Quick Note of Thanks!!

Thank you Threads Magazine!!  I am using their instructions for narrow hems (same Threads July issue referenced in Mickey Shirt #1) and it has made things ten times easier.  I'm working with a polyester interlock and it's extremely slippery.  This technique has given the fabric the weight needed so it doesn't roll.  Hopefully this will cut down on frustration and make things go quicker.  Fabulous!

No Power!!!

My power went out from Wednesday at 5pm to this morning (Friday) at 4am.  I just taken a dinner break from sewing the red riding hood cape when this happened.  It was really annoying.  The upside I guess is that because we had to go out for meals yesterday we spent the whole day out.  I'm not a going out kind of person lately, but it gave me an opportunity to get the car the 60,000 mile check up (important when driving from WV to FL in 5 weeks) and I got the final notions needed to complete the costumes.  I have the Jedi tunic half done just hanging in the closet waiting on hwt interfacing.  The cape didn't really need anything so it's almost finished (again, narrow heams = Evil).  Hopefully I will have something to show after this weekend. 

Thanks all who are reading this because without you I'm just talking to myself and that's crazy enough when I do it out loud let alone out in public.

The Plan

The last week or so has been all about tracing and cutting.  I'm still not done, but I wanted to update with "The Plan" for the Halloween costumes.

Last year I was supposed to make a Jedi costume for my husband and son.  It didn't happen due to procrastination.  Also due to the fact that my husband had unrealistic opinion on the fabric he wanted me to use.  (Wool?  For Halloween season in Texas and Florida?  Really?)  This year I ignored my husband took matters into my own hands.  Here is fabric and pattern (Simplicity 5840):

View D

Next up we have my costume.  We are taking these costumes to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World in September.  They can get kind of touchy when you dress as a princess.  It's not allowed on a regular day (for adults).  For the party they allow it, but they watch you like a hawk to make sure you at no time do you try to pass yourself off as the actual princess.  (Everything short of following you around and yelling "You aren't affiliated with us!".)  For this reason I'm not relying on my princess Belle knock off dress (that and the fact that it's a 18-22 and I'm a 14-16 so I drown in it).  Disney hasn't had a Red Riding Hood movie (yet) so that is what I chose.

The cape:

View A

The dress (McCall's M4948):

View A

Loving the plan for the cape.  Too cool for just Halloween.  I can probably wear it while I vacuum and iron.  No one will ever know...


Finally there is the plan for short stuff.  I finally convinced him Buzz Lightyear was cool than a pumpkin or a gingerbread man (and learned my lesson about looking at costume patterns with my four year old next to me).  I'm going with Butterick 3244:

View C (obviously)

I still need to get the purple and the grey, but the jumpsuit is all white so I'm concentrating on that first.

Four items, tons of pieces.  More than I thought there would be.  Half way done with tracing and cutting though.  Wish me luck!!

Mickey Shirt #1

This is the first shirt I've made for our Disney trip in Sept (Simplicity 3856). 

Doesn't he look thrilled.

I had originally cut out the pieces last year before the move.  Then moving craziness ensued and it was lost in the shuffle.  Then it got shelved for other projects.  Finally I hunkered down to get it done and my concern that it's too small now was validated.  When I cut this shirt out I cut it for 3T.  I hoped it would run big and still fit when it was finished.  Not so much.  When I had him try it on I realized it was too small, but he can still wear it open with a tee underneath for the trip (I'm hoping). 

I really like these sleeves.  The little sewn in fold is adorable.  Unfortunately, this was the last pattern where I cut out the tissue included instead of tracing so I'm going to have to either trace and make adjustments myself or just wait till Simplicity is on sale at Jo-ann's again for 99 cents.

We now have 65 days till our Walt Disney World trip so I'm freaking out about our Halloween Costumes for the party.  I have them planned (Red Riding Hood for me, Jedi for Brian, and Buzz Lightyear for the little monkey), but now I have to actually make them.  Costumes really are my favorite thing to make so it will be fun, but I'm just paranoid I won't finish them in time or something equally disappointing will happen.

I wanted to let y'all know about a tip from the July 2010 Threads magazine that I'm loving right now.  With the Halloween costumes some of the pieces are bigger than the standard tissue paper I use to trace them.  Previously I just taped tissue together, but in the tips part of the issue they mentioned using plastic tablecloths on a roll like you use for catering.  I got mine at Sam's Club and it's perfect.  I used a black marker to trace and it doesn't bleed through.  So awesome.

Huge Project

Just a heads up that the sewing has taken a backseat while my husband and I clear out the third bedroom in our apartment to make an office for him to study and for me to sew.  It was filled with boxes and packing materials from our move.  I have a new sewing table coming from Wal-Mart that is going to help me get my stitch on whenever I want instead of trying to find a space where ever is free.  Hooray!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame....

My latest project was a pair of shorts for Alex (4 as of May 8!) to wear to T-Ball (Tee Ball?).  In my previous post (Stash) I had mentioned the fabric my mom had sent me that was gray with a blue stripe.  Well, it was just begging to be turned into shorts.  I used Simplicity 2907, which was the same pattern I used to make Alex's St. Pat's button up shirt.  I made them in 3T and didn't do the top stitching on the left leg because it just didn't seem to go with the feeling I was looking for.  I also didn't sew on the top of the lower pocket.  I have it, but I was in a hurry.  I have the piece and may put it on later.  I really love the waistband which isn't elastic all around which makes it flat in the front.  Alex is a boy so pockets are always fascinating to him.  My husband really liked the fake fly on the front.

The funny thing about making these was that I had them completely cut out Thursday May 6 and then sewed them almost to completion on Friday May 7.  Then they sat around waiting for the waistband and hem till Saturday May 15 (right before a T-ball game).  I had meant to finish them the Monday before, but there were obstacles.  Not only did I have a hard time finding the time to do it, but it had gotten cold so he wasn't going to be able to wear them anyway.

So they were finished Saturday just in time...

Finish Them!!

That's what's being going through my head in a Mortal Kombat voice for weeks. Well, they are done. I'm home alone (and sick) so I did my own photography in Alex's bathroom. Still, here they are...

First up we have the dress that needed a zipper. Zipper added...and I can't zip it all the way up.

Now with sunburn!

I thought it would be tight in the cups, and it is a little, but it's really just the wrong size. The pattern I had only went up to 16 and that's what I made. Maybe if I take up kickboxing it will fit...

Next up we have the shirt I have been working on FOREVER.

This is what happens when you forget sunscreen (and love chocolate)...

It's supposed to be a really easy pattern, but my downfall was the material. Super soft = Really hard to work with. Rolled all over the place and was an exercise in patience. Nothing seemed to go right with this shirt. It was also too small. It fits, but...not the look I want to sport. Particularly across the boobs. I may wear it sometimes anyway if I'm just hanging around the house. I'll probably hem it, but didn't think it was a pressing issue.

For right now I'm so over sewing for myself. I'm going to work on shirts for Alex. He's a growing boy and summer's coming at us fast and furious so some cute short sleeve shirts are called for.