Witchy-pooh

Five years ago my then 4 year old daughter wanted to be a witch for Halloween.  I excitedly started Pinterest searching witch costumes and was dreaming of a purple and orange tulle masterpiece.  Sadly my daughter had other ideas.... witches wear plain black dresses.  Booooo!!!!

I made her what she wanted, and in the end I was glad because she was the cutest damn witch I'd ever seen.

Fast forward to now and my 4 year old son wanted to be a witch for Halloween.  I asked him what a witch wears and he said a dress, so we headed to the Pinterest search again and he loved the fluffy tulle numbers.  He wanted to be a "rainbow witch".  All my dreams from five years ago had come true!!

My daughter's dress was made using Butterick 4319, with the hat coming from Simplicity 3680 I believe.  All made out of black poplin from memory.

For my son's dress I wanted to use knit as I had a roll of black jersey, and wanted to use a pattern I already had.  I went to the Stitch Upon a Time Girls Shirtzie pattern.  Advice from their Facebook group was to size up because it's a snug fit and boys aren't usually used to that in clothes.  He measured between a size 4 and 6 around with a 4 in height.  But when I compared the finished measurements to one of his (smaller) t-shirts, it was more like a size 10.  In the end I decided to cut a size 4 bodice with a "full bust adjustment", pivot method, to take it out to the size 10 line on both front and back.  I do FBAs for myself all the time, so this seemed like an easy solution.  It kept the smaller shoulders but added girth to cover his round middle.  I then cut the skirt size 10 at the waist, but a 4 length.  It turned out the perfect size, easy to get on and off, but not so loose that it lost it's shape.

For the bodice, I sectioned off the front and redrew the neckline to get the front panel, and then attached rainbow ribbon.

For the skirt, I was using 6" wide tulle off a roll.  I decided that 6" scrunched pretty nicely into about 1" so I did some maths and cut 9 strips of each colour, which I then divided into 3 rainbows around the skirt.  I just bunched up the tulle and pinned it in place all the way around then sewed it down before gathering the skirt into the waistband.

And that's how I made my rainbow witch, using the hat from 5 years ago with tulle added, and a pair of his sister's slightly too small rainbow leggings.  I loved it, and he loved it which is the most important part.

You're the One That I Want

The title of this post is because when I first wore this top, my friend said I reminded them of Sandy from the end of Grease.  Sadly didn't get a photo from that night, which is a real shame because I looked HAWT!!!

This is a top I've been wanting to make for a while, and my birthday party ended up being the perfect excuse.  I'd made the muslin a few weeks/months (who can remember??) ago, but hadn't had the opportunity to make a "good" one.  As my party was looming I wanted something NEW and SEXY to wear, but felt I had no time and the shops weren't providing.  At the last minute I had the idea to go ahead with this top, and thanks to RubyJam Fabric's excellent service it was one business week from thought to finished top.  I ordered the fabric on a Monday, received it on Tuesday, washed it on Wednesday, cut it on Thursday and sewed it on Friday!

I made the design using my Frankenshirt pattern and following the Sexy Shoulder Hack tutorial from Little Ragamuffin.  I added the shoulder straps to help make my bra straps less "bra" looking.

The bottom of the shirt kicks out slightly so I can wear it with pants or a pencil skirt and not feel self conscious about my belly.

But I also intend to wear it tucked in with fuller skirts for a more retro look, as seen here with my recent circle skirt make.

Pouf! I made a petticoat, and a skirt.

This one has been in the making since about October I think.  My sewing time has been very sporadic so everything is taking me AGES!!

After helping my niece make a petticoat, circle skirt and blouse for her end of year school social last year, I desperately wanted to make myself one.  I'm really trying to get a vintage vibe into my clothes and what says that more than a poufy petticoat?

My niece's petticoat

Then a fabric opportunity arose and who can resist?  My daughter had a minecraft themed birthday party last year, and we used green net to make a tree.  With all of the 8 metres returning to my sewing room after the event, I was getting a green petticoat whether I liked green or not.

A Minecraft Tree

I had found an online tutorial to make my niece's, but I just made this one from memory of doing her's.  It's made of 3 rows each 8" tall.  The first row (closest to waist) is 2 metres around, the second is 4 metres and the bottom is 8 metres.  The lining is made of poplin and is a half-circle skirt cut using my hip measurement plus 2" (I think).  The bottom row is gathered onto the middle row, then the middle gathered onto the top, then the top row is gathered onto the lining.  For the waistband, I added a cotton lycra yoga style band that is cut 12" high and the folded over double.  For my niece, we did two layers the same to add extra pouf as her's was made of tulle, but for mine I decided on just one because the net is more stiff than tulle.  Even then it seemed a little too stiff so I washed it to calm it down a little.

My petticoat

To finish the bottom edge, I wanted ribbon or something so the net wasn't scratchy and catching on things.  A trip to Spotlight left me wandering the ribbon/trim aisle for ages not sure what to do.  At 8m of hem, the ribbons I liked were going to cost me much more than I wanted to spend on a petticoat that was meant to be "free".  I did fall in love with a gingham ribbon though, and then had the brilliant idea to make my own gingham bias for the hem.  Only half a metre of fabric required, so only a couple of dollars!  But then lots of time making bias (most of which involved it sitting around waiting for me to iron it).

I actually started making the skirt in the midst of doing the petticoat, but didn't want to finish it until the petticoat was finished and I knew how it was going to sit.

This is a circle skirt with the "waist" measurement actually being my hips plus 2".  This makes it plenty big enough to get on and off without needing a zipper.  The waistband is cut in two halves.  The front is half of my actual waist measurement, the back is the remaining amount needed to make it the same length as the skirt opening, then elastic inserted to bring it back into my waist.  The end result is actually a little loose.  I think next time I will bring the elastic portion another inch or two towards the front on both sides.  This puts more fullness of the skirt at the back, but on my body I really prefer this.  It helps balance out my belly and doesn't have too much fabric up front.

I also made the top, but will do a separate post on that. EDIT - blog post on top here

Since this petticoat and skirt was really a wearable muslin to get the fit right, there will probably be another one in the near future!