Plants Vs Zombies Halloween Costumes

I find it so crazy that every year I make the girls costumes that surprise me in how cool they are.  I impress myself.  I find it so bizarre that I am that mom who makes cool Halloween costumes because over-the-top costumes doesn't really match my personality.  But the girls get so excited planning what they want, and they have such faith in my abilities that I don't really have a choice. :)

This year the girls decided to go as Plants Vs Zombies characters.  My brother has been playing the game for years, but I hadn't gotten around to trying it.  My sister was playing it with the girls and Allie started asking if we could get it, and Selena, Allie and I all became addicted for a short while later.  Thankfully the obsession only lasted a few weeks.

Selena wanted to be Chomper, and Allie wanted to be a Marigold, the little flower that gives you coins.

For both costumes I used this post from the Memory Nest as a guide.  The main differences were for the Chomper costume:
- I used tacky glue versus a hot glue gun.
- I used fleece instead of felt.
- For the leaves I used really thick interfacing sandwiched between the fabric and sewn around. I probably should have made them bigger than I did.
- I also used the interfacing for the teeth.

For the Marigold costume I also used the interface and sandwiched it between some white fleece and sewed it onto some elastic.

Once again I used the Heidi and Finn Urban Unisex Hoodie.  Using two layers of fleece make it really warm and thus the kids do not need a jacket when trick-or-treating.  Fortunately the lovely creator of the pattern had graded the pattern up to 6 - 12 years and I was able to buy that and get a good size for Selena. She probably could have fit in a 5T, but since she had broken her arm and had a cast I needed something a bit bigger to fit over it.

And of course my other go-to pattern, the Willow Wayfarer Hipster for Slimster, was what I used for the pants.  I am sad that Selena is just about getting too big for the biggest size for that one.  I'm not sure what I am going to do next year.  I used fleece for this which also is warm and cozy.  

One-of-a-kind Christmas Dresses

I wanted to hit up Joanns great sale after Thanksgiving.  I absolutely do not need any more fabric, but of course I convince myself I do.  To bribe the girls into going with me and being amicable about it I offered to make them Christmas dresses.  It worked because they behaved great.

The girls picked out cute, but itchy fabric.  I didn't buy anything to line it, so they just had to deal with it by wearing t-shirts underneath.  I used the Spitfire Playdress pattern, which is super simple and fast and has sleeves for a bit of warmth.  The edging is a rolled hem.  I tried using the serger on Allie's dress and it worked great 2/3 of the way around the dress and then my machine decided it was done with rolled hems.  So I used the sewing machine for the sleeves.  Selena's fabric didn't really have enough stretch to get a scalloped rolled hem, so I just did a normal hem for hers.  The girls like the dresses and looked super cute in them.

They wore them to a Santa Brunch the grandparents took us to.  They got to talk to Santa and receive numerous candy canes from him.  It was great because there was no line and they got to talk to him for as long as they wanted.

Sewing Harry Potter and Hedwig Costumes

Every year I say I am going to just buy costumes, but the girls have so much faith and love in the DIY mentality that I can never say no when they start getting ideas for Halloween.  This year the girls went as Harry Potter and Hedwig.  Allie said she had never been a pet before.  

Selena's Harry Potter costume was pretty easy.  I used the Heidi and Finn Chic Everyday Coat pattern.  Added 10 inches to the bottom, added a hood, and flared the arm holes an inch or two. I used microfleece for the outer and a jersey knit for the lining.  The lining was a lot more stretchy than the fleece and kinda messed things up, but not terribly so.

For Allie's Hedwig costume I used the Heidi and Finn Urban Unisex Hoodie.  This is pretty much my go to Halloween pattern because it is lined and thus it is warm.  I used microfleece for the outer and jersey knit for the inner.  I sewed a bunch of semi-circle feathers down the front per looking at lots of owl costumes on Pinterest.  I extended the outer layer of the hood and put some stuffing between the layers to make the head a bit fatter.  Then I cut out the owl face from felt and used Tacky glue to glue it on.  A more authentic snowy owl would have had a black beak, but Allie wanted orange.  I also sewed some feathers onto the arms for wings.  I used the Willow Wayfarer Hipsters for Slimsters pants pattern (such a great and easy patter for a kids casual pant).

The kids were way too cute and had a ton of fun trick-or-treating with their cousins.

Brachiosaurus aka Long Neck Dinosaur Costume

Yes, this is belated Halloween post, but that is how I work around here. :)  The girls wanted to be long-neck dinosaurs, specifically Little Foot from The Land Before Time.  I had already made monster/dinosaur costumes twice before, but adding in a long neck would be a bit of a challenge, but I was happy with the way they turned out.


While this won't really be a tutorial per se I will explain how I made it in case you want to tackle something similar yourself.

Fabric
I used fleece fabric, since I needed quite a bit and it is relatively cheap.  In the past costumes I used a more furry fabric.  I used a cotton/polyester interlock from Joanns for the lining of the sweatshirt, and to make some of the bumps on the back.

Pants
I used the Willow Wayfarer Hipster for Slimster pattern.  I LOVE this pattern.  I think this is my number one most used pattern.  They fit great, seem to be comfortable and I can sew up a pair of these in less than an hour.

Sweatshirt
I used the Heidi and Finn Urban Unisex Hoodie pattern for this.  I LOVE this pattern.  This is my number two most used pattern.  The fit is great, it is fully lined, and the style is uber cute.  I made the sweatshirts with the hoodies, but after I finished I realized I shouldn't have.  The hoodies hung over the bumps on the back so we ended up just tucking them in.  The bumps were simply circles cut out and sewn on the back piece before assembly.  I stuffed them with the fuzz you use for stuffed animals or pillows.  I can't remember exactly what its called at the moment.   The tail was made by cutting out two big triangles, sewing some bumps on, sewing them together, turn inside out, and stuffing with fuzz.  I basted the tail between the band and the back piece of the shirt and then sewed the band on.

Head

I made a pattern for the head that roughly looks like the above.  I cut two of the head pieces out and then sewed the rectangle around the edges.  Then I got a rectangle of 1/2" thick craft foam and looped it into a circle and stuffed it up the head to give shape and support.  I stuffed fuzz behind the foam into the nose.  I sewed a small "pillow" filled with fuzz and just stuffed it into the top of the head.  I didn't secure it at all but it seemed to stay propped up by the foam.  I folded the bottom of the fabric over the foam and sewed around the whole thing, not at all neatly.  I should have done that a little nicer. ;)  Selena drew mouths with a permanent marker, and we sewed buttons on for the eyes and the nostrils.   I did make Allie's hat slightly shorter as she had a harder time keeping the hat balanced on her head.

If that isn't clear, please feel free to ask me questions.

Sewing Some Kids Play Pants

This is a review of the Willow Wayfarer Hipsters for Slimsters kids pants pattern.  I bought it a while ago off of Etsy and have now made 6 pairs of pants from it.  The smallest size in the pattern matches Selena's measurements exactly, and the pants fit her perfectly.  The pattern is made for woven fabrics, but so far I've only used it with knits.  I have even made Allie some pants from this pattern and by using a knit they fit her with a cloth diaper on.  I'm not a huge fan of the large hem (see middle gray/blue pants), but that is easily remedied.  The pants sew together fast.  Probably 30-45 minutes from cutting to finishing.  It is a pdf pattern that you have to print out and tape together, so a bit of work, but also semi-instant gratification.  The pattern is one piece and so simple, yet you can not believe how hard it is to get a pant's pattern that has the crotch curve just right and the waistline just so, believe me I've tried.  While the pants I've made haven't been heart meltingly cute, they have been highly functional.  Hopefully some day I will make a cute, fancy pair, with pockets and applique.

Also I highly recommend the creator's blog Indie Tutes, she's got lots of great stuff.  I also won a copy of her Spitfire Playdress in a giveaway and can't wait to sew it up, though Selena is begging for a ballet leotard first.

From left to right: 

• Old cotton/lycra yoga pants of mine recycled for Selena.  I wore them while pregnant with Selena so they were both too small, and too big at the same time. ;)
• Nice 100 Polartec Fleece.  I didn't have enough of this left to cut so the stretch was width-wise, so I had to cut it with the stretch length wise.  Since the pattern is for wovens I had no problem.
• Some random knit I bought at Joanns for very cheap.

Here is Selena wearing her pants (on the right).  The ones Allie are wearing are from Old Navy, however the jacket is a monster Halloween costume I made for Selena when she was two.  Allie wears it often. I just want to add that these girls get along so much better when we are outside.

* This review is of a sewing pattern I purchased.  I was not given anything for this review, or even asked to write it.  

Heidi and Finn Chic Everyday Coat

So Selena doesn't really like the rain jacket I bought her.  She says it is too rough and makes funny noises.  So I decided to make her a double layered fleece jacket.  The pattern is super cute, though I was a bit bummed that the coat did not have a hood, but that could have been easily fixed if I had put the effort out.  Ideally I has planned on making a scoodie to go with it, but she has a ton of hats so I probably won't ever get to it.

After making multiple versions of the Heidi and Fin Hoodie I was excited to try another pattern from her.  I chose the Heidi and Finn Chic Everyday Coat.  The sizing goes from 12M - 6T, but really there are only four different sized pattern pieces. Unfortunately I did not have as much success in the sizing as I did with the hoodie.  The 3T and 4T sizes were combined on the pattern pieces and really that size fits like a 4T.  The neck was a bit big and the sleeves were about 4 inches too long.  The largeness, especially in the neck area, is probably exaggerated by the fact that I used a stretchy fleece instead of a woven.  I kept all the extra length in the sleeve by folding it inside the hem, so hypothetically I can let the sleeves out as she grows and she'll be able to wear the coat for a long time.  If I were to make her another one I would go with the 2T size.  Besides that the directions were wonderful (colored picture in a pdf), and the coat went together very easily.

The one change I made to the pattern was to add pockets, because Selena adamantly requested them.  I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how I would make the pockets.  Ideally I would have made a welt pocket, but supposedly those are tricky.  What I ended up doing was simply cutting a slit in the shell, bar tacking the edges and then after I had attached the lining to the shell I topstitched a pocket shape--so the coat lining acted as the pocket lining.  Very simple and it worked, and a little bit of white peeks out of the pockets, which I think looks nice.

Back View

Pocket

* I bought this pattern and did not receive any compensation for this pattern review.

Heidi & Finn Urban Unisex Hoodie

One of my online friends made some sweatshirts for her children from the Heidi & Finn Urban Unisex Hoodie pattern and they were so cute I wanted to make some too!   I saw a link on another blog that there was a buy two get one free sale so I bought this pattern plus the Girly Cardigan, and the Chic Everyday Coat patterns, which I haven't tried yet.

This pattern was great.  This was my first time making clothes from an independent pattern maker and I am really impressed.  I have had not too great results using Simplicity, Kwik Sew, McCalls, etc. The directions given aren't always the best way to assemble the garment, and the patterns tend to be ill fitting. But this pattern the fit was perfect.  The sizing was perfect. The instructions are clear and include color photos.  It goes together fairly quickly (considering it is completely lined) and the sewing is fairly simple.  The pattern comes in a pdf file so you have to print it out and assemble it, so the downside is it takes a bit longer, but the upside is quick "shipping" (it took one day for her to email the pattern to me).  The sweatshirt is completely lined so it is warm, and no seams are showing, so the finish is professional looking even if you don't have a serger.

I've made three of these sweatshirts so far.  The first I made was actually Selena's Halloween costume.  I made it with a weird poly minky type fabric for the shell and a dark green non-stretchy cotton knit inner.  I added blue spikes and a tail.  The second I made of some nice 100 Polartec fleece on the inside, and a cheap waffle knit print on the outside.  The third I made from some 200 weight Polartec Fleece on the outside and a gray Joann's cotton knit on the inside.  (I am on a mission to use significant amounts of fabric from my stash.)  I used poly-resin snaps instead of buttons.  The instructions give two options for the sleeve cuffs.  I chose the simpler method of not adding a cuff because sewing cuffs on really tiny sleeves is hard.  My only tips that were not included in the instructions are to machine baste the hood onto the outer shell, and to machine the bottom trim together before attaching to the main body.  In both cases there are lots of layers and it made my life a bit easier.  Also the pattern is not reversible.  I initially thought it was.  When I realized it wasn't I thought I could make it reversible by using the snaps, but you can't.  The overlapping front makes it not work.

Selena loves the sweatshirts and only tells me how snuggly warm they are.  She also brags to people and tells them that I made it for her. 

 If you are wondering, Selena chose to wear shorts with leg warmers that day. :) 

** This recommendation is purely my own opinion.  I  paid for the pattern and am not receiving any compensation for this review.

Reversible Skirt and Jalie 2805

I whipped up this reversible skirt a couple months ago.  It was a satisfying project because I was able to complete it in about an hour and a half.  Selena loves it.  She likes wearing skirts and tights.   I used more of the Marcus Brother's Porcelina fabric.   I think I still have enough fabric left for one more project.   I think I used only 37" of fabric and made it 11" tall.  She keeps asking me to make another one for her, and one for Allie.

The shirt pattern is Jalie 2805 and worked pretty well.  I used a holey old jersey knit sheet for the fabric (being green and upcycling).  My big complaint with the pattern was that the pieces are mislabeled in that the pictures don't match the view labels (for example View A has a picture of View B--not sure if that is the exact problem but you get the idea) so I cut out the wrong front piece, but other than that the pattern went together well.  I love Jalie patterns because they don't have excess ease in them and you can make adult and kid sized clothes.  I made myself one as well and it fits great.  Hopefully I'll get a picture later.  I made a long sleeve version as well (but she stained it with chocolate ice cream the first time she wore it).  The second time I made it I lengthened it a little.  I don't think the pattern drafts for a small child's protuding belly (which is oh so cute) but because the fabric is stretchy it still works.  It goes together quickly.  It takes me just over an hour to sew it up after cutting it out.