Refreshing

Tea Body: Medium

Tea Flavor: Fruity

Pros: Convenient

Best Uses: Afternoon

Describe Yourself: Occasional Tea Drinker

I love the mix of flavors, and it’s a hit with my 5-year old. I brew it over ice in a 16oz Pfaltzgraff mug, then pour into a plastic insulated tumbler for on-the-go.

(legalese)

McCall's Pattern 4648

Procrastination is not always a bad thing. This is a sewing project I meant to finish last year and didn’t. I have a zillion reasons why so I can’t list them. Finally, here it is! Luckily when I cut the pattern pieces out last year, I cut the largest size on the pattern, Size 5, so it was big enough for her this year.

This pattern is from the “Ruffles and Lace Treasured Collection” by McCall’s. I love the old-fashioned style and the generous amount of fabric and gathers in the dress and pinafore. Both pieces can be worn separately too. What a great pattern. Here is a link to the pattern: http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m4648-products-6454.php?page_id=712&search_control=display&list=search

I especially love the white fabric that I made the dress out of: Robert Kaufman Kona Muslin Cotton 200 thread count, purchased from Jo-Ann fabric. This fabric is so beautiful and washes well – it’s been washed 4 times (pre-washing and three times since getting an awful chocolate ice cream stain I can’t seem to get out). Old-fashioned people must have been great at stain removal, since putting a dress like this on a 5-year old on Easter, it is bound to get something on it. Everyone loved the dress and I was so happy I completed it (the night before Easter).

For more photos of the dress construction please visit my Picasa web album: https://picasaweb.google.com/100775930669953832804/McCallS4648SkylarSEasterDress?authkey=Gv1sRgCPrR45DP9-elVg#

On Easter morning I even made a simple dress to match for Skylar’s doll, using Simplicity Pattern 2296 View G.

made of same fabric and trim as Skylar's Easter dress

One of the great things about sewing a Halloween costume is that you can get away with stuff like this. Trim, for example, is amazing! It covers up mistakes while jazzing up your costume at the same time. And you can use as much you want. Get out your glue gun and go all out Lady Gaga. To hold it together you can use basting stitches, safety pins, velcro, and some stuff called “Liquid Stitch” (which I haven’t tried myself but it looks like an easy no-sew alternative, by Dritz company).

Halloween is an inspiration to sewers, time for us to create whatever we can dream up and lots of fabrics and trims available to DIY. It even inspired me to return to my blog, almost forgot and haven’t been here in a year (will try to do better about that, readers!) But here we are at that time when Halloween is getting closer on the calendar and frustration may start to set in, at least it did for me. I want to shout out anyone feeling ready to quit: Don’t Give Up! I didn’t, and I really thought so many times that I should have. I made so many mistakes that I wondered why I even bother sewing at all.

Relax and have fun because it should be. I still don’t particularly like how this costume came out. It still has to be safety-pinned to stay in place and because I stored it in the Halloween bin in the attic it’s a wrinkled mess. But I’m so glad I made it and so proud that Skylar will wear it to the party again today. Now I’d better go and try and spruce this thing up…I think I need one of those fabric steamers. There’s always something else…

At the time I wasn’t sure what exactly I was going to be wearing this dress for Halloween. But as I was explaining it over the phone to my friend Kim she came up with Sorceress.

Sorceress Dress

Stretch fabric is not one of the fabrics recommended on the pattern envelope but I went with it anyway and I’m so glad I did. It was just right and I didn’t even need to finish the edges – no fraying (except for all those little purple puffballs it sheds – I left all over the town after the parade and hope the birds picked them up for winter nesting material) .

The cutting layout for this pattern is a bit challenging and to make sure to get every bit out of the 4 yards I needed to follow it carefully. Getting this fabric to lay flat was another matter. I used a Schmetz stretch needle but I still don’t know how to use the stretch stitches on my Viking so I just went with a straight stitch.

In general this was a fun project to pull together and good for a beginner. It’s a pull-on style that is comfortable to wear and the quality of this fabric surpasses any I could find in a retail Halloween costume.

Butterick Pattern 5007 Misses Goth Costume is out of print but still available http://www.butterick.com/item/B5007.htm

Skylar's Halloween Costume

Here is Skylar’s Snow White dress, made using McCall’s Pattern MP413 View C in Size 4. The fabric, trim and notions are from Jo-Ann Fabrics.

Spock and Snow White

That’s Spock (nope, not Elvis) with Snow White just before the Halloween Parade. Live long and prosper.

And, whistle while you work.

Snow White Cape

I love the detachable long red cape with the white collar. I sewed a Disney patch of Snow White on the back.

This is the second costume I made for Skylar and I’m glad I made it but there were a few times during the project that I really wasn’t and wished I just bought one. This pattern was not exactly the authentic version of the dress, and Skylar pointed that out and even brought me a picture to show me. But there really are a whole bunch of different takes on this dress out there. After I hand-sewed the sequins on, my daughter – the fussiest client – reported that she didn’t want it so fancy. UGH, well I held back on SOME of the bling-bling I was going to sew on.

I had a problem with the neckline; it was too wide and low. Even though I was able to take it in a little bit and sew some ruffling to the top, I don’t know if she could have worn this without a shirt under it.

Snaps and sewing on the patch: two things I thought would be a snap, proved to be challenges. I could not get those darn snaps aligned right at all and got frustrated seam-ripping and re-sewing them. It gave me practice though, and snaps scare me no more. Sewing on the patch was another matter. These come with no instructions other than sew or glue on. I sewed it on, and tried to be neat, but I need pratice with that too.

I’m very happy with this dress. The best compliment was when she wore the costume to the the Disney Store princess halloween party and an employee thought it was one of their dresses  and wondered why she hadn’t seen that version yet. I guess I did OK.

The jumper and bolero came out great and fit Skylar just right. But I hadn’t expected on the first day of school for her to protest wearing it.  “I don’t want to wear that!” It only got worse from there, with her crying and getting very upset. “But I want to wear my Disney Princess shirt”. I promised her she could wear that tomorrow if she’d only just wear this dress today. Just today! “I don’t want to wear a dress! I don’t want to wear that. Get it off me!” She even said her friends would make fun of her. I don’t know where that came from either. I almost cried myself. I don’t think I said that until I was a tween. My Mom always made my clothes and I don’t even think I noticed them. Which now I realize is good and bad. She even protested the cute little pink socks with the ruffle. “I don’t want to wear these wedding socks!” Wedding socks? And the shoes too.  It was getting late and I really wanted to take her picture in the dress.  In most of them you can see she is crying. I let her wear her Disney Princess sneakers.

After all that she enjoyed her first day of school. Her friends reportedly did not make fun of her dress and I really liked the way it looked on her.

I went to Wal-Mart first thing this morning to get her some more cheap fabric to play with. I went out the the Massapequa store because the two newer ones closer to me don’t have a fabric department. As it turned out, this one no longer does either. It was the “Grand Re-Opening” of the store. Where the fabric department once was were some housewares. Only a small part of the “craft” aisle has a few sewing notions in it. But no fabric other then felt squares.

Determined I headed all the way out to Setauket (thank you GPS) – half an hour away but luckily they still had a fabric department. Their store survived the cut, but the employee that I asked there said they plan on phasing out all the fabric departments eventually. They still have a decent fabric department and a big table of exactly what I was looking for – $1.50 and $2 per yard fabric. Well I was actually looking for $1 per yard but I think that may (sniff) really be a memory now. When Skylar was a baby I was able to get $1 per yard fabric – and I’m glad I did. Now I have it in my stash. It is situations like this that really justify hoarding fabric.

I did get a few yards of fabric Skylar is having a great time with. I taught her to cut “larger” pieces and got an easy pattern to teach her to sew with it. I’m showing her how to lay out, cut, and sew a pair of pants she can wear. She’s not exactly getting it yet but she already shares my enthusiasm for sewing and shopping for fabric.

I had Nick drag out the heavy bin full of fabric from the utility room. In there I found a nice pink print that will do for the dress. Skylar approved.

The fabric is labeled Spring Bliss by Dena Designs, Inc. for Fabric Traditions. It’s pink with flowers, enough of which are brown to make it right for Fall. The weather is warmish anyway. I have no idea where I got this fabric but it must have been on sale or clearance somewhere which is how this bin got so full.

More exciting: I also pulled out a pattern for Skylar’s Halloween costume, McCall’s MP413, which has five views of beautiful princess-y dresses on it. I asked her to pick out the one she liked best and I was glad she picked Snow White! All those bright colors will be so much fun. And it has a cape too.

So it’s time to get cutting. Oops…Not so fast. Oh yeah I’m supposed to wash the fabric first. Admittedly, I so often blow that off…ugh. But you know, I will throw Spring Bliss on the quick wash cycle and do this right.