Still workin' on my costume

Yesterday I managed to finish most of my vest (all I need to do now is add the eyelets and lacing, and then fit it). I bought a 3-yd package of polyester boning a couple weeks ago and hoped it would be enough for both mine and my daughter's costumes... after I finished measuring all the boning for my vest last night, there was ONE INCH left over! Very funny, I thought. Talk about close...

Last night I got around to cutting out the fabric for the skirt, hat and shawl. The pattern piece for the skirt is a rectangle that is 22" wide, and it says to cut 3 pieces on the fold. That makes three 44"-wide panels, or a skirt with a 129" circumference (when you take out the seam allowances). My fabric is 60" wide... I went ahead and cut out two panels, the same length as the pattern piece- that'll make a skirt 118" wide, which I don't think is a huge difference (it's not like I'll be wearing it over a hoopskirt or anything). But it saves me about a yard of fabric that I can use for something else. Anyway, the only advantage I can see to having a 3-panel skirt is that it leaves a seam in the back for the opening, and the other seams are on the side fronts. I've decided I can go ahead and move the seams over to the side, and have a side-opening skirt. The pattern also has a few darts in the skirt and then it is gathered... I'll just make it completely gathered, no darts. Hopefully it won't make much difference. (Famous last words, huh?)

The short ends of the shawl are supposed to be frayed for the "fringe"... I thought I'd do that last night while watching TV, and it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r!! I was fraying it on one end, while my husband worked at the other end. We each got about 1" done (out of the 3-4" on each end that needs done) but he wasn't quite as careful with his end as I was with mine... so that one looks noticeably shabbier. *Sigh* But it's taking so much time that I figure I'll just finish everything else first, and then focus on that. So I need to make my skirt and hat (the hat is just a circle gathered onto the hat band) and then make my toddler's entire costume, and then make the apron for my daughter's costume. And the headband for that- yikes! I don't know anything about flower arranging or putting flowers on a headband!

I need to get busy... what am I doing on the computer? LOL! But I have so many other things to do to day- grocery shopping, cleaning the house, keeping my 3-year-old from tearing everything up...

Costume update, mine anyway...

Last night I got a chance to do some more work on the blouse for Simplicity 8855, and I almost have it finished. All I have left to do is put a buttonhole & button on each sleeve cuff, and hem the bottom of the blouse.

It is rather an interesting item. It has no armscyes like a typical blouse... it is sort of like the "rectangles and squares" shirts of the 19th century. But only slightly... there is still the curved cutout for the neckline, and the sleeves are curved on the bottom (longer on the seam edge than it is in the middle). The shoulder seam is very long, but it is gathered, and the sleeve itself is gathered only at the very top, a couple inches on each side of the shoulder seam. The sleeves are also very tightly gathered at the cuff... if my fabric had been any thicker (it is quilting calico) I wouldn't have been able to gather it all in. Doing the plackets around the neckline was interesting... the neck facing actually goes to the outside (I did View A, where there is not neck ruffle but there is lace trim around the edge of the neckline facing... my camera battery is dead right now and I can't find the charger, but I'll try to get a picture later).

I managed to get the vest pieces cut out this morning, before my kids woke up. I was going to make the vest from black twill (because that's what's shown on the pattern envelope), but I discovered the leftover green wool gabardine (that I made a riding habit from) matches the green in the plaid quite nicely (there is no black in the plaid at all) so I decided to use that instead. I didn't have enough of it left to do anything else with, anyway.

There is a 1" seam allowance on the sides of the vest, as it is to be a fitted vest, and fitted is done on the side seams. Interesting, I've never seen that on a Simplicity pattern. Now I'm wishing I'd finished my underbust corset, LOL. (I got over halfway done with it, and then realized the jean fabric I'd used has 2% lycra in it- blast! So it's stretchy, I have no idea how well it'll work).

The vest is going to be fun to make, though, because the instructions for it are worded very strangely. There are 3 layers- the fashion fabric, the lining, and "muslin" which seems to function as an interlining. (I don't know why they didn't just say to cut "interlining" out of muslin). When my camera is working, I'll have to take a photo so you can see how bizzare the instructions are... I had to read them through 3 times before they made sense, and when I finally understood what it said, I realized that the instructions could've been written much more simply, and much less confusing!

I said in a previous post that this pattern seems to have been re-released with a different number and envelope. Next time I'm at the store I'll have to look up the new pattern and see if the instructions have been simplified, just out of curioisity. I think a beginner sewist would be scared away by these directions! (Actually the blouse is a bit of a challenge anyway, more suited to an intermediate sewist).

And baby will be... a leprechaun!

I have no idea what else to dress him as! Since I'm going to be in an Irish/Celtic-type costume, I figured I might as well make him something to match.

I bought some shamrock fabric on eBay, and I'll use Simplicity 3650 (which I have a copy of somewhere around the house). I'll use View B, the pirates. The pants will be made of the shamrock fabric and the sash will match it, and the vest will be green. I don't have anything for a hat but he wouldn't wear it anyway!

Decided on a costume for myself...

After digging through my stash, I've decided to make myself a costume using Simplicity 8855. It's a discontinued pattern, but it seems to have been re-released as Simplicity 3623 (I think the colors used on the first envelope are a lot prettier). I'm going to make the one with the plaid skirt with matching shawl and hat, and the solid-colored vest. For the blouse, I have some white-on-white paisley-print fabric. Paisleys are not Irish, but I think it'll look okay.

I have a lot of plaid fabric, but most of it lightweight (voile, etc)... not quite right for this. So I found some medium-weight 100% wool suiting on Fabric.com for $5.19/yd!! Plus my 5% cash-back rebate from FatWallet.com.

I have the male version of this pattern, Simplicity 8193, but my husband is not interested in wearing it, or having me make anything for him.

Now, off I go to work on perfectin' me brogue... I'm not even Irish, but at least I have the red hair!

Halloween patterns have been decided...

... for my daughters, anyway. My 8yo will wear a dress made from out-of-print Simplicity 9836, view B (the one of the tan dress with the green bodice/vest and pink apron). I bought this pattern years ago thinking it would make a good hobbit costume for her. I don't have any idea how to curl her hair, though (I am totally lousy at hairstyling!) It's a full one-piece underdress with the bodice/vest over the top- she can always use the underdress as a nightgown after Halloween.




And so far I plan to dress my 3yo in Butterick 3592/P233, view B... that's the gold/pink one in the photo. It'll be a white-ish dress with a brown vest, and she'll be Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. (This is only my plan so far, I might change it).



I haven't got the faintest idea what to dress myself as, or what to dress my sons (10yo and 1yo) as. 10yo wants to be a soldier or a fireman, but I don't have fabric for either of those things, and I'd have to size up a pattern.