Back To School with Maggie Mae!

I’ve spent a lot of time the past few months working on school clothes for my first child in kindergarten.  I was not ready for my BAAAAAABY to be in kindergarten AT ALL.  Not ready to not have her all day.  Not ready for her to be more independent.  Not ready for parent homework.  With all the things I wasn’t ready for, I was determined to be ready for one thing: that child of mine was going to look fabulous.  I combed  all of my patterns looking for ones with sleeves (there’s a 3” strap rule which is basically sleeves on a 5 year old) and got to work.  One of my go-to patterns for a successful sew is the Maggie Mae by Shwin.  I made two for school and I love them both!

The first I made was a tunic length.  There’s also a “no leggings as pants rule”, so I had to make sure it looked good with jeans.   Seriously...these rules.  SO MANY RULES.  I had a rule of my own- I had to use my stash.  We do not have any disposable income right now, so stash busters were a MUST.  I had some of this leftover Cherry Print that I’ve used for a bunch of stuff and I found an old dress I hated and used the grey skirt for the yoke.   BAM!  One top down and my awesome factor is UP!

I decided to make a dress version as well.  Kids grow up and need to be “cool” so quickly.  I’m DEFINITELY not ready for that, so I’m keeping her young as long as she lets me.  I was given this AWESOME gnome fabric that I’ve been obsessing over for a year and I knew I needed it for something.  I paired it with a sparkle denim and YEP!  This one’s for all my Gnomies. This dress started out as a different pattern, but my daughter complained that the bodice was “too itchy”.  Whiner.  (But it totally was itchy).  I decided to go back to Maggie Mae and it was better.  Muuuuch better.  The only thing I changed , really, was the skirt.  I made a wider skirt and gathered it, rather than using the slimmer and pleated version that comes with the pattern.  I also made  a white sash and a denim flower for that Papow!  My girl even wore it to picture day!  Maggie Mae saves the day!  But I’m, at the very least, her sidekick.  But like a sexy sidekick that everyone likes and invites to parties because no one wants to be Robin...

Anyway, I hope you like two of my school looks.  There have been a lot more and you’ll get to see at least 2 of them next week...ALLSPICE WEEK.  WOO HOO!!!

-Crystal-

Crafting-Con Craft-Off: Crystal

You guys, I’m a geek.  Like really, I am.  I am not a hipster geek that wears glasses and think Hayden Christiansen did a good job in Star Wars.  I am a real bonafied geek.  I love all things Lord of the Rings (with the exception of Tom Bombadil- I hate that guy), Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica(2004), Firefly & Merlin.  I’ve played world of Warcraft and enjoyed it.  I married a Dungeon Master- yes, the man I love plays D&D.  Yes, I just called it “D&D” and not “Dungeons and Dragons”.  I find science fascinating and feel like Science fiction should become reality before I die. I dress up for renaissance festivals.  I will be Cosplaying at a Comic Convention in October.  I AM GEEK.   So when I heard of Crafting-Con...yeah, I wanted in.

The SHEs are up for a spot in the September theme of Crafting Con (Disney Princesses).  We are going to fight to the...not DEATH, but to the...um...winner?  for that spot!  We decided that we’d each make a look from whichever of the Crafting-Con themes that Spoke to us.  These are the themes:

Harry Potter

Star Wars

Avengers

Disney Princesses

Disney Villains

Hunger Games
The Hobbit
Dr. Who
Mario Brothers
Divergent
Disney (no princesses allowed)
Board Games

WARNING: Massive amounts of geeky information about to seep into your brain.  I hope you’re ready.

My choice was an easy one-I chose Star Wars because that’s the geeky that started it all for most of us.  I had one rule for myself, though... I HAD to use what was in my stash already.  We’re saving for Stan Lee’s Comikaze, so yeah.  No spending!  The big problem I had was color. The original 3 movies (you know, the ones that weren’t mistakes) have very little color.  Lots of grey, black, brown, tan, white...not a lot of BLAMMO!  I LOVE color, so I went to the most colorful costume in the trilogy- the RebelAlliance flight suit.

The rules of CraftingCon state that all items made should be able to be worn not as a costume, but as everyday garments.  I made the tunic from the inspiration of the Hummingbird dress by Rabbit Rabbit creations.  I don’t own that pattern but I wanted to make a top like that...but no spending money.  I drafted something similar on my own and I love the way it turned out!  If you can't draft on your own, just buy the pattern.  It's easier that way anyhow. I used orange fabric that I previously got at the thrift store for $1 for a little over a yard...SCORE!  The white was an upcycle from an old RTW dress that no longer fit my girl. The back straps represent the X-wing fighters that Luke flies when he made the shot that destroyed the Death Star..totally went there.  She can be Anti-republic everywhere she goes.  People at the grocery store will be like “There’s a cute girl in an orange top.”  They have no idea that she can blast away an epic weapon and space station with one little PEW!

The vest is super awesome and my favorite part.  I wanted it to look like the flight vest, but not like a costume.  I added some silver and black piping to make an otherwise simple vest into something pretty epic.  The patch on the front of the vest is the Symbol for the Jedi Order and is just a pinned on patch. It’s a little nod to Luke’s relationship with the force.   It comes off and makes this vest a bit but more “every day”.  The applique on the back is permanent because it can be.  No one sees the back of you until you walk away.  She’ll walk away in geeky style, baby. This emblem is the symbol of the Rebel Alliance.  In the movie it can be seen on Luke’s helmet, but I decided to throw it on the back. The pattern I used is an altered version of pattern 118 from the Little Darlings line by Enchanted Forest Inc.

That’s my whole look and I hope you geeked out a little.  I’m super happy that I was able to take neon orange flight suit inspiration and turn it into something cute for my girl.  And now she looks like a nerd girl; and nerd girls are BADASS.

Do YOU want to compete in future CraftingCons?  Sign up here!  Spots are filling fast!

-Crystal-