Monday, October 31, 2022

Sew Liberated Hinterland Halloween Costume

Hello and Happy Halloween! Man, as much as I love costumes and dressing up, Halloween can often be stressful around here. Three kids with multiple costume demands, a variety of events all with different rules and weather conditions...it wears me out. But today is the last day, so time to recap what we wore this year and take a break until next time!

My oldest daughter wanted to be Mary Poppins this year. This was an AWESOME costume idea, because most of it is just regular clothing! And she got by far the most compliments. The shirt and bow tie were bought second hand, it's a simple school-uniform type polo shirt. The skirt was found at Goodwill and is actually a ladies' size 18. I bought it for a 101 Dalmatians costume many years ago and never wore it because my kids were sick that Halloween. To make it fit my 10 year old, I cut the center back seam, overlapped the pieces and just sewed them down. The hat is a standard black bucket hat. We hot glued flowers (fake and paper) onto it.

My middle daughter was part of a group costume with her BFF, who was going as an artist. My daughter is a paintbrush. Believe it or not, this was THE hardest costume to make! I dare you to think through how you would do it. I originally made a hat sort of thing from dollar store mops, but it was heavy and difficult to keep upright. In these photos we went with teased hair wrapped around a paper cone, and colored with temporary hair spray paint. Her clothes are just black.

My youngest daughter wanted to be Taylor Swift. IDK man. I just do what I'm told. Her clothes were also second hand purchases. My daughter did not gravitate towards any specific looks when I showed her photos. I picked out things that looked like Taylor Swift would wear them, added a toy guitar and microphone and a blond wig (this one, from Amazon). Red lipstick and a winged eyeliner and she was...not recognized by anyone. But don't tell her that.

Lastly, my husband and I had a couple's costume that is such a deep cut from The Office (Mose and his lady scarecrow) that even some of my Office-watching friends didn't get it. But that's okay, because I could be seen as a scarecrow without him and it still worked as a costume.

I made a Sew Liberated Hinterland Dress from a cotton shirting. The shirting was from Jo-Ann's and was just about the perfect color, I was glad to find an apparel fabric instead of having to resort to quilting cotton. It does have one slightly brushed side so it was nice to sew.

I modified the neckline to be square like my inspiration. I already had the hat (it got totally smashed en route to Hawaii so it was perfect for a scarecrow costume). In order to wear straw, I pulled out a super tight Nikko Top that wasn't even all the way finished (I only made it for my Sinead O'Connor parody video), cut off the turtleneck, and then sewed straw to the neckline and chest. Yes. I sewed straw to fabric.

For the arms, I sewed straw to a circle of knit fabric and just pulled them up my arms. It was better than trying to force the straw through the sleeves of the dress. 

That was our handmade-ish Halloween!

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Halloween Costume Round Up

This post contains affiliate links.

Homemade Halloween costumes normally dominate my October sewing plans. Some years I go all out on five themed costumes for each person in our family. Some years I buy one lame look for each kid, just depends on my energy level and the other projects I've got. As my kids get older, I'm hoping that they will be able to help more in the costume-making process. This year, we'll have one Mary Poppins, one Taylor Swift, and one paintbrush. IDK man. I just do what they tell me.

ANYWAY, I thought it would be fun to round up photos and posts of my past handmade Halloween costumes! These are the ones I've made totally from scratch, but my favorite method is to reuse as many elements from home as possible (solid colored t-shirts and leggings, hats, etc.).

My favorite patterns for Halloween sewing are the Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop Practical Princess Dress, and the Costume Creator





Are you making Halloween costumes this year, or have you moved on to other holidays? Either way, check out my Handmade Holiday Planner to keep you on track!

Monday, October 3, 2022

Craft Corner Attic Makeover

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Woohoo, my 6 week makeover of the world's smallest space is finished! Welcome to our new Craft Corner!

Craft Room Makeover

My house is literally a hodge podge of different builds and expansions, which left us with a space that we have previously called "the cat kingdom". It's on a second floor which is only accessible via spiral staircase, so it got that name due to being a refuge for our two cats to run away from our two dogs. Since we moved in four years ago, it has been unfinished-ish, was used for storage and cat food/litter boxes.


After I got my Cricut, I stuck a table in there and it became a totally dysfunctional crafting area. I had dreams of it becoming a nice space, and now it is! To start this project, I enlisted my long-time friend who has her own home organization/styling business. She listened to my ideas and then gave me some much better ones, as well as made suggestions that I never would have thought of myself. It was so great to have someone cheering me on with the purging and organizing. If you're in southern Indiana, please go check her out!

Craft Room Makeover

Here are the big things we did that changed the space:

Moved the wire shelves from the tall wall to the short side
Ripped up the random carpet pieces
Painted
New lighting


I also tossed a TON of stuff that we had previously shoved into the attic because it was there. I made it a goal to use only half the space for storage and for cat stuff, and I achieved it! Here's the new layout:

With the shelving moved to the short wall, regular height people (i.e. not just the kids) can walk in the taller angled side. The shorter side works fine for a desk because you're sitting down while working there. To fancy up the shelves a little bit, I spray painted the wall mounts gold. The wood dresser that's still hanging out here contains all our dress up stuff.


I re-used as much furniture as possible. The two desks we already had from our 2020 homeschooling days. The corner piece is actually a piece of wood cut to size, painted white and with a table leg attached to the bottom. The picture ledge shelf, the rope lighting, the small table lamp, and all the artwork we already had. I don't LOVE the folding chairs in this space, but it's what we had and they are functional.


The accent wall is Valspar Soft Pink 1008-8B. It's almost identical to the color I painted my original sewing room (sadly for me, now my oldest daughter's room) but this paint was much better to work with than that garbage Sherwin Williams. We only needed one gallon of primer, one gallon of white paint, and one quart of pink to paint the walls and the floor. 


I did make an Ikea run for a couple storage boxes (I'm obsessed with the Tjena line, they're cardboard but SO sturdy), the cups and rail on the wall, the pegboard and the rug. The cloud lights are from Amazon, although I noticed Ikea has something similar (full resource list at the end).


One bummer was that I purposefully bought the smaller Ikea Skadis pegboard to hang horizontally on the wall next to the rail and cups. Unfortunately, I forgot that the Skadis has oblong holes, not round ones, so it only "works" with its accessories when it's hung vertically. I put it on the opposite wall instead, and then remembered that I had this cool inspirational wall decal to put on the short wall instead. So, it worked out fine in the end.


I've positioned this space as mostly for the kids, but it solves my Cricut storage problem as well. Not to mention it holds my macrame, block printing, miniature set, vintage sewing patterns, felt doll supplies...you get the picture! Do you have a small space you could make over into a craft corner? I highly recommend it!

Paint: Lowe's
Dresser: mine from childhood
Wire shelves: came with the house, similar at Lowe's
Wooden storage baskets: Michael's, old, must be discontinued because I can't find them online
Grey storage boxes: Ikea, Tjena, new version/size
Pink and patterned storage boxes: Ikea, old version Tjena
Chalkboard tags on storage boxes: Dollar Tree
White desk tops: Ikea (was called Linmon, now called Lagkapten because it's longer than a Linmon)
Legs on the desk tops: Lowe's
Rail and cups: Ikea Sunnersta
Wall decal: Target, old (2020 I think)
Wooden sloth yarn project: done by my daughter, kit from Etsy Simply North Woods LLC
Round wooden sign: Wood from Target, "Make Beautiful Things" design free in my resource library
Wall mounted white ceramic cup: one from a set of three, Amazon
Flower print in white and gold frame: Spoonflower wallpaper sample, print from Western Wildflower Studio
Woven hanging: locally made by Fairywood Fiber, Etsy shop here
Ceiling succulent: Target, old
Pegboard: Ikea Skadis+accessories
White drawer set: Michael's
Picture ledge shelf: Ikea Mosslanda
Plant and pot: Ikea
White and gold frames: Dollar Tree
Black frame: Ikea Yllevad
Watercolor mushroom print: local artist Susie Pogue
Smiley face succulent: Target, old
Cloud wall sconces: Amazon
Canvas paintings: my kids :) sloth and unicorn paint by number kits from Ooly
Rope lights: old, I think Target
Furry rug: Ikea Gullviva

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