Archive for September, 2009

I am writing about costume ideas for boys with the hope that it may spark some wonderful idea for a costume for my son.  At age 9, he is so worried about having an older kids costume.  The other day he said he wanted to be a Vampire Bat… but when we went to Simplicity to look at bat patterns, he said they all looked like “Little Kid” costumes.

Since I usually sew costumes, I need to get this figured out!  I do not want to be up sewing at 2:00 AM on the night before Halloween.  Believe me, I’ve done that before.

Here are a few costume ideas for you then…

The picture above is last year when Ben was the The Ranger’s Apprentice (from one of his favorite series of books)  This costume was quite simple.  The most important element was the cloak.  I made two cloaks from the same Simplicity pattern last year.  One for Ben and the other for Lily who was Arwen from the Lord of the Rings.  For the rest of his costume I made a shirt from pirate costume.  I also made a quiver sewn with faux leather.  We found a wooden button in the shape of an oak leaf from JoAnn’s for his necklace (shown in his hand.)  Ben also carried his long bow that he inherited from his Great Grandfather.  We passed on the knives the Ranger’s Apprentice carries… much to Ben’s dismay.

That same cloak pattern will come in handy this year as Emma is going to be Hermione and Lily is going to be Ginny Weasley.  I am going to make their school cloaks out of black fleece.

You don’t always have to go to a lot of work to come up with a great costume.  We just scrounged around the house to come up with this Indiana Jones costume.  I even found a wonderful tutorial on how to make a whip (that won’t put an eye out.)

How about a Cowboy….

or an Indian?

I remember the days when Halloween Costumes were more about imagination, than spending a lot of money on a costume.  One of my favorite costumes at the Halloween Parade at school last year was a Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.  He costume was made from silver vent pipe (like for a dryer) on his arms, and lots of disposable silver baking pans, and a silver funnel on top his head.   It was so clever.

Here’s just a few tips for those of you who want to tackle sewing a costume.  Watch for sales on the patterns from Hancock or JoAnn’s… they go as cheap as .99.  But you do need to start watching now.

I also love to buy my fabric at JoAnn’s with a 40% coupon.  Or I watch the fabric stores for sales.  Walmart has some very cheap fabrics, some as low as .99 a yard.  When you are making a costume you can use cheap fabric and it doesn’t matter that much.

Halloween costumes are such a cause for excitement at our house… and after Halloween, the costumes get worn out being used as dress ups.  I love when I can get creative and come up with something really nice, without spending a lot of money.

Making a decorative dish towel is really easy and a great way to decorate your kitchen on a budget.  A decorative dish towel makes a wonderful gift and is easy to customize.  Try one with pom poms instead of rick rack or use an owl, bird or fruit template for the design.  You can even make the perfect dish towel for any holiday.

Here’s what you need for this project:

• 1/2 yard of 54″ wide home weight fabric (makes two towels)
• 1/8 of a yard decorative fabric for bottom strip
• 1 yard of rick rack
• small amount of fabric for squirrel design (I used scraps, of course)

Here’s how to make a decorative dish towel:

1.  Cut your main fabric 26″ x 17″.  Cut 2 fabric strips for decorative bottom border 4 1/2″ x 17″, one will be the front and the other the back (The depth of this piece can be adjusted depending on your fabric and what looks good.)  Cut rick rack in half, into two pieces 18″ inch pieces.

2.  Pin the rick rack along the top and bottom of the right side of a fabric strip.

3.  Stitch down the middle of the rick rack. (I always err toward the outer edge.)

4.  With right sides together, pin the strip to the bottom edge of the main fabric.  Make sure the edges of the fabric are lined up.

5.  Stitch over the previous seam.

6.  Press the top rick rack toward the main fabric.

7.  Pin the back of bottom strip to the front, right sides together, making sure to line up the edges of the fabric.  (Make sure to pin securely, and don’t leave your pins in the path of the machine, as they are underneath as you stitch.)  Turn over and stitch along the previous seam.

Your dish towel should look like this now.

8.  Fold the back strip to the back and press the rick rack into place.

9.  Turn your towel over and press a hem along the top of the back piece.  Make sure to press the hem slightly above the seam beneath.  Pin into place.

10.  Turn back to right side of dish towel and stitch in the seam between bottom piece and rick rack)  This should have stitched the back piece into place.  The back will now have a nice finished look, with no raw edges.  Trim sides of dish towel to even up your edges.

11.  Now turn your dish towel over and press a 1/4 inch hem up one side of the dish towel.

12.  When you get to the top edge.  Press the corner in like a triangle.  Continue pressing along the top edge, and press the next corner in like a triangle.  Now continue pressing down the other side.

13.  Turn your hem a second time, and press a 1/2″ hem, making a mitered corner.  I have another tutorial showing the same process, which may be easier if you are sewing a mitered corner for the first time.

14.  Trim the point of the corner, so it isn’t sticking out.

15.  Pin hem and stitch into place.  Remember your stitching will show from the front of the dish towel, so try to keep it even from the edge of the towel.

16. Now trace your design to the smooth side of Heat ‘n Bond Light or Wonder Under.  I used the wonderful squirrel template from the Long Thread. You may recognize it as the same squirrel on Lily’s school bag.  Remember that your design will be reversed on your towel.

17.  Carefully cut out your design.

18.  Peel the backing from your design and center on your towel.  I love to place my ruler over the piece to make sure I have it centered.  Using a iron, heat set your design to the towel.

19.  Choosing a decorative stitch, stitch around your design.  I used a small, tight zigzag for this project.  I have also used a blanket stitch on other projects.

As you can see there are many creative variations to this project.  You can embroider, machine or hand applique, use a fabric with a picture that you cut out.  You really can use your imagination.

Happy sewing!