Wide leg pants

I've been getting back into my sewing lately, and have been making myself a few things to wear. I saw these kind of wide-leg pants at a boutique I shop at and decided to try making a similar pair.

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I found a pattern, Simplicity 8605, and got some fabric a JoAnn's. The best part of the pattern was the pockets! Gotta love pockets.

Putting the pants togther went very smoothly, but the hardest part was getting the elastic through the 2 channels. Getting them both to come through at the same time without losing one of the other was one of the most time consuming parts of making these.

My fabric choice didn't make this any easier. It was a little too heavy for this project, but it worked. Between the pockets in the front and the waistband, there was a lot of fabric to deal with.

These are super comfy, kinda like pajama pants, but the fabric made them good to wear to work.

It was great to whip up something that came together so fast. I think I'm gonna have to try my hand at making something else soon.

Running Costumes: Rides of the Magic Kingdom

I wanted to do something a little different for our costumes for the WDW Marathon. It was gonna be the first marathon for Kris and me, but I didn't want to do anything like the basic Disney characters. I'm in a few Facebook running costume groups, and was getting all sorts of inspired. Now, as always, I wanted to keep these costumes extremely run-able. so I was gonna build off of some basic running tops.

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But then what to do... I got inspired as this was the 25th anniversary of the Walt Disney World marathon, and started to think about my Disney World memories. Now this isn't so much a memory, as an family story turned urban legend, but word has it my favorite thing on my first trip to Disney World was "It's a Small World." I loved it so much, that my 2 year old self was singing the song on repeat and we rode the ferry back to the Ticket & Transportation Center. The other people on the ferry were going nuts listening to my little voice singing the ear worm over and over. With that, it was too easy to decide to make a Small World costume.

I told Kris my idea about ride costumes, and she decided on the Haunted Mansion. She decided on the Haunted Mansion cast member costume. Pretty easy, or so I thought.

Since it would be January when we ran, and there was no telling if it would be cold or hot, we decided on short-sleeve workout shirts. Cause there is no way in hell I was gonna run 26.2 miles in something that wasn't sweat wicking. I looked all over for a striped shirt for Kris, but to no avail. I ordered plain shirts on Amazon in the colors we needed (dark green for Kris, light blue for me).

Then I started on Kris's costume. I got a dark green shirt, and then was gonna paint on the stripes. I found Tulip spray fabric paint, which I figured would be easy to do, and not too stiff. I used masking tape to tape off the stripes, and used freezer paper inside the shirt to prevent bleed through. Then I sprayed, and waited forever for it to dry.

As I was painting, I wasn't sure the color was dark enough. So I was mentally preparing to start over. Once I took off the tape after it was really dry, it did look black, thank God! Then, I taped and painted the back and the fabric for the apron. In total this took one small and 1 large can of the fabric spray paint.

After waiting til the back was dry, I made the lace collar. I didn't make the collar go all the way around, since I still wanted the neck to be able to stretch for her to be able to put the shirt on.

With a scrap of white fabric and some lace I made the headpiece. I also added the bat bow with black felt. I attached this to Kris's visor with some safety pins, and it was good to go.

Now my shirt, initially I wanted to paint the big clock onto my shirt. but that is insane and crazy and I wouldn't have time, so iron-on it was. But I wanted this to be BIG, like covering my whole shirt big. I sized this all out on the computer, and then went to print. Not the easiest to print an image on 6 sheets of paper. I used the poster printing to get this all done.

I first tried on normal paper before attempting the iron-on sheets. A few trials and errors, and it was finally all lined up and ready to print.

First I cut around the design on the sheets closely, so I wouldn't have too much extra iron-on material left on the shirt. Then, I lined up all of the iron-on sheets, and started ironing.

Some pieces required a little more heat. I was also afraid of melting the dry wicking shirt. But thankfully, it all worked out. As I slowly started peeling off the backing, I saw my creation..

I had grand ideas of having the kids from the ride holding hands around the bottom of my skirt, and having all of the goodbyes on the back of my shirt. But between running, the holidays, and life, I just didn't have enough time. I loved the bright colors on the shirt, and figured this got the point across just fine.

The best part of all was that the costumes both made it 26.2 miles! They looked good after the race too. My shirt had some of the iron-on lifting after I got home, so it doesn't seem like it'll make it through another run. But it did the job. And really, as long as I looked cute, that's all that matters.

Handmade Halloween

When Halloween rolls around for me it means picking out that costume and making it. My friends have asked me over the years why I don't just buy a costume, but buying a costume just doesn't feel like part of the holiday.

I was everything over the years....

a cheerleader,

a pumpkin,

a cavegirl, and so many more...

And this was the year, Mom tells me, that I insisted on a store-bought costume. Anyone else remember those terrible masks?

Since I was a little girl, Halloween was always a handmade holiday. I remember going to the fabric store and pouring over the pattern catalog until I found just the right costume. I'm thankful that Mom and Grandma were my costume magicians, making anything I wanted appear. Now that I can make my own costumes, I still love picking just the right one, and making it. It just feels right to me. Going to the store for a packaged costume is just not an option.

Anyone else have handmade costumes back in the day? How about now? Any ideas for this Halloween?

Makeup Brush Roll Tutorial

I got a special reuqest from a friend recently to make her a makeup brush roll. Like so many of us, she does her makeup on the go, but wanted a good way to carry around all of her brushes. I was more than happy to whip up this simple project.

Here is how you can make your own makeup brush roll. This is a pretty easy project, and would be great for a beginning sewer--only straight lines here.

First here is what you will need for this project:
1 9" x 15" piece of fabric
1 9" x 15" piece of interfacing (optional)
1 9" x 15" piece of lining fabric
1 10" x 15" piece of fabric for the pocket
18"-20" piece of ribbon or bias tape 
Sewing machine (can also be hand sewn)
Scissors
Thread
(The fabric can be different sizes to work for whatever you need.)

Take the pocket piece, fold it in half lengthwise, and iron it. Then top stitch the pocket along the fold line. Pin the pocket to the lining fabric, and sew along the sides and bottom of both pieces. Use a scant 1/8" seam (this will insure that this line of sewing will be hidden once it is finished).

Now it's time to mark your pockets. You can customize these pockets to what ever size you need. I made a few 1 1/2" pockets, and then varied the sizes (from 3/4" to 1") to be able to accommodate a variety of brush sizes. I marked them with a pencil to be able to see it on my fabric.

Sew the pocket markings from the bottom to the top. This will ensure that you don't have any bubbles or puckering at the bottom of the pockets. Remember to back stitch at the top to reinforce those pockets.

Next take your ribbon or bias, fold it in half and sew along one side of your lining/pocket piece. Sew it so the tie lies on the inside of the fabric.

Now with the right sides together, place the exterior fabric on top of your lining/pocket piece. Sew along the sides and bottom of the roll.  Then sew along the top, leaving an opening for turning.

Turn out the pouch and iron it. Iron in the seam allowance for the opening. This will make it easier to top stitch. Now, top stitch (stitch very close to the outer edge of the pouch), starting at one of the sides. When you get to the opening, top stitch which will close the roll completely.

Now it's all ready to tote your favorite makeup brushes. I like to keep my liners and mascaras in the roll too.

You can also adapt this to make a crayon or pencil roll, perfect for back-to-school.

Slip Sew-Along

I needed to get back to my poor neglected sewing machine, and I wanted a fun project that was just for me. So I decided to do join in on Gertie's Slip Sew-Along for her new vintage-inspired lingerie pattern by Butterick.

The pattern is Butterick Patterns 6031*. It has variations for a camisole, full slip and panties. The sew along is for the slip and panties. I had ordered the supply kit from Gertie's etsy store, so I had everything I needed, or so I thought.

I cut into my new fabric (for some reason, I just hate cutting into a new cut of fabric), and was all ready to go until I noticed that I didn't have any stretch needles. Now I've attempted to sew on stretch fabrics before without a stretch needle and it just makes for a frustrating time with lots of skipped stitches. So, I headed to the store to get some stretch needles* for my machine.

Once I got my needles I was ready to start sewing. Gertie's instructions made it really easy to figure out the construction of the slip. It was a lot easier than I had thought. And thank goodness she made a video for the straps. It was so much easier to understand while seeing it being done.

And here it is... my very own vintage inspired slip! I still have to make the panties as part of the sew-along, but I don't think you need to be seeing my undies on here.

Have you ever done a sew along? Or sewn lingerie?

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Quick baby blanket

There seems to be a baby boom around me, and that means making baby gifts for me. There are so many things that are so cute to make for little ones. I made a blanket like this one for my niece when she was a baby, and she still loves it now that she's 2. This little blanket is also perfect for the stroller or car seat, plus the minky fabric is so soft against the baby's skin.

This quick baby blanket is easy and comes together in no time. You need only a few simple supplies:

• 3/4 yard of fabric
• 3/4 yard contrasting minky fabric (you can also use flannel or anything soft)
• double fold bias binding (one package or enough to cover the edge of your blanket)
• thread
• sewing machine

My blanket is a rough measurement, but it's about 27 inches by 24 inches. Cut one of the fabrics to the measurement then lay that fabric on top of the second fabric and cut them to the same size. Pin around both fabrics to make this easier.

Take both fabrics, and while they were still pinned together, serge around the edges. If you don't have a serger, you can just zig-zag around the edges. Now, remove all of the pins.

Next, take the bias binding and wrap it around the edge of the blanket.  Sew the binding around the serged edge. (If you have trouble making the corners square and neat, just round the corners and the bias binding will curve around it.)

And voila! That's all there is to it. You have a great easy blanket that is a perfect baby gift.

With some basic sewing knowledge, this project shouldn't take more than about an hour. And the result is so cute, who wouldn't want one.

Have you ever made any baby gifts?

Costume time: Wicked Witch of the East

Everyone seems to know her very famous green sister, but the Wicked Witch of the East was also a force to be reckoned with in Oz. And I thought she would be a great inspiration for this year's Halloween costume.

All we ever see of the Wicked Witch of the East is her stocking and shoes (the famous ruby slippers), so I got to use some artistic license when making the rest of the costume.

I figured she should wear an awesome witch hat. That part was easy, but I attached her impending doom to the hat, the tornado with Dorothy's house. Getting that tornado to stay upright was no easy feat, but with some wire and a strategically placed headband underneath the hat it all worked.

Then for the dress, I made a skirt out of this awesome "decorated" organza. Doesn't it look like little funnel clouds? I thought that would be a cool wink to the Witch's ultimate demise.

All witches should be fashionable, so she had to have a ruby cape to match her slippers. And then I wore my newly glittered shoes, which made the perfect ruby slippers.

So what did you think of my costume this year?

What was your Halloween costume?

Minnie costumes with circle skirt tutorial

Since I did a RunDisney race, I needed to make a costume. That's just part of the fun of doing a race at Disney. For my first RunDisney race, Kristina and I kept it simple and decided to go as Minnie Mouse, a classic.

It was a simple costume, black t-shirts, Minnie skirts and ears. We had the black tees, that was the easy part. Then we got the red and white polka dotted fabric to make the skirts. I decided to make half circle skirts. These would give us enough room to move while we ran, but wouldn't be to bulky. And I wanted to have elastic waistbands for ease of movement and getting them on and off. The hardest part was making the patterns. It involves math! Eww! But it's not that hard, if I can do it anyone can.

You just need two measurements, waist measurement and the length of your skirt.

Here are my measurements (so you can see how it works):
Waist: 29 inches
Length: 13 inches

I'm gonna get math-y on you now... Your waist measurement is the circumference. In order to get the radius of the circle to be able to make your pattern you need to divide your waist measurment by 2 x 3.14 (π). But I'll make it even easier for you. Take your waist measurement and add two inches for seams. Then divide by 6.28. My equation looked like this:  31 ÷ 6.28 = 4.93 (I rounded up to 5)

The answer to your equation is the radius of your skirt to make a full circle skirt. Since I was making a half circle skirt, I doubled this number to 10. I then pulled out my pattern paper and marked 10 inches from the corner of the paper. You could use a compass to make the circle, but seriously who has one that big? So just mark your 10 inches (or whatever your measurement is on various spots all starting at the corner, then just connect the dots.

After you have the waist marked, measure from your waist line down to your length. I measured 13 inches down and made the same markings. Then I played connect the dots and cut out my pattern. This pattern will be very wide, so if you have standard 44 inch wide cotton, like I did, you will have to open it up to be able to get your whole pieces cut out.

I cut out two of these pieces and serged all of the edges. I sewed up the sides seams, and then it was time to attach the waistband. The waistband was just a piece of 3 inch elastic cut to my waist measurement plus 1 inch. I sewed the edges of the elastic together to create a tube. Next, I had to attach the skirt to the elastic waist. I pinned the skirt to the elastic at the front, back and sides. The skirt was a bit bigger than the elastic, which you need to be able to get into the skirt. All you have to do is stretch the elastic as you sew and this should give it the stretch it needs.

After you've attached the skirt to the waistband, just sew a small hem. Your skirt is ready to go. (Don't forget to try it on to make sure it fits right.)

Next was time to make the ears. And luckily I found a great tutorial on Bombshell Bling for Minnie ears. Instead of using hot glue, I sewed the ears and used heavy Peltex 70 interfacing for the interior. Our bows were made of the same fabric as the skirts and it was all attached to dollar store headbands. I didn't know if the ears would make it through the race, but they lasted all day long.

This costume was pretty easy once you have the skirt pattern made. Don't let it intimidate you, just measure it out start cutting. This would make a great Halloween costume too. It's super comfy, so it's great for a night full of trick or treating.

P.S. I might have a made a mini verison of this for my niece too!

I love making these running costumes. And since I have a few more RunDisney races in my future, and there will be plenty more race costumes coming.

Have you ever made a costume?