Halloween = Tulle

Since last year’s Halloween costume was shall we say “easy”, I went all out with this one.  It took me a few weeks to design it and a almost a week to cut and sew it.  Now try to guess what I’ll be.

Here’s a hint.  These are the fabrics I used in addition to a blue cotton for lining (not pictured).  The right one is a pretty tulle with sparkly stars all over.  The left one is a pale blue tulle with a slight shimmery look to it.  I bought them both at SAS. 

If you guessed Elsa from Frozen, sorry you’re wrong.  Close though, I was slightly inspired by the look.  I’m actually going to be a fairy this year.  Here’s the completed dress in all it glory.  Now for some close ups.

Here’s the edge of the neckline.  I added a section of gathered blue tulle straight across to both make it pretty and to insure the dress wasn’t too low cut.  I want to be a cute fairy not a sexy one.

I had originally planned are puffed sleeves with ribbon on the cuff, but that didn’t quite work.  They were too stuffy looking, plus they made it hard to lift my arms up.  I went for something more fluttery, works well for fairies.

I hand stitched the ribbon at the waist.  It ties in a lovely bow in back with extra long tails.  I guess I just like having something to tie on dresses, regular or costume ones.

The skirt I am especially proud of, three floaty layers of fabric (almost) flawlessly gathered and stitched to the bodice.  I considered adding extra ribbons or ruffles, but I thought the stars and stuff were enough embellishment.

Now the accessories, of course.  At the top is a head band and ribbon choker necklace, the bottom is a pair of fingerless gloves.  I made the gloves out of blue tulle, man I used a lot of it for this project!  They come up to my elbows and down to my middle fingers.  The choker is just a piece of ribbon with a snap.  Just an easy and effective accessory.  The head band was a little more complicated.

I wrapped a plain headband with strips of both tulles and then glued on this little butterflies.  Aren’t they pretty?  I got them at SAS on a whim.  They have little iridescent jewels on the center.  I thought they would be perfect for this because of their wings.

Speaking of wings, here are the ones I’m using.  I got them from Joann Fabrics and Crafts at their Columbus Day Sale.  They are normally about $25 but I got them for $10 instead.  I guess it’s a little strange to have pink wings with a blue dress, but that’s just how I roll.

In addition to wings, I also bought a wig just not at the same place.  I got this one at Party City.  A white wig of course goes great with all the sparkles and blue, but that’s not what I wanted so…

…I did this.  I dyed it using Kool-Aid, well actually I guess I tinted it.  I used a pack of Cherry flavor and another Pink Lemonade flavored.  Just mix it in with conditioner, apply, then let sit over night before rinsing off.  I think it came out well.

Here’s everything all together.  I decided to wear white flats and pink knee socks because again that’s how I roll (see My Favorite Things: Knee Socks).  I can’t wait to wear it tomorrow.  I plan to pretty much wear it all day. It will be so much fun.

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Yay! Birthday Time!

That’s right.  Today is my birthday.  Age-wise it wasn’t exactly one I was looking forward to, but a birthday is still something to celebrate no matter what the number.

Technically I already celebrated it last Saturday with my closest friends, the hazards of a week day birthday.  We ate pizza and hung out which is always fun no matter what day it is.  I received several goodies this year, gifts from friends and from myself (it makes the whole aging thing easier).

First is these dice bags.  I have been dragged into the wonderful fanciful world of Dungeons and Dragons by my friends, so these will really come in handy.  They were apparently bought from a vendor at a craft fair, love the MLP print one.  Of course a new dice bag isn’t complete without…

…Dice.  I got to pick them out myself.  I think the colors go nicely with the bags, although that probably isn’t the most important part but it’s still fun.

Moving on, there was only one thing I really wanted to do for my birthday.  A trip to the Sanrio store. It was fantastic, one little bitty store packed with so much cuteness.  Even the plastic shopping bags were cute!

As a gift for myself, I got this Chococat laptop sleeve for my new computer.  Did I mention I got a new computer?  I’ll give more details on that later.  Anyway I needed a case for it and this one was on sale and too cute to resist.

Back view.

My friends got me a grab bag.  This was one of the reasons I wanted to go in the first place.  I can’t resist grab bags.  It’s always fun to see what surprises await, and you get them at a fraction of their normal retail price.  Plus, if you don’t like the contents than you can give them as gifts or even sell them.  It’s a gift the keeps on giving. 

So what was in this bag?

On the right is a set of Keropi stickers with a “sticker book” and the left is a Hello Kitty bobble head and a stretchy bracelet with a thankfully removable Hello Kitty charm.  I say thankfully because I really don’t like the bracelet part.  I don’t care what anyone else says, orange and pink do not go together.  Beyond that, I think I faired very well with this pack.

And one last gift was these birthstone earrings from another store at the mall.  I know my birthday isn’t in June, but I got to pick them out and I just prefer the June stones the October ones. The color is more me. 

So overall it was a good birthday and now there’s more to look forward too.  Halloween! In just 2 more days.  Just wait until you see the costume I made.  Look forward to it.

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Time for Some Catching Up

Well hello, I thought it was about time to let you all know what I've been up to these past few, or shall I say many months.

For starters, I did start working at a new place last December.  I totally love it there, my coworkers are great and our customers are super nice to me.  Plus I get an employee discount that has really helped me save money especially when used with coupons. Did I mentioned I have discovered the joys of couponing?  More on that lator. Another change is that my family moved into a new apartment last spring.  It is definitely an improvement from before (see When Life Happens, or Why I've Been So Quiet).

As for sewing, I've mainly done a lot of mending and taking things in because I've lost some weight.  That doesn't mean I haven't done anything crafty though.

Here is the dress I made for Easter.  Lovely isn't it?  I found the fabric on clearance at Walmart.  So glad they started selling fabric again.  I loved it so much I actually went back to buy a few more yards of the same fabric.  Anyways, it has puffed sleeves, criss-crossing ribbons at the neck, a wide ribbon sash, and it's trimmed with eyelet lace and braided trim.  All materials except for fabric came from SAS in Tempe, another great place for fabric by the way.

For accessories (of course there's accessories) I made a flower headband and a purse.  The headband was made with wire stem rosesbuds.  All I had to do was wrap each stem around a blank headband one by one. I then wrapped and covered the rest of the headband with matching ribbon.  I only burnt myself with the glue gun 2 times. :)

The purse is just a simple square shape with a flap added.  The strap is made from ribbon twisted into a cord.  A little bit of braid and a bow was all it needed to look cute.

Here's photo of the dress worn, fits well don't you think?

Now I did mention I bought more of the fabric, so guess what I did with it.

I made another dress of course.  I find it beneficial to make multiple dresses/skirts when I have enough fabric because then I have more things to go with the accessories.  This dress I wore to Phoenix Comicon last July.  It features ribbon roses near the straps.  After many attempts I finally figured out how to make them.  If I get better at it I might make a tutorial.  I'm afraid I never got a picture of it but, in addition to this dress I made a matching tote bag that looks similar to the purse. I thought it would be handy to have something larger to carry things like programs and souvenirs. It really came in handy.

Finally I should mention that two of my dearest friends are expecting their first child.  It's a boy and he's due next month, super exciting. I should show all the stuff I made for him, but I'll leave that for another post, or two.  Look forward to it.

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