mad-hatter-hat-blogHalloween has always been one of my favorite holidays.  Back in the day I loved it because I have a HUGE sweet tooth.

Today, I love Halloween because of the costumes.  I love seeing people’s creativity and ingenuity.

As a child, my mother sewed and she made my Halloween costumes.

Until now, I don’t think I realized, or appreciated the work that went into such endeavors.

Today I sew.  It’s truly my passion and I’ve done it almost every day since 2007.  I decided to start writing this blog because I love to sew and love to talk sewing.  And I want some friends who share these same passions.

In 2011, my husband and I attended a Halloween party thrown by some very dear friends.  At that time, I had been sewing fairly regularly for about four years so felt pretty confident in my ability to make our costumes.

elizabeth-and-jack

Dress (Simplicity 4092) and Pirate (Simplicity 4923)

We went as Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swan.  This was my first time making a garment using boning in the bodice.  I spent 5 hours wearing it and can tell you, my back was sore the next day!

I didn’t make our costumes in 2012.  We pieced them together from this and that purchased at Good Will.  That year we went as Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife.

The day after the 2012 party, I was thinking about 2013 and what I was going to make.

Months passed and one of my sewing friends told me about a conference to be held in Denver called Costume Con.  Far be it for me to pass that up, so I went, attended workshops, and bought some fun stuff to add to my costume-making stash.

The workshop that made the biggest impression on me was working with thermoplastics.  So that was it!  My 2013 Halloween costume was a Demon Hunter from the video game – Diablo and it was constructed out of a material called Worbla.demon-hunter

I designed the costume from inspirational photos I found in the Internet and made the pattern out of newspaper, craft foam, plastic wrap and tape.

Working with Worbla was a new experience for me.  I think I burned all the prints on my fingers with the heat gun.

I also learned a whole lot about wardrobe malfunctions – but that’s for another post.

The day after that party I started planning for 2014.  I was on a mission.  I was also really enjoying all I was learning about garment construction and was moving into the realm of making garments that actually fit.

What better way to learn to fit than to do some fitting on different bodies.  So, I approached four of my best girlfriends and asked them if they would be willing to allow me to make all of their costumes for the next year.

Fortunately they all agreed.  They would be the four Queens in a deck of cards and I would be the Joker.

queens-and-joker1

Diamonds (Simplicity 1551), Hearts and Joker Corset (Simplicity 5006), Joker Skirt (Simplicity 1346), Clubs Corset (Butterick 5797), Spades Top (McCalls 5731) and Spades Skirt (Butterick 4954)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I used the Worbla and craft foam for the embellishments.  I also have a great source for trims called Trims on Wheels.

In  2015 I decided to get back to the couples costume and made my husband the Mad Hatter.  I was Alice.

mad-alice

Mad Hatter (Simplicity 2333), Alice (Simplicity 1300)

Between the two costumes, I spent $35 on the fabric for the Mad Hatter Jacket.  Everything else I had in my stash.

Being frugal had its drawbacks though.  The fabric I used in the Alice costume was too heavy so when I put the under-skirt on, it just drooped and didn’t look right at all.  I ended up using miles of tulle and making myself a tutu.

 

My biggest mistake was making the Alice costume as-is, with no modification to the pattern for fitting.  But for one night – who needs to raise their arms, right?

So here I am sewing away for Halloween 2016.  This year I’m teaming up with one of my friends and she and I are going as a duo.  I can’t say just yet but here’s the fabric. . .

can you guess what I’m making?  I’ll give you more hints in my next post!

 

Thanks for Reading, Auntie V2016-fabric-2