Eclectvity

I’ve sewn for one local woman for several years.  Easter dresses and pinafores one year, fairy costumes another, and this year, I did “Poodle Sets” for her girls for Halloween.  Now our family doesn’t participate in Halloween so I’ve missed out on the fun of making cool costumes for my kids.  I know, I know, I could do them anyway at any time of the year just so they can have fun but I never have.  I’ve done a few for eBay but not many. 

Betty has a unique approach to Halloween and costumes that really impressed me.  She chooses the costumes for the next year during this year.  By the time Halloween arrives, her 2008 costumes will be decided.  Not only that, but she stores each year’s costumes in closet for her grandchildren to play “dress up”.  Years from now her grand daughters will have a wealth of costumes that their mommies wore back “in the day”.  Talk about COOL.

So, for this year’s costume, we have….

The Ingredients:

Mc Call’s Pattern 8899-

Fabrics:  She chose a hot pink linen, a white herringbone knit, and a black twill.  The dog is felt with sequins and the “chain” is a rhinestone “braid”. 

Now I’ve made both the black skirt (twill with knit top and red chiffon polka dotted scarf) and the hot pink but I made the black back in Febuary or some time around there for a dance thing and she just saved it. 

This time it was a bit more difficult.  This entire ensemble was created from my recliner.  I serged the skirt side seam and hem area and the edges of the left side seam.  Then I was pretty much stuck until I had a machine.  Using my Bernina on a chair in front of the recliner was better than at the sewing table, but not much.  My back and shoulders hurt and I still got winded from sitting upright.  I finished the skirt with the Bernina but Kevin and I both knew this wasn’t going to cut it for any kind of reasonable sewing…

On to the shirt!  I serged the white seams, sewed the neck binding on , the back seam, hemmed it and voila!  One lovely little top!

The jacket was serged and then sewn on my NEW MACHINE that you’ll have to read about in my next blog post.  At first I debated lining it like I would do for my own jacket style but I decided not to become obsessed over details that only I care about and are unnecessary for the final product.  I was glad about 30 minutes later when I realized that the entire thing would have had to be sewn on the machine if I had opted to line it.  I’m smartest when I don’t mean to be. 

So… here is my first recliner, machine sewn, outfit.  Isn’t it darling?  I think I’m going to make a skirt for both Jenna and Andra.  They need fun too.  Ok, ok… I won’t leave out Lorna.  But only to stop the barage of indignant posts about my unfairness to such an unloved and abused child.  Snort.

… the hop, Oh Baby!…