Getting down to the wire

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Well, I got the t-shirt cut out last night, so I'm sewing it tonight.  I confess to doing a few things that I would normally consider rather shoddy practice in order to have it done in time.  First, I didn't pre-wash the fabric.  I realize that I run the risk that it will shrink in the wash but, really, at this point I don't much care if she is able to wear it past Halloween.  Second, there are a few things I would probably rip out and do over if I wasn't on a deadline.  There are a couple of little unintentional tucks in the tops of the sleeves which I would normally try to eliminate by ripping out that small area and redoing the stitching there.  I did some top-stitching around the collar to help hold down the seam allowance on the neck band and it is quite visibly uneven in one particular spot (because I used black thread all the way around the neck, even on the white fabric of the front).  I haven't finished the side seams or done the hem yet, but I will also likely not be too fussed if they turn out less than A quality work.

So, here's an update on the costume:

• Collar:  Not started
• Tail: needs to be sewn to an elastic band
• Shirt:  needs side seams and hem sewn
• Ears:  complete
• Leggings:  purchased
• Make up:  need to buy black eyeliner to draw a few whiskers and give her a little black nose

I guess I had better get back to work!

Best laid plans and all that

Old Plan

Saturday evening, armed with my shopping list and a coupon, I ventured over to Joann's to purchase the things I needed for Cate's costume.

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I should have stayed home.

Apparently, on top of not being the only person who suddenly realized Halloween was less than a week away, there was a one day sale going on.  The place looked like some sort of bomb went off.  Fabric bolts were strewn everywhere--on top of other bolts, in random aisles, and even on the floor.  The pile of bolts behind the cutting countered looked as if no one had been reshelving fabric the entire day.  The line to the cutting counter was long, there was a good 15 to 20 minutes between when you took a number and when they called your number.  Check-out was also a lengthy process.  Pro-managerial tip:  if you have a sale the weekend before one of the busiest sewing holidays of the year, try to have more than three employees working.  The same person who cut my fabric also rang up my purchases at the front.  I think she was moving back and forth between the two as each line started to get out of control.

Artist's rendition of my face after
shopping at Joann's on Saturday.
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Several items I went there to buy were not available.  First, the McCall's pattern I wanted to use to make the black and white t-shirt was not there.  Possibly not surprising since McCall's patterns were on sale for 99¢.  Second, I couldn't find any simple black interlock or jersey fabric.  There was black performance knits and dancewear knits and special occasion knits with glitter, but no plain old block cotton for making a simple t-shirt and leggings.  Fortunately, the one mission-critical item I needed--fuzzy black trim for making the kitty tail--was in stock.  I was also able to get white interlock fabric and silver ribbon to make her collar.

I ventured back on Monday, armed with a second coupon, and fortunately found a bolt of black cotton interlock.  I spent a good deal of time locating two different patterns that I would be okay buying (since the McCall's pattern was still out) which was fortunate since only one of them was available (a Burda pattern, the number was in the 9800s and the store didn't have any Burda patterns past 9550).  When I and another frustrated shopper asked about the missing patterns (she was also in a situation where the pattern numbers didn't reach as high as the pattern she wanted to get), an employee pointed us to a cart piled high with boxes of patterns and said we were welcomed to look through them.

New Plan

Halloween is now in two days and I have the following done:  the tail.  I worked on ears last night but was having difficulty with the crazy fuzzy trim and, in any case, my prototype ear is far too large for Cate (she would look more like a rabbit).

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• Tonight:  Make the ears the ears, and, if there's time, I will cut out the t-shirt pattern (oddly enough, one isn't able to just stop making supper and taking care of a two year old in order to make said two year old's Halloween costume).  
• Wed.:  Sew up the t-shirt if I was able to cut it out the night before.  Buy:  1 pair of black leggings, and, a black t-shirt if no time to make the t-shirt from scratch. (I'll sew a large oval of the white knit fabric onto the front of the t-shirt so she can still be a black and white cat.  Or, maybe glue it on if I'm really pressed for time!)
• Thurs.:  Halloween!  Take a billion pictures, trick or treat at a couple houses, go to the party the apt. complex is having, and then collapse on the bed.

Halloween is less than a week away!

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I just realized that Halloween is just around the corner and I have yet to start Cate's costume!  Nothing I've planned is difficult to make, but I have so little time for sewing on a day to day basis.  Here's my plan of action:

Today (Sat.):  Go to Joann's, buy materials and craft supplies and get the fabric washed.

Sunday:  Make the tail and ears.  These are the most critical parts and I can't buy the kind of tail I want.  I'm using this tutorial to make the tail and the ears (the tutu is adorable, but it doesn't exactly go with the theme of being our tuxedo kitty).

Monday:  Trace t-shirt and leggings patterns and cut out fabric.  I'll be using the plain t-shirt (no peplum) and leggings from McCalls M6780.

Tuesday:  Sew up the t-shirt, check fit.

Wednesday:  Sew up leggings, check fit.

Thursday:  Halloween!

[Edit:  I originally wrote that Friday was Halloween, but after posting, I was talking to my DH and realized that Thursday is Halloween!  It's even sooner than I thought!]

Hey there Little Red Riding Hood...

Image Copyright Elisabeth Montegna, All Rights Reserved

Pattern:  Maisie Cape by My Childhood Treasures
Size:  1
Fabric:  Robert Kaufman 21 wale corduroy, Moda A Walk in the Woods Bluebell Mushrooms, white cotton flannel
Notions:  1 button
Changes to the pattern:  1) underlined with white cotton flannel, 2) used a button instead of velcro, 3) omitted the applique, and 4) changed how hood is attached (see below).

So I "finished" Cate's red, hooded cape with about 20 minutes to spare before trick or treating commenced.  "Finished" because I haven't top-stitched it yet, and because I may change the closure.  I didn't want to use a velcro closure like the pattern called for because Cate sees velcro as only a minor obstacle in the road of clothes/shoes removal, however, she hasn't figured out buttons yet.  I got a large button and made a vertical buttonhole on the tab.  It looks pretty good when it's sitting on a hanger, but the tab sort of slides around on the button (due to the size of the buttonhole) and it causes the cape to hang strangely.  I may make a smaller tab and either use a smaller button and a horizontal buttonhole or use a snap.  Also, I had to wing the buttonhole because the button was too large for the autobuttonhole foot on my machine.  And, I need to use some tear-away stabilizer on the next buttonhole (if I decide to use a button).

I underlined the cape with cotton flannel so that it would have a bit more weight to it and she can use it as her Bay Area-appropriate winter coat.  It's certainly easy to get on and off her with no sleeves to deal with!

The pattern was very simple and quite easy to work with, but I decided to change how the hood attached to the cape.  The directions called for attaching the main fabric hood to the main fabric cape and the lining hood to the lining cape, then placing the main fabric and lining right sides together and stitching around leaving a gap to turn it right-side-out, then top-stitching.  I didn't like that idea because I thought that the lining might get really bag and out of whack in the hood because it's only attached on the sides and not anywhere in the middle.  So, instead, I stitched the hood in the main fabric and lining, then I sewed them together around the face, flipped it right-side-out and top stitched around the face.  Then I hand-basted it to the neck of the main fabric and sandwiched it between the main and lining fabric when I sewed the cape pieces together (does that make sense? it might help if I had taken pix, but given the fact that I barely finished it for trick or treat you can see why I didn't stop to take pix!). 

Adding the hood this way created some minor issues, like the part of the hood surrounding the face and the opening of the cape are supposed to be flush and this would've been much easier to accomplish using the directions with the pattern.  Also, having the main fabric, underlining, and lining all attached to each other meant that I had to try to pull a very thick hood through the opening I left for turning the body of the cape right-side-out.

All in all, I'm quite happy with the way it turned out (except for the closure issue I mentioned above).  I had no trouble getting her to wear it, although she did fidget with it as you can see in the photos, experimenting with moving her arms around under the cape.  It made for a great first Halloween costume:  simple, easy to get on and off, and she can wear it the rest of the winter here so it was worth the time and effort spent sewing it up nicely.  The corduroy is really lovely and soft and the mushroom fabric looks so cute and the blue sets off Cate's eyes.  What more can you ask for in a project?

KCWC: An inauspicious beginning

As part of my KCWC, I went to Joanns to buy some red corduroy fabric for Cate's Little Red Halloween costume.  I was looking for plain old red.  You know.  The color red you'd get in a box of eight crayons.  They did not have regular ole red corduroy.  The best they had was a brick red.  You could purchase fuschia corduroy or sparkly purple corduroy, but plain old red corduroy was no where to be found.  I then wandered the aisles trying to become inspired by some other bright red fabric, but the only one I found that was remotely acceptable was a bright red wool.  It was beautiful, but I'm not going to go through the hassle of preshrinking wool for a cape my baby daughter will likely wear for one season.

I spent well over an hour at the fabric store trying to find acceptable fabric and I am counting that time for the challenge.  Then, I came home and fought with my computer to print the Big Butt Baby Pants pattern pieces for another half hour.  I'm not sure why my computer was refusing to print pages 14-16 and instead sending out sheets of blank paper.  I finally gave up and went to bed.

This evening, I went to the superbuzzy website to see if they had bright red corduroy and, if not, at least order the lining fabric and trim.  But the website is down for maintenance.  So, I have tried printing the BBBpants pattern again.  I suppose I should go see if the printer has decided to print them out tonight.  If you hear screams of rage and anguish from the SF Bay area, you'll know who they are coming from.

Kids Clothes Week Challenge

So, I've been wanting to make Cate some clothes for, oh, ever since I knew I was going to have a baby.  In my vision, half of the clothes Cate wore were cute little dresses and rompers and overalls that I made for her with handknit sweaters for every outfit.  The reality has been somewhat less than that.  I have managed to make two dresses, a sweater, a bonnet for her baptism, and some booties for her baptism.   Oh, and some newborn hats.

Me:  15 months

Me:  15 months

It turns out that making clothes for your baby is significantly hampered by, well, having a baby.  My mom made half my clothes when I was a baby/toddler and now I'm wondering exactly how the hell she did it.  I know she made a bunch while she was pregnant, but surely she wasn't able to make all of them prior to giving birth.

In any case, it's been on my List to make Cate clothes since she was the size of a grape, but so far I haven't done much in that vein until now.  I have signed up for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge at elsie marley. The challenge is to spend one hour a day from Oct. 8-14 working on making kid's clothes.

Me: at 2 yrs

Here's my queue for Cate:

1. Red, hooded cape:  This year, Cate will be Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween.  This decision is pretty much purely practical.  It's simple, involves no makeup, and she can wear the cape after Halloween, too.  I'm envisioning a red corduroy with a sweet, fairytale lining and maybe cute trim.
2. Purple sweater:  If I haven't finished the purple sweater I've been working on for the last several months by Oct. 8, I'll include it in this challenge.
3. Big Butt Baby Pants:  I cloth diaper.  I'm not fanatical or militant or evangelical about it, but I do feel pretty good about not having all of the diapers Cate's worn for the last 10 months sitting in a landfill for all eternity.  The key is that it isn't much more difficult than disposable diapering because we have a diaper service.  If we didn't have a diaper service, we would be adding to the landfill.  In any case, a cloth diaper + cover is bulkier than a disposable diaper and so there is some difficulty getting pants to fit.  Generally, I manage by going one size up, but then the legs are far, far too long.  Made By Rae has a pattern that is specifically designed for cloth diapered babies called Big Butt Baby Pants.  I need to make several for her for the winter, but I'll settle for one pair made out of denim for now.
4. Coat:  I'm actually not sure about this one.  She does need a heavy coat because we are visiting relatives in Boston mid-Nov.  Seeing as how we live in the Bay area, she's not likely to need it much after that.  I was looking for a coat with a removable lining because I thought that might be more useful, but haven't found one yet.  That might be a little more than what I want to take on, but I'm thinking about making some sort of cute, wool swing coat.  I know that I would like to tackle making myself a wool frock coat one of these years and this would allow me to work with the same sort of materials on a smaller scale without having to worry too much about fit issues (since children are pretty much rectangles with arms).

There's tons more stuff I'd love to make Cate, but I'm going to stick to those four things for now.  I think that's ambitious enough for one week!  I suspect I won't get the coat done (maybe not even started), but I'm really hoping to get the cape, the sweater, and a pair of pants done by the end of the week.

Cute Baby in Jack-o-lantern Hat

Last weekend, when I was in Iowa, I got to see my little nephew for a very short time and he graciously agreed to model the hat. But the flash hurt his eyes (his grandma was snapping pictures every few moments) so he closed them. The little mittens he has on have ghosts on them.

My sister has gone back to work so he's been going to a sitter where he seems to be doing well. He is a little bit bigger, of course, but still so tiny, although he has very big feet. I've got to get working on some socks for him--can't have my nephew going about in store-bought socks! My mom has made him a little sweater and is in the process of making a matching hat. Between me and my mom, the kid will never have to wear a store-bought hat.

October

In honor of the first day of October I bring you:

Pissed Off Black Cat with Jack-o-Lantern Hat

I almost laughed myself silly when I downloaded this picture. I didn't see Ghiradelli's expression when I took it because I was too busy trying to keep the hat on him.

The hat is actually for Benjamin. A slightly better view of the hat: