Happy Halloween!

Halloween has always been one  of  my favorite holidays.  Who could help but smile
on a day when wearing costumes is not only encouraged, but expected?  Oh, and there's the candy too of course. 

This year was my first attempt at making a halloween costume.  S wanted to be a mermaid. 

She had to have a tail.

I made it out of one inch foam and sewed wavy lines just using a regular foot.

She had a star fish headpiece.

And lots of sparkles.

And her sister was the naughtiest Tink this side of Neverland. 

Have a great Halloween!

who doesn't love gray?

This little gal, that's who.

Pattern is Heidi & Finn's Urban Unisex Hoodie found here.  I used a gray velour and a birdie print knit from joann's for the lining.

Two big red buttons from my stash.  Velour is so cuddly, soft, and comfy.

I pointed out the cute birds and and flowers in the lining,  the flowers on the big red buttons.  How soft and warm the velour felt.

She still hated the gray.  Ah well.

KCWC Day 2 & 3

I made these three skirts last night after the girls went to bed.  I saw this skirt on Healther Bailey's blog.  The two layers and bias tape at the hem added a little something to what is essentially a very basic design of rectangles.  

But the very best thing about these skirts is the colored elastic waistband.  I found them at JoAnn's and was so excited.  All I did was serged the two layers of the skirt to the elastic, and like magic I had eliminated at least 3 steps of the usual sewing process.

It's hard to tell from the pictures but the blue elastic has tiny white dots.  And today, while B was napping and S was resting, I made two more!

a village frock

Look what I made!  A Village Frock by Sugar CIty..  This pattern has long been out of print, but thanks to the generosity of Sky, I was able to get my hands on it. 

Seriously, the pictures don't do this little frock justice.  It is way cuter in person than what my poor photographic skills can capture.   I cut a size 4.  As you can see, the dress runs a tad short.  S is little for her age; any shorter and the dress would be a tunic.

The dress was made from a linen blend that i found as a remnant.  there wasn't enough fabric so i had to cut the sleeves about an inch shorter.  The neck and sleeve trims are ds quilts.

I just cut out a whole bunch of skirts during b's nap, some to keep for s and some to give away as presents.  I'm hoping I can post something for tomorrow as well. 

A Candy Corn Dress

Ok, I wasn't going to post about this until I finished both girls' dresses, but yikes, how cute is this?

 Yep, I made a candy corn dress.  You know, so she can wear it  for the next couple of weeks until Halloween.  Impractical, I know, but I just couldn't get it out of my head that the girls needed matching candy corn dresses.  So I drew up a pattern from a sleeveless t-shirt and proceeded to whip up this baby.

 OK, it wasn't as easy as that.  I really wanted a dress with a real placket so I did a little research along the way when I realized that heck, I couldn't figure out how to do it on my own.  First, I read through this tutorial from Ruby in Blue..  The pictures were kind of fuzzy and far away and the placket wasn't really what I wanted anyway so I tried a different tutorial.  I found one from the ever-industrious Made by Rae for a man's shirt placket found here.  Although the directions were clear there were a few very key pictures missing.  But I got the gist and just winged the rest. 

 The candy corn buttons I found at JoAnn's in the Halloween display.  Adorbs, right?

Next up, a candy corn dress for B (I promise I'll post pictures) and Elsie Marley's KCWC.

I Heart Heather Ross

I started this bag a couple of weeks ago and just finished it last night.  The pattern is the messenger bag from LIttle Things to Sew.  It's really not my style to let something remain unfinished for so long.  Once I start on something, I tend to obsess about it until it's done.  Not so with this bag.  This was a leisurely sew, an hour or two here and there.  I had time for other things, like going to bed early and hanging out with the husband in front of the TV.

I used the same fabric combination as the bear carrier, Heather Ross Far Far Away 2.  The bias trim, lining, and straps were made from Liz Scott Sugar Pop.  It's a cute little bag, with an empasis on little.  But it fits S perfectly.  She can probably pack her extra clothes for preschool and a couple of smallish books in there.

So after finishing this bag last night at around 11pm, I saw that I still had quite a bit of bias tape left over.  Of course bias tape should never be wasted.  And so I has to make this:

With a real waist band and button closure.  Almost like a grown up skirt.  It was 1:30 am when my head finally hit the pillow.  So much for leisurely sewing.