I am one of those women blinded by her own creativity. In my head I can picture the most beautiful hand made outfits and pinterest only aggravates my condition. Thanks to the sally seamstress bitches who can whip up a dolman sleeve blouse using the fabric scraps they found laying around in their craft rooms or their husband's old tshirts. (Yeah Right) Since giving birth to my first child I have put an unrealistic amount of pressure on myself to be crafty.Because that's exactly what mothers are supposed to do, right ? Make things for their children.
When my oldest daughter was in elementary school we had a hard time finding costumes around Halloween that would fit her. I remember the year she was 7 or 8 years old and desperately wanted to be a fairy. This was pre-pinterest and it never occurred to me to make the fairy dress out of tulle and an elastic band. So instead, I marched my happy ass into the craft store and bought a pattern for a dress with a pointy fairy looking edge and way more than I needed of the sparkly est- fairy like fabric they sold. At the time I did not own a sewing machine and was a single mother of 2 children and the idea of buying my own was a pipe dream. When I got home and got the pattern cut out and machine set up I realized I had forgotten thread. ( Blinded by creativity yet again) Back to the craft store I went.
With thread in hand and the sewing machine ready to zigzag stitch like a mofo, I began to sew my darling baby girl her very own, very blingy fairy costume. To make a long story short the simple 2 hour pattern took me 3 days. I shouted obscenities that would make prison inmates blush and after deciding that some of it could just be hot glued together rather than stitched. I finally got that blasted fairy dress completed just in time for trick or treating and she was ecstatic.
You can see that this costume could have earned me celebrity status in the seamstress hall of shame. I should post the picture of what she looked like after trick or treating and the costume completely fell apart. No joke, I had to tie what was left of it onto her body so that her rear end wasn't shining. I meant well child. I really did. I will tell you that she has not EVER asked me to sew her another stitch of clothing or a costume and I even since offered to make her a little tote bag for her spend the night away adventures and she didn't even respond to my offer and ran out the door. ( 10-4 sassy I hear ya loud and clear- NO homemade tote bag)
You can imagine the reaction I got from my family when I announced that I was going to make the baby a witch costume this year because I could not find her one that was grand enough for my liking. I scoured the Internet looking for a tutorial on tutu dresses. There are millions of them. They are all the same basic idea. Tulle cut to the desired length, a wide elastic band or if your baby is still small enough an adult sized crocheted head band. and knots
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| supplies: tulle,ribbon,elastic,scissors, needle ,thread, doo-dads,booze |
Here's how I did it-
1. Buy the rolls of tulle in desired width and color (s). More tulle = more poof
2. Measure the elastic around your child at either the chest or waist. Chest for the dress- waist for skirt. Cut the elastic leaving enough for a small overlap that you will stitch together to form a circle.
3. For easier tulle cutting wrap the tulle around a piece of cardboard cut to your desired finished length. ( I made a dress and I just used the lid of the chest in our living room)
4.Start to make your knots using the method you prefer. Just be careful to not tie them too tight so that they fold your elastic band or crush it. you want a smooth line at the band. Alternate your colors according to your vision of the finished dress or skirt.
5. Try it on your kid and trim
6. Customize it! add ribbon shoulder straps or a halter tie. they possibilities are endless :)
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| Stinka the good witch |
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| Stinka having fun at a fall festival |
I was pretty pleased with the outcome of her costume. I am happy to report that she was able to wear it several times and it's still in her dress up collection in somewhat wearable shape. I got a ton of compliments on it and even had a request to make a friends little girl one. I felt like a crafty super woman. It's hard to go wrong with tulle and knot tying.
The most ambitious of my sewing projects went down a few weeks ago. A photographer friend posted an offer for spring mini sessions with a vintage feel. I love all things with a little age on them. I see beauty in rust and chipping paint makes me down right giddy. I knew exactly what I wanted stinka to wear for her session but finding a ready to wear dress and headband was almost impossible and I wasn't going to pay someone an arm and a leg to make it for me. Back to the craft store I went.
Walking around my favorite store is like nirvana. Everything is so pretty and to a woman with crafters ADD it can become an expensive outing in the blink of an eye. Somehow I managed to make my way to the fabric department through a maze of half price home decor items. It's like a reformed drug addict walking through crack town. Temptation is everywhere.
I picked out the perfect fabric and a lovely lace trim. I had planned on making fabric flowers to put on her headband but to my joyful surprise I found pre-made fabric flowers that were GORGEOUS and had just the right vintage look. SCORE!
My crafters ADD took over and I decided that I needed to go to the doo-dad section and pick up extra sparkly things and feathers. I found what my heart desired and I was out of there.I am ashamed to say that I spent way more than I should have on a simple pillow case dress and headband. But Hey! I never claimed to be thrifty when it comes to crafting. I have never ever been able to find awesome sales on the things I need for projects because my projects are spawned from spur of the moment thoughts and are not based on a stores sale ad. (something I may need to work on)
After a slight panic attack I called my Mother to come over and help me because after the fairy dress debacle years ago the sewing machine still scares the shit out of me. My mother is a saint. Everyone that meets her loves her and she has the most kind and gentle soul but is always one heck of a good time. Everyone in our area calls her MawMaw. She was so patient with me and didn't even bat an eyelash when I decided that I wanted to make a key hole back closure instead of the traditional shoulder ties and proceeded to cut a large U shape in the back panels of the dress. ( yep, just willynilly- Go big or go home) She took the time to make sure I understood how to put the dress together. After breaking a needle she replaced it with one of the extra parts that came with my machine.( WHAT?? I had no idea there were extra parts and that you could actually break a needle on a pillowcase dress) We had the dress completely sewn and pressed by 2am. I took longer than it should have beacuse we had to make a quick trip to walmart for biased tape. My sweetheart Mother was bound and determined to get this pillowcase dress "made right". I got the head band put together quickly by hot gluing the flowers to a piece of felt in the arrangement I wanted and then hot gluing the felt to the head band. I added extra pearls, sparkly things and feathers just to make it look more finished. I was so happy the way it turned out and it meant so much to me that my mother and I had
made this together. For her.
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| https://www.facebook.com/#!/OlivePhotos |
I am slowly getting over my fear of sewing. I guess like any other thing in life it's a learning process. I hope that you are inspired to get crafty this weekend. I consider puffy paint sweatshirts to be a trend worth bringing back. What ever it is you decide to make - make it your own and have fun. Don't forget to have plenty of adult beverages on hand. I think buzzed crafting is more fun. Just be careful and don't over do it and sew your finger or hot glue your leg to the floor. (not saying either of those have ever happened to me- wink wink)
If I can do it anyone can.
xoxoxo,
Brandy
