for this one. So I used a no-sew method  that I have seen on a few different blogs before. (I can't remember which ones right at the moment....sorry)

I used four colors of tulle cut into three inch strips. I took a length of elastic measured to fit snug on my own two-year-old’s waist and then sewn into a circle with a simple zigzag stitch. (This could be done by hand or someone could use ribbon instead for a true no-sew tutu) I started at one spot and slipped the tulle over the elastic until it was equal lengths on both sides and then double knotted it just below the waist band. I continued around alternating colors to achieve a striped effect. For this 18 inch waist I used approx 6 yards of tulle.

I really loved how the waist band turned out………right up until I put it on an actual  two year old and the elastic immediately started rolling inside the tulle. I had to go back and hand work it back into laying straight which was a pain. Maybe I knotted the tulle too tightly or not tight enough…….I don’t know. I knew that I couldn’t leave it the way it was or it would just become a nightmare. The tulle needed the tension of the elastic to maintain a shape. So I decided to go around the top of the waist band and do a decorative stitch to hold everything in place. But then I got to thinking that she is a growing girl and that a solid line of stitching would take away the elasticity that I wanted in the first place…….so I got the brilliant idea (total sarcasm) to embroidery her name every couple of inches around the top of the waist with this really pretty multi colored thread I have. I figured that there would be stretch in between letters and in between each name but it would hold everything together. It was all going great until I realized that the feed dogs had gotten hung up in a couple of critical places and some of the letters were either missing or on top of each other. Seriously, WTF?!?  I knew that I didn’t have the time or patience to undo the mess (it had to go in the mail ASAP and I was afraid that I would destroy the tulle trying to unpick the stitching.) so it went as is. ( BTW, I know I should have lowered the feed dogs………but it was something like 7am and I hadn’t had my coffee and I suck. Leave me alone.) Thankfully this particular tutu was heading to a friend……..hopefully a very forgiving friend after the way I massacred her poor daughter’s name…So even though it was sad to send it that way, I at least got to try something new…..and hopefully her daughter will like it anyway.

 These pics were taken after it was knotted but before it was trimmed down to a nice even length. I didn't manage to get pics of it after it was cut down but I took about 8 inches off the length all around and it really helped it look a little less wild. I didn't take pics of the horrible name snafu. It was just too shameful to document.

So next on the agenda is Halloween costumes. I have both of my boys to do - plus mine. It's going to be a busy week. After Halloween I plan on finishing the third tutu and then not sew another tutu for a very long time.

Tutu Tuesday

Except it's Wednesday isn't it? Wow my days are running together....it's fall vacation for my middle nugget which means less schedule/structure around here and more pajama wearing/sewing time. It's been nice to not have to be up and out the door in time for school and I have loved getting to sew while he hangs out with my littlest fish boy....

Speaking of fish.......I happened upon this...um....."interesting" mystery mermaid fabric a couple months ago and have been trying to figure out what to do with it ever since. I have almost two yards of pure shiny mystery to solve.

I'm not sure what the actual "fabric" is made out of......perhaps recycled tin cans.....anyway, I came up with the brilliant idea (if I do say so myself) to make a few ocean themed tutus for a few little girls I know and incorporate the fabric into them - somehow - to make them into mermaid tutus.

So far, I have one and a half done. The first one is made for a two year old and is an eight tiered - four colored tutu with an elastic waist band with ribbon overlaying it.....

Maybe you have noticed that there isn't any of the mermaid fabric in this tutu. Well, yeah.......I noticed that too. I really don't know what happened. I had good intentions of incorporating the mystery mermaid fabric. I mean the mystery mermaid fabric is why I bought 16 yards of tulle......and started this whole tutu project in the first place. Ughhh!

(A little decorative stitch.........because two year olds care about such detail....

Did I mention that I have a new sewing machine and so for awhile everything is 

going to have to have some form of decorative stitch until I get over myself? LOL!) 

 

Well I am onto tutu two and I still haven't added any mystery mermaid fabric to it either. I wonder if I could convince one of my boys to be a mermaid for Halloween so I can use it up.