Sewing again..

Today, found me in the sewing room. I washed/dried the fabrics for Christmas napkins. When this was going on, I decided to play with my serger. I realized that I although I use it and I do not use much of the capabilities on it. Generally, I finish edges and sew knits. That's it. So, today, I decided to test the 2 thread capabilities. I decided to attempt a blanket stitch and started testing scrap fleece. The longest stitch my machine will do is 5mm. I couldn't get the serger to make a consistence stitch length. So, I changed increased the tension on the looper and changed to a heavy water soluble stabilizer. Amazingly, it worked. Tomorrow, I hope to add the edge of a piece of fleece.

Happy Sewing!

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!

Shopping is so discouraging!

In a couple of weeks, I have a party to go to. You know, one of those work functions for your husband parties. It always means finding a new dress. I decided this year that I should go buy a dress and I tried on lots of lovely 40's style dresses. However, I don't like spending $100+ on a dress that would most likely be a one time wear. I prefer my clothes to be washed at home not dry-clean only. Most of the dresses were made from an acrylic blend knit. Although they felt nice and surprisingly looked nice, I'm not sure about the fabric. Only a couple of the dresses I tried on were washable. So, I decided that I could make something myself that looked similar but Noooooo! Not one of the pattern companies offer anything similar to what I found today. This was very disappointing. Am I expecting too much to find patterns similar to what I can find in RTW? I really liked the dresses with the interesting collars and belts. Does anyone else find this to be so?

Ok, enough complaining. Guess, I will go back and pick out one of the lovely dresses. Then, I will need shoes and maybe some new jewelry. I suppose that I will save my sewing time for the Halloween costume I'm working on.

Happy Sewing!