Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone is having a great Halloween!

Is it just me or does anyone else wait until Halloween day to make costumes?? I’m not doing this next year!

 

Halloween Decorating!

I love fall! It means Halloween is coming. It means Christmas is coming. I really miss the sun and the no rain days. The grey kinda gets to me here in the Pacific Northwest. And maybe that’s why I love transforming the house from the norm to Halloween and then Christmas. I know, Thanksgiving is in the middle, but I don’t usually do a lot of decor for that holiday…

I’ve gotten all the decorations up and we’ve had fun making some new ones! A lot of the decorations are the same as last year, just moved around a bit. I do love my new owl! A fun Marshall’s find. And then the bats have now been named. This one here, ‘not the super big one, just the kinda big one’ is called Sandy. Not sure why and why the kiddo has become attached to this one bat out of the 100’s hanging in our house….

Another new little decor is our spooky apothecary Halloween jars! Rats and eye balls thanks to the dollar store. The spiders were last years hand outs, instead of candy, that didn’t get handed out.

And then we made some new projects… Of course, I already showed you our TuTu Monster Wreaths.

But this year we also made some ghosts! I’ve been wanting to make starch ghosts for YEARS. And every year, I pull out the starch and the fabric and then I put it away and pack away the fabric with the rest of the Halloween decorations to do next year. Not this year! We made them, finally. I say we, but it was really just me. My son wanted to help, until he got his hands dirty. Every time he got starch on them he ran to the bathroom to wash it off…

But when it came to decorating his ghost! He was in permanent marker heaven! His first face on the ghost was so cute. Then he kept adding and adding and adding and… Well, there is a face in there somewhere. I have to step back and remind myself to give the kid the freedom to make his own art.

These guys were supposed to be outside decorations… I guess I should mention that that starch I bought for this project… I’ve had for years and never opened… And I think I’ve mentioned that I live in the rainy Pacific Northwest… It’s a bit moist here, most of the year… DO you see where I’m going with this? So we had our stiff little starch ghosts and I put them outside. Left them there over night. The next morning they were no longer standing up. The moisture got to them. Luckily I found them in time and still had my forms so we were able to salvage them. Lesson learned= Moisture and Starch don’t mix!

And I couldn’t stop… A ghost garland!

The art is the same as last year, but the bats decided to spread out further into the house!  We did add a few family portraits! How do we look?? Thanks to Ooh Moon for the illustrations!

New Fabric!! Yea!!

I don’t order fabric online all that much. Mostly because I haven’t done it that much and I always get nervous about what’s it really going to look like when I get it…

But I’m liking it more and more these days!! I mean look at this batch. Whatd’ya think????

So these three, not real sure what I’m going to do with.. The elephants are a linen fabric, which I wasn’t actually expecting, but I like anyway. The rest are for the swaps I’m participating in…

The first swap I’m doing is another Round of Modernista Homemade. This round the room we’re making an item for is the kitchen. I’ve decided to do a mini quilt.

Using these fabrics….

And the second swap is another round of Modern She Made. Last time the piece had to have a circle, this time it’s a triangle. I’ve decided on the design (please ignore the horrible picture!). But I can’t decide if it’s going to be a mini quilt or a sewing machine cover. hmmmm….

Either way I’ll use these fabrics….

What do you think of these fabrics??? Love ’em? Hate ’em? Get rid of one or another??? Add anything?

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To Do List- John Smith Halloween Costume, done

The first thing crossed off my To-Do-List is the John Smith Halloween Costume!

Ok, have you seen Pocahontas lately? Because it seems like my husband and friends don’t seem to remember the outfit.. They keep saying, well, doesn’t it need this or that… Um. No. This is it.

This costume is for a friend of a friend 300o miles away in Florida. So I’m crossing my fingers that it actually fits. I used a 2T pattern, his size, but some pieces look too small (the arms) and other pieces look to big (the length of the pants).  Who knows! But I have to say I’m nervous! I don’t actually know if the kiddo is a tall and skinny 2T, short with a cute toddler belly 2T or just the run of the mill 2T.

There are a few things I’d do different if I did it again and had more time to spend on it. The boots…  I needed to angle out the boot flap so that it didn’t hug so tightly to the rest of the boot. The pattern I used was a pattern for shorts/pants, which perfectly showing me where the pants stopped and the boots began.

And the sleeves. I tried to make them big, but they look tiny. This is a repeat habit I seem to have… I always seem to make the sleeves too narrow. And the little poof sleeves (I’m sure there’s a more technical term, but…), I’d make those a little smaller.

But on the other hand… I love how the shirt turned out. I used the pattern, Simplicity 2907, for the shirt (and pants) and just turned it around. The front is now the back and the back is now the front. For the front I cut two peices and stitched them together down the front. Turned them inside out and sewed the neck line together for a finished edge at the top. I also added the ength tot he front for the pointed bottom.

I sooooo hope it fits!!

 

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Ahhhh!!! My To Do List

The To Do List is way to long!!

You’d think that since I’m unemployed, I’d have plenty of time and my to do list would be getting shorter and shorter… But for some reason, it’s longer than ever! And I pin things all the time. and some times I get them done. But lately I keep getting sidetracked and doing projects that I see online or just random things that I want to do. But I have got to finish my To Do List.

So I’m writing it down here….

Here it goes….

Make the volcano

Design more Dr Seuss Food Labels

Finish the 2 year old wedding quilt

John Smith Halloween Costume

My Halloween Costume

Dad’s Halloween Costume

Curtain for back window

Cover for the electrical panel

Doggy quilt

Swap quilt

Swap Magnets

2nd Swap quilt

Acorn pants

Finish jeans

My coat

Skull and Crossbones Sweatshirt

Halloween quilt

Memory quilt

Thank you notes

FInish editing 365 pictures

List Pirate party on Etsy

Christmas pot holders

Sort through pictures that need to be scanned

Catch up on Scrapbooks for the last 6 years! 🙂

Make my husband a quilt

Make and stage more parties to sell

Get Continuing Education credits for LEED and Licensing

Make my tank pattern and more tanks for me

Alter my dress into a shirt

Make Max’s Pea Coat from the pattern I’ve had for years now

Make a hoodie scarf

Refurbish our dining room chairs

Ok, here it goes! I’m hoping to stay on track! I’m sure that I’ll be adding to it here and there, but I’m seriously going to try to stay on track!

And here’s what I need you to do… Help me stay on track! 🙂

TuTu Monster Wreaths

I love blogging, but there’s one problem with it… The holidays bring everyone making holiday inspired crafts… So first off, I see things that other bloggers are making and I’m like, OH, I need to make that too…. And there’s the whole, I love being crafty so I want to make something new….

So… Here I am… It’s not like I am sitting around looking for something to do. I have a full to-do list, for sure… And I don’t need another Halloween wreath… But then the other day I saw this Tulle Wreath by She’s Crafty.

I thought it was really cute, just the way she made it, but… I also saw a monster… I saw her wreath taken in a little different direction and turned into a monster! I had to make one. Or two.

I thought it would be a fun project to do with the kiddo, but it was a little much for him. He helped with the color selection and the design of the monster faces. The red and orange was his idea! But he wasn’t really into helping tie on the zillion pieces of tulle! But he didn’t mind trying it on… So not only can it be a TuTu Monster Wreath, but it can be a tutu crown! Or a tutu, too!

We got the foam wreaths and the tulle. The 10″ wreath took 3 yards of tulle and the 12″ wreath needed 4 yards. I cut the tulle into 2″ x 10″, or so, strips. The set about tying each piece around the wreath. It’s kind like making a yarn wreath. It looks simple and quick, but it’s simple, yes, quick, no. Once that was FINALLY done, we embellished the wreaths with felt teeth, pipe cleaner antennas and eyeballs.

We were originally going to make our eyeballs, but then we found these eyeballs at the dollar store for another project and decided to use them.

As I was making this my husband said, ‘That’s not looking very scary, ya know.’ Yep… I wasn’t going for scary on this one…. So they’re monsters, but they look kinda like tutu’s too, huh?

What projects have you seen online that you decided to make?? Any good ones I need to add to my list??

 

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Hot Dog Day Vest Tutorial!

This is a re-post from a post I did back in July for Narelle’s blog Cook, Clean, Craft when she hosted the series Boy’s Own Style! I thought now that people are thinking about Halloween this could be a fun little project to share!

Enjoy!

First off, I have to say Happy National Hot Dog Day! Maybe it’s a US thing, but everyone can play along right??? Thanks for stopping by to join me here on Narelle’s blog! I’m Louise from I’m Feelin’ Crafty!

Who doesn’t love hot dogs?? And who doesn’t love dressing this kids up like a hot dog??? When Narelle asked me join in on her series, of course the first thing I did was say yes. Then I looked at the calendar and knew I had to join in on National Hot Dog Day! My husband and I brainstormed for an idea and he actually came up with the idea for a hot dog bun vest. At first I was like, no way! Then the details started coming to me and I fell in love with the idea!

So here’s how I made my vest!

Step 1- Gather materials: Red and White fleece, khaki colored denim, yellow buttons (for the drops of mustard ya know!), thread and the pattern. My pattern is for somewhere between a 3T and 4T.

Or you can make your own by tracing a vest that already fits (which is basically how I made mine…)

Step 2- Cut out all your pieces. Denim for the outside, Red Fleece for the inside, pockets, buttonhole piece and collar and White fleece for the mayonnaise pockets.

Step 3- Sew in the Pockets. 1, position the pockets about 4.5″ inches from the corner of the armhole at side seam, right sides to right sides. 2, Sew the pockets on the seam side only. 3, If you want to topstitch, do so now! Here I folded over the pocket and did a little topstitching. 4, Iron open the pockets, but be sure to not iron the fleece directly (put a cover over it before ironing)! 5, Stack the front and back pieces, right sides together, and pin. 6, Sew a continuous seam from the armhole to the bottom hem edge going around the pocket. If you did add the topstitching, it adds a little funkiness to the laying out and stitching the front and back together, but you just have to move it around a bit and be careful to not stitch over the topstitching.

Step 4: Add the mayo!  First turn over the top of the mayo and stitch. Sew on the mayo squirts on to the right sides of the front flaps of the inside pieces of red fleece.

Step 5: Sew lining. Sew front sides to back, right sides together. Leave a 4″ hole in one of the side seams to pull it all through later.

Step 6: Collar. Sew the two collar pieces together, right sides together. Only sew the two short sides and curved side of the collar. Trim the corners and turn right side out. Topstitch the three sides.

Step 7: Buttonhole strip. Just like the collar, sew the short sides and the curvy side together, right sides to right sides. Trim the corners, snip the curves (so that they fold over easier) and turn right side out.

Step 8: Add the buttonholes. Honestly, I am not a fan of buttonholes. On my machine, the buttonhole function doesn’t work. I need to get that fixed…. So please excuse my not so perfect buttonholes. Anyway, for this project, I added the buttonholes and I didn’t line them up on purpose. Have you ever seen a compete straight line of mustard drops on your bun? Me neither! So neither are my mustard buttons!

Step 9: Put it all together! First off, sew the shoulders together for the front and back, right sides to right sides. Pin the collar and the buttonhole strip to the front of the vest, right sides to right sides. Next, pin the inside of the vest to the outside, again, right sides to right sides.

Step 10: Sew it all together. Sew all the outside edges (but not the armholes! I got carried away and forgot to NOT sew the armholes and had to pull out the seams at the armholes!!!) Don’t forget to trim the corners!

Step 11: Pull it all through the hole you left in the lining and topstitch all around the edges, including under the collar.

Step 12: Sew on the buttons. I had an extra button, so I added a drop of mustard to the inside of the vest!

Step 13: Close the armholes. Fold over the outside and the inside towards the inside about .5″ and pin. Then pin the two together lining up the shoulder seam and the side seam. Topstitch!

And WAH-LA! You’ve got a little hot dog!

And we’re off to have a hot dog! Thanks again, Narelle, for having me!  While you’re eating yours, be sure to visit me at I’m Feelin’ Crafty!

 

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KCWC- Day 6 and I think I’m done

Back again! Another sweatshirt.

Not as excited about it as the other one I made, but I’m pretty content with it.

We picked out the colors from our stash. Probably about a year ago I was going to make the kiddo some sweatpants, so we went to the store to get some sweat shirt material and this orange was the color he picked out! Just a little bright, huh?? Then we used the rest of the Daddy’s sweatshirt, the arms and the pocket on front. And for the trim we used some more from those teal sweatpants that I had and never wore.

This one I made using the Pauley’s Pullover pattern from Sewing For Boys. The pattern was actually supposed to have a drawstring waist, but I didn’t really like it. So I took the ribbing from the sweatpants and finished the bottom. And honestly, it was just a bit too bulky, so I went back in and narrowed down the body a few inches.

When my husband saw the book laying open to the directions, he looked at the picture of the little boy and said, ‘That’s a cute kid, but I don’t like that sweatshirt!’ I then informed him that is what I was making… But then this morning when I showed him mine, he lit up and smiled and said, ‘That’s cute, really cute!’ And I know he was telling the truth!

So yesterday, the kiddo and I were chatting about the sweatshirt I was going to make and I asked if he wanted any image on it and he said yes, ‘A Harmonica!’ It was late last night when I finished it, so I gave up on the harmonica. Then this morning he saw it and his first comment was, ‘But where’s the harmonica?’ So back to the sewing machine for me… And I came up with this applique and stitching. I think it turned out kinda cute. Apppliqueing with fleece isn’t the easiest thing to do. It could have been a little longer, but… And it’s off-center. On purpose. But I wish I had centered it…. Oh, well, I’m pretty content! and the Kiddo likes it!

I had a couple more projects that I wanted to do, but most of them have been stuffed back on the shelf, except for one… It probably won’t get done for KCWC, but soon. Now it’s off to Halloween crafting!

KCWC- Day 5- Upcycled Sweatshirt

ok, I’m so excited again! So, you know the other day I made my own pattern for the comfy pants, right? Well, I’ve always been scared to make my own shirt pattern. But I did it anyway last night.

I traced a bigg-ish t-shirt. Then added the seam allowances… And I cut the fabric and pinned on the sleeves and it fit together perfectly!!! I was soooo excited!

I started with an old sweatshirt of my husband’s. The one on top there. It’s a little nubby and has a little paint stain, but I love the tree and birds so much that I couldn’t let it go! And these sweatpants. Ya know what else makes me super excited? Ok, this might be kinda silly to some people, but…. When I have a spur of the moment idea and I just happen to have everything on hand to make it work! Like this sweatshirt. I really love the image on it, but I didn’t want a full on black sweatshirt. So I looked at the hidden shelf under my ironing board where I have some of my ‘to-up-cycle’ stash and there they were! The sweatpants that I think match perfectly! YEAH!!!

I cut the the shirt and the hoodie out of the middle of the old sweatshirt. Luckily my son has a big head! Always has. His daycare teacher told us that in her country big heads are a sign of brilliance. So not only is he brilliant, but his head doesn’t look too out-of-place in an adult size hoodie! I cut the arms out of the legs of the sweatpants, so I didn’t need to hem the arms. Sewed those three pieces together. Then I trimmed out the ribbing at the bottom of the sweatshirt and sewed that onto the bottom of my new little sweatshirt.

And Wah-la! A cute little hoodie!! Once I got it all sewed together I was worried that the arms ended up too small, so I took a break and waited til morning to try it on the kiddo. IT FIT!! I’m so excited about it.

I think next time, I will make the arms a little bit roomier. But for this one, it fits perfectly! This was so easy, I’ll have to do a quick tutorial for you soon. SOOOO EASY!

And what about you? Have you made anything this week that you’re super excited about???

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KCWC- Day 4

Oops! Somehow I got behind schedule!! hmmmm….

So today. More pants!

I’m not feeling very creative lately…. I also have two shelves of clothing that I’ve pulled from the Go-To-Goodwill bags to reuse. So since I’m having this creative block, I’m going to use my stash of clothing to reuse…

This is only part of it….

And today I started with these jeans…

To make these….

Using the same comfy pants pattern that I’ve been using this week. Only this time I added a fake fly to the pattern. They fit and he likes them, but I’m not so sure I do. OK, I do like them, but feel like they look a little too homemade. And not in the cute adorable way. There are a few out of line stitches and the back pockets are crooked… My main regret is that I switched from the thick yellow thread, to a bright green thread and you can’t really see the stitching and I wanted to see the stitching.

Typically in past I’ve always used Dana’s pants pattern, which I love. But it’s four pieces instead of the two in my comfy pants tutorial. And since it’s the four pieces, I can’t use it when I reuse some of Momma or Daddy’s old pants. The pattern just doesn’t quite fit. And I wanted to try to use my pattern on the jeans I had to get that ‘real’ jeans side and hem look. It worked pretty well this way!

This project isn’t like the little jacket that I did, that I can’t stand. It doesn’t make my stomach turn. These are cute and will get worn. So all in all, a productive day. Just not a super exciting one! 🙂 At least not in the sewing room. How can a day with this kid not be exciting. Today he was not wanting to model for me. But once he got there, he started putting it on. He even said, ‘Check out this pose!’