Happy Halloween!!

Welcome to the 2012 Halloween Extravaganza! I have been sewing up a storm the last few days (mostly because I waited until the last possible moment to finish these) and am pleased to show off our really fun costumes! :) I was planning on making Princess Leia, but thank heavens, my neighbor (who I seriously couldn't live without!) had one that fit my daughter perfectly, so we went with that! I will show off the awesome Leia hair that I pulled off!! :)

Sock buns. Who knew? They worked perfectly!

Okay, on to costumes!

First up - C3PO!

I made this with a metallic costume material. It's actually plastic. I hate it. It was awful to work with, and if my son is to be believed, awful to wear. But - it looks just right! lol!

The belt thing was fun. I just sewed circular designs and "wires" onto it. I love how it came out.

We used serious makeup on his face, and it looks great, but just slightly too green... oh well! He looks great!

For mine, I went as "Goldberry", a small character in Lord of the Rings. She didn't make it into the movie (that I can remember), so I was able to create her just the way I wanted. She was the "River's daughter" - a kind of nature goddess. I used a dress pattern that I used a few years ago. It turned out really lovely!

I even made more flower rosettes for my hair! :) Seriously, I will post a tutorial on the rosettes soon! They are so easy and so pretty! :)

Check out my eye makeup! It's probably the best eyeshadow I've ever done. That's really saying something... lol! I have a few more pictures of my dress (some details) on Flickr, so check those out too! :)

 The three of us all decked out! :)

Well, Happy Halloween everyone!! Stay safe!

Princess Buttercup

Okay, now for mine. I must apologize in advance. Apparently, when I'm the one that needs to be in the pictures, it becomes very difficult to get good pictures. lol!

Anyway, I wanted to be Princess Buttercup for Halloween, but I already had a gown cut out (for another purpose that didn't end up happening) and that had been sitting in a bin for about 2 years. So, I just redesigned the sleeves and made it a Buttercup-ish dress. I really like how it came out!

Pink! I love the shimmery overlay. I added the gold trim to make it kind of royal looking.

The sleeves are my favorite! I designed them myself and love how they came out! They are really heavy, though! :)

My 7 year old took this picture. It's the best we got... hahaha.

Our crazy bunch! Happy Halloween everyone!! :)

Thor

This project was a really fun headache for me! Yes, I did the shirt twice. I made the cape three times. I tried to find a store bought Thor costume. (There weren't any!) But, I am very pleased with the final result, so here it is - Thor, god of thunder.

Yes, the helmet and hammer are store bought.

I made the little "glove" things just as little slip on sleeves. Seemed easiest.

The shirt is all fabric (the darker grey is taffeta, the shiny is vinyl!) and I attached it with super mega Heat n Bond. It's more art than sewing, and it's the first time I've done anything like it. I copied the design from a little Thor action figure! lol! I would have liked a full metal breastplate, but my blacksmith skills are lacking ;) (I did consider sculpting it out of Styrofoam, but my sculpting skills are lacking too...)

The cape is taffeta. If I had to do it over for a 4th time, I would have used satin. The taffeta is just a bit heavy.


The curve in the shoulder was a very important detail for me, and proved to be the hardest thing to figure out. I tried several things to hold the curve and had several failures. Finally, after scouring the notions section (and discovering a whole bunch of awesome things I had never known about before!) I found belting. Yes, the stuff you would use to make your own belt!! It was stiff and just the right width. I hot glued three layers together and glued it into my cape. Perfect. I had to attach the cape with staples, but we don't need to dwell on that! ;)

So, as I had several firsts on this costumes as well, I am linking to Melissa's TNT again! For Heat n Bond and Belting fun! :)

WIP Wednesday!!

The "I've lost my mind" edition!! lol!

Okay here's what's going on in my sewing room...

The Princess finally laid out another block!


Notice the high heel? hahaha!

I was all Halloween costume-d out this weekend, so instead, I put together a quick quilt top, using only two fabrics, and a modified version on Melissa's Happy Quilting quilt-a-long quilt.


It looks so cool! I'll be finishing it pretty soon, so stay tuned.

So - on to the "lost it" portion of the post.

Last Thursday, the kids went to a Halloween party. Remember the Thor costume?

Well... it didn't work. The cape came off and little man managed to cover the shirt in frosting. That is the excuse I am going to use as to why I re-did the entire thing. (The real reason is that we watched the movie over the weekend, and all I could think of was how lame my costume was.)

So... re-do! I am pleased with how it came out! Here's a sneak peek: (which, I'm not trying to be tricky here, I just haven't taken any good pictures yet!)


I will be getting pictures in all it's glory tomorrow, and will post pictures right after that! :)

Finally - as a last bit of crazy, I decided to use leftovers to make the kids Trick-or-Treat bags that matched their costumes.


Mom of the Year, right?

So now I just have my costume to do and a day and a half to do it! Wish me luck! :) This is how it looks right now...


lol.

Be sure to check out all of the awesome WIPs at Freshly Pieced!

Rapunzel...

I finally managed to get the Princess into her costume and get some pictures! I am so so SO excited about how this dress turned out! It is probably my very best dress to date! :) So, with no further adu, I give you my 2011 Halloween masterpiece (haha) Rapunzel...



I LOVE IT!



She loves it...



Here's a close up of the front. I am pleased with the grommets and everything! I was a little worried about those! :)



The back. This is probably the best zipper I have done!



The braid. I kind of think the big flower is way too big, but she loves it and won't let me change it!



The wig took almost a whole pound of yarn. I have never done anything like this at all, and it was mildly intimidating! But I am really pleased with how it came out!



As it was the first time I have made a wig/head piece, I have decided to link this up with Melissa's TNT link up - because it's important to celebrate when we Try New Things!!





I am so happy to have made this beautiful dress. I really do love making dresses, even if they are a t.o.n. of work! It worth it to see this beautiful smile!



Coming soon: Thor. hahaha! Now, on to the Halloween parties! :)

WIP Wednesday - Halloween edition

I am still up to my eyeballs in Halloween costumes!! I thought I had a great time table all laid out... but then the kids got invited to a Halloween party which bumped things up by a week. That's cool. Then, I got the great news that my sister and her family are coming to visit, which put the deadline at... tomorrow. Eeeek! I have to have my sewing room clean before they come. Otherwise, there will be nowhere for them to sleep! :)

SO - I have had a marathon sewing fest the last few days. I had forgotten just how labor intensive dress making is. And there's nothing quite like saying, "Honey, go get me a hammer so I can do the next step on your dress!" (lol!) BUT - I had also forgotten just how much I love it! I finished the Princess's Rapunzel dress today (whew!) and will give you a little teaser:


I am going to force the child to go for a photo shoot tomorrow and I'll get some real pictures up soon! But first, I have to finish the this:


Yeah. Turns out, if you want to do Rapunzel hair, it takes a pound of yarn. Who knew?

By comparison, the little man's Thor costume felt almost like cheating. It came together in less than an hour. Here's a preview:


My princess dress (hiding behind Thor there...) is currently on hold, but I am pleased to say the sleeves are going to work! More on that later...

So, that is my Halloween costume summary! Better pictures to come!

ALSO - on THURSDAY (October 20) I will be posting a review of an awesome website complete with a GIVEAWAY!! I promise you - you don't want to miss it, so mark your calendars!! :)

Linking up to Freshly Pieced! Be sure to check out all of the awesome WIPs!!

WIP Wedenesday!!

Wednesday, Wednesday... how you constantly creep up on me! :)

This week, I managed to have a finish (YEA!!) and a few starts:

I finished my Diamond Chain Christmas Quilt!


More on this later!

I started my Halloween Princess Dress:


And am about to start The Princess's... Princess Dress. (lol!)


That's... pretty much all! Not a lot of projects, but a ton of work to do!! :)

Be sure to check out all of the WIPs at Freshly Pieced!

Which Witch Complete!!

I am so SO so SO thrilled to have my Halloween quilt finished!!! This has been a joy to make and even more joyous to finish! This quilt is my favorite. I know, I say that every time, but this time I mean it the most!! I think this quilt must have been designed just for me. After all, it combines two of my very favorite things: Halloween, and High Heels! :)

Anyway, with no further adu, here she is: Which Witch



For quilting, I did free motion quilting with little triangles. I had seen this and really wanted to try it. It turned out well, although I wish I had been a little more aggressive with the angles. Some look too round. Oh well, it was way fun to try!!



Quilt Info and Stats:

Pattern: Which Witch by Crazy Old Ladies
Size: 37.5" x 46.5"
Fabric: various Halloween deliciousness, most of which I got after Halloween last year. Oh, and I over bought. By a lot! :)
Destined for: ME! It's mine!! All mine!! Muahahaha!

As a small update, I haven't quilted any of the other quilts yet... soooo, I might get one more by next week, but even that's not likely! haha! Oh, well!! :)

WiP Wednesday - Basting edition!

So... I got a lot done this week! (I was going to say "I was a sewing machine this week" but... well, it is funny, but - you know...)

Anyway - I managed to finish the tops of: Halloween, Diamond Chain, and Twin Frolic.

!!!!!!!!!

Awesome!! So, today I had a massive basting party. See my sweet little helper?


I got Halloween, Diamond Chain, and Summer Series basted. I still need to baste Twin Frolic, and long lost Avignon Picnic.





I also managed to get Halloween quilted, and the binding stitched on, but have no pictures to show for it yet!

I will be out of town this weekend, but I am hoping to get all 5 tops quilted within the next week. I'm hoping, but not totally hopeful. We'll see! Wish me luck!!

Be sure to check out all of this weeks WiPs over at Freshly Pieced!