Week Five- Halloween and Harvest

Before showing you all this week's amazing designs, I wanted announce the winner of our Freshly Picked giveaway. Our winner was comment number 6-

mamacitamax said...

Burnt Sienna for that baby that should be here in about 8 months! (a bit excited is an understatement)

September 21, 2011 3:04 PM

Congrats mamacitamax, on your baby and new moccs! :) Email me and I'll put you in contact with Susan of Freshly Picked. 

I also needed to post a correction. I phrased this week's theme as being Halloween and Dress-Up, but initially when emailing the info to all of the designers, I listed it as Halloween and Harvest. I thought the idea of some beautiful harvest inspired outfits would be great as well so don't think anyone is cheating because they didn't do a costume! Now that that is out of the way, enjoy! :)

Jessica G.'s Changing Leaves -










I contemplated this Halloween / Harvest Theme for quite some time before deciding upon a design. I really wanted to do a costume, but for the life of me just couldn't think of a single thing that I actually WANTED to make. While we do celebrate Halloween in my house, I ended up leaning towards the Harvest theme....and who doesn't love the changing colors of the leaves in Fall?!!

I wanted my dress to be extremely tailored, yet whimsical at the same time. Throughout the competition I have strived to keep my looks true to myself, things that my children would actually wear on a daily basis. But for this particular week, seeing as how it is costume inspired, I thought I would push the edges ever so slightly.



With a tailored fitting bodice, cap sleeves, and off kilter circle skirt with alternate lining, this dress pulled off the exact look I was going for. I also handmade the belt as I wanted it to match the bias trim exactly, and appliqued the hand cut leaves. Lastly, this dress officially ended my fears of the dreaded button foot...I used it for the first time because 17 buttons is no joke! I don't know if I will ever hand sew a button on again now - lol.

Although I may not see my daughter wearing this particular dress for any reason outside of this competition...unless you know of an upcoming Harvest Fair in which my daughter can be a part of! I can see changing the fabric / colors / appliques to make it more appropriate as a flower girl dress for a wedding! Which makes me feel like I have ultimately done my job as a designer.



For more pictures from this Photo Shoot, please head on over to Me Sew Crazy! Thank you so much, and I hope you like it!


Alida's Cruella Deville:
I had a major "make it work" moment this week when Caroline fell down the stairs and broke her arm :-( The poor baby has a fracture in each bone above her wrist. To make matters worse, her cast couldn't fit into the sleeve of her Cruella coat! I had to run to my craft room and re-do the whole thing and make a poncho, which actually turned out pretty cute!

She looks a little disheveled here, this is actually the last shot of the shoot as she was taking the poncho off, but Ellie looked up at me and smiled and I just couldn't help but include it.





I made Ellie a doggy costume that can double as a bunting for when it's cold this Winter. She loved being warm and snuggly! It is my first bunting with a zipper and I have to say I'm pretty proud of the way it turned out.






Cruella is all about glamour so I made a red ruffle fabric dress for the base of her outfit. I usually like little girls to wear a higher waist but a drop-waist dress is fitting for the time period. Her dalmatian poncho is made out of soft polar fleece for extra comfort and warmth. The fur trim is from a collar I purchased at an antique store. Of course the feather wig is my favorite part...stay tuned for a tutorial!
Look at that face...totally Cruella!






Make sure to visit me at I Make Stuff for more photos and details about our botched photo shoot. (What? A 2-year-old with a broken arm and a teething baby don't make great models? Sheesh, I shoulda hired professionals.)


Simple Simon and Co--Disney's Up

Young Ellie to Young Carl: You don’t talk much. [ long pause] I like you!

When we heard that costumes were on the agenda, we both knew exactly the costumes that we wanted to make---- you see in our community this summer we have had Disney UP-mania. A local builder, built a life-sized Up house that is awesome and amazing....and we wanted to make some amazing UP! costumes to go with it. So, here is our Carl and Ellie Fredricksen.

For Carl's outfit, we wanted to go with his iconic look in the movie. It is complete with some wide-leg, chocolate brown trousers, with extra, extra large cuffs at the bottom to mimic his pants in the movie. He has his vintage "Dick and Jane" shirt on with handmade suspenders and a bowtie, and with his stylish glasses--we think he is one cute Carl.

And our darling Ellie has one of our favorite dresses from the movie-- the picnic scene under a tree in the opening vignette. Her 60's mod jumper dress has a fitted bodice, with a full twirly skirt, added sash and some extra large buttons. As our weather is sometimes very iffy in October, she has an added white peasant shirt to keep her a little warmer.

To read more about each of these looks, head over to Simple Simon & Co today.

What a fun adventure day we had. Carl and Ellie, dozens of balloons, and two very happy kids running around playing out every movie scene.

And our hope for these kids....it's the same as Ellie's last message to Carl.

Thanks for the adventure. Now go have one of your own.

iCandy - DJ Lance

This week, we were challenged to create a halloween costume or harvest look.

I was super excited because Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I love making costumes!

All of our kids already had plans for their costumes, except for my youngest,

so we thought we would create a costume just for him.

After tossing aside idea after idea, one night, it came to me.

It was perfect.

Autie (and everyone else I shared the idea with)

LOVED it.

So we got to work.

Autie is the genius behind the hat, isn't it perfect??

She made the pattern, we bought some crazy expensive orange fur, and added some foam stars.

Painted thrifted shoes, a foam faux-belt-buckle, thrifted painted glasses (which didn't stay on very long), and handmade orange, yellow and white jammies complete the look.

And yes, if you're wondering, this really is the Yo Gabba Gabba set. We have friends in high places....

:)

Come visit us at iCandy handmade for more details!

Guest Post- 3 Halloween Hats by Delia Creates

Hi Project Run and Play readers!

I'm Delia from deliacreates and I am excited to be here for Halloween week!

Today I'm sharing a fun Halloween accessory that you can make for your kids or for you. 

It's not quite a hat, but it's too big to just be a clip/bow/hair flower, so I've dubbed it the Hat-ette.

 

It's a little reminiscent of those mini hats from the early 1900's {and that have been gaining some more attention lately}, and lots of fun to get creative with. Plus, they're costume hats, so I used almost no sewing. It's nice to have a break from sewing I think. :)

If you're wondering where the kids are in these pictures?

You'll have to deal with me as your model today.

I didn't have time to scout out a little girl model for this post.



So...onto the project.

I made three looks.

And here is a quick run-down on how I put them together.

First, the Pumpkin...and my favorite actually.

 

 For all three hat-ettes you'll need circles of strong corrugated cardboard. I used a bowl as my stencil and just cut these out of a box.

Stack a circle of felt {doesn't have to be perfect}, a few layers of quilt batting and the cardboard circle together.

Hot glue like so. 

Then poke a hole in the middle.

And thread some yarn through to create the grooves of your pumpkin.

Cut about 1 1/2 yards of ribbon and lay it across the middle.

Seal up the bottom of the hat with another, slightly smaller felt circle.

 

Now adorn with a rolled brown felt stem and a cut green leaf.

Done! Go ahead, try it on.

When worn with an orange shirt, it can be a quick low key costume. Or you can add it as the topper to a pumpkin costume you've made for your child. 

Next up, the Witch hat-ette.

I think the lace makes this one more appropriate for you, but without the lace it would be a great dainty hat for a little girl. Or... put the lace in the back of the hat to make a different kind of veil. Hmm?

Alright...so wrap some felt around the cardboard circle with hot glue.

Take stiff felt and roll it into a cone.

The stiff felt costs a little more, but you only need one sheet. Glue it into that cone shape and cut off the excess. I tried it on top of my head several times to get the height I wanted, and  just cut off a little bit as I went.

Glue to the hat and adorn as desired.

 I used some black feathers and then cut the ring off a spider ring for this look.

I added a strip of lace across about 3/4 of the hat and then finished off the bottom like I did with the pumpkin.

Easy enough?

I only wish I was more careful where the lace laid across my eyes. I have a nice big opaque flower covering my left eye and it bugs me! So be careful of that or use a more sheer lace.

When I tilt the hat, it's not so bad though.

And lastly, the sunflower. 

Do the same as you did with the other hats. Cover with felt. Then cut and glue pinched petals on like so...

I added some brown tulle and an autumn flower - see Cheri's tutorial here - to the middle.

So cute for a girl who wants to be a flower but not be too dressed up, or a great addition to any flowery fun costume.

If the bonnet ties are bothersome, you can also attach these hat-ettes to a headband. You will have less control on where the hat-ette will sit on your head, but it can be a more comfortable alternative.



You can also glue a clip to the bottom for more stability if you like.



Thanks for having me Micalah. Good luck to all the participants tomorrow. I have been in awe of what you gals have been cranking out every week!

Want to save this idea for later? Pin this image: 

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The Audrey Cape Tutorial

This tutorial is for personal use only. Thank you.

These capes are one of the girls' favorite things that we have yet made. I am not kidding when I say that this cape comes out everyday....and I won't let it be worn to school yet (it's still in the mid 80's here---and apparently I am a mean mom) so someone is waiting for the day that it will finally be cool enough that she can wear it to school. But I am glad that it is a keeper, because it was easy and cute. 

Here is the thing about this cape.....and I know I say this often on our blog but you are all going to faint at how easy this pattern is. 

All it is.....is a BASIC CIRCLE SKIRT! No. Really. It. Is. A. Circle. Skirt.

One of my favorite things is to take a super simple pattern and make it into something else. It is the best! (And no one will ever know that it's a circle skirt made into a cape.)

Here is what you need: 

One word of advice: This was a thrifting challenge, so I ended up making the linings of these capes from regular cotton fabric. In real life, I WOULD NOT. Take the time to get real lining fabric....it will look much more like a professional coat, and you will be much happier with it.

Also, I made two capes. I will give you the measurements for the Big Girl cape in the tutorial....and will give the Little Girl cape at the bottom. (It was too confusing to put them both in...) If you are looking for sizing, the Big Girl cape was put on a six year old but I am guessing would fit anyone up to about a size 8 or a small 10. The Little Girl cape could go anywhere from about a size 2 to a size 4 or 5.

(If you are worried you could always cut a muslin and then try it on your little one...)

Big Girl Cape Tutorial

*You should work on the folded edges....and not the selveges.

*One thing I forgot to tell you....you need to make to slit on one of the folds to make the circle open.

Now move on to the collar pieces for a minute.

HERE is a pattern for a peter pan collar if you need one.

This is getting really long.... so I am adding the measurements for the Little Girl Cape on our blog as well as the Birdcage hat tutorial is also there.

Thanks everyone! And we would LOVE to see your capes!

We would love to see what you make from this tutorial! Be sure to join our Facebook group and share pictures if you something from our blog or shop. Don't want to draft your own cape? Here's a great pattern from our shop.