Megumum

 Not done yet, but I’m pretty pleased so far! ComiCon is tomorrow, but even if this is as far as I get, I’ll be happy!

The Sound of Music!

Finally got to see the costumes in action! 

Liesl is done!

And Kurt is done too, just needs a couple of buttons sewn on!

How do you solve a problem...

Like playsuits made from curtains?

A while ago I volunteered to work on the costume crew for a local production of The Sound of Music. Turns out, I'm the only sewer on the crew, and the playsuits Maria makes out of her curtains all need to be made from scratch!

There was a bit of confusion about getting the fabric, but after a long anxious wait it is finally here, and I am finally sewing! And my collection of random vintage kids' sewing patterns is finally proving its worth!

Of course nothing is exactly right, but at least I have starting points for things in kids' sizes I'm not in the habit of working with.

Liesl, at 16 going on 17, is basically a grown up, so I dipped into my for-me pattern stash for that.

Like I said, lots of alteration...

I'm just kind of freestyling it. Crossing fingers it all works! 

Still plugging away as the deadline looms

So this is basically my only plan for the weekend—sewing, sewing, and more sewing.

Here's what I've done so far:

• Base dress (done)
• Bloomers (done)
• Ribbon tie with insignia (done)
• Wig (purchased)
• Shoes (purchased)

Still to do:

• Assemble apron with gold trim (augh)
• Sleeves (more gold trim augh)
• Collar/Dickie (had hoped to start with a thrift store shirt but didn't find a suitable one)
• Gold trim on shoes (augh)
• Bowtie (do I have one somewhere?)
• Bunny tail (purchase)
• Style wig

What am I forgetting...

Anyway this gold fabric is awful. Slippery, stretchy, even when I stabilize it with fusible interfacing it won't stay fused. I tried using a hotter iron, up to the point of starting to get a scorched plastic smell, but even though it seems attached, it comes loose after a few minutes if you try to cut or sew. Grr. I'm going to experiment on a scrap with spray starch, but I see a lot of basting in my future. 

Looks nice though!

When you can't find what you want, make what you want

A big part of the Saber Astolfo costume is the gold trim. I initially imagined using braid or similar, but couldn't find anything that was just exactly right. And trying to work out how much I'd need to follow the zig-zaggy crenellated pattern was requiring too much thought. Then I saw this fabric: 

Liquid gold! I got some fusible interfacing to make it less liquid where needed (although I'm afraid I'll just melt it) so I can cut out the various trims and decorations. Meanwhile I started with the sleeve trims:

Red ribbon edged with gold. The one on the right shows the bits before I put them together. 

And the final product:

The Flash!

This is a lifetime first for me: I finished a Hallowe'en costume one full week before Hallowe'en!

I am frankly astounded, and at loose ends. But miracle of miracles, it is true. Despite having to re-do the leggings from scratch because they were too small (curse you Burda and the randomness of your seam allowances). The costume is basically a hoodie and leggings (Burda 9482), with a bit of felt decoration, appliquéd using the old classic zigzag wheel on the Supermatic. Before I started, I asked the kid if he'd possibly wear it to school or elsewhere after Hallowe'en was over (in which case, I'd use something that would hold up in the laundry better than felt). He said, "No." I guess he's too old for that kind of thing.

When I asked him to try it on for size, he said, "Hmm, I could wear this to school!" Sigh.

The boots are yellow felt, cut to fit over the kid's rainboots. There's an elastic strap that goes under the heel to hold them on (I hope).

The tricky part was making the wing/lightning thingies sticking out of his helmet and boots. I ended up using multiple layers of felt fused together with Wonder Web for stability, and zigzagged around the edges.

There was a lot of zigzagging with this costume. But it's done done done! A week in advance! I guess I can always kill time making more sugar cookies.