Halloween 2012: The Scientist and Raggedy Ann

I was hoping to come up with another family theme for Halloween this year, but we couldn't agree on anything. It's probably for the best, since I just finished E's wig yesterday!  I don't know how I would have managed another two costumes also.

O prefers non-costumey costumes these days, so he decided a few weeks ago that he would like to be a "genius inventor" or a scientist with a lab coat and tie.  I used the pajama top from Butterick 5586 and extended the length by about 9", added two more patch pockets, lowered the top button and spread out the other two a bit more.  There was an insane amount of sleeve cap ease -- so much that I initially wondered if I'd accidentally cut the puffed sleeve from the nightgown -- which I took out by eyeballing.  There was a lot of reminding myself that it was just a costume! Other than that, it went together easily and fits well.

He also asked for another faux tie, which he chose to be from a skeleton print.

He's wearing my shoes, which are about three sizes too big.  Sometimes it's better not to ask.

We decided on Raggedy Ann for E, and just realized tonight that this is the first Halloween she hasn't been an animal!  She was a ladybug, a monkey, a bee, and then an owl.  There were a several pieces to Raggedy Ann, but most of them were quick to sew up.

I started with the Miss Madeline peasant dress with long sleeves with shirring at the wrists, no elastic at the waist, and an added neck ruffle like in this tutorial.

Her apron is a larger version of the one in this tutorial.  I used the same dimensions for the arm straps and waist ties, but made the waist band 3x21" and the body of the apron 17" x 43" (the width of the fabric).  The only other modification I made was to attach the straps behind the apron, rather than sandwiching them between the waist band and the main fabric. I also added some jumbo rickrack when I realized that my original overly ambitious plan to embroider "Raggedy Ann" onto it was soooo not going to happen.

For our first Halloween event last week, she wore the pantalets from this summer, but they didn't really show below the dress, so I made another full-length pair.  (I'm planning on having her wear them  for Christmas also, or I wouldn't have bothered -- I don't think... I do get kind of obsessive about costumes.  Ha.)  I was out of elastic thread, so made a casing on the inside with single-fold bias tape and ran elastic through it.  Finished with a rolled hem for the sake of speed, but then the thread kept breaking, making me wish I'd just done a quick regular hem!

The last piece, the yarn wig, took by far the longest, but was so worth the extra time.  It cracks me up every time I look at it.  She seemed to enjoy wearing it too.  I'm quite sure she knows when she's being funny.

I used the Scarecrow Wig pattern, but my first attempt at the hat turned out too big.  Casting on 78 stitches for the second try worked out much better. 

Happy Halloween!

KCWC Day 5

Woot!  I finally completed an entire project in one day, tracing and all.  Of course, it only had two pattern pieces, but whatever.

The pattern is Miss Madeline by The Handmade Dress.  This is another one that I've made before.  I used grosgrain ribbon for the waistband, rather than a coordinating fabric, and did a 3/4" hem instead of 1/2".

Does the print look familiar?  I used it for a play sling last month and said I hoped I'd sew the rest up into a dress for E. soon.  I'm sort of shocked that it actually happened in a timely fashion.  Yay for KCWC! 

A Miss Molly for Miss S.

More birthday sewing!  A friend's daughter turned six last week, and when I asked what she wanted or needed, I was excited that a summer dress was on the list.  I've had the Handmade Dress's Miss Molly pattern for a couple of years, but despite E. having a super cute one made by my friend Stephanie, I've never sewn it myself.  After digging around in the stash a bit, I found two coordinating fabrics and got to work.

The pattern says it's a two-hour project, but it took me closer to three.  If I'd made the version without the ruffle on the bottom, it probably would've been quite a bit quicker.  I kind of hate gathering.

 

The only change I made was to cut the body of the dress 2.5" shorter than the pattern.  It's meant to be long, but I was concerned it was going to look more like a nightgown than a dress if it was nearly floor-length.  I held it up to O. for sizing, and it fell about mid-calf.   

I wasn't sure how clothing would go over as a present at this age -- the boy is usually less than enthusiastic about receiving clothes, unless it's something super specific that he asked for -- but the Birthday Girl and her female party guests were really funny oohing and aahing over the different cute outfits she got.  O. seemed a little befuddled watching them.  I heard him say to his dad, "Wow, these girls get really excited about clothes!"  Ha.

I'm not sure what's on deck next.  The birthday frenzy is over for a while now, so I should probably get started on spring/summer clothes for the kids, and I have a few things planned for myself too.