My 10 yr old DD is a huge video game fanatic. Her favorite series is, obviously, Legend of Zelda. When asked what she wanted to be for Halloween, she knew exactly, Skull Kid from Majora's Mask. For those of you that aren't Zelda obsessed (or blessed to live with someone who is ) here is a description of the character

"Skull Kid really made a name for himself in the sequel, Majora's Mask. In that adventure, the Kid is introduced to us as both villain and victim – he's corrupted by the sinister magic of the titular Mask and threatens to destroy the land of Termina."

This turned into a joint family project, with DD working with either myself or her father on our respective parts. All told it took about a week of afternoons to complete.

DD & her dad were in charge of the mask (with some "ideas" from me). The mask is papermache and acrylic paints. It was built over a Mylar heart shaped balloon. The spikes are cut off ends from birthday hats glued in place. We mounted the finished mask to the support from a welding mask. This worked really well & was very stable.

However, we forgot to plan for eye holes & the mask was just TOO COOL to cut into! So she ended up carrying it more than wearing it. We also didn't account for the welding helmet when I made the hat, but she ended up being able to wear it under the helmet. It's just too small to be really noticeable, especially compaired to that awesome mask!



Not bad compaired to our inspiration image!



I was in charge of the clothes, but DD did most of the cutting & even a bit of the sewing on the tunic. The tunic is quilters cotton, the rest fleece. Both have a mottled color pallet which DD says "looked like the woods with light in the trees."





I'm really proud of the shoes although I'm not sure why she told me to make them green instead of orange  I made over sized socks and altered the toes to give them an elf like point. To give them soles, I slipped a pair of old flip-flops inside. All DD had to do was put her foot into the flip-flop and they were both solid & secure for miles of Trick-or-Treating.



She had a great time working on this costume & is already planning which of the Zelda masks she wants to make next! Getting stopped by another video game fan at the Farmers Market and being told she had "the COOLEST costume ever!" was the highlight of her weekend

Thanks for looking.

Chole

I haven't had a birthday cake (or celebration at all) in over 20 years thanks to being born right on top of the x-mas holiday. I was feeling crumby about it this year & decided to do something special. What better way to celebrate than with a decadent red velvet cake

The finished cake


It's smothered in the most amazing cream cheese frosting on the face of the planet. Seriously this stuff is heavenly on nothing more than a spoon. Topped with Christmas red tinted coconut & an unspecified number of birthday candles

Crumb coated & waiting


There are no sliced photos because we devoured it so fast. Enjoy!

Chole

I made these for a friends Halloween party and just now got around to downloading the photos.



From the recipe at Baking Bites, http://bakingbites.com/2007/10/vampire-cupcakes/

I filled them the quick & dirty way; by poking the tip of my icing bag straight into the cupcakes. My frosting didn't come out as fluffy as hers but still tasted amazing!

The sign was my silly DD's idea



Chole

My child is full of candy. 

This is my daughter in her Halloween costume, doing her very best Wednesday Addams impression.











Well, Wednesday can't be serious ALL the time!

I should explain the name tag. It reads: Be Afraid my name is Wednesday Addams. DD was concerned that no one would know who she was. So she decided a name tag was needed. Only Wednesday would never have a name tag that read "hello" as that's too nice (8 year old logic ) so it had to say something more frightening. Hence Be Afraid. I printed it on the computer & hand wrote the name, just like a real name tag.

The costume itself was very simple. It's a regular dress pattern from my collection in black & white polka dot quilters cotton with a white collar & stuffed buttons. It zippers up the back. The only modification was to make it about 2" longer in the bodice & skirt to fit my skinny kid. We used the top image & several viewings of the Addams Family movies as our inspiration. The finishing touch was dying DD's extra long blond hair black & braiding it.

Thanks for looking everyone. Happy Halloween!

Chole

[love]

I have this copper silk 1770 gown that I love (see avatar). It just screamed for matching shoes. Nothing a little fabric, glue & $2 shoes from the re-sale shop can't fix. This is the first time I've ever done anything to shoes besides wear them. Man was it fun!

The finished product:


Can you believe this is what they looked like before?


They were actually rather pretty. I didn't have the heart to tell the ladies at the shop that the shoes they were ohhing & ahhing over where actually going to be completely torn apart & recovered with orange & blue silk!

During:






Yes the Mike's is a vital part of the process :p

More Afters:





The strap doesn't bend like that when me feet are in them. Do you know how hard it is to take a decent photo of your own feet at midnight when you're covered in glue, fabric scraps & have just finished off that hard lemonade?

Thanks for looking!

Chole

I'm an 18th century reenactor and a seamstress, so naturally I thought to do something related to those as my entry for this (my first) challenge.

This year, one of my resolutions is to learn proper 18th century dance! I've always been a little afraid of the dance floor, yet at the same time a little jealous of all the fun everyone seems to be having out there. Well what better way to encourage myself to get out and shake my (false rumped ) behind, than with a beautiful new ball gown.

I've named this the "Pretty Penny Gown" because this silk is exactly the color of a brand new penny. It shines & changes in the light so amazingly, the photos just don't catch the way it shimmers. I can't wait to see it under candle light.

Specifications:

100% silk taffeta in copper.
Combination of machine & hand sewing (no visible machine sewing) with silk thread.
Bodice & sleeves are lined with 3 oz linen inner lining & 7 oz interlining for stability.
inspired by A Polonaise with Detachable Embroidered Lawn Ruffles c. 1770-1785 from Patterns of Fashion by Janet Arnold.



close ups of the front showing the pleated trim.


Wide shot, shown with a basic wool petticoat. I am still struggling with the perfect companion for this copper silk. Sadly I don't have enough left to make a matching petticoat 


3/4 profile from the back showing how the back seams curve over the false rump nicely.


close up of the pleated trim, the pleats on the back of the sleeve & the pleats on the skirt. It's a good thing I love pleating so much


extreme close up of the hand sewing on the pinked & pleated trim at the neckline. I'm really proud of how nice this detail turned out.


extreme close up of the hand sewing along the front edges & hem of the skirt.

A few in progress shots.


Fitting the inner linen lining over my corset/stays and the false rump (we call it the "travel pillow"  )


the picky business of fitting the silk & interlining over the inner lining.

The gown debuts at the Reenactorfest 4 (Chicago) ball this Saturday night. For once in my life I can't wait to dance!

Thanks for looking

Chole

["new clothes!"]

My SO & I went out for "Prohibition Night" yesterday, which in my historically obsessed brain translates to "new clothes!"

My circa 1927 dress, inspired by a sketch in Nora Waugh's Cut of Women's Clothes (p. 290) Potting Soil & Turquoise jersey knit. The belt is lined with heavy duty interfacing to remove the knit stretch. I made the scarf separately & blind stitched it to the already faced neckline. It was the fastest, easiest solution I could come up with. Took about a day to make, machine sewing is such a nice change from the 18th century





Underneath I'm wearing a really quick slip made from a few rectangles of silky fabric from stash & some bias tape for the straps. I whipped it up about 30 minutes before getting dressed. It's just enough to keep the knit from getting too clingy. No, I'm not showing it though I also wore a sports bra & control underwear to slim my shape to the right 20's silhouette.



The hat is from a resized children's pattern. Made from uncut corduroy in potting soil that I just happened to have (I have grand plans to use it to make slipcovers for my living room chairs). It's lined in the turquoise knit, interfaced again to remove stretch & provide a little stiffness. The flower is just some scraps to give the hat a little punch.

Unfortunately Prohibition Night at our local bar was a flop Thankfully there are gatherings at another bar just north of us. The band did play one of their 20's sets for us though. Plus, I won't complain about a night out in period clothes!

Thanks for looking!

Chole

I've been making tons of these lately. They're a huge hit with all my DD's friends and just about everyone we run into. They still don't have an official "name" though!

This batch used up all the red, white & green fleece I had on hand. Of course, I can't get my DD to model without the obligatory goofy face photos, so I made the best of them!








Thanks for looking!

Chole

While there are still some major changes I want to make, I just have to show this off! The space is the former kitchen. It has this great built in that I've been using to store all my crafting stuff, but there just wasn't any space for the sewing! It was chaos to say the least.

Before: This was after moving all my reenacting stuff to the basement and putting all the non-sewing stuff in the built in where it belongs.



A glimpse of the other side of the room with the built in on the far right. There are 3 floor to ceiling sections like that stuffed with, well stuff (note my hard working SO who did all this as a birthday present for me  )



Currently: Nothings quite in order yet but the difference is already noticeable!



The best part, a dedicated table for 3 of my 4 machines (Old Green is in the basement workroom) with plenty of light & bulletin boards and oh the space!



I still have a bunch to do. I want to paint it a bright shade of green (if I can decide on one that isn't too dark, to yellow or too "puke"), add bins in the storage unit, make some roman shades & a curtain, refinish the floors, get a rug, hang some art, get a new chair, change out the wall light etc. Still, I can't contain myself I'm so happy about the space. Finally it WORKS!!

TFL!

Chole

I made this at the end of Oct for a ball in the beginning of November. Fun project and not really as hard as I though it was going to be. I call it my 4 day Polonaise Project.

Wool flannel lined with linen. Lots of hand sewing but it's worth it.

First my 2 favorite construction photos.

The pleats in the back.


The barely visible hand sewing on the inside of the sleeve lining.


The finished gown. Worn over my reed boned stays, linen shift, 2 linen petticoats and a false rump. The cap is linen/cotton with a hand dyed silk ribbon. I made everything except my shoes/stockings and the neckerchief (it's just a square of silk ) The gown pins closed in the front.




Finally a full length photo with my BF (I can't take any credit for his clothes, yet )


TFL!

Chole