by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 31, 2013
I got it done! Hooray, I finished the costumes! Maybe not 1 hour a day for 7 days in a row, like the KCW challenge – but they are done! And one full day before Halloween! Oh, and Happy Halloween to you and your family… The kids wanted to be princesses again this year, but (rightly or wrongly) I dissuaded them because every girl this age is a princess – and we did the Cinderella thing last year. Still we ended up with a princess – but at least a Pirate Princess – and my youngest is Izzy, both from Jake and the Never Land Pirates. And – most important – my girls are very happy!
I realized soon after starting, that I was never going to finish them if I did a full tutorial – but if you are curious how part of it went together please feel free to ask! I am going to post a tutorial (ignoring the fact that it will be after Halloween) for the Pixie Dust bag Izzy carries and the Pirate Hat on my oldest because I think they will transfer well into other costumes and party ideas. And the little bag would be a cute matchy addition to a little girl’s handmade dress. Or a boy’s treasure bag if you shorten the strings – maybe for carrying all of those tiny cars around?!
Here is a run-down on the Izzy costume. I used the raglan sleeve dress pattern from ikat bag again to make the shirt. She has kindly provided a size 5 and a size 3 version – but it is very easy to add extra room to this style of dress if you want to re-size it – just add the width to the edge that is on the fold when you are cutting the fabric. I used the size 5 and added a bit of width because I want it to fit over her fall jacket. The leggings are Fancy Pants Leggings in a super sparkly stretchy purple knit. I about pulled my hair out stitching these the first time, but sorted it out when making the second pair – since they each have one. Seems my machine would stitch horribly through 2 layers, but it worked great with 3 layers. So I cut 3/8″ wide strips and fed them in under the presser foot along the seam allowance as I went. Now we have amazing sparkly seams on the inside too! I would show you but the pants are with my daughter at school – hmmm… forgot to think ahead there.
Izzy’s Pixie Dust bag tutorial will be coming soon and I’ll try to remember to link this post to it. (*Update: Izzy’s Pixie Dust Bag tutorial link) The bandanna was not too bad – a triangle with extra length at the corners for tying. I hemmed the front edge, added elastic in a large rounded shape so it would gather, then tied it on my daughter’s head for size so I could stitch the tie in place – Now they can play dress-up without asking me to tie it on each time! The white swirls are “puffy paint” dried in 10 minutes with a hair dryer (yes, I am that impatient!).
Pirate Princess photo via
For the Pirate Princess (does she have a real name?!) I was required to be a bit more creative. Again, an ikat bag dress as the shirt with elbow length sleeves. I wanted the dress to be elasticized across the back – similar to ready-made ones, so they can fit more than one size. To do that I made the front fabric a bit slimmer than the original size 5 pattern and added extra to the back dress bodice piece. I cut the vest to the same size as the shirt pieces and stitched them on together. Then I added elastic across the back in two places so it still fits without being too baggy.
The vest “corset” lines are yellow bias tape stitched under and over the edges of the vest fabric. The skirt is a long rectangle rounded on both bottom corners with a ruffle along the edges. The waist is sparingly gathered leaving room for stretch and then attached to an exposed elastic waistband. I attached the shirt to the elastic as well so it is one piece – easy on and off for the kids (again with playing dress-up in mind!). The “real” Pirate Princess carries a sword with a diamond on the end to make rainbows – but we already had a diamond wand at home and there have been no complaints, so we’ll leave it that way! Ditto on the boots – they are “supposed to be” purple with a scalloped yellow edge – but that takes more time so the purple rain boots stand in. I’ll link up a tutorial to the Pirate Princess hat when it goes up as well.
It’s a good thing my kids aren’t too picky about the little details yet! I was sewing these like a crazy person and used my pinking shears to their full potential to finish the edges on all of the (one fold) casings and hems. Saving time is very important around here!
We’ve got a rainy day today – with the potential for a very wet night. And of course it is chilly, being up North, so Izzy and the Pirate Princess will look like they have gained a bit of weight with coats underneath! But I’m sure they will be excited to get their fill of candy anyhow – wet or not. And I know these costumes will get a lot more use because the kid’s love to act out their favorite shows – one reason why I still “bother” to sew their costumes! Ok, that and the look on their faces when I am finished – makes it worth every hour spent!
Did you make your kid’s costume? I’d love to see it. If you want to check out more costumes I am linking this one up to the Project Run and Play costume link-up, and to the KCW site as well (click below) – since it really was a KCW project anyhow!
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 22, 2013
Here is my KCW Update: Day 1! I made two pairs of Fancy Pants Leggings (Sew Fab Fall 2013 Pattern Bundle). I have been saving this jegging-esque interlock knit since my trip to Hamilton in June of this year. I wanted to make legging with it – so this was the perfect time.
The Fancy Pants Leggings pattern is really well written with TONS of information about sizing, knits, adjustments… Laura (Craftstorming) has done an amazing job of writing up easy to follow instructions with well taken photos. On the topic of photos – if you bribe your kids by telling them they can jump on your bed for a photo shoot be sure to tell the responsible older one to stay still while the smaller one jumps. It helps to keep at least one person in the photo in focus!
I got to do some altering of the pattern based on my kids’ sizes. They each spanned 4 sizes based on height, inner leg length, hips and waist! In the end I traced the correct size for each part of the body and re-drew the connecting lines. It worked really well and they fit perfectly everywhere I altered them (hooray!). Unfortunately I forgot that my kids leggings usually have a shorter rise and I should have shortened this one significantly. I think I will go back, remove the waistband and shorten it so they will get more use.
The cutest part of this pattern is the separate bum panel. I had to resist the urge to add in a crazy coloured knit there – but for leggings my kids will wear out of the house I don’t think it’s probably a good option. I would love to try a pair of pj pants with multi-prints and colours now though – it would look so cute! Especially since I now have an almost perfectly sized pattern piece for each of them!
If you want to visit the KCW website to see some other great projects click on the button below. If you want to see my Fancy Pants Leggings on the KCW site you can go here.
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 18, 2013
Hi! We’re talking about customizing your patterns again today. There are so many things you can do if you know how… so – here’s another tutorial this week (previous one here) on how to help make any pattern into your own creation!
Adding gathers to a shoulder seam can do a few things. First – it will add extra width to the top or the whole bodice – especially nice if you have a fabric with a great drape, or if you need a bit of extra wiggle room in the width of your pattern. Second – it adds a nice feminine touch and a bit of visual interest to the shirt – especially if it is a straight-forward simple pattern.
Wanna try it?
You will need:
- bodice pattern piece – must include shoulder area (I used the Skipper Top from Sew Much Ado – pattern review here)
- paper the length of the bodice
- pen
- ruler or straight edge
Here we go:
(1) Determine how much of the neckline on your pattern piece will be taken up with the seam allowance and/or neckline finish – mark this on your pattern piece. This pattern, for example, has a hemmed neckline and a neckband finish. Since I was using the neckband 1/2″ from the seam allowance would be removed from the visible shoulder area.
(2) Determine where to put the extra width for the gathers.
- (2a,b) Because I used a dolman sleeve top it is not immediately obvious where the gathers should be placed because the sleeve has no shoulder indication. I measured my daughter and found about 2″ of room before her shoulder started. I decided to leave 1″ between my seam allowance mark from Step (1) and where the gathers would start.
- OR If you are starting with a set in sleeve pattern this is a much easier process. Because you know where the shoulder starts, draw a mark at the centre of the shoulder seam area.
(3) Determine how you would like the final shirt to fit.
- Do you need extra width in the top of the shirt only, or also through to the bottom of the bodice (say, to cover a toddler belly!)? For my daughter’s shirt I picked a size width that would cover her belly and added the extra width only to the top 2/3 of the pattern. I ended up cutting a size 5 width, with a size 4 everywhere else.
- Top only (Track A): (3a) Pick and mark a spot about 2/3 of the way down the bodice along the centre line – Draw a line from your Step (2) mark to this new mark. ** The area above this mark will have added width – so be careful with your choice! Do not place your mark too high or the fit of your sleeve and/or neckline will be off due to the extra width that only occurs around the top of the shirt.
- Through the whole shirt (Track B): (3b) If you like you can add width all of the way through the shirt by drawing your line from your Step (2) mark to the hem, parallel to the centre fold line. ** Be careful, the width you add will be doubled – once on each side of the shirt!
(4) Cut the line you just drew.
- Track A: (4a) If you followed Track A cut the line ALMOST to the edge of the centre seam. Leave a little “hinge” of paper.
- Track B: (4b) If you are following Track B you can cut your line all the way down the pattern.
(5) Determine how long you want the gathers to be. I decided to add in 1 3/4″ of extra space – though, I think looking back I should have only added 1″ because the added width distorted the top a bit much.
- Track A: (5a) Spread the top of the paper by the amount of gathering space you want to add. Tape another piece of paper underneath the entire area you just opened up.
- Track B: (5b) Spread the pattern pieces apart by the amount of gathering space you want to add. Tape them to another piece of paper the length of the pattern piece, matching up the hemline. Make sure they are evenly spaced all of the way along.
(6) Cut away the extra and even out your pattern lines.
- Track A: (6a,b) Draw a line from neckline point to sleeve point along the shoulder/sleeve seam.Cut along the line to remove the excess paper. Add in paper to straighten the bodice centre line. Tape the paper in and draw a line from neckline centre to hemline centre. Cut along this line.
- Track B: (6c,d) Draw a line from neckline point to sleeve point along the shoulder/sleeve seam. Draw a line along the hemline from side to side. Cut along these new lines to remove the excess paper and straighten your pattern lines.
- NOTE: If you have curved lines (say, at a hemline) eyeball a curve instead of straightening the pattern line.
YAY! You now have your new pattern piece!
(7) Cut out your pattern pieces as per the pattern instructions. * You may need more yardage if you are adding a lot of extra width.
(8) Line up your new pattern piece with the shoulder seam of your fabric. Now you will mark the area you will need to gather. (8a) Mark 1 edge even with one edge of your added width, I chose the right side. (8b) The gathers will need more space than the width you added, so mark 1/2″ to 1″ extra on the other side of your extra width, I added 1/2″ extra. Mark the other shoulder seam in the same way* If you do not have the room and are making a set in sleeve with a skinny shoulder seam, you can gather the whole shoulder seam. Or, distribute the extra amount by adding 1/4″ – 1/2″ on either side of the extra width instead of on one side only.
(9a) Make two lines of basting width straight stitches within your seam allowance area. (9b) Gather the area to match the shoulder/sleeve width of your back bodice and tie off the ends of the gathering stitches to keep them in place. Continue following the pattern instructions as written using your newly gathered shoulder!
I’d love to know how your project went. Post your project on Facebook and it might end up in a “You Made It” post on the blog! I’d love to hear if you liked this tutorial or any changes you might make.
