The Halloween Post that wasn’t
I know Halloween isn’t until tomorrow. But tonight was the big night, the church party, the trunk or treating (tailgate trick or treating at the church parking lot) My big chance to show off Creamie in her adorable costume. And thanks to my sister I was even able to pull a costume together for myself this morning. And yet…. it’s been pouring rain for more than two hours. And you don’t take one year old’s trick or treating in the pouring rain. Sigh.
Anyway, here are a few pictures from earlier this week. We went to Gardner Village a few days ago to see all the witches and the other cutie pie things they have there.
The witch costumes really were pretty fantastic. I almost decided to be a witch after I saw them.
I loved this one with her spiders crawling up her back. Her name was Itsy. Loved it.
Creamie had a great time, though it was FREEZing cold, and she was piled up in layers, she had a great time watching all the witches cast spells and poison apples and make nasty pedicures from mud. She even learned how to say “What up Witches.” Classic.
Of course her real favorite of the whole night was this guy, Hex. She fed him cornstalks and sticks and grass and weeds for a good 30 minutes. It was so cute.
Maybe tomorrow will brighten up so I can get some more cute pictures of Creamie in her costume. She did discover today that she loves candy. Like, a lot. I actually think I could use a single m&m to bribe her to do most anything. Happy Halloween. I hope yours doesn’t get rained out.
One of those days
I had a million things to do today. But I didn’t do any of them. Not a single one. Instead Creamie and I layed on the floor and colored, and we made cookies, and read books and we filled up today with a whole lot of nothing. And all that nothing was way more important than all those other somethings I had to do.
And today, I really needed one of those days filled up with happy nothings.
A Little Pumpkin Patch
Here are a few pumpkins made with my stuffed pumpkin tutorial. It never ceases to amaze me that other people can follow along with my ramblings and make something cute.
This cute little one is from Pieceful Threads .
And this group of three was made by my cute friend Krista at Poppyprint.
If anyone else has made a pumpkin, email me a pic. [ pinksuedeshoe (at) gmail (dot) com ] I’d love to see them! Creamie and I spent last night hanging out in a Witches Village, and as soon as I go through all the pictures I’ll post a few. Happy Almost Halloween!
Zipper Two
Here is the little fallish clutch I made last night. It’s my second zipper!
I may never go back to buttons again. Free tutorial here from Anna at Noodlehead.
Another Halloween Story
Instead of eating myself into a coma and going to sleep for a hundred years, like I threatened to do yesterday, I made something healthy for dinner, and then after Creamie went to sleep I made this quick little clutch. And I feel better. But I’m not going to pull that suitcase out from under my bed. It’s staying right there.
Instead I’m reposting these pictures from Halloween last year. Creamie started to walk just a few weeks before Halloween (at only 7.5 months old) and watching her trot around in this big puffy costume is one of my very dearest memories. I borrowed the Rainbow Costume from my sister, and made the Twink costume for my own little sidekick. These days Creamie loves her Rainbow Brite books. And that make me happy.
UPDATE: I wrote a DIY tutorial for the Twink costume after two years of requests. Here it is.
Rainbow Brite and her trusty sidekick Twink. Inspiration pictures found here.
In other fabulous new: Yesterday I got to catch real snowflakes on my tongue. I can’t wait for real winter and snow. It’s my most favorite 5 months of the year.
Knowing When to Stop
Sometimes you see something in your mind, and when it comes to life it is even better than you could have hoped for. And sometimes, it’s total crap. I’ve been working on my costume for hours and hours. And though I’ve learned some important things (I can do zippers!) I’ve concluded that it is falling into the latter category. It’s total crap.
I might revisit this idea next year. But for now, 60 yards of sequins, 25 yards of tulle, 10 yards of polysatin, and all my carefully planned out pattern pieces are going into this suitcase and I’m going to shove it under my bed. And I don’t want to talk about it. Actually I think I’m going to cry. And then I’ll eat myself into a coma. And when I wake up in 100 years tomorrow morning I’ll feel much better. And that one year I totally botched my Halloween costume won’t matter so much. But right now, it matters.
Sometimes you see something in your mind, and when it comes to life it is even better than you could have hoped for. But not always.
Progress
I feel very successful tonight. It’s just after midnight, and Ihave made a lot of progress on my Halloween costume. An awful lot.
I found this pattern at the thrift store a few weeks ago for a quarter. It was made for me. Literally. My mom has made dozens of dresses for me over the years. Formals, and not so formals, and dresses for church, and my wedding dress. And not one of the patterns she used fit me as it was written. She was always making modifications and taking things in and making adjustments. But this one? This one fits perfectly as is. Like a glove. It’s a miracle. Nothing like making your first dress with the only pattern on the planet that you have a chance of being totally successful at without changing everything. Of course, I went and changed everything anyway.
Tonight I successfully installed my first zipper. Maybe you don’t realize how big of a deal this is. I’m a button girl. In my former life I’d do 20 buttons rather than a zipper anyday. But thanks to some serious moral support from my mom… I hit this zipper right out of the park. Home run. Hey, don’t laugh. It’s a big deal.. I’ve been afraid of them forever. Like I said, I am was a button girl.
I also successfully drafted a new sleeve for this dress and set both of them in. I’ve never made a dress for an adult, just for small girls and babies. I can’t believe how much easier sewing big sleeves is. I just had so much space in there to work with!
Of course, the night wasn’t completely successful. Less than 30 seconds after I plugged in my iron, it felt warm, so I attempted to iron out a small crease. Ha, very funny. Scorched. Melted. Burned Black and Crispy. Apparently my iron spikes it’s temperature and then cools off to the correct setting. Ah well, I was able to work around it and it wasn’t a total loss. A few steps forward, but only one step back. I’m going to try and put the facing in the neck of my dress before I go to bed. I drank a gallon of Dr. Pepper at dinner and I don’t think I’ll sleep for days. Which is fine. I’ll need that time to finish things up. I’ve got a costume party on Thursday and I’d really like to go without any pins holding my costume together. Of course, I’m not totally against that either.
*PS- Taking pictures at midnight sucks. But it had to be done. I am just so proud of that zipper, and those sleeves.
It was a rainyday…
It has been absolutely gorgeous fall weather. Rainy and cold, snow on the mountains, leaves bright in all their autumn beauty. And last night I stood outside and watched the clouds sailing across a full moon. It was pure perfection.
It’s been raining for a few days. I’ve been inside sewing on the couch, Creamie is trying her darndest to give up napping completely, and I’ve been eating a lot of soup and hot bread. It has been an absolutely perfect weekend. I’m going back to sewing my Halloween costume. I really hope that I finish for my costume party on Thursday. Wish my luck (and faster fingers).
One Little Peacock
Last Friday as I was running errands about town I drove past Hobby Lobby and spotted their new “Now Open” sign. I threw all other errands out the window, flipped around in the next intersection and made my way to crafting heaven. While browsing this giant of a store I found the perfect piece of fabric. And an idea that’s been flitting around in my head for a long time marched right up to the front and demanded some attention.
I went home and started drafting pattern pieces and snipping and pinning and sewing. As I went along I kept getting other ideas, and I’d add them to my mix. I went to four fabric stores in 3 days to purchase five spools of thread, yards of shiny polysatin, sparkly tulle, and miles of sequins. I spent one whole evening with my freezer paper and my iron creating 40 individual applique feather pieces so I could hand sew them to the skirt.
Yep, all those feathers are completely sewn by hand. It was faster and less frustrating than trying to pin it to death and sew it with the machine. And I didn’t have to worry about (and unpick) all those stitching lines that would have been less than perfect. Sometimes my OCD need to have things perfect, and my severe desire to procrastinate all projects until the last possible minute really conflict with each other. Thankfully this time they played nice with each other. And I got to spend some good girltime on the couch watching old chick flicks while I sewed feathers.
I am totally amazed that Creamie’s costume is done and finished a full 8 days before her costume party. But, that doesn’t mean that ALL Halloween costumes are finished. I’ve got mine and Scott’s in the stacks…. I’ll let you know how they go.
I am totally pleased with how my little peacock looks. It’s not perfect by any stretch, and if I was making another I’d work in a few changes. Maybe if I end up with some extra time before Halloween I’ll add a few more rows of sequins, and maybe shorten the tutu by a few inches.
There are 77 separate pieces all sewn together in the peacock pinafore (not the perfect descriptive word, but it’s pretty close). But I didn’t want the whole costume to be just for Halloween. So the tutu is a separate piece, and i just added some sequin trim to a black T-shirt in her drawer. I am hoping to get a few real peacock feathers to sew into her sequiny headband. We’ll see how it goes.
Without all the peacock business she is just your regular tutu punk child. The tutu can go straight into her dressup box and anyday she’s in the mood to sort out rocks, I’m sure the tutu and “boots” will be happy to come along.
Or you know, if she gets into the mood to kick stuff. It’s the perfect outfit for some kicking.
I’m adding this to Sew+Tell at Amy’s. I am still in shock that I finished her costume a full week ahead of schedule. It’s truly amazing to me. Now I’m back to drafting the pattern for my costume. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be another week of late nights and banana splits for dinner before I get done. If you are waiting for an email from me, I’ll get to it after Halloween. I’m weeks behind, but I couldn’t be more happy with the reason why.
Saving it for later.
I have a terrible habit of leaving dozens of tabs open on the computer for days and days. Here are a few favorites that I just can’t bring myself to close.
[ mouthwatering cupcake picture,and recipe I am going to try ]
Caramel Apple Cuppiecakes
[ seen on decor8 via elsiecake ]
Orla KielyEvoke Mio radio
Olfa by Jodie at RicracDon’t tell anyone, but I have a secret crush on this guy. He’ll be my knight in wooly armor.
pinksuedeshoe 
