Trunk or Treat 2019

This year's costumes for the annual trunk or treat really began about a year and half ago when my husband and I saw movie props from Guardians of the Galaxy at a pop culture museum in Seattle.  We thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to dress as Star Lord and Gomora?"  The thought hung around awhile, but then left when everyday life kept me occupied with more important things.

Then one day I made a quick stop at Goodwill.  I was about to leave when the thought occurred to me to check the men's leather coats on the really off chance that there would be a red leather jacket in my husband's size.  I mean, what would be the odds?  Apparently, pretty good!  There just happened to be said jacket...half price...and senior discount!  All in all, a very thrifty $9.00!

Do You Remember Tent dresses?

This is my cute little granddaughter on Easter Sunday wearing her favorite dress.  I'm sure it's her favorite because first, it's polka dots, and second, it's comfortable.  

As I watched her running around in her dress, I was reminded of when I was a little girl wearing the same kind of dress....a tent dress!  I remember back in the 60's that my mom even made us matching dresses.

Tent dresses...talk about simple!  I figured I could add to my granddaughter's wardrobe and make her a few tent dresses refashioned from things I had in my stash.  I started by making a simple pattern from her polka dot dress.  I don't have before pictures, but the first dress was made from a women's simple strapless dress that I picked up year's ago solely for the fabric.

A Zero Waste Refashion!

I've had this 100% rayon dress in my stash for a long time!  I really liked the color and feel of the fabric.  I also liked the pleats and button detail on the bodice.  It was a lot of dress, though, and I had other plans for it.  Originally, it was just going to be cut off into a tunic.

Thirteen is a Lucky Number!

Thirteen is a lucky number in our family as we welcome this sweet little granddaughter into our family.  I had the fun of doing her newborn photo shoot the other day.  

Say hello to sweet Emmalyn Renee!

Tunics for a Friend

I have an adorable young friend who inherited a bunch of XL shirts from her father.  She asked for my help in refashioning some of them before winter break was over and she heads back to school to finish the last few busy months of her dental hygiene program.

We only finished two that day, so the rest will have to wait for after graduation!

The first one was a combination of two shirts.  The solid gray one had a stain on the pocket, so we just used the lower half and attached it to the top half of a super soft plaid cotton.

A Christmas Dress

In searching my photos for the "before" picture of this refashion, I realized that this one started over two years ago!!  I had picked it all apart, set it aside, and then went on to live my life for over two years.  Well, with Christmas upon us I decided it was time to wrap this one up...no pun intended!

I really liked the red plaid rayon fabric, however, I didn't like the gunny sack fit, the length, or the the front patch pockets.

A Simple Fix

I have a thing for black and white, and a thing for buffalo plaid flannel.  So, when I can find a new dress with the tags on for $3.49 at a thrift store that incorporates both of these "things," you know I have to get it!  The only issue was, though, it was too short for my liking.  A simple fix was in order.

I made a trip to the fabric store and picked up 2/3 of a yard of gray flannel.  After pre-washing it, I opened it up wide and folded it in half and laid it out flat.  I now had a piece of folded fabric measuring 12x45 inches.  I laid the bottom of the dress skirt on top of the flannel to mark my cutting lines.  After marking my lines, I added an extra 5/8" along the top edge and side seams for my seam allowances.  Then it was just a matter of stitching the side seams of the addition, pinning it to the skirt hem (right sides together), and stitching it on.  Once that was done, I completed it with a rolled hem.

I don't know if I'm completely sold on the addition of the white fur vest, but I thought I would try it.  Maybe if I'm making a trip to the North Pole this holiday season....

Men's Henley to Women's Tunic

Recently, my daughter and her family came to visit for the holidays.  She brought with her a dress that needed a bit of alterations.  Specifically, it needed some fabric added to the backside of some lace to make it modest.  I happened to have a navy blue t-shirt top that had been in my stash for a while.  I had always meant to do something with it, but never got around to it.  In anticipation of fabric needed, I also grabbed out of my stash, a men's henley t-shirt incase the first t-shirt wasn't going to work.  Well, the first t-shirt did work.  I cut off the bottom half of the shirt, which left the top embroidered piece untouched.  After all of the holiday company left, I decided I wanted a little sewing perk.  Looking at the two pieces, I decided they would work together to make a fun tunic.

I made cuts as shown below to the men's henley.  The bottom half of the sleeves were cut and reattached to become a better length.  The straight cuts up the sides left enough width to be comfortable at the hips and to provide a dropped shoulder.  I didn't even cut a curved armhole.  I just stitched the straight cut of the sleeve to the straight cut of the body, matching the center of the sleeve to the shoulder seam.  After that, I stitched up the side seams.

Harvest Carnival 2018

Every year our church puts on a Harvest Festival with a chili feed, costume parade, and indoor trick-or-treating for the kids.  Most of the rooms have an activity, or game for the kids to do.  This year, we went with a pirate theme.  I had such a blast coming up with ideas for the room.  Of course, much to my husband's dismay, it means more props stored in the barn!

Just outside the room, the guests were greeted with a "BEWARE" sign, and a poster that would determine their pirate name.  I found the graphic on the internet and printed it at a local print shop.  The pirate mask came from the dollar store.

A Pirate's Life!

It's that time of year again!  When I was a kid, this was the time of year when we opened up the large steamer trunk to an explosion of costumes!  I have always had a thing for costumes.  Now that I'm older, though, I don't have a steamer trunk...I have a whole room!  With the kids leaving the nest one by one, I commandeered one of the bedrooms recently and turned it into my very own costume room.  I love it!

Now this year, I could have just went to the room and picked a costume to wear to our annual church Harvest Carnival, and even though we decided on a pirate theme and had enough pirate attire, I just felt the desire to update it a bit.

I really wanted a leather corset to wear, and since I had recently picked up two leather coats for $1 each, I knew that it was going to be on my list of things to do.

The main coat was black, had big poofy sleeves, and two-toned leather inserts.  The other one (not pictured) was a men's bomber style jacket and was only going to be used for trim.

I thought about ordering a pattern from Harlots and Angels, but since I was repurposing I thought it might be hard to follow the pattern with everything that was already going on with the coat.  I did use one of their corsets for inspiration, though.  

(Image source: Harlots and Angels)

If you're not repurposing, I highly recommend buying a pattern...they have some really awesome designs!

I figured that since the shoulders already had some curve to them, they would make a good start to the bodice.  So, after opening all the seams to make the coat lay relatively flat, and taking measurements to get the right size and shape, I made the cut from each sleeve.

This became the front of my corset.  The back of the corset was cut from the back of the coat.  From there, it was a matter of placing it on my dress form and working with it to get the right fit.  I wish I had more process photos, but this was a trial and error kind of project.  It took some time, but I'm very happy with the results!