Halloween

We had two Halloween parties to attend this year. Because most of my friends have kids, we did the adult party on Friday night so that on the actual Halloween night we could do trick or treating with our kids. My husband is Biker Dude. The tats are all fake but look great. Needless to say, I danced my little toes off and had a great time. My mother was here to watch the kids.

We took several cheesy couples photos before we left.

This is Amy Winehouse being naughty. My husband is so patient.

Here's me after I've had a bit to drink. Do you think I could be smiling any wider?? The doctor is not nearly as into this photo as I am. Part of it is that my hair is all over the place. Like my tats? It's one of those tattoo shirts.

Ginormous hair. The back combed it to within an inch or its life. And, it's really, really, really hard to get that much eyeliner the same on both sides. I figured the worse it was, the more realistic is really would be for ol' Amy.

I made myself leather arm bands to hide the ends of the tattoo shirt. I just cut two strips of leather and added copper snaps.

The finished (almost) mitten

Here is mitten #2. It is slightly narrower, has a smaller thumb, and used ribbing (good idea Donna!) for the cuff. This is just random ribbing from the hand-me-down ribbing box.

Here's a comparison shot. #1 is on top and #2 is on bottom. It's a bit misleading though because #1 was originally longer with a much longer thumb. I altered the pattern for #2 but may have made it too short.

Here is the first pair of real mitts. I used Polartec 200 for the main part of the glove and pink rib knit from the random box of rib knit.

Why does she look like a rapper?

In other news, I made my first patch today. I used the Urban Thread's tutorial posted on their main page. I used this pirate ship pattern. It was free a month ago or so. I used Bling 'n' Beauty glue so we'll see if it stands up to Rough 'n' Rugged. I can't find any Patch Attach. My JoAnn's doesn't carry it and they don't know what I'm talking about when I ask about it. They do have it on the JoAnn's website. My patch edges aren't perfect but they are fun to make and The Boy creates many holes.

The Prototype

I've been working on a mitten prototype for my girls. I started with this Green Pepper pattern. The original pattern is for overmitts and the linings that go inside them. I have made those mittens many times but I wanted something a little smaller for the girls. I narrowed the sides of the mitten and added a cuff. This is a scrap this fabric from this Jalie sweater top.

Here are my modified pieces.

Here's the problem. This fabric makes cuffs that are too bulky. I'm going to try with a thinner knit. My original plan was to make the main part of the mitten two layers; fleece on the inside and wool on the outside. But, that would add another layer to the cuff area. I'm still trying to figure out what to do. The thumb is too long also.

Here's the original pattern piece for the hand/wrist.

Here's the model. It fits but I'll make it better. Expect to see more of these tomorrow.

Another Fleece Hat

Remember these? Here's another with a slight variation. I turned it RST and sewed the corners instead of adding tassels. The embroidery is from Emblibrary.com. I love my color combination of green, pink, and orange.

I have to remember to put labels on the back. My girls keep putting them on backwards. Funny, yes? Safe, no. I'll add sew-on labels to the back of the other hats I made. If you put them on backwards, there is a tiny little hole (neck hole) and they can't see. I'll try to take a picture next time. It's hilarious.

Burda 09-2009 #109 Pleated Trousers

This is item #9 of my wardrobe contest entry. The only thing left is my Chanel jacket. It's been sitting on my duct tape double. I'm not quite ready to tackle it yet so I think I'll do a bit more kid sewing first. I was unsure if these would be flattering when I started making these trousers last weekend. They are finished and I really like them. They are pleated at the hip without being huge, they have roomy pockets, they fit well, and I love the color. And who says I can't mix stripes and stripes and more stripes? If it looks stupid, just don't tell me. :) Oh, and the belt, that's Burda #151 from a few months back.

The nitty gritty. These trousers have side seams pockets, back shaping darts, and a single pleat in the front. They are made from RPL I found at Joann's. This fabric is on sale right now for, like, $3.49/yard. It washes well and it comes in good bottom colors. I sized down the pattern to a 36, my standard Burda size on bottom.

You can see the side seam pockets mostly stay shut at the sides when not in use. I am standing funny because I realized that all my other back photos had the belt above the waistband and looked funny. In this one, I realized it at the last second and tugged the belt down a bit.

Here's a front photo without the hands in the pockets. Can you tell it is windy? It's been really warm for October; but very windy the last few days. It hasn't snowed yet and it's currently 43 degrees out.

I used a dark gray RPL for the facing and pockets because I didn't have enough of the pinstripe fabric.

Here's the side seam pockets.

I know, I know. You aren't supposed to use a catchstich to hold down the facing but I like the catchstitch and it's effective.

The inside of the side seam pockets. I didn't read the Burda directions here so I don't know if I did it their way but it looks nice.

The cuffs. I never realized I was so short compared to the Burda models. I actually tried to use their markings for the cuffs. I had pants that were waaaay too long with 3" heels. I think I cut off about 3" and made the cuff a little bit larger.

Here's the inside of the cuff.

Next up?? I think kid sewing. My kids need mittens and I know a woman who can sew.

Early Morning Sewing

I managed to squeeze in some early morning sewing this morning due to my running being cut short by two bull moose fighting in the cul-de-sac. It sounds pretty dramatic but they were just pushing each other back and forth with their antlers and grunting. Seeing as they are much bigger than me, I decided to stay the hell out of their way. They were not huge bulls. They were about like these two bulls in this Anchorage-In-Pictures picture. I did snap some photos with my iPhone but, alas, it has no flash and it was 5:45am. I probably wasn't in any danger. At one point I was running and was about six feet away from the closest one. He just looked at me and went back to eating. The only thing they care about this time of year is female moose and other male moose who they see as competition. These two were hanging out together and feeding. Then, their hormones would kick in and they would grunt and push on each other. If you have not seen moose spar, grunt, and wave their antlers around, you should watch this:

ETA: These are not the moose I saw but they were about the same size and doing the same thing. This video was taken in Wyoming, I think.

My girls were gifted he Columba hat on the left and I really liked how it fit their heads. So, I decided to copy the design and make a few more. The one on the right is one I made out of microfleece.

This is the back.

Here it is on. Girl #1

And here is the other one I made. I love how it covers ears, some cheek, and chin on Girl #2. It took me all of about 15 minutes to trace the original hat, 15 minutes to cut, and about 30 minutes to sew and most of that was the tassels. It's a cute pattern and I'll make a lot more.

Did I need these?

My local fabric boutique is having a big sale. They are getting rid of all their Vogue patterns and are selling them off at a whopping $1 a piece. I couldn't resist these fantastic vintage ones. Did I need them? No, probably not. Do I love them? Yes.

This might be my halloween costume for next year.

I probably would never make this. My chest is not my best feature.

This coat I love, love, love.

This is cute.

This would be a cute dress but can a flat-chested girl pull it off? Maybe, but maybe not.

I love this jacket.

I love the diamond details.

I love this whole set. Love the dress. Love the coat. Love the wrap blouse.

I really love this dress. I'm confused though. The back says to use jersey, linen, or crepe. I can easily see this in a knit but they recommend a knit and a woven?

This is very cute. I can see this at knee length.

Burda 07-2009 #107 Trampy 60s Dress

Remember this cute little ditty from July 2009 Burda? I knew I would make this before the year was out. You'll notice the collar looks significantly different than this one. Let's, cough cough, call it a design element.

My original idea was a 60s go-go girl. I got a wig but it's much more Amy Winehouse. Should I put in a headband of the same fabric? Hmmmmm, some modification to the wig will be necessary. It's a very bright sunny day so I couldn't look at the camera without my eyes watering. And it's only about 34 degrees out so there aren't that many outside photos.

Obviously, it's for an adult party. Even then, we'll see if my husband lets me out of the house in it. I did leave a deep hem so I can let it out a couple inches if I need to.

This is a petite-sized pattern in size 17. I did a swayback tuck for the bubble-butt and then ended up taking it in about 2" at the waist at the CB seam. I love the pockets.

So do you see the collar issue yet? I put the damn thing on upside down!!! When I noticed, I had already topstitched it, attached it to the dress, attached the facing, and topstitched that down. There was no way I was picking out all that. The part where it overlaps should be the neck edge. The real CF is at my CB. It's still the same distance so it went in smoothly. It just means the collar points are a bit lower and sorta point upward. I did make the collar larger by extending the points of the collar piece before I cut it out.

It has sleeve facings and neckline facing. All of which, surprisingly, went in very easily.

I did one kickass welt pocket and one okay welt pocket. This is the first time I've done them in the front of a dress like this. I've only ever done them on jeans.

I used a very bright orange zipper from stash.

When at rest, it is hard to see.

Here are the boots I finished last night.

Even with all my practice, it's still hard to make the stitches even. Although with the shortness of this outfit, I'm not sure people will be looking at my boot stitching . . .