I know I wasn’t truly as appreciative all those years ago. All the times she stayed up after bedtime or worked during nap-time, sewing clothes. For all the hours she put in spray painting shoes, measuring, pinning, cutting, re-pinning, sewing, ripping and re-sewing, adding sequence or feathers to dance, band, Halloween or skit costumes. All the cutting, sanding, painting, building, crafting sets for band or Jr. Beta skits. Now it’s my turn to start the journey of wondering why my back hurts. And all the pain staking hours are so worth it to see their face light up. Thanks momma! And thank you to all the many parents who helped make things for us all those years ago.
My mom had given me a binder a year or so back full of costumes patterns that she used for us when we were younger. Well, a few weeks ago I figured it was time to pull it out if I had any chance of making costumes before Halloween. Katie is going to be a unicorn, since she has a unicorn dress from her 4th birthday party. All I need to do is make the unicorn horn more "magical." Got it. Also, my church group is having a Trunk Or Treat at the end of October, so I need to work on my unicorn magic trunk. So, I let Hunter and Jeanne go through the binder and choose. Hunter decided to be a Jack o' lantern, and Jeanne wanted a poodle skirt.
When I pulled the patterns out of their little envelopes, so many emotions and memories flooded me. I can paint a picture of my mother's utility room floor covered with material and pattern pieces, pins, measuring tape, and I couldn't wait to jump in. After reading the instructions, re-reading them two more time, and writing down all what I needed (man, that was a lot of stuff), off to Jo-Ann's I went. At this time, my mom was on a trip without phone service, so I couldn't call her to ask a few questions that I didn't remember. It had been 7 years since I last read a pattern. What was the selvage? How do I figure the grain flow? There was a really nice lady at JoAnn's who helped me out best she could. That trip was fun, looking through all the material and things I would need to get to replenish my lack of sewing tools.
I washed the orange and green material, and waited to iron it the next day. Cotton wrinkles. And I had a tiny ironing board that I had had since 2008 with a really thin padding underneath. I went to Target and got a grown up size ironing board. 😀I re-ironed the material and started pinning and cutting. Same for the fleece insides. Fleece stretches, and that made cutting frustrating. I had bought a cut rotary cutter, thinking it would help my cutting go faster (and I swear my mom had one), but I wasn't sure how to get the blade to keep exposed. So I held the button down and started using it, only to realize a minute or two later as I had a burning sensation in my thumb and had blood on the material, that I should not have been holding it down. Googled and saw just using it forced the shield to go down. Duh! Bandaged my thumb and got back at it. Wouldn't be the last mistake I was sure.
Once I got all of Hunter's pieces cut out, I started pinning and piecing things together for the body. After the fact, next time I will try to cut cotton out with my pinking shears. It became really stringy on the inside and the edges frayed. Then I went to put on the Jack o' lanterns face. I cut out the pieces of black felt, put them on the brand new ironing board, put the bonding material on top, and ironed the felt to my ironing board cover. 😑Well that was dumb. I tried to peel the sticky goo off the cover, and got most of it off. I then saw that the bonding material should have been ironed to the entire felt piece, then cut out. I was not able to get all the goo off the cover no matter how many different ways I tried. So I just ran to Target and got a new cover (put that under house expense on the budget).
The cording and elastic were also fun (not fun) times. I put the safety pin through the 1/8" cording and tried to ease it through the 1/4" seam. I lost count how many times the pin pulled through the cording and I had to start over. I finally got 2 inches from the end the last time, when it pulled through. I was so frustrated, but just ripped the seam there, fished the cording through, held it close to the top, re-stitched the seam, and called it good. The elastic at the bottom was just as tough. It didn't get lost, but they asked for 1/2" elastic to go through a 1/4" seam. Not possible. So I made a 1/2" seam, right? Well it was still tough, and after my fingers cramped, I finally got it through just to see it all twisted. I only know a few words in French (the ones my grandma used when she was mad at us), and they are the ones I chose to use at this moment. There were a few other moments with the leaves and the hat, but it finally all came together. Hunter was so excited to be able to try it on, and loved to get to bounce around with the newspaper inside making funny noises.
Then I started on the skirt with cats, not poodles. I laid out the material on my table, and noticed the material looked short. The pattern extended over it. I refolded the material, and tried again. Nope. So I ironed the material, hoping it would give me the few extra inches. Again, nope. I measure it. Yes, it was 1 3/8 yards I requested. But I didn't think to look for 60" width material. This one was only 50". 😡Back to JoAnn's I guess. Then I looked online, and you can order from JoAnn's and pick it up! Yes please. So I placed the order for the same color (because I already had the thread and zipper to match), and picked it up later. I didn't have to go search for it and wait for it to be cut. Awesome! Later that day (or the next- it all runs together now), I took the pattern back out and began cutting. She is tiny for her age, so I cut based on her measurements. I have a lot of felt left over, for future fun projects.
The skirt was easier to cut and get started, being that it is felt. I cut out the cats and trim for the front. I had some liquid stitch that was several years old, and tried to use that to no avail. So pulled out the hot glue gun, and got the trim on. Managed to get the bonding material on the cats with no problem this time (I actually used the old cover on top the new cover to make sure I didn't mess up the new one). It came out rather nice. The instructions called for black thread to do the eyes and nose, but I used a pen. I may go back and hand stitch over the ink, though Jeanne seemed to love it as is. The trick part of the skirt was the zipper. I don't have a zipper foot for the sewing machine, and didn't want to go buy one, so I did the best I could with what I had. It's not perfect, but she can't tell. Next was getting the waistband on. I ripped that two or three times, before getting it where it was supposed to be. After getting her to try it on a few times I noticed it is still a little big around her waist. Luckily the last two Halloweens have been pretty cold, so I'm banking on her having to wear sweat pants and tights underneath, so hopefully that will help hold it up. 
She loves it! Now I just need to find the right shirt to go with it. Though it may not matter, if we are having to wear sweat shirts. It's hard to find plain colored sweatshirts for kids at the stores here. Now Katie keeps asking when I will get to her magical unicorn. That'll be next on the list, once I am done with Hunter's birthday planning! Never a dull moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment