ghostbusters costume: the "no ghost" badge

i need to tidy this up a bit, but for now i'm done. it's late.

first i went to gb fans for pics of the original badge. i adjusted it to be the size i wanted, and then i used the dumb "autoshapes" function in ms word to make the outline of the red circle, then i roughly traced the ghost in place, adjusting for the fabric wrinkles and whatnot.

looks all right, doesn't he?

i traced him onto a scrap of fabric left over from some curtains (i thought it had enough heft) using a red fabric marker i happened to have on hand. why do i happen to have all of this stuff on hand? i really need to declutter. anyway.

then, i went to town with my old elna supermatic. i've never done machine embroidery before, have no idea how to do it properly, and no special attachments. but it's not terrible? i feel i could do better, but it's also for a 6-year-old who isn't such a stickler for that kind of detail, so i think it'll do.

and now i'm going to sleep!

ghostbusters costume: flight suit done!

the flight suit is done!

well, almost. i have to put some velcro on the sleeve tabs, and of course the "no ghost" badge. but otherwise, it's done! with all seven zippers and everything. tried it on, and it fits. woohoo! very excited about this. kiddo is, too. as in, is already planning on wearing it to school. heh.

and yep, seven zippers, not kidding. six zippered pocket and the big zip to get in and out. all from my endless stash. which is awful, because it's just encouraging my hoarding tendencies. oh well. here's a zipper shot:

and the leg pockets and ankle zips:

every single zipper required shortening, too! gah. but i am so pleased with how good it looks.

ghostbusters costume: the zipper-shortening tutorial

i was updating my progress on this costume yesterday when i realised i hadn't taken any pictures of the zipper-shortening process - and figured this might be useful information for someone.

so here it is: how to shorten a zipper.

"why would you even want to do that, it looks fiddly," i hear you cry. well, when you have a dozen old zippers you bought for cheap somewheres a million years ago, and you find yourself needing a half-dozen zips of varying lengths in order to make a set of coveralls for a ghostbusters hallowe'en costume, you gotta do what you gotta do.

i used a nail file and a pair of pliers to do it.

the thing that stops most zippers from opening at the wrong end - and thus determines their length - is a little piece of metal that clamps the two sides together. it kind of looks like this:

with the flat top part showing on the front of the zipper, and the teeth at either end going through the fabric and bending over the teeth of the zipper. here's a look at the back view:

see the teeth? they're pretty well camouflaged. what you want to do is open up those teeth on one side so you can take the bracket off. i used a nail file to pry them up.

once you've got one side loosened, you can push back on the fabric of the zipper to pull them out. here's a look at the front, you can see the teeth pulling out:

then, grab the bracket with a pair of needle-nosed pliers, and pull it gently away from the fabric.

here it is. you can see the teeth on one side (the side pried open with the nail file) are kind of straight, but the teeth on the other side are still bent.

use the broad part of your pliers to straighten out the teeth.

now the bracket is ready to be re-inserted into the zipper in the new location. push the teeth through the fabric on the right side so they poke through on the wrong side.

then, use the pliers to clamp the teeth closed over the zipper so they're nice and flat.

that's when my batteries died, but it's basically done. just cut off the excess fabric, leaving about 5/8" below the bracket for stability.

ghostbusters costume: starting to come together

there are a lot of details on the jumpsuit...

i can't include every detail. i just can't. i am putting 4 zippered pockets on this thing plus zips at the ankles. there should be at least two more zips from what i can tell in the photos. but you know what? you can scale down a lot of things, but you can't scale down zippers! they come in pretty much two sizes: heavy duty, and regular. i've already shortened the zips i have, using needle-nosed pliers to pull out the end block, and then pushing it in in a new location (why don't i have a photo of that? i will take a photo of that. eta: i took 13 photos of that, and made a tutorial). anyway even with shortened zippers and smaller pockets, there is just no room for all the pockets the originals have on the legs.

anyway, close enough!

i've stay-stitched where the zips will go, and slashed the openings. just to keep everything sorted, i laid out the pieces with the zips and pockets pinned on, just to make sure i have everything i need.

... and i sewed on the name badge. these are really starting to turn in to something! i'm pretty excited. the kiddo is pretty excited, too.

now... how am i going to attach the hose to the leg? i need some sort of nozzle/grommet/thingy... keeping my eyes open for anything that might work. the lid from a sport-style water bottle, maybe? hmmm. will keep my eyes peeled on garbage night.

who ya gonna call?

got started on the hallowe'en costume today!

so far i've prewashed/preshrunk the fabric for the jumpsuit, dug up the pattern, altered it for size, and dug a bunch of zippers out of a bag i was just about to take to goodwill. whee!

the ghostbusters fan wiki has been a huge help as far as figuring out details. or in my case, figuring out what details i am going to leave out. i just don't have the time and energy for that level of authenticity, especially for a kid who will outgrow it in no time. it's not like he's going to be going to historical reenactments for years in this thing. but it was good to look at all the details on the wiki and sketch out what i am going do.

and, in the spirit of being able to say i accomplished at least one thing, i machine-embroidered a venkman badge. not sure i'm perfectly happy with it, but it's not bad.

just one million more tasks to go in the next four weeks...

just a few pics from our busy weekend!

what a gorgeous weekend it was, blue skies and sunshine. made me want to be outside!

so i decided to pack up the elna supermatic and head outside to do some sewing. but first, i needed to harvest some grapes!

they are so sweet and lovely. also seedy, ah well. we have concords too, but they were ready earlier, and have already been made into jam!

with the grapes (and wasps) out of the way, i was able to set up for sewing. i finished my first shirt (in a lovely light turquoise, fabric i had somehow "misplaced" when i cut out the fabric for the other shirts-in-waiting, but which thankfully turned up), and three cushion covers for the living room!

well, two and a half. somehow i had fabric and piping and filler for three cushions, but only two zippers. how did i manage that? bah.

i am pleased with how well they match the afghan though (pattern via ravelry). i carried a scrap of the lett lopi around in my pocketbook for yonks before i finally found the right fabric. worth it!

then it was cookie time. i am turning into the sneaky protein lady. the other week it was black bean brownies; this time it's white bean chocolate chip cookies. after reading some tips and tricks i decided to just wing it anyway, and they turned out pretty tasty. there are a few tweaks i want to make to the recipe though. guess i'll have to bake more cookies to experiment!

oh, and i made candied lemon peel as well, have to get ready for making xmas fruitcake!

oops!

just noticed that i have gone a full month without a post... whoops.

but!

i have been busy, as usual.

i have shirt #1 done, i've made cushion covers for the living room, grape jam and candied lemon peel, started a knitting project when i ran out of yarn for the cardigan i was working on, then the yarn came in so i'm back to getting that done.

and back to school mania etc., with the kiddo in various programs and all manner of extracurricular whatnot. went to mini maker faire, brief jaunt to ottawa, and on and on. busy month.

but!

i am just starting a project that truly fits the official mandate of filmcraft: the kid's costume this hallowe'en is none other than peter venkman, ghostbuster par excellence.

i have discovered an immense cache of online ghostbuster lore, with endless project plans for accurate homemade replica proton packs and whatnot, and numerous sellers of supplies. it's crazy out there.

for this project, my stash helpfully includes a sewing pattern for a kid's jumpsuit (size 5, will need altering), which is an easy place to start. i have the guts of an old backpack to use as a base for the proton pack - which will be not so much authentic, as functional for the kiddo to use as a backpack after hallowe'en is over. i have fabric and a friday to get started with the elna supermatic.

meanwhile, i need to strategize my proton pack. i've looked at all the superelite plans with instructions on how to mold plastic and whatnot; some of those will provide inspiration, but the kids will be strictly sewing (and perhaps knitting - i can see i-cord being useful).