Halloween 2013 : My Hanami Fairy

When I discovered I could make Indigo's Little Red Riding Hood dress/tutu by simply tying strips of tulle to a crocheted headband, I was pretty ecstatic. Prior to that revelation, I had imagined the drudgery of gathering yard after yard of tulle.  (Gathering is among my least favorite parts of sewing.)  So when Tarikua said she wanted to be a fairy for Halloween, I was happy to make her a poofy tutu of her very own.

Truly, these tutus are ridiculously easy to make.  The hardest part was sleuthing out how they were made in the first place, only because I had never seen them made this way before.  How did they do that?  What is that crocheted material?  Google, can you help me?  Google did.  (I watched this tutorial to get the basic idea.)

I used two strips of tulle per crocheted hole, starting on the second row from the bottom.

Making three tulle skirts turned me into a bit of a tulle connoisseur.  I found I much preferred using tulle by the yard than tulle-on-a-spool.  Even though tulle on a spool comes packaged in a 6 inch width, I found it more tedious to cut in bulk.  It was also more expensive, scratchier and more transparent.  Tulle by the yard was softer yet more substantial.   Using a cutting mat and a rotary cutter, I was able to cut piles of 6" x 20" strips for this costume in a matter of minutes.

For Tarikua's tutu, I used 13 yards of tulle: 7 in blue, 3 in light blue, and 3 in white.

I made Tarikua's top using the hanami bodice pattern sewn in a glittery satin from Joanns.

I initially planned to use this oversized flower crown for the costume.  But it ended up being a pretty big pinterest fail.  The flowers were too heavy to stick to the ribbon for long, despite my dear husband trying various ways to adhere them.  Those big, beautiful flowers aren't cheap, either, even at 50% off, so I was disappointed it didn't work out.

But we found some small blue fake flowers, which Dan hot glued to the headband. I think he did a fantastic job with it.  I love it.

The wings are from our costume stash, a birthday gift (bought here) for Indigo last April.

My hanami fairy!

Halloween 2013 : Little Red Riding Hood

It was the beginning of October and we were hatching plans for Halloween costumes.  I was trying to sell the kids on a group theme (Scooby Doo? Addams family?)... which was promptly vetoed.  Dan was out of town on business travel and Indigo and I stayed up altogether too late browsing Pinterest for costume ideas.  She fell in love with this one and asked me to re-create it.

Truth be told, Halloween costumes aren't my favorite things to sew and I had a lot of other fall sewing ideas knocking around in my head.  But I realized Indigo may not want to dress up for many more Halloweens.  (Or maybe I'll eat those words and still be sewing her Halloween costumes when she's in college?) ;)  I felt I had the energy to do it this year.  Iris is finally (mostly) sleeping through the night, after almost two years of frequent night wakings.  So that's pretty awesome.   I decided this year, we're going all out.

Halloween 2013 is officially the year of the tutu for my girls.  The tutu was actually a no-sew project, made like this.

I used 13 yards of 108" width tulle, cut into strips.  It also has 100 yards of 6" tulle-on-a-spool.   I tied the strips onto a crocheted headband (actually several, layered and sewn together), using two tulle strips per hole.

It really didn't take long to put together.  A couple of episodes of Property Brothers and it was done.

I pinned the headband-tutu onto a slip.  I might need to pin it to something a little more substantial/less slinky (maybe a tank top) on Halloween night.  But the slip worked reasonably well.  

The hood of the cape is from Little Things to Sew.  I made the cape itself in a similar way to a circle skirt, based on this tutorial.

The cape is made of velvet.  I got nearly all of the materials for this costume from either Hobby Lobby or Joanns.  They were running a 50% off sale on pretty much everything costume related.

I was really, really hoping to dress our dog. Bondi, as a Granny wolf like this.  My kids and I laughed so much and for so long just thinking about it.  Dan was like, Yeah good luck with that.  And, alas, Bondi would not leave a sleeping cap on for more than 2 seconds.  He's an almost three year old lab and still pretty crazy.  (The staff at the vet's office call him "enthusiastic".)  Maybe in a couple of years when Tarikua can fit into this costume, I'll give that idea another go.

A Plaid Hanami/Geranium Hybrid : Kids Clothes Week

My final dress for kids clothes week is this plaid hanami/geranium hybrid for Indigo.

 I used the Hanami bodice pattern.  But I shortened it by 2 1/2 inches and added faux cap sleeves (like last time).

The Hanami bodice closes with an invisible zipper.  

 For the skirt, I chose View B of the geranium dress.

I had planned to try pleats for my very first time.  But I unwittingly bought a home dec fabric for this dress and the pleats didn't lay quite right, so I gathered it instead.  And of course I had to match the stripes.  It's become an addiction of mine.  :)

And speaking of that home dec fabric (Tartan in Midnight - in sateen), I really, really love it for this dress.  I love the shape of this skirt so much and the sateen holds it so well.

The geranium's view B has side pockets (called secret pockets by Indigo, since you can't really see them).   I like this detail so much.  I think it was brilliant of Rae to add them to the skirt pattern piece itself rather than making them a separate pattern piece.

Now that both Indigo and Iris have a few new dresses, Tia's up next.

An {Adapted} Hanimi : Kids Clothes Week

As the oldest girl in the family, Indigo's closet is the least well-stocked.  I am slowly but surely trying to remedy that, although the girls' Halloween costumes definitely set me back (pictures coming soon).

For this second dress for Indigo, I went with the Hanimi pattern, modified here and there.

I added the faux cap sleeves.

I also shortened the bodice by 2 1/2 inches.

And I made the shirt in an A-line shape with very little gathering.

I got all matchy-matchy with the stripes because I just can't help myself.

The fabric is half square triangles in jewel.

 

Aw, look how much she loves me.

 

 The collar is a black sateen from Joanns, I believe.

 

 And that's my kids clothes week dress numero dos. A hanimi, adapted.

 

Oliver + S Sailboat Top Turned Dress {Modified} : Kids Clothes Week

It's kids' clothes week and I am in awe of what I'm already seeing in the flickr pool.  After being inspired by this pin and then seeing this sailboat top turned dress, I decided my first dress would be this simple dress modified from this shirt pattern, in corduroy.

Having sewn regularly over the past five years, I usually have a pretty good idea of how a pattern will look on my kids before I make it.  There aren't a lot of surprises anymore.

This time, though, I enthusiastically helped Indigo into her dress, stood back, and... wait... it wasn't supposed to look like that.

"Mom, is this a nightgown?" Indigo asked.   I looked at Dan.  "It's kind of... shapeless.  I'm not sure this one's salvageable." he said.

Hmm.  That almost sounded like a challenge. ;)  It was back to the drawing board... or cutting mat, as it were.

I cut off the a-line flare that I had added to the skirt.  Instead, I extended the shirt straight down by 8 or so inches, making it a dress.  I hadn't initially planned to keep the curved hem, but I changed my mind and added it back in.   I've been drawn to asymmetrical hems lately, but didn't think one would work on this corduroy dress.  The curved hem, while not asymmetrical, adds interest.  I like that detail.

I added 1/4" elastic to the cuffs.  Then, using a zigzag stitch, I sewed a 6 inch strip of 1/2" elastic to the back waist (like this) to cinch the dress and give it more form.

I used these buttons (from here).

I was this close to using similar buttons but in mustard but Indigo preferred this color and I've been using mustard a lot lately.  I don't want to get burnt out on it - like listening to a good song too many times.

Then, as per the usual, I threw in a pair of Sunki leggings and called it a day!

It's exactly the look I was going for, even if it did take some fiddling to get there.

Iris turned 2!

Well, it happened.  The clock struck midnight and Iris turned two.

 Having had three babies before her, I knew the time would fly by.

So, Dan and I both, we savored it.  We really did (and do).

And yet time still moved faster than ever.

 I was telling Dan that when our first two kids were under five, it felt like the stage would last forever.

 
Then somehow you emerge on the other side and life moves at a faster pace.

 It's taught me to see every day as a gift.  Because it really, really is.

{For Iris' birthday, I made this persimmon cake with this cream cheese icing.  I would highly recommend both.}

A {Modified} Puppet Show Dress for the {Almost} Birthday Girl

Today is Iris' last day of being a one year old.

We celebrated her birthday's eve by putting a candle in her piece of (this) banana bread at breakfast this morning.  Which was rather thrilling for her.

Until, that is, Indigo nervously warned her not to get too close to the flame.

She did not like.  Nope, not one bit. (I think Indi might have scared her.)

Whew.  Deep breath.

And on to happier things, like a new dress for the (almost) birthday girl.

I actually modified the puppet show pattern first for this dress.  I used polka dot in ocean by dear stella.

(Because no outfit is complete without matching safety goggles.)

And then there were the buttons.  Oh those buttons.  I decided to buy extra special ones (here).  And being the anti-hoarder that I can to be, I ordered exactly the number I needed.  Rather than, you know, ordering a spare button or two.

(I am learning these lessons the hard way.)

I had finished the dress and had hand-sewed the buttons on the cuffs.  It was midnight and I contemplated settling in and sewing the other seven.  I told Dan if I didn't sew them then, one of the kids might accidentally lose one of the buttons.

But that's ridiculous.  That's never happened before.

So I went to bed.

The following day, Jude and I were working on his grammar lesson together on the couch.  He was reading to me while I was sewing on the back buttons.  I had the buttons in a padded envelope next to me, which he dumped upside down, thinking it was empty.

The buttons fell into the couch.  I took off the cushions and realized they had somehow fallen through a hole into the inside of the couch, where the springs are.  Let's just say it wasn't pretty and after fishing for them and cutting up my arm on the springs, I still didn't have my buttons.

When Dan came home, he put on leather gloves and dug in, determined to find my missing buttons.  And he did find all of them... except for one.

So I resigned myself to ordering more buttons.   I waited another two weeks and this time ordered a few to spare.

They were worth it.

{Those are the Sunki Leggings (yes, again!) and I forgot to mention last time that when modifying this pattern, I did make the collar just a little larger.}