The Elsapocalypse and Annapocalypse are here

It's Halloween time.  I'm sure you know, especially since it's October 30th.  This year, my girl was SUPPOSED to go as Jack Skellington and I was so excited!  I even made her costume ahead of schedule...that's a big deal for me.  Then she said the dreaded words no parent ever wants to hear "I want to be Elsa for Halloween" NOOOOOOOOO!  My world shattered.  I already had an Elsa dress made and it's HER costume, so fine.  Whatever.  Stupid Elsa. She makes a lovely brunette Elsa, so it works. I'm still as bitter cold as Arendelle when it's Elsa's time of the month about it.


My little Elsa isn't feeling well, but she gave me 10 good minutes of photos and is now napping.

Upon hearing that sissy wanted to be Elsa, my boy said "I want Anna!" He's 2 and a half and has always loved Anna.  He has ZERO interest in Olaf or Kristoff.  He likes funny Anna and all of her songs.  It's HIS Halloween costume, so baby, you can be Anna.



And what a handsome Anna he makes!  I call this Prince Brawna of Arendelle.  He hasn't ever really enjoyed dresses, so I went with pants.  We added a crown and sword because he loves dress-up as much as the next kid and also, he loves hitting things with swords. I'll keep an eye on that.  He demolished that dandelion in the pics after I was finished snapping away.  It probably looked at him funny.



For the patterns I used the following:

The Ethan Shirt by Sis Boom (modified the collar)
The Festive Vest by Scientific Seamstress
The Nowhere Man Pants by Shwin
The Traveler Cape by Stitchwerx Designs (removed the side panels of the long cape and rounded and angled the capelet part)
This Clasp Embroidery File by XTPatterns






I hope you like my Arendelle royalty.  You'll no doubt see 100 Elsa and Annas but try to show each one how excited you are for them because they probably couldn't be prouder of themselves.  It's the one night they get to pretend to be someone else.  We're all so lucky they've chosen to be characters that love their siblings and stand up for the good in their worlds. Sparkly dresses and magical powers add to the appeal, but you know what I mean ;)




-Crystal-

CraftingCon Guest Post: Villains Month!

It's another CraftingCon look from Crystal today! 




 It's Villain month and things are getting dastardly.  Head on over to Friends Stitched Together to see more pics of this fabulous 90's  (And a little bit of 80's) Villain(s).



Also make sure to head on over to Mae & K to see what the contestants have been working on all month.  There's some really fun looks!


Project Run & Play Sewalong- Season 10: Week Four (Crystal)

It's Signature Style time over at Project Run and Play, and I totally decided to go nuts and have fun with this one.  Maybe a little too much fun...almost got myself into trouble with the amount of fun.  But don't worry, I was Saved by the Bell.  Smooth intro, Crystal.  Smoother than Mr. Belding's Balding head.




Now, I know what you're thinking:

"This is wilder than than one of Jessie and Slater's fights" 
"This is sparklier than the Zack Attack blazer."
"Holy Hot Sundae, this is bright" 

But, dude, it's so me!




I am ALL over color and crazy.  I'm a *bit* on the theatrical side when I sew and usually tame it a smidge for the sake of your eyeballs.  But since we're doing a signature style, I just couldn't leave it alone.  I let it flow, and I love it more than all of the Buddy Bands in the world.  I adore seeing kids dress in fun things because you can only do it for so long before you exit "adorable" and enter "institutional."  Kids don't need to dress as serious as a caffeine pill addiction.


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This dress looks like something Kelly Kapowski's barbie doll would wear.  The fabrics I used were: An acid wash print cotton I found at Joann's a year ago, some sparkle 2 way knit of doom, and the pink stuff I'll talk more about later.  The biggest Papow is all those ruffles.  I normally don't "do" ruffles.  They're hell to sew when you don't know how to use the ruffler foot you spent $35 on and when ruffling on the serger is something you just never got around to attempting.  So yeah, I hand gathered those ruffles...all of them.  Over 160" EACH ruffle (4 of them anyway), but it was sooooooo worth it.  The pattern I used to get my ruffle measurements was the Francesca's by Create Kids Couture.  I really do love Create Kids Couture patterns and I love the ladies in their FB group page even more.  They're just friendly. My daughter FLIPPED over this dress.  She can't wait to wear it to school....which brings me to the bodice.



I needed something with enough coverage for dress code (3" strap minimum), but the Francesca's bodice just doesn't have that. I decided to make the bodice using the Saffron Twirl Dress by Paisley Roots for the front.  For the back, I used the Saffron back piece for the arm holes, but layered it over the back of the All Spice (same designer) and added a little extra to create a button placket to close it up.  Then I used the All Spice flutter sleeve to make the cap sleeve. The Saffron has deeper armholes than the All Spice, so I knew I'd need the width of the flutter instead of the actual cap sleeve...so confusing, but it totally worked as planned.  The fabric is amazing.  It was found at the same yard sale the My Little Pony fabric was at and then was given to me.  Most people wouldn't have been so excited to receive this fabric, but I SQUEALED.  And it totally looks like it fits in with the Saved by the Bell opening credits.






So there you have it: Bayside Barbie. I believe Lisa Turtle would wear this to prom making Screech even screechier.  She'll have to take a number, though, because I don't think my daughter will ever take it off.







-Crystal-

P.S. One child + Mommy's Heels = HILARITY








Modkid Avery "Tuttle" Dress

Fall is the time for pumpkins, sweaters, and breaking out the long sleeved clothing.  We had a match made in heaven with some fall colored material, a long sleeved dress pattern, one little girl obsessed with dresses and turtles, and fantastic timing for a sew along: The Modkid Avery Sew Along that is!


This is Halloween "Hacks"






Hosted by


It’s our turn for the “Halloween Hacks” series over at Swoodson Says!  This series is about taking a non-costume PDF pattern and making a dope costume with it (yeah, I’m bringing back “that’s dope!”.  I’ll let you do it too).  Great idea, right?  It’s a good way to get our brain muscles flexing and thinking out of the box.  Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I was STOKED to be a part of this spooktacular theme. Every day for MONTHS, my daughter asked for a Jack Skellington costume. So after I MADE SURE SURE SURE that she was set on being the Pumpkin King (because kids are fickle like a pickle), I got to work.





 All patterns- PDF or Paper- are just shapes and measurements.  It’s up to us to pick out the elements we need from each to make the best look for us.  Sometimes a costume is made by mashing lots of elements from tons of patterns, but on rare occasions, one pattern and good choices about fabric and embellishments can be all you need to make a unique costume. For my costume, I used The Vintage Georgia by TheCottage Mama.  I embroidered a little Jack onto the bib so that it can be worn outside of Halloween.  Now I normally wouldn’t put a character ON the costume, but I wanted the girl to wear it more than once without going to school looking like Wednesday Addams.  The character had to be there so people would “get” it and not think I’ve got a cemetery in the back yard.



I used lace overlay and some hand-stitching to get those Jack elements in while still being super girly.  I chose some dark metal buttons because they were cool.  That’s my only reason, but it’s reason enough!  Don’t you argue with me, or I’ll hex you!  The pockets were another add-on.  I used the pockets from this pattern and added my stitching again.  I feel like the asymmetrical shape looks like it’s right out of Halloween Town.  And they’re great for hiding candy in case of an emergency.





I made the hat myself using this ornament pattern, but enlarging it, using different materials, and constructing it my own way.  Then I added more black stitching, an embroidered bat, a big bow, and a little netting for some fancy.




The mask was made using this embroidery file from Gracefully Geeky.  It was the final missing piece of the puzzle.




I was SO PROUD of this dress and was sooo excited for my daughter to wear it on Halloween...then she said she wanted to wear her Elsa dress. HEAD/DESK.  I’m out!



-Crystal-

Check out the other tour folks here:


Blog Tour!

Wednesday, October 1st: Rebekah Sews & Dog Under My Desk 
Thursday, October 2nd: Friends Stitched Together & Sew Pandi 
Monday, October 6th: Shawnta Sews & Handmade Boy 
Tuesday, October 7th: Muse of the Morning & Swoodson Says 
Wednesday, October 8th: Call Ajaire & Sew McCool 
Thursday, October 9th: Once Upon A Sewing Machine & imagine gnats 
Friday, October 10th: The Sewing Geek & Feather's Flights 
Monday, October 13th: Get Your Crap Together & Needle and Ted 
Tuesday, October 14th: The Shaffer Sisters & The Inspired Wren 
Wednesday, October 15th: Pattern Revolution & Just Joshin


And make sure to participate in the Scavenger hunt, too!  

Scavenger Hunt!



Time to go trick or treating! Use the Rafflecopter below for a digital scavenger hunt. You'll be 

looking at each blog's posts for the month of September to find this icon:

  

 for a chance to win one of THREE awesome sewing prize packs! Three winners will be chosen randomly (and their form completion verified) and emailed within 3 days of the hunt's closure. A big thank you to all the sponsors who donated prizes! Pack 1 { $30 to The Ribbon Retreat +2 patterns from GYCT Designs + 1 pattern from Dog Under My Desk} Pack 2 {$30 to The Fabric Fairy + Kids Pattern Package from imagine gnats} Pack 3 {$30 to Fat Quarter Shop + 2 patterns from Everything Your Mama Made & More +Ramblin' Raglan Mega Pattern Pack from Muse of the Morning} a Rafflecopter giveaway

Knitting for a Knitter

Sometimes it takes another crafter to appreciate the time and effort (and many times love) a person puts into a crafty project- whether it be knitting, sewing, wood working, painting or any of the numerous crafts out there.

So when news came to me that a friend of a friend had received some low blows delivered by life my hands (and head) decided it was time to put my "talents" to work and make something this person.  Now I've never met this woman nor will I ever but I do know she could use a little bit of a lift and I can do that through a craft she also enjoys doing but is unable to do at the moment.  I picked up my knitting needles, asked some questions as to color preferences to my friend, and searched my yarn stash.