Halloween at our house

Halloween at our house this year included a jack-in-the-box

and a lion

I never even got a shot of entire lion costume (there was a sweatshirt top, too) but you parents out there know how hard it can be to get a three-year-old into a costume at times.

It seems that every sewing project is an opportunity to learn something.  A too-large neckline on the lion's top (a recurring theme for me, it seems) led to the realization that sometimes it is just easier to sew something by hand.  I took a large pleat in the center back of the neck to snug things up a bit, and my attempts to sew through multiple layers of fleece by machine failed.  I picked up a needle and thread and was finished with the task in about a minute.  I really need to remember this lesson.

Halloween Around My House

Here’s what has been keeping me busy in my sewing studio recently.  With two little kids in the house Halloween is becoming a bigger deal each year.  My four-year-old is finally old enough to remember that he got candy last year when trick-or-treating but my two-year-old is still just along for the ride.  I do like making costumes each year (my mom made mine for many years when I was growing up – thanks, Mom!)  This year I saw a pattern for a cute ladybug costume and thought it would be great for my youngest.  When I told older son about this he immediately said he wanted to be a spider which was convenient since that was another design in the same pattern. 

For the spider costume I purchased a black waffle-weave shirt and paired it with some already-owned black pants.  All of the costume details were added to the shirt.  The front features a rick-rack spiderweb.  I tried desperately to get glow-in-the-dark rick rack but evidently Wright’s has stopped making it.  I bid on numerous Ebay auctions for some of this stuff and was consistently outbid.  In the end I used some iridescent rick rack and stitched it down with glow-in-the-dark thread.  I made the spider legs from black fleece, stuffed them and stitched them to the shirt.  The pattern called for six legs but I reasoned that with my son’s own two arms and two legs he only needed an additional four.  The final element was a hat with little antenna (not sure what the pattern company was thinking here – I’ve never seen a spider with antenna but I went with the flow).

For the ladybug costume I used the pattern to create a little jumpsuit from red fleece.  The black dots are also fleece and stitched on.  The wings are made from black netting.  The hat with antenna is the same as the spider’s hat.  I had to have red shoes to complete the outfit but these proved hard to find (good thing I started looking back in September).  I was unwilling to pay $35 for a pair of shoes that would fit for only a few months but I eventually found a pair of Converse sneakers on craigslist for about $8 which turned out to be just right.

I think my little insect farm is just adorable.

The picture in the center is a treat my oldest son and I made for his friends at school.  We called them magic wands but they are simply a pretzel rod dipped in Candy Melts with sprinkles added.  We packaged them in pretzel bags and I created a simple tag that I stapled to the top.

You can read about the treat bags I made here.

Lastly, I just want to mention the great team at Blue Daisy Designs who created the photo template I used to showcase my pictures.  I love the work that these ladies put out and their reasonable prices.  They make putting together pictures for my blog super easy.  They are so generous, too – each Friday they post a freebie on their Blue Daisy blog so you can try out their products before visiting their Etsy shop.

Now on to some new sewing projects!  Stay tuned!

Bag of the Week 43

Trick or Treat?

This past week has been Halloween central in my sewing studio.  Halloween is not a holiday I get into in a big way (no elaborate decorations, etc.) but I am enjoying making my kids’ costumes.  My oldest son is 4, just old enough to understand that Halloween means candy.  My youngest (2) just thinks the costumes are fun.  The great thing about kids this age is that two pieces of candy from six houses seems like a treasure trove. 

Last year my good friend Joyce brought my oldest a little fabric treat bag (she makes dozens of these each year, fills them with goodies and hands them out on Halloween night – lucky kids!)  We keep this bag on the top of the fridge with a few pieces of candy in it for special treats.  Since Son #2 needs his own treat bag this year I decided to make both boys new bags to use for our trick or treating on Sunday.  If you wait until right before Halloween you can get great deals on cotton Halloween fabric.   I used the same stripe for the lining of both bags and varied the outer fabric and trim.  I keep a roll of black webbing on hand and used that for the handles.

Come back on Sunday for a peak at the costumes I made.