Pages

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

A Mom, a borrowed sewing machine AND Halloween!

So, 2 weeks ago, I didn't even know how to thread a sewing machine - after MUCH trial and error and thanks to a good friend who let me borrow her machine, I am now a sewing Rockstar.

O.k. Rockstar is a bit premature - but I can use the machine and have figured out quite a few things to do with it including tailoring an old robe to be a Captain hook Jacket, making a circle skirt AND puffy sleeves for my snow white costume and more.

It all started with Katie saying she wanted to be Rapunzel and me seeing a SUPER cool Rapunzel like hat on Ravelry - so I made it.

I actually just added the ribbons and flower tonight cause Katie said the little girl in the store had prettier Rapunzel hair cause it had flowers in it. (The fake barbie hair stuff you can get at the Disney store)- I'm hoping when she wakes up she will approve of my attempts to improve my original design.

Then Ben decided he wanted to be Jake. Easy Peasy!!! 
Googled it - found inspiration and hand sewed a vest out of the felt you can get in 8.5 * 11 inch sheets and some fabric glue - made him some fake boots to put over his pants and sneakers plus the strip of Red Fabric we cut out of one of Daves old 5K shirts for his headband - add a little hair gel plus the sword and spy glass  toys my mom had bought him over the summer and there you go!

A Perfect Jake!


Then Ben decided that Dave should be Captain Hook - so our brainstorming began.

I had this robe that I have had for years now. Random - but I only really used it when I was pregnant and for the first 6 months or so after having both my kids. It was in my closet and I decided to recycle it as Captain Hooks Jacket. 

Then I went to the craft store and bought really cheap frilly ribbon and sewed 2 layers onto the sleeves. (You can totally see the string if you look close but - give me a break - I'm a beginner and only had limited supplies)

 Then I figured out how to tailor the robe a little to take it in so that it fit Dave better. In fact, I just did a little extra tailoring tonight and am kind of impressed! Dave put the Gold Duct Tape all around it and created a sash for himself too. We bought a hook and a hat and were ready to call it a day.

 But then I thought - I could make him a "wig" out of yarn - so I sewed this up tonight...
I know - it looks like a beard - it's not and it looks cool under the hat. Tomorrow I'll send him to the dollar store to get a fake mustache that we will have to trim into Captain Hooks skinny minnie mustache before tomorrow night.

Then there's me.
I decided late one night when I couldn't sleep that I could be Snow White. So, I started pinteresting like crazy and found all kinds of ideas. At first I almost just got a shirt and yellow pants but then I said - hey wait - I can do better than that... so I pinterested and googled some more and found some super helpful pictures and ideas on how to make Snow White Sleeves - so I set out and copied those - added a plain blue shirt - made a sloppy circle skirt which I trimmed with some ribbon and borrowed one of Katie's head bands. I also made a cape. Now - it's all messy and sloppy and completely unfinished looking if you look up close - so please just stay about 3-5 feet away from me tomorrow and then you can be impressed:) 





Tonight I made the mistake of trying to add the bling that is on Snow Whites corset- I had bought some really thin gold ribbon and at this point, to be honest I'm kind of over this project and would like to get my life at night back - so I tried to add it quick and ended up stretching the blue top too much so now the ribbon is kind of bunchy and not straight like I wanted - but there's nothing I can do now - so on it stays... I'll try to make the best of it and not be too disappointed.


Moral of the story - with Pinterest and Google - you can do ANYTHING!!!!!!

This makes the 3rd year I've made costumes for us and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. They aren't fancy and they aren't super GREAT looking - but it's a wonderful creative outlet for me and really helps me wind down at the end of a long day juggling working mom duties. Yes, I get burnt out because I end up doing these things last minute so I overdose on projects for a few weeks at a time after the kids are in bed - but it's totally worth it. I get such a kick out of it and for now at least, the kids do too.

I can't wait to see what next year brings!!!

Happy Halloween!

1 comment:

  1. Update - got the stamp of approval on her improved hat design this morning :)
    ~Annie

    ReplyDelete