Always a Project: Halloween

Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

After all of these years of making, I have never sewn a costume for myself. I've just never had much of a reason to dress up on Halloween or for any other event. However, this year, my brother nearly had me convinced to attend DragonCon in Atlanta. I wasn't able to attend, but the invitation started my brain thinking about creative costumes.

I'm personally much too practical to invest my time and energy into garments that can only be worn once or twice per year so I began searching for ideas that I could incorporate in my regular routine.

That's when I remembered Pearl, from a Cartoon Network show called "Steven Universe." My kids used to watch it... I have no personal affinity for the show or the character. I felt, though, that her character could easily translate into multifunctional additions to my own wardrobe.

{Not only that, her character seems pretty high on anxiety... she may actually be modeled after me!}

All I needed to sew was a cute peplum top and a pair of tangerine shorties. I matched it with a pink wig and socks, both purchased from Amazon, and attached a little yellow felt star with double-sided fashion tape.

I made the top by mashing together the Made for Mermaids Mama Fiona and Mama Joy. I gathered the peplum, rather than pleating. I self-drafted the funnel neck by increasing the neck binding by three times the width of the pattern.

I used a dreamy circular knit from Phee Fabrics for the top. It was my first experience with the fabric that everyone adores. And, I have to agree, not only does it feel amazing, it worked up like a dream. It is the perfect fabric for activewear and daily wear alike!

The pants I'm wearing here are also me-made... Vogue 1517 by Anne Klein. These pants really deserve their own post. MAJOR learning curve to share!

For the shorties, I used the Patterns for Pirates Peg Legs pattern and lengthened the inseam by two inches. I actually made these twice... the first time with a gusset. And, holy moly! The fit was so terrible on me that I was embarrassed to look at myself in the mirror. Thank the sewing gods that I had just enough fabric to complete a second pair - sans gusset!

I used a gorgeous nylon/spandex tricot in tangerine for the shorties. This is the perfect performance fabric! As a runner, I will definitely get a lot of use out of these cuties! This was my second project using tricot and it won't be my last! Word of advice when making these shorties with tricot - size up, ladies! This is a compression fabric.

My last accessory was my very own little Steven Universe. He was super excited to channel the energy of his character and decided that bubbles were a must have in our quick photo shoot.

I really couldn't be more pleased with the outcome of this month's sewing challenge. I loved the opportunity to think creatively about how to assemble a costume that will blend into the everyday.

And, who knows, it may get to make an appearance at DragonCon 2019.

What's on your cutting table for Halloween this year? Please tell me all about it!

So, I finished up my classes this week and it feels ahhh-mazing!!! I have one huge paper ahead of me to complete in the next eight weeks, but that seems totally do-able when I look back at how far I've come.

I just can't wait to begin tackling all of the things on my creative to-do list!!!!!!!!!

Dylan has been asking me if we were going to decorate at all for Halloween. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have done anything beyond a jack-o-lantern, but he seemed so interested. I couldn't say no.

So, as a first step, I threw together a little bunting for the mantel and it's so cute.

Here are the fabrics that I used - all remnants from past projects.

And, some leftover pom-pom trim...

I cut a bunch of 1.5" x 12" strips from my fabrics.

I folded them like this...

And fed them through the loops between the pom-poms.

The fabrics were a bit frayed, but I thought it added to the character of the bunting. I trimmed off a few long strings and snipped the ends.

I added a few googlie eyes to make little ghosties out of a few pom-poms. So cute!!

The bunting now adorns my mantel, but it definitely needs something more...

And now that I have a little more time on my hands, who knows what I might come up with?

Have a great week ahead!!

I wanted to hop on to give a quick update. I have been so negligent!

I am in the throws of reading for my classes in Research {that's reh-search, not ree-search} and Leadership Theory. I also had to complete an enormous set of online modules for research certification.

Talk about a creative suck.

However... I am working on a number of projects that I will be sharing with you shortly. More skirts, a skirt do-over, window treatments, and floor/bench pillows! They are all cut and strewn about in my studio.

Much to my husband's dismay. {He's a bit of a neat-freak.}

Having said all of that, I did manage to have a bit of fun this weekend. Lots of opportunities for creative photography!

We went to the annual Thriller Dance on Friday.

My friend, Chris, danced as Lord Voldemort among a crowd of Muggles. So funny! And this photo could not have turned out more perfect.

Saturday was full of fall fun as we took the kids to eat at the Whistle Stop Cafe - the one from Fried Green Tomatoes...

Followed by an oxen cart hayride at the pumpkin patch. What an awesome experience!

And, finally, Sunday saw a photography session with my boys in the middle of a huge hay field.

What a perfect fall weekend {minus all of the homework}!

I'm eager to find time to finish my outstanding projects to share with you. I also have another super-exciting personal announcement coming later in the week.

Stay tuned my friends!! I'm not going away... just learning to balance it all!

I mean, who isn't? It's one of my favorite celebrations of the year.

We didn't participate in Halloween when I was a kid, for religious reasons. My dad was the pastor of a conservative church so we did the "Fall Festival" thing, rather than "Trick or Treat."

I won't say that I feel like I missed out on anything, but I definitely have a lot of time to make up for!

Now that I have kids, Halloween seems bigger than ever! Our neighborhood rallies for a party and hayride around the subdivision so the kids can safely go from door to door. It's so much fun for everyone!

It truly depends on how busy my schedule is, but I have tried to make my kids costumes over the years. I think that's a special part of the occasion. Anyone can buy a costume off of the Target rack, but handmade costumes hold up better and are way more fun!

Last year, Dylan was Mario and we had so much fun putting his costume together! I used a simple pants pattern {Simplicity 5284} to make his overalls. I extended the top of the pants to reach chest-height, sketched out and cut arm holes to create the bib, and cut 2 strips to make the shoulder straps.