Here's the long awaited Halloween costume

Well, here it is. The long awaited Halloween costume:

In this picture, you can see all of the items that were made. From top to bottom - the mask, the shirt, the belt, the gloves, the pants, and the moccasins. The inspiration for this costume is the Gorshin version of the Riddler from Batman. He was from Pittsburgh. So, it seemed like an appropriate costume.

For the mask, I used a freebie pattern from http://www.scarletfig.com/ and modified it. Making it narrower to fit a child's face.

For the shirt and pants, I used the basic t-shirt and pant from Kwik Sew's Sewing with Children pattern book. My DS is tall and thin. So, to get a little bit closer fit, I made a size Medium in width and made the length to fit him. I also added a mock turtle neck to the top. This is the first time that I can remember painting on fabric. I needed to come up with a stencil as there are many "?" marks down the legs and on the sleeves. Using a font on the computer, I enlarged it until I had a sizes that I was happy with. Then, made many copies and cut them out. The large "?" on the chest is freehand. Yes, I used paper as stencils. I used a spray glue to attach each set to the pant and painted using a sponge brush. It worked.

For the gloves, I used a Vogue pattern (8608, view D). This was a very strange pattern. I did end up with a pair of gloves that were usable but thumb was weird. The was only one pattern piece for all sizes. The thumb seemed to big for glove.

For the belt, I drew a rectangle using measurements taken from my son. It was approximately 12 1/2" x 5". Then, I took a curve and made the little point at the center front. I used simple ties in the back.

The moccasins pattern was from the http://www.nativetech.org/ . This pattern had you draft for the person foot which I managed to do and they actually fit the little guy's foot. He did start his evening wearing the moccasins but return home for another pair of shoes.

Here's a pose with the questions marks on the leg and a little on the sleeve.

In the end, all adults recognized that he was the Riddler but none of the other children seemed to know who the Riddler was. My son didn't care. He was very happy with his costume. It has now been adopted as PJs.

Hope someone finds some inspiration from this costume.

Happy Sewing!

Almost there!!!!!

I'm almost finished with the costume. There are two remaining items - the belt and the gloves. I did find the the moccasins still need a little bit of work but I think I can do that in the evenings are I'm watching/listening to TV. I'm hoping to finish up everything tomorrow. DH is the cook so I will have a little extra time to stitch. All remaining items have been cut out. I'm ready to move on to something else.

Happy Stitching!

Time is flying...

Wow! Time has flown by the last couple of weeks. I'm still working on the Halloween costume and realized today that I have one week left. EEK! I really haven't accomplished much since the last time I posted. The pants and top are cut out with the hems on the sleeves and pants are done. Tonight, I created paper templates and started painting. The top has a big question mark and the sleeves have 3 question marks on each. The shoulder seams have been stitched and I have checked that DS can get his head through the opening. Hopefully, once I get the mock turtleneck attached he will still be able to get his head through.

I didn't realize how rusty my sewing skills were until I attempted to use the coverstitch on the serger to hem the sleeves and pants. It must have taken me an hour to get the serger converted and then I never did get it to stitch correctly. The hems were done on my sewing machine with a twin needle -- looks fine! Happily, I haven't forgotten how to thread the serger. Everything seams to be working just fine with the 4 thread overlock.

Tomorrow's plans are to get the legs painted, complete the top, and hopefully stitch the gloves. That will leave Saturday to finish the pants and make the belt. Now, if I can follow this little plan the costume will be finished in plenty of time and maybe, I can move on to other projects.

What are my other projects? I'm making a curtain for the deck and some pillows for the deck and the front porch. When those are complete, I want to make some curtains for my sewing area and make coordinating covers for some crates. It's so hard to choose fabric. I also have on my list some new placemats. Then, it will be on to some pillows for my room. After all of that is done, maybe I will be up for trying something else for me. I have found someone locally who is will to help me with fitting some patterns. I just can't seem to get it right by myself and it's too frustrating.

I have also decided that I need to spend a little more time playing with my serger. I think I over bought when I purchased it. I thought I had to have everything and really, I would have done just as well with a 2/3/4 thread machine. That is what I used 99% of the time. I'm not sure that I have ever used the 5 thread and the coverstitch (not successfully). I have a room full of wonderful equipment and I hardly ever get to use it. The Behemoth is another machine that hardly gets used. I still like sewing on my old sewing machine.

I'll pop back in with costume pictures as soon as the costume is finished.

Happy Sewing!

Costume Sewing - Part 1

Yes, the costume sewing has begun. I did start with the easiest on the list - the mask. I started with a sleep mask from Scarlet Fig - www.lauriewis.blogspot.com/2009/08/sleep-mask-tutorial.html . Here's my copy:

Below is the mask cutout of the lavender fabric with a heavy-weight fusible interfacing attached. You can also see where I modifying the mask making it narrower.

The mask all stitched together before turning. The elastic was the easy part. I did reduce the length by a couple of inches for both the lavender fabric and the elastic.

The finished mask (maybe). I thinking now that I need to shape the top part of the mask a little bit more to match the bottom. If I do this, I will satin stitch all around the outside edges.

Next, I will be concentrating on the moccasins. Below is my little buddy. When I'm sewing or just in the office, he is generally happy to be nearby. Laying on the pillow I made him a couple of weeks ago.

Happy Sewing!

The Completed 2008 Costume

Here's the finished costume:

I created the jacket, the whip & whip holder, and the canvas bag. The jacket appears to be a little bit big but he was a wonderful Indiana Jones. In this picture, he was trying to grim because that is how Indiana Jones is.

Happy Sewing!

Can you believe that October is almost over?

Where did October go? I have spent the entire month working on costumes. In the last post, my son had thrown a little bomb my way about needing a costume for his French class. Yes, the kid wanted to be Hugo Victor. Not only did I not know who that was but I had very little time to actually work on the costume. He wanted a leather jacket (ok, this made me laugh), a bowtie, and a beard. I made a bow using 1 1/2" wide grosgrain ribbon gathered in the middle and another folded piece wrapped around the gathered area. Double-stick tape was used to attach it to a shirt. I purchased a white beard from the costume store and trimmed it to match a mustache and shortened the beard. Then, I went to the Goodwill store and poured through the size 4/6 jacket and actually found a jacket with similar lapels that Hugo Victor had worn (that's a little scary about fashion isn't it?). That was the costume. It worked. I haven't seen the grade that he received yet. It had been stressed that they had to have costumes that would take about 2-5 minutes for them to put on.

Today, I received a the January 2009 issue of Threads. It has the most gorgeous dress on the front. I wish that I had somewhere to wear clothes like that. There is an article on bound buttonholes, another designer challenge on white shirts (they are all nice but I really love Fred Bloebaum), sewing with velvet, check out the coat article about weaving, and much, much more. I will definitely be scheduling time to sit down and just read. This has been my favorite magazine since the 80's and I have every issue.

I have not found any time to work on my next sewing project. My days just seem to disappear between my business, helping with the daily homework grind, son's activities, scheduling repairs on the newly renovated kitchen (microwave died, worst of all - countertop replacement), and just generally trying to keep up with housework (failing here), laundry, and cooking daily.

Happy Sewing!

The Bag for the Halloween Costume is done!

If you didn't know, the Indiana Jones character carries a vintage WWII gas mask bag. So, after looking at a multitude of photos of said bag, I decided that it would be very easy to make a bag and it was.

Here is the pattern that I drafted. Not a lot. I drafted the main part of the bag in one long piece with side pieces. The size of the bag is larger than one of the vintage bags since it will be the candy bag for Halloween. The size that I ended up with is 12" x 15" x 3" and I used 1/2" seams.

Here's the finished bag. Not bad for my first attempt at drafting a bag. This style of bag is suppose to have snaps but at the last minute I decided not to put them. It seemed like a waste of the snaps. The bag handle is from a bag that I got at Good Will for this purpose.

Here you can see the side of the bag with the d-rings. You can also see the seams which are basically french seams. Yippee! Halloween costume is finished with the exception of make-up which I have decided if I'm going to give the kid stubble or not but I did locate a website with a video on how to do the stubble.

Now, it's time to decide on the next project. It actually didn't take very long to decide on. I will be making this Simplicity pattern:

There are a couple of decisions that need to be made like size and which view. I'm thinking either the bottom one on the left or the middle on the right. The pattern has separate fronts cup sizes c and d. I'm hoping that this will eliminate a little bit of work. The fabric that I found in the stash is a pinky/lavender shade. It's on the washing machine right now.

Happy Sewing!

Whip Holder created.

Above is the whipholder that I created. I modeled it after the sample displayed on IndyGear.com. Here is roughly the measurements that I used - length is 25cm long (includes 1 cm seams, width is 3" + (2) 1cm seams, add a heavy duty interfacing about 2" on each end. Fold right sides together long ways and stitch a 1cm seam leaving an opening large enough to right side out. Lightly press and do a double-row of topstitching. Add snaps on the ends making sure that they will match up evenly. Then stitch the belt holder in place just above the snap. Width will depend on belt using.

Above is the whipholder with the belt inserted and the whip snapped in. It is a little bit tight (I forgot to check this measurement). If I were making this again, I would add 2cm to the length. Otherwise, I think it turned out perfect.

Happy Sewing!

The Jacket is Done!!!

Here's the Ottobre jacket that I made for my son's Halloween costume. It was made using Ottobre 01/2005 #28. I had to enlarge and lengthen the pattern so it would fit my son but now I have a pattern that fits him and I can make jackets for him (at least until the next growth spurt). I also changed the pockets to include flaps. My son is very proud of his jacket. He says that he feels just like Indiana Jones in it. The only thing that I would change on the jacket if I were to redo it would be to use a better fabric and change the height of the pocket.

Now, it's off to make the whip holder and the bag. The bag has been drafted. I am hoping that the first one works well enough.

Happy Sewing!

Sewing today!

I had a wonderful day sewing today. The Ottrobre jacket pattern that I'm using for the Halloween costume is wonderfully drafted. Even with the amount of manipulation that I did (i.e., enlarging), it went together perfectly. I estimate that I'm about half way done. The jacket is sewn together and topstitched. It just needs cuffs on the sleeves, a collar, zipper, facing, and hemming. That shouldn't take too long to complete. Hopefully, I will have the afternoon and evening to finish up the jacket. Then, it will be on to the bag. I'm thinking that should be fairly easy. Although, I admit that I have never drafted a bag before.

The creation of the pocket flap and stitching it on went very well. I did take pictures of the process of creating the patterns and cutting out the pocket, flaps, lining, and interfacing. Once I finish the entire costume, I will post a tutorial of the pocket flap and the pocket lining.

Tomorrow morning, I will be helping neighbors with a garage sell. I hope that we sell everything very quickly.

Happy Sewing!

Still working on the costume jacket

I have not made much progress on the Ottobre jacket. I had made the decision to change to the patch pocket with a welt to a packet pocket with a flap to make it look more like the jacket that I'm copying. First thing, I wasn't sure how the flap was to be positioned above the pocket. One of the ladies on the Ottobre-English group kindly sent me a link to Expert Village regarding pocket flaps. Here's the link to the video: How to Attach a Pocket Flap. This is a great resource. Go check out all the videos. However, the flap placement didn't seem right. In my younger, I made tons of flap pockets of course I had a pattern and placement marked then. I seemed to remember the flap being placed higher and being topstitched. I was unable to locate any other resource. So when I went to the Post Office today, I headed over to Macy's to see what the Men's jackets looked like and if anything had flaps on the patch pockets. Much to my amazement, it must be the trend to have a flap over a patch. So, I had multiple examples of what the flap should look like. I think that I will be doing a small tutorial on how I went about making the pattern for the flap, and placement of the flap. Ok, I'm off to get these pockets done. They have slowed me down. Halloween is only a 1 1/2 weeks away....eek!

Happy Sewing!

Slow day(s) of sewing

I did start the Ottobre jacket. Yesterday, I played with stitch length to see what would work. I decided on using the 3.5mm for the seams and 4.0mm for the topstitching. Today, I was able to get the two-piece sleeve stitched together and topstitched. I really wanted to get the jacket together today but life got in the way. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to get an hour in of sewing. The fabric has turned out to be very easy to sew. I was afraid that it might be difficult but it has a knit backing and I can't really tell what the front is but pins don't leave a hole (at least not that I can see). October is slipping away very quickly. Halloween will be here before I know it. Costume must be finished in the next week.

Happy Sewing!

A day to myself

There is only 2 or 3 times a year that I have the house entirely to myself for a weekend. This is one of them. I've been just enjoying the quiet, working (house and job), and working on my son's Halloween costume. Today, I finished the whip:


I found instructions for the whip at the Skip to My Lou blog. I think the whip turned out great. It will certainly last through Halloween and maybe beyond. I used 3 rolls of Ace brand duct tape to create the whip.

Look I've finally started on the Ottobre jacket for the Halloween costume:


The fabric is a dark brown upholstery fabric with a foam backing. It has the look of leather and that is all that I needed. I still need to figure out the pockets and draft some kind of a flap. If all goes well, I will get most of this completed tonight. I don't usually cut out on the floor but I wanted to watch/listen to the TV while I was cutting out and this was the only way I could do it. My little buddy was helping me by jumping over and around everything. Of course, it had to be very closely inspected just in case it was really a great big toy to be played. He finally gave up on me playing with him:




Happy Sewing!

Pattern Storage, Costume, and more general chatter

The dreaded re-arrangement of the bedrooms has begun. Here's picture of the IKEA cabinet that I purchased to put patterns in:
It is really perfect for patterns. Currently, I have around 300 hundred patterns in it and there is still room for more which is a good thing since I ordered the Vogue patterns that I was wanting to get. The Vogue website has been having a sell the past couple of days. So, I decided to join in and purchase. I ordered all four patterns that I was interested in and was surprised with one of them being free. However, the shipping was the same price as the free pattern so I didn't really make out there.

I have been working on the Ottobre jacket pattern for my son's costume. I pinned the pattern pieces together and tried them on my son (yes, amazingly he let me pin the pattern to his shirt). The sleeves needed 5" added to the length. I think I will add another 1" to the body of the jacket also. Once the sleeve patterns have been fixed, I can start cutting and sewing. I hoping to be finished by Sunday. Then, it will be on to the bag. I have the bag sketched and dimensions decided on. Also, I hope to get the whip created.

Yesterday, it was raining lightly and I decided to run out to the garden to pick some hot peppers for salsa. I was surprised to see fungi growing everywhere around the patio. I took several pictures. Today, while I was out in the garden I noticed that there were fungi growing everywhere around the back of the house. Since I'm not sure exactly what they were I tried not to step on them but they are kinda pretty.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a good sewing day. In the morning, I will do my Curves workout and work for 2/3 hours. That should leave a couple of hours in the afternoon to work on the costume jacket or draft the bag pattern for the costume.

Costume work, general chatting and Charity

Yesterday, I finally got going on the costume pattern again. Just two more patterns pieces to retrace and add the seam allowances to and the pattern pieces will mostly be finished. I will need to double check the arm length of my son but that will be easy to add if needed. The plans are to finish the pattern today and possibly cut out. Once again I think that I have selected a fabric that will require careful handling as I'm not sure about using pins and my rotary cutter is missing. I may start drafting the bag pattern today. Hopefully that will be the easy part.

I have also started the dreaded rearranging of the sewing room so that I can move items from the current office area into it. The office area is a rather large room and it needs to be redone. I have been in this house almost 5 years and this is the only bedroom that hasn't been redone. It will be a lot work as 2 walls are wallpapered and the remaining 3 walls have a paper border on them. Once the walls are cleaned, the patching will begin. I'm thinking that the new wall color will be a blue or maybe even a green. I'm looking forward to removing the carpet. It is a dark navy blue and always looks dirty (since I have a white cat). I'm actually hoping that the flooring will be in good enough condition that I can have it re-finished. However, this room was at one time two separate bedrooms. So, there is uncertainty as to what the condition of the floors look may be. Repairing is most likely not an option as I don't want to damage the ceiling on the 1st floor.

Today, I received an email from some organization - crocheting or knitting and it has a link for a charity called "Knit One, Save One". This organizations give hats either knitted or crocheted to newborns in developing countries. Patterns are free. Here's the link to the organization in case you're interested in donating your time to this cause: Knit One Save One. I always like to be doing something while I'm watching TV or as a passenger in a vehicle.

Happy Sewing (knitting or crocheting)!