Last Year's Halloween Costumes--Minions

Last year, we had fun making/adapting our own halloween costumes, but I never got around to posting them.  I intended to take some good pictures but never did it, and here we are a year later with still no post about what ended up being a really fun set of costumes.

So, here's the rundown:  The kids wanted to be minions.



Thrift store overalls (luckily found in close-enough sizes), thrift store yellow turtlenecks (adult sizes that I cut down), goggles made from empty duct tape rolls and those rounded masks you wear to keep from breathing in dust, and stocking caps ordered on Amazon.

And then the most amazing thing happened.  We were eating an early dinner, getting ready to go trick-or-treating, when we joked about how great it would be if the hubs had a Gru costume.

Then we realized...it wouldn't take much.  He had a black wool car coat and scarf.  He had a pair of pants that he bought in Tokyo not realizing he had accidentally purchased very skinny skinny jeans.  I stuffed a long, narrow decorative pillow into his jacket's shoulders, and Voila...



Is that amazing or what??

Since hubby had not originally planned to wear a costume, I planned my outfit separately and therefore don't fit in at all, but that's ok.  I was Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service, a charming Miyazaki movie that you should watch this Halloween season if you've never seen it!



So that's it!  This year, we're not doing homemade costumes (sniff)...the kids wanted to be characters from Harry Potter, and it just didn't make sense to make Gryffindor robes when I could buy them so easily.  But there will be some surprises in store (if I get around to posting them before next year!)

Random Never-blogged gifts

Looking through photos I found several little projects that I gave as gifts but never blogged about.  Thought you might be interested in seeing them!  I'll have to do another post like this soon--I just tucked some very special baby gifts in the mail so I'll tell you about those once they have been received!

1.  This cute little purse, made from the free tutorial from Seven Layer Studio for one of Little Sister's friends:

2.  A Totoro stuffie, for our little friend's first birthday (along with a bib/apron that I didn't manage to photograph).  I used this free pattern, but using the stretchy knit I had on hand made him pretty lumpy.  I recommend using something more like the felt in the tutorial!

Oh, and I don't think I ever blogged about the pajamas they have on in those photos either--bonus!

3.  I made 10 of these reversible fat quarter aprons as a custom order for a friend who used them as favors for her daughter's cooking theme birthday party--fun idea!

Little Sister was not happy about modeling this, so her grumpy face is cropped out ;P

4.  I made this purse with leather trim to donate to a school fundraiser.  First time sewing with leather, and it was pretty easy!

Adapted from the free Phoebe bag pattern

5.  Mother/daughter birthday outfits--my friend and her daughter have birthdays two days apart, so how could I resist?

The top is the Fun Summer Tee from iCandy Handmade, except that I added a woven insert for the shoulders.   The printed fabric is a Nani Iro double gauze--sooooo nice!  The stripe is a 100 yen per meter find.

And the dress is this free Caravan Dress patter from Dotta.  Since I used the same woven for this skirt, I cut the back pattern piece in half instead of having the same fabric top and bottom.

I thought it would look cute to have this little inverted pleat in the back instead of a gather.

Update--I finally got a photo of these lovely ladies wearing the outfits I sent!  How cute are they?

6.  A skirt from the fabric that my friend picked out when she visited in November--I finally got it made in April!  I'm terrible!  It's a Milkmaid Skirt, from this free Crafterhours tutorial.

It works better as a spring skirt anyway, right?  She wouldn't have been wearing it in the winter...

7.  The scarf I included with my friend's skirt as an apology for taking so long on her skirt ;)  Dimensions from this Imagine Gnats Circle Scarf Tutorial.

8.  Oh wow--this one is old!  I made this dog sweater out of a thrifted sweater sleeve as a joke for my parents' dog after my dad sent me a link to a similar idea.

Modeled by Maddie Dog:

Best Excuse for Shoe Shopping!

I knew that I'd eventually write about our family's upcoming adventure on my blog, but I didn't think it would come about in such a roundabout way.  But I can't think of any other way to write about the outfit I made for "Inspired by Shoes" week on Project Sewn other than to tell you why my shoe collection is in major overhaul right now.

I love shoes, but I have a hard time investing in the good quality shoes that are going to last me a while and be comfortable AND stylish.  So I usually end up buying lots and lots of cheap, cute, disposable shoes...except that I then hang onto them even when they are worn out and gross.  

Not even all of them.

So, when we decided that we would be moving our family to Tokyo this spring for 1-2 years (how's that for a lot of fanfare for such an announcement?), I knew that I would need to make some big changes in my shoe wardrobe.  I wear a size 9 (sometimes 9.5), which can be hard to find in Japan, so I wanted to get the basics that I would need while I was still in the states, and I wanted to get good stuff.  Which meant getting rid of 15 pairs of worn-out shoes, and buying (so far) 4 new pairs.  Which brings me to my outfit!  

My outfit was inspired by this pair of shoes:

Image from Shoebuy.com, where I bought my pair

Burgundy, with a print (well, sort of) and an open back, and it can be dressed up or down.

Gotta watch my posture--looking a little maternity here!

I knew I wanted to make a casual skirt, because it would go well with the style of the shoe and also show the shoes off.  I made mine out of a much larger skirt that I found at goodwill--a nice, thick mini-striped interlock--and used Adrianna's tutorial from Crafterhours on making a fitted knit pencil skirt.  

This went really quickly, because I made the pattern a while back for my Mad Men-inspired skirt for last season's Project Sewn Era challenge.  I did a hidden elastic waistband this time though and (gasp!!) skipped the pockets for a more streamlined look.

To go with it, I made a top that I had been wanting to make for a while.  I saw this tutorial from Jess at Me Sew Crazy for an open-back knit tunic top, and thought it was so cute!  

Perfect with the pencil skirt or a pair of skinny jeans.  The burgundy and black bird print knit that I bought from Girl Charlee tied in the color of the shoe nicely, and of course the open back of the shirt mimics the slingback of the shoe.

The back looks pretty low, but I can actually wear a regular bra with this.

I made my sleeves more fitted and longer, and I lined the bottom part of the tunic as well as the bodice because the bird print knit was so thin, and I didn't want it to be see-through. I made the lining a tad longer so it would show at the bottom, but I left the sleeves unlined.

To top it off, I had a wrap dress that my friend passed into my upcycling pile that happened to be the same color as the shoes, so I made an open cardigan to tie the outfit together.  It was so simple--I saw the idea here, and adapted mine to my liking by curving the bottom edges and adding an elastic band to the back at the waistline.

I love the way the pieces work together, and that they are so versatile in other outfits!  And they go great with my new shoes!  Think this outfit will work for a mom-on-the-go in Tokyo?

And yes, there will be voting!  Starting Friday and running through Sunday, you can find my image along with all of the other sew-along submissions at the bottom of this page, where you can VOTE FOR ME (I'm lucky number 13)!!

My assistant did a great job of staying out of the photos until I was done :)

Silly girls!

Upcycled Earwarmer/Cowl

This one is so, so easy.  It literally took me 5 minutes to make, including snapping the selfies of me wearing this item.

I have been growing out my hair, and I like to wear it up, but the mornings are chilly and it messes with my hairstyles if I have to shove a hat on my head to walk the kids to school in the morning.  I know, life is hard. But I've been meaning to make a snuggly headband so I can wear my hair up and still keep my ears warm while walking around outside, and I've finally done it.

I found the remains of a cashmere sleeveless tank in my sweater upcycling pile--I had used the rest to make a pair of armwarmers which I am now wishing I had kept!  I was going to follow this cute tutorial to make one, but then it occurred to me--a turtleneck would probably do the trick.

I cut off the turtleneck, folded the raw edge under and sewed with a zig-zag, and I was done.  And it feels great!

If you didn't want the double-duty of using it around your neck as well, it would be fun to embellish or gather the headband together, but I like the idea of pulling it down around my neck sometimes when I do want a full-on hat on my head.  This would also work well for a kid's cowl!

If you wanted to make something similar but didn't have a turtleneck to work with, any stretchy sweater fabric should do.  Just cut  a rectangle about 20x7, fold in half right-sides together and sew the 7" long ends together, then turn right side out and hem the top AND bottom with a zig-zag stitch.

And guess what?  It fits Little Sister, too!  Dang it, why is it so much cuter on her?

I plonked it on her while we ran errands this afternoon.

Upcycled Sweater Dress

I've been meaning to make this dress for ages!  I bought the sweater months ago from Goodwill, knowing it would make a darling dress for Little Sister.  I finally got motivated to put it together when the holidays were rolling around and I knew it would be good to have an outfit that was festive AND comfy and not too formal for the types of events we participate in.

For example, visiting Santa.

And I finally got motivated to get pictures taken and blog about this dress when I saw that one of this season's Project Run and Play themes was upcycling!  I actually planned on making this dress back when last season had a "personal style" theme since upcycling is so inherent to most of my sewing projects, but I just ran out of time.  Oh, and by the way--the outfit the boy is wearing in the Santa photo is coincidentally all upcycled too!  He happened to wear these pants and this sweater.  How nice of him!

I used a basic t-shirt bodice pattern I had drawn up based on one of Little Sister's tees, and cut it out to empire length at the top of the sweater, sewing new shoulder seams so I could make the opening smaller while still using the ribbed sweater neckline.

When I drew that pattern originally I made a few sleeve variations--this one uses the puffed sleeve no hem sleeve pattern (since I cut the sleeve from the bottom of the sweater sleeve and didn't need to sew a hem).

The accessorizing is all her--she chose flower hair clips, zig-zag shoes, and purple pin-dot leggings.

I thought it would be cute to dip the waistline down a bit in the back--I like the rounded effect with the fair isle stripes.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, as it turned out), I cut the neckline too small and it was kind of snug over Little Sister's head.  If an item is difficult to get on, she will NOT wear it, so I knew I had to remedy the situation if I wanted her to wear the dress.  So I cut a facing out of t-shirt fabric and made a little elastic loop button opening in the back.  Now it's easy to get on and off, even without undoing the button, and it's a cute little added detail.

As if we needed any extra cuteness.

So there you have it!  My upcycled sweater dress.  Quick, easy, comfy, super cute, and about $5 to make!

I'll update this link with the Project Run and Play sew-along  when it's ready (it's there now)--so fun to see what everyone has been making!

Upcycled Sweater Stockings!

While we were home for this "snow day,"...

Obviously.

The kids and I were all productive.

I FINALLY finished the stockings I have been planning since I got Christmas sweaters for 75% off at Goodwill after the holiday last year,

All hung by the chimney with care

And many forts and bear caves were built.

There are lots of stocking tutorials online, and I did get some inspiration there but ultimately ended up doing this my own way, as usual.  Since I made four of them in a row, by the time I was about to start the fourth one I thought I probably had enough information and expertise to do a tutorial.  So if you want to make stockings like this, read on!

Or if you  just want a better look at the end product, here you go:

The Boy was primarily excited about the new stockings because that meant he could take his old one up to his room for Christmas decorations.  I hope he realizes that he does not have a chimney in his room, meaning that Santa will not be filling up his secondary stocking.  Honestly though, he just loves the holiday decorations and wants to spread the cheer into his bedroom--he asked me if he could bring some of the nutcrackers up there too; they are his favorite.

I had not anticipated how much more fun Christmas would be this year.  Our kids are now 3.5 and almost 6 and there is a huge difference between how a two-year old reacts to the holidays and how it is for a three year old.  Little Sister is SO EXCITED!  About EVERYTHING!  And it's not even about the presents--she is asking Santa for a Rapunzel doll, but other than that she told me that she doesn't want anything.  I asked her if her family should just choose something that they think she would like, since they know her pretty well, and she said "Yeah!"  She is way more interested in dancing in front of the lights, playing I-Spy with ornaments on the tree, and singing Christmas songs.  And The Boy had an opportunity to "shop" for his family at school, choosing presents carefully for all of us (nothing costing more than $1.)  He can't wait for us to see what he chose, and he was so thoughtful about it!  He has been making snowflake garlands and pictures of reindeer to put up around the house, and he can't stop talking about playing The Angel Gabriel in the annual church Christmas play. It is fantastic.

Snowflake garland.  In the center he cut out the letters to spell "WINTER."

He adds a new reindeer every day--he's up to Cupid, I think.

My personal favorite decoration--when he saw me about to recycle the scotch tape wrapping, he said "Don't throw that out!  I can use it to make Santa's sleigh!"  And so he can.

Is he my kid, or what?

Alright!  Ready for the stocking tutorial?  Great!  These is such a Beth project:  Upcycled?  Check!  Clearance? Check! Figuring it out as I go?  Check!

You can easily find a printable stocking pattern online, but I just used our old stockings as a guide for cutting out my shape.  I had to be strategic about where to cut, since most of my sweaters were cardigans or had zip-fronts.  It's a lot more straightforward if you find a crewneck to start with.

I cut two main stocking pieces (one facing each direction for front and back), two lining pieces, and two cuff pieces cut from the hem of the sweater so it has a finished edge.  I then cut my letters out of felt and sewed them to the cuff piece that would be the front of the stocking.

Attach the letters towards the bottom of the cuff piece, close to the finished edge.

Sew the cuff pieces to the top of the stocking pieces.  Make sure that you attach the cuff piece with the name on it to the stocking piece that is facing the direction you want the stocking to hang.

Do the same with the back piece and blank cuff.

Now lay your lining panels on top of the stocking pieces, right sides together, and sew across the top of the cuff.

My lining was a thin curtain panel, also from Goodwill.

 Flip the lining pieces up and lay flat,

Then lay one on top of the other, right sides together, and pin.

Leave an opening in the lining between the heel and the top of the stocking.

Before sewing, make a little loop for hanging.  I used ribbon and tied a knot in one end.

Insert the loop with the loop tucked in towards the middle of the stocking, close to the top of the cuff.

Pin the loop in place so that you will sew the knot or raw edges into the seam.

Sew around the outside of the stocking and lining, leaving the gap to turn the stocking right-side out.  Trim the edges, being careful not to get too close to the seam.  This is especially important for the sweater portion, since a cut sweater edge can unravel if not handled carefully.

To close up the hole used for turning, I just sewed it shut on my machine, but if you'd like it to be invisible you can do it by hand.  I just thought that nobody would see the lining so it didn't matter.

You could be done here, but depending on the thickness of your sweater/cuff, the lining may stick out.  This bugged me, so I decided to do a topstitch around the opening to tuck the lining down inside the stocking.

Before

After topstitching

 And here they are!  I love them.

Dad and Mom

The kiddos

 Here's how they look on the mantle!  The pets didn't get new stockings.

And luckily, each member of the family chose their own stocking as their favorite.  Phew!