funky witch costume

I made another witch costume, but this time it's a little more fun, and less traditional.  It's for a little girl in our neighborhood, who is the same size as Rora (we'll call her Little Miss.)

(modelled by Rora)

I still used the corset-style belt from Simplicity 4139, but this time I made it a little smaller than recommended so that the lacings would be more obvious and Little Miss' mom chose green ribbon for the same reason:

The tutu is a no-sew tutu, except I didn't like the idea of the waistband being stapled, so I sewed it.  I guess it's more of a "minimal sewing" tutu.  (If you don't know how to make one of these, just Google "no sew tutu" and you should end up with plenty of options.)

The cape is simple.  It's 36" wide, and the length that I wanted.  Then I gathered it into a length of extra-wide double-fold bias tape (make sure to cut it long enough to tie on either side of the gathering.)

And the true test of whether a costume/outfit/dress is a success: does it make her want to smile and twirl?

The hat Rora is wearing is the same hat from last year's witch costume.  Little Miss already has a hat, so there was no need to make her one.

tutu (butterick 5545)

Today I got the opportunity to accompany my little niece to her parent/child dance class, since my brother-in-law was unable to take her.  What a fun time we had!  E and Rora were born 6 days apart, and have been good little friends all their lives, so it was super fun to get to do this dance class with them!  (Since E is not mine, I've decided not to post pictures of her here, but you'll have to trust me that the two of them together were simply adorable.)

While at dance class, it occurred to me that I made Rora's tutu more than a year ago, but hadn't posted it here.

I made her tutu from Butterick #5545.

The directions were simple and clear, however it can get a little hairy when you're putting on the 6th layer of gathered tulle. 

Have I mentioned before that I hate gathering? 

I usually love the look it creates enough to power through, but I hate it!

I like how it ties in the back, which means it will last a little longer as she grows:

Just so you have pictures of all angles, here is what the tutu looks like upside-down!

See?  I told you we had fun!

Dance class doesn't get any more fun than tutu's and hanging on the barre pretending to be a monkey!

jeans to skirt

This project has been a long time coming.

I bought these jeans at a thrift shop because if you find jeans with a 30" waist and a 36" inseam, you just don't pass them up.

Unfortunately, even after paying only $6 for the jeans, I never wore them because the seam from waist to crotch was too long.  I felt like I was wearing men's pants; they sagged and bunched under my crotch and I just didn't feel sexy in them!

So, I decided to make them into a knee-length jean skirt--something which I've never been able to find for myself because my legs are so long.  I used the bottom of the jeans that I cut off to fill the triangle-shaped gaps created by cutting the legs apart.  I'm so happy with the results!

Before:

After:

ruffle skirt

I wanted to make a cute skirt for myself, but didn't want to spend a lot of time.  So, I cut out a simple skirt from MADE, but before sewing it together, I did a little embellishing with some ruffles.

4 rows of them to be exact.

For anyone interested in ruffles, mine are 1 inch wide.  I cut them twice as wide as the skirt, and then gathered to the same width as the skirt using a long stitch running down the center of each strip.

I think it's cute, and I might make another one out of something a little lighter weight!

dress to skirt refashion

A friend of mine approached me about a week ago and told me she bought a dress in the children's department and wanted me to turn it into a skirt.  Intrigued and slightly disbelieving, and agreed to take a look at it.

Turns out this thin friend of mine bought matching mother/daughter dresses: one for her five-year-old, and a size 16 for herself.  Looking at the dress, it seemed like the remake wouldn't be that hard, so I dove right in.

The dress started out with this pretty doily-like bodice, which is cute on a little person, but rather matronly on an adult waistband:

The first step was to detach the lacy overlay,

then cut the bodice even with the back (approximately 3 inches above the seam at the top of the skirt.)

I then serged around the raw edge, folded it over to meet the existing seam, pinned it in place, and sewed around, leaving a gap for the elastic.

I added elastic and sewed it shut.

Start to finish, the project took about an hour and a half and I think it tuned out beautifully!

It's nice to get back to being creative!  See you soon!

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Blue Cricket Design

wedding dress-up

This one was one of my favorites to make.

I don't know what it was . . .

maybe the waistband with the gathered front panel and easy-close tie in the back:

or, maybe it was the headband veil with the sweet little flowers and double layer to pull down over her face (so that nobody can kiss her until she's married . . . that's what we keep telling her.)

Maybe it's the way she loves to dance in it:

 

or, maybe--just maybe--it's that 20 years from now I hope to be able to make her real bridal gown and that she'll be this happy about both it and the man she's chosen to marry:

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