Halloween 2010 Part 2

Costumes again. But this gets better and better. I'd like to introduce this years concept...

Do you recognize them?

My oldest wants to be SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!
His favorite color is BLUE and he believes himself to be the FASTEST runner ever. I am frequently told that NO ONE can run faster than him. Do you think Usein Bolt would let a 4 year old beat him???

His brother wants to be KNUCKLES

Because his favorite color is RED and 

he has to be like his brother! 

It makes sense then, if two kids match the third needs to follow the theme as well, So the baby at almost 1 year old will be TAILS! He doesn't have a favorite color yet, but his older brothers are pushing Yellow.




THE PLAN: 
Maybe I am optimistic, but I think these will be relatively easy costumes.  I intend to use a basic sleeper pattern for each child, but I will skip the ribbing around the neck and make a slight alteration that will put the zipper in the back. Each sleeper will be made from anti pill fleece (I am really hoping that Hancock Fabrics has a sale on fleece again this year, last year their sale saved me at least 50%!!) I will also not put feet on the sleepers, but will put ribbing around the ankles, this will allow tennis shoes to be worn and then covered to match the correct characters. Large gloves will be added to keep hands warm and finish off the look.

I will also make head pieces using the pattern base that I used for Bowser's head last year, with a few alterations and stuffing I should be able to achieve the right look for each of their heads. I have my work cut out for me!

I hope you are getting as excited for Halloween as I am!!

* I am still really hoping to have a Halloween Picture Parade of past costumes you all have made.  If you would like to participate, please email your submissions to me at cynspiration[at]gmail[dot]com.

Receiving Blanket Take One

I am a sucker for baby blankets. Seriously, I probably have 30 or more. When I see a cute flannel print and it's on sale, I find it hard to resist-in fact, I often don't.  Generally I do double sided flannel for my blankets, but recently dove into single piece blankets. Mr Chunk over here, still likes to be wrapped up to sleep and the summer is a little too warm for double sided flannel.  So, here we go!

Start by ironing 1/2 inch down on all four sides. They will over lap as shown. Then fold over another 1/2 inch to hide the unfinished edges and press. You want a good crease to be visible.

Open up the corners, you should be able to see the folds. *I marked mine with chalk so that it would be clearly visible here*

Trim the corner past the first crease, but not as deep as the second. It should look like this:

Fold over the corner about 1/2 inch and press

Then fold your edges down again, the first 1/2 inch, and press, then fold again and press well.

Your corners should look like this:

Pretty right? And it won't be really thick, in fact no thicker than the rest of your edges. Pin the corners well and a few places down the length of the seams.  On the wrong side finish off with a nice decorative stitch.

And use a different one to tack down the whole corner and you're done! So easy and Baby will love it!

Isn't that a nice looking corner? And the best part is, it took maybe an hour start to finish!

Stay tuned for several different takes on receiving blankets. Minky/flannel with binding and double sided flannel to come!

Halloween 2010 Part 1

Halloween you say? Yes, that's right.  A bit early I know, but with three boys to please (and a Husband who expects me to sew the moon for them) I like HAVE to start early.  Gone are the days the boys in this house would accept something from the store-last year I surely ruined that-but it was worth it. The joy on my boys faces when they got to have the costume they wanted was worth the hours of sewing while 38 weeks pregnant.  But really, the reason to continue is a selfish one.  I enjoyed myself, I really had a good time.

The first step is to know your SUBJECT.  This should be the easiest part. In all probability you are making a costume for you or your child.  

The second step is to FIND THE CHARACTER. This one may take some guiding or you too may end up trying to make a Bowser costume.  Also, keep in mind the weather your area experiences when designing the costume.  For me, it means thermals under fleece.

Third- Use GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH and get in your head an idea of what you want the finished project to look like.  Remember though, that as you go things may change and your initial vision may be different. Last year I made a lot of changes to my plan before I was ready to start in with fabric.

Four- Find a pattern as close to possible to your vision and then alter it to meet your needs.  OR if you are daring, you can make your own pattern. But we'll have to learn that one together, I haven't tackled that yet.  

My initial images last year were far from the finished product, but all the time and effort made all the difference.  

Meet Bowser: 

And Mario with more of Bowser from behind:

I am a sucker for themed costumes, so when my oldest wanted to be Bowser(and would not be swayed), it seemed natural to convince his younger brother to be Mario.

This year, the boys want to go as Sonic and Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog. I think I may have to do some serious pattern creating to pull this one off.  But what should boy number 3 be? I don't know how to tie him into the theme or if I should. He will be just shy of his 1st birthday.

**Start Brainstorming so we can build our costumes together! 


** I am really hoping to have a Halloween Picture Parade of past costumes you all have made.  If you would like to participate, please email your submissions to me at cynspiration[at]gmail[dot]com.

STRIPES!!!!

Now, lets practice on material.  Sewing stripes is not only great practice, but it gives you the option to create your own look.  I started with two pieces of fabric, 1/8 yard each. I used black and gold. Line them up and use your rotary cutter to cut strips.

One of the things I hate when sewing is all those long ends of thread.  So this is a handy trick when sewing straight lines.  This is just a folded piece of extra fabric that I sew through at the end of a line. Here it is at the start position.

Feed two strips through with right sides together.

And Immediately, with no break, feed your next set through. End with a second folded scrap.

Continue sewing strips together, alternating colors.

Backside, Iron down the seams into the darker color.  I ironed the seams in different directions so none would show through the gold.

Front side:

For these stripes, I cut a cute baby sized tie on the diagonal. It looked great sewn onto a onesie!

Sewing for Beginners- Part 1

Learning How to sew is so fun and opens the door to endless amounts of fun things to make. I am always more satisfied if I am the one who created something, I take pride in what I create.  I love showing it off and I love the joy I feel when I receive a compliment on something that I made. You know what I'm talking about...wanting to parade your child around months after Halloween...

So first things first. The machine. Hopefully you already have one or access to one.  We'll go over models later.

It is so important to practice your stitching.  I recommend printing out a few copies of the pages here:

Practice pages [linked from kids-sewing-projects.com]

and then sewing over them, without thread in your needle. Use an old needle as well so you don't dull your nice ones.  This will help you turn corners, round edges, and get you used to the speeds you should work with. Practice your straight stitches and fiddle with the stitch length, and try a zig zag, try a few of the more decorative stitches as well.  This will give you a good feel for several stitches on your machine.

Practicing this will help as we move into more fun projects and those beginners out there will feel much more comfortable with their skill level.