So here I am all decked out as a witch for our neighborhood Halloween party. This is the best pic I could get. Usually I am the photo taker, not the model. I had this awesome broom that I forgot to bring. It would have totally made the picture. I think my favorite part about this costume is that I didn’t make it floor length and you can see the neon green striped tights. It’s a nice little pop of color against the all black dress.

Here’s my little witch. I made the cape from Simplicity pattern 5512. The hat was store bought that I added ribbon and feathers to. The Halloween skirt is one of the many skirts I made a few months ago.

All costumes are officially done!! So much time was spent on costumes this year that we weren’t able to make anything new for our yard display. On Halloween I’ll be going as Princess Leia.

Since there is no Princess Leia costume available I had to find something close and do some altering of the pattern. I used Simplicity pattern 4795. The neck hole had to be made smaller and a collar band had to be added. The sleeves had to be sewn smaller and I had to sew a hood into the collar.

Hood should really be longer.

Belt is made from vinyl. The silver shapes are vinyl spraypainted silver then glued on and the buttons are those silver blank buttons you buy to cover with fabric. It’s kept closed in the back with velcro.

So before I start working on my plush cake slice to go with Marie Antoinette I’m trying to finish up Halloween costumes. We’re doing a theme this year and my husband will be getting involved too. He wants to be a storm trooper so a Star Wars theme it is. I’ll be going as Princess Leia and my 2 1/2yr old daughter will be going as a Ewok. However she thinks she’s going as a teddy bear, whatever she wants to think to get her into the costume is fine with me.

Here’s the hood. I used a brown micro fiber polyester material to simulate the leather.

I did a bit of stitching here and there. I might even distress the material a bit to give it an aged look.

Here’s the body. By the time I finished cutting and sewing the suit together my studio was covered in fur. It looked like I shaved one of our dogs. The costume also includes mittens and shoe covers.

I used Simplicity pattern 2855. The costume is a bit large on my daughter which I think makes it cuter and funnier.

So now I just hope we have a cool Halloween night because this costume will be toasty and I hope she keeps it on.

Took a while to finish. I’m feeling a bit under the weather. The dress hits my legs about mid lowere leg. This is so my black and green tights and ankle boots can be seen.

I finished up the bodice of the witch costume. The dress is made from Simplicity pattern 4136. See what I meant when I said the bodice looked a bit boring. I added ribbon detailing to the puff sleeves and ribbon down the center of the chest. For the main part of the dress I used a a light weight ribbed corduroy.

Kinda’ boring.

Here’s a pic of the bodice with the vest. It’s really looking awesome now. All the different kinds of material really give dimension to the dress. I decided the neck needed a brooch. I used some left over ribbon, feathers and I found some awesome skull buttons.

So I’ve completed all the sewing projects I wanted to for the fall. Now to start working on Halloween stuff and pieces for Luv-able & Hug-able as well as Stuff This.

When I went back home to STL in June I dug through a box of old patterns my mom and grandma had used to make clothes for us kids. It was fun seeing all these 70′s and 80′s patterns. I took a few back home with me and planned to make my daughter one or two outfits. I chose this one first. I thought the dress would look cute this fall with a long sleeve shirt and leggings and maybe some cute boots.

I love the illustration on the envelope.

I literally made this from scraps I had left over from another project.  In fact I wanted the center panel to be the same material as the two side panels but I just didn’t have enough.

With this pattern you can add pleats or not. I chose to add them and use bright pink so they’d really pop. I’d love to make another that is plaid, maybe in a lightweight corduroy.

This is a size 3 and follows all the same measurements as size three’s do today however it’s big. I had to take it in a bit.

I finished my jacket last night. This pic is of a real Cynthia Rowley jacket in leather. It costs $550.00. Mine cost maybe $20 bucks. I do like the leather version and I bet it has a good weight to it.

This pic doesn’t really do it must justice. Looks a little boxy here.

My only complaint about how mine turned out is the sleeves. They turned out a bit puffier than I had hoped. Also, because I have thin arms, I can’t tighten the D rings any tighter on the sleeve cuffs. I can’t push up the sleeves like in the pattern photo because they just keep falling. I should have cut the size smaller for the sleeves or measured my arms and the pattern and then adjust it. Oh well.

Here’s my attempt to take a photo of myself wearing it. I would have taken a pic outside but it was already dark.

I haven’t made anything for myself in ages so I decided to tackle this Cynthia Rowley pattern from Simplicity. I wouldn’t say it’s a really hard pattern, but it does have lots of pieces to keep track of.

The pockets took some time.

I can’t wait to see how it looks with the sleeves.

I went a bit crazy on making skirts for my daughter for the fall. There was just so many cute fabric combos. My daughter has finally decided that she likes to wear skirts and asks to wear “pretty drresses” just about every day. These are super quick to make. A great project to whip up during nap time. Simplicity pattern 2356.

Princess Castle Skirt. This print reminds me of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

Little Golden Books Skirt. My daughter has a shelf of Golden books that belonged to me and me mom. One of which is the 1951 printing of Mary Blair’s I Can Fly.

Flower Skirt. I love this fabric combo.

Gnomes Skirt. Who doesn’t love gnomes?

Halloween Skirt. Great print. Cute and not juvenile looking.

Thanksgiving Skirt. I really wanted to find a fabric print with turkeys. I searched everywhere and found only one and it was ugly.

Skull Skirt. This is my favorite. Cute and punk all in one. Will be great for the Halloween season and beyond.

Christmas Skirt. Very cute and retro.

I then decided to make a quick poodle skirt as a costume for my daughter to wear to school. She’s got black and white oxfords that’ll look really cute with this.

My little model. I took about 15 pictures and only had one descent on to use. It’s really hard to get a 2 year old to stand still or pose for you.

Wish this had been available a year ago! It would have been a lot better than trying to make up the Alice costume out of two patterns like I did.

2009 Alice costume.

I know it’s only the first of August, but I’m already gearing up for Halloween. Crazy I know. But I like to be done with everything the first of October so that really only gives me two months. I’ve got materail and patterns already purchased and waiting to start. My husband will also be dressing up this year. Surprising! Stay tuned to see what our group costume will be!