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 7: Camo Skulls Cargo Pants

It rained all weekend, and yesterday I really just wanted to sit around and read or something equally lazy.  I might have if I'd been planning on making something for E.  Since all my sewing had been for her so far, it was time to make something for the boy.

We decided on some cargo pants from a print that's been in my stash for 5+ years.  I used the Hot Scott pattern again, even though I'm not that crazy about it.   I am, however, crazy about not having to trace another pattern when I have one that fits fairly well.  Lazy.   Now that I have the sizing figured out, my biggest complaint is the directions, but since this was my third time, that didn't matter so much.

I do like the details: topstitching, eyelets on the cargo pockets, etc. This was my first time setting eyelets in fabric.  I loved to use eyelets when I was in my card-making phase.  It was just as easy on fabric.

It is probably silly to put so much time into pants made from quilting cotton for a seven-year-old,  though. I imagine he'll rip through a knee in short order.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be below the cargo pockets, so I can cut them off into shorts.

This was the first time I did the faux fly correctly!  After the last pair, I realized I had done it completely wrong on both pairs of shorts.

Patch pockets on the back this time, instead of pockets with flaps.  I made them longer to compensate, but I think they may be up a little too high.  It doesn't look too bad when they're on, though.  Plus his shirts are always untucked.

I was going to say that's it for KCWC sewing, but I still have my Day 1 gift item to show you!

Rosy Posy Dress & Pantalets

Ray's cousin got married in the end of July, which seems so long ago now. It was crazy hot, so I tried to come up with lightweight clothes for the kids.

For E, I made the Rosy Posy dress from Ottobre 3/11 (size 98 width, 104 length). It's more of a classic little girl look than I usually go for, but I fell in love with the little puffed sleeves.

Imagine my surprise when I sewed them up and they were longer and not the least bit puffed.  Turns out I had accidentally traced the sleeve from the Sunny Sailor dress in the same issue.  Ooops!  I had just barely enough fabric left to trace the correct sleeve piece, although one had to be slightly off grain.

One of my friends made E a dress from this same print for her first birthday!

Once that debacle was taken care of, the rest of the dress was easy. I was very proud of my pattern matching in the back.

Just don't look too closely at how the left side is slightly shorter than the right.

This was my first attempt at thread belt loops. I used this technique and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. It just looked too easy, but it really was.

I also made the Pantalets from Ottobre 2/03 for under E's dress.  I sewed her a pair two summers ago, too, and she wore them a lot. I love how lightweight they are when made from muslin. I managed to screw up tracing this pattern too, and originally made the longer version. I didn't realize my mistake until I had already sewn the trim on. I didn't have any extra -- or time to get more, since I was working at the last minute, as usual -- so I picked out the stitches, cut them shorter, re-hemmed, and re-sewed the trim.  Worth the effort, I think.

This is why the girl needs something under dresses. I'm fairly certain she enjoys showing off her contortionist abilities.

Coming up tomorrow: O's wedding outfit.

Sewing Déjà Vu

Are you thinking, "Gee, Sarah, I think I've seen those patterns and fabrics before"?  I've finally accepted that my fabric stash is out of control, so I've vowed to only buy fabric if it's absolutely necessary for a project I'm going to sew immediately.  Otherwise, it's stash and stash alone! We'll see how long I can last...


One of my recently finished projects was an outfit for a first birthday boy.  I'm sure you're shocked to see another Patrick Curved Raglan.  For gifts, I tend to go with tried and true patterns, and that certainly is one for me!  The matching pants are from Ottobre 5/2006.  The pattern includes knee patches, which I was going to make from the robot print, but fortunately it occurred to me in time that using a white-based fabric on the knees of a toddler's pants wouldn't be the smartest move.

The second was also a birthday gift, this time for a three-year-old.  I knew I wanted to make a red knit dress, and decided on the Farbenmix Olivia.  I've made a couple of these for E, but haven't done the hood or pocket before.  I didn't have enough of the cherry fabric to make the full length hood, but I think it's still cute with only one knot.  The cherry rib is sooo stretchy that it was looking a  little wonky there for a while -- especially the sleeves, which had gotten pretty distorted when I hemmed them, but they bounced back into shape after a quick wash and dry.  Whew.

 

Next up is hopefully going to be a Jalie top for me for the Sewing Mamas January Challenge.  I also need to make a final decision about E's birthday dress.  I *think* I've settled on a pattern, but still need to choose fabric.

Ooga Olivia and Lily

My last project for KCWC was this dress and leggings set for E.  I've been hanging on to this purple Ooga Booga print and coordinating stripe for months, and it was time to sew it up!  The dress is the Farbenmix Olivia underdress without the hood or pocket.  E's tall and thin, so I added an inch of additional length to the size 86/92.

The pants are the Lily leggings from Ottobre 06/2007.  She's moving into 3T in RTW, so I made size 98 without a seam allowance on the legs, but the fit is more like pants than leggings.  She'll either need to chunk up, or I have to remember to size down more for a slimmer fit.  ;)

I was really excited at how nice my hem with the twin needle turned out!  I've tried it less successfully in the past, but read to use Wooly Nylon in the bobbin, which made a huge difference.  I'll definitely be using that often.