Halloween 2016

Now that I have a working computer again, I've got some back blogging to do. Starting with Halloween, where I blab about sewing for far to long.

We went to Main Street Fright Fest in downtown Temple. We went last year but felt super awkward without a kid, it is definitely an event for children. So we were happy to tote Indiana around and pretend like we feel like real parents. HA! Parenthood is still so surreal.

We take costumed events pretty seriously, as you well know, so our baby's first Halloween was a big deal. We had about a hundred costume ideas, but for whatever reason I picked Frozen? And not even the regular Frozen but Frozen Fever, which is, if you're not a Disney nut like me, an animated short about Anna's birthday. I swear it was really just an opportunity for Disney to sell even more Frozen merch because this film had two new dresses in it. I could go on forever about the insanity of the money making machine that is Frozen. But all that being said, I picked these costumes for us. I thought Indiana would make a crazy cute Olaf (I was right) and I am an insane person so I thought making Anna's dress would be a fun challenge. Right again.

I made my dress and Brendon's costume. He's Kristoff, which is confusing because Kristoff is blonde and beardless, but whatever. I did NOT make that Olaf costume. Amazon provided that. I know everyone thought I'd be making her costume (and a ton of outfits for her), but sewing tiny clothes turns out to not be my thing. I am a selfish sewer and mostly just like sewing for myself. Plus sewing tiny things is hard. And I mean, look at that Olaf costume! It's hilarious, I could not have done better.

Brendon's costume was pretty simple. I used fleece for his pants and vest, and altered an existing shirt to make the shirt. The most time consuming part was all that trim, which was sewn on by hand. Lots of layers of ribbon. But there's something meditative about sewing by hand and I really didn't mind at all.

My costume on the other hand was an undertaking. Also I am so proud of my my hair! I did it all by myself and I made that little sunflower thing.

I used Simplicity 1094 for the costume and altered it pretty heavily. The good thing about Frozen being so popular is that there are mass produced costume patterns out there, and they're licensed so they're fairly accurate. That being said I still made quite a few changes to make it a bit more accurate. I shortened the skirt from the top which made a sort of wider fuller skirt and then I pleated it to match Anna's in the film. The pattern had you make your own bands of binding between the shirt, bodice, and dress, but I used bias tape instead and sewed it on to make it look like the dark blue part of the bodice was more like a bustier/corset (which I believe is more accurate) instead of all one piece of the dress. It's still all one thing, I just tried to create a more layered instead of flat look.

The vest is where I took the most creative liberty, and it's my favorite part of the costume. Anna's vest in the film is full of appliques/embroidery front and back, but the pattern just had a few flowers on the front. So I added all kinds of stuff and made up a design for the back using the same sort of patterns from the skirt/front of vest. I added a yellow braided cord that swirls around the whole vest, and sewed that bad boy on by hand. Also the vest is made from the prettiest grass green flannel backed satin, which was a serious pleasure to sew.

All those flowers, leaves, and butterflies on the bodice are appliques that I individually cut out and ironed on. There are probably over a hundred pieces. It seemed daunting at first, but it really wasn't bad and I love that sort of crazy challenge. I'm pleased with how it turned out. My only issue with the dress is that I chose cheap fabric for the yellow undershirt and bodice lining and it was constantly falling apart as I sewed. It just shreds. Indiana grabbed the front of the shirt while I was holding her and it just ripped right apart. Fixable, but it's a huge bummer because I'm very happy with this dress otherwise. You get what you pay for I suppose.

Sometimes when I have an idea for a project it turns out nothing like I imagined, but this thing came out better than I hoped. Also, the blue bodice of the dress is drapery fabric. Forever channeling my inner Fraulein Maria and forever grateful for my years sewing drapes in Austin and for allll the marvelous fabrics Susi sent me home with!

Anyway, I want to give a shout out to Simplicity for this pattern. It's not perfect, but it is pretty dang close. One of the first things I do when before I start a new pattern is a google it to see other folks who have made it, to get an idea of what it looks like when it's sewn up. But no one has made this (and posted it on the internet) which I sorta get but I sorta don't. Cosplaying is a huge thing these days and people love Frozen and this is a great pattern! But it is definitely time consuming and not easy so I guess I get that too. But maybe someone will Google it like I did and find this post and say, "Hey, I can do that!" Because you can and you should!

ANYWAY enough about sewing. Let's talk about how we entered Indiana in a costume contest!

This picture cracks me up, that little cowgirl was obsessed with Indiana and she just came right up and yanked her hat down over her face by Olaf's nose. Kids are so weird. Indiana didn't win (possibly because the lady announcing thought she was a penguin??? WHAT?) but the little baby who won was dressed as Carl from Up with a little walker with balloons and it was amazing. His dad was Russell and his mom was Kevin; mad respect from fellow Disney nerds. This pirate who was serving serious face got runner up:

Indiana's little face under that big ass Olaf head kills me. She is the sweeeeetest baby.

It was pretty fun! We had some grilled cheeses from a Star Wars themed grilled cheese food truck and then headed home. A decent first Halloween if I might say. I hope Indiana had a good time anyway! Next year she might have some opinions on what she's dressed as, but I'm hoping I'll be able to squeeze at least another year of family themed costumes out. And maybe we can go trick-or-treating!!! Eee!

Pocahontas

Serious face for one of the more serious Disney Princesses. Pocahontas! The first American Disney Princess! Although she is an official Disney Princess she's not technically a "princess". But she is the daughter of the chief, and that's close enough. My sister was a big fan of this movie when we were kids (she even had a cat named Meeko!), but it wasn't really one of my favorites. I'm certain I was still obsessed with Belle. Although I just watched it for this project and the art is really beautiful, the movie is growing on me! Also Christian Bale is in it, WHAT? But real talk, Pocahontas is a pretty badass chick. She canoes off waterfalls, jumps off cliffs, has a slew of wild animal friends, speaks to trees, stops wars, you know, usual badass chick stuff.

Here's something random but Pocahontas related; when running I sing "Just Around the Riverbend" to myself, a lot. Like it's one of my go-to motivation songs. I don't know if it's because we're usually running around the river or what, but that song is always on repeat it my head! I'm weird.

Honestly, I was kind of dreading making this dress. I was like ehhh a brown/tan dress? Not my color. Plus asymmetrical dresses are just not my thing either (I feel that they tend to make boobs look lopsided, no?). But after we watched the movie again I realized her dress is more of a corn silk yellow, so I took that and ran with it. Because really, brown is not my color. At all. So I found a pretty pale yellow linen with matching ivory linen for the trim.

For the pattern I used a highly altered combination of Butterick 4343 (bodice) and Simplicity 1353 (skirt). But I do mean highly altered. I changed the neckline and added a little collar thingy. A flap of fabric around the neckline with added ruffles. I also changed the hem to mimic Pocahontas's "V" shaped skirt. And I added more ruffles. I went with ruffles versus fringe as a trim because, well, fringe is very costumey. And I feel that ruffles are easier for me to pull off. Plus fabric fringe would have been some sort of nightmare to make and not have unravel, ruffles on the other hand are very easy to make. I also think they compliment the linen well. It's kind of like a rustic country dress. Which is more cowgirl than Pocahontas I guess, but hey, I'm Texan. Oh the irony.

Overall I'm very happy with the dress. I expected to not be crazy about it, but it's actually awesome! It fits well, it's made out of comfortable fabric that I can wear on the regular, and I think it's cute! And it doesn't scream Disney Princess. (Or does it? I'm too Disney-fied to tell.) It's a perfect summer dress! As long as it's not pouring rain. Which it almost always is these days.

This is my "EEEE I AM GETTING EATEN ALIVE BY MOSQUITOES" face. Seriously, we were out there for maybe a minute and I look down and there were at least four mosquitoes going to town on my leg. I have yet to discover all the bites, but they just keep appearing. I'm thankful for all the rain, but dang, it's going to be a long summer full of bites.

Speaking of rain, today it was sunny! Which is the reason this post happened. It has rained everyday for as long as I can remember, but today has been lovely! I think it's supposed to start up again tomorrow. This might be the end of our yeaaaars long drought! We are getting some serious rain here in Texas. And there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.

Unfortunately there will be a little break in Disney Princess dress making as we are moving on the first of June, thus my sewing stuff has been all packed up! So now sewing for at least a week or so. I'm already twitching. But I am taking the month of June off to relax and rejuvenate (and sleep), so I'm sure there will be lots of sewing happening once we get settled in. :) I'm pretty stoked about the next Princess, it will be a challenge to make her dress NOT look like a costume. And I like challenges! So until next time folks, wish us luck on moving!

Check out the other Disney Princess Dresses here!

Jasmine

Whoa guys, sorry 'bout the month gaps between Princesses here. I have been a busy bee! (Have you heard? Boy wonder is about to graduate and start his residency, and we are moving 75 miles north to Temple, TX in a couple weeks! Screaming on the inside, so much to do, so little time.) So sewing only happens on rare occasions. PLUS, Jasmine has been done for over a week, but the freakin' rain would not quit, so taking photos was on hold. But today the sun came out! And I was like, lets do this. Because there's nothing but rain on the forecast as far as I can see. (Austin is Seattle now, you didn't know?)

Jasmine! She's the first Princess to not be the main character of a the film. She has to share the limelight with Aladdin and the Genie. Genie steals the show, duh. Aladdin came out when I was four or five and obv, I loved it. Those songs!! I was definitely Jasmine for Halloween, I think more than once. I remember the costumes being incredibly itchy. Why is that? Why do costumes have to be made out of the most awful fabric, especially for kids?! I'm pretty sure there's a photo of me in a Jasmine costume, with a turtleneck underneath. Because it was that scratchy. And I'm a baby with sensitive skin. Sidetracked... so yes, Jasmine! She's a very legit Princess, like she brings the royalty to the relationship table. She's a pretty plucky chick, she has ridiculously voluminous hair, and she has a pet tiger. Oh my gosh, did I want a pet tiger when I was a kid. Jasmine runs away from home, jumps across buildings, and even seduces Jafar to save Aladdin. Pretty racy, Disney. Also, holla at the first Disney Princess not of European decent! Aladdin is a middle eastern tale, which is very cool! Jasmine kind of set the stage for the rest of the Disney ladies to culturally branch out over the next decade or so.

About the dress! Although I did do the two piece thing for Ariel, I didn't want to do it again. Because although I've worn Ariel's skirt multiple times, I've never worn the top. I'm not much of stomach showing girl; I wanted to make something I'd actually wear. So I picked the Kim Dress from By Hand London, and went for the sweetheart neckline and wrap skirt. I feel like the neckline mimics Jasmine's little top and the wrap kind of looks like pants? Yes that is a stretch, but roll with it. Luckily, mint green was a very in color this spring, so this kinda shiny polyester fabric was super easy to find. I think it's the perfect color! This was my second Kim Dress, the first I made out of sateen bed sheets with the straight neckline and full skirt, and it is one of the most comfortable things I've ever made. This pattern is lovely to follow and it sews up like a dream. Plus the packaging is adorable. I'm a sucker for good packaging.

My only issues with this dress are that the straps are too long (and from what I've read online, this is a common issue) and that the wrap skirt is near impossible to walk in without showing your goodies to the world. I think I might tack the two layers together farther down, to prevent any flashing. Other wise I'm very happy with it! Perfect for spring/summer! If it would quit raining.

So there you have it! The palest Jasmine ever. Vampire Jasmine. Seriously this dress has been sitting on my ironing board for over a week, glad I can finally share it with the world. Hopefully the next princess graces the internet with her presence sooner! Her dress is already half done, keeping my fingers crossed that the weather cooperates this time. ;)

See all the other Disney Ladies here!

Belle

WHOA, long time no Disney dress making, eh? Life has been busy. Life is always busy, that's no excuse, but that's what I'm using.

The Belle dress. Oh man, this dress has been a looooong time coming. It took a while to make, both because it was challenging, and because life. Also, this is MY princess. Okay, maybe it's a tie with one we'll discuss later in life, but Belle will always be the queen of my Disney Princess heart. I am a Belle. I mean, hellooooo the first Princess who wasn't interested in getting swept of her feet! Belle is a hero, she is brave and adventurous and stands up for herself. And loves to read? AND the first real brunette? I mean, come on. Perfection! This was my favorite movie for most of my childhood, THUS THE STRONG INDEPENDENT WOMAN I AM TODAY. (Kidding, but only slightly.) Y'all, I had Belle and the Beast/Prince Barbies, with multiple outfits. And she was my favorite Barbie, even though I effed her hair up real bad by taking it out of the perfect bun she came with. Beauty and the Beast was my JAM. I would lay in the grass and blow dandelion puffs and dream of more than this provincial life. Seriously, I wanted to be Belle so bad. I think I made my mom draw me as Belle one time. Little known fact, my mom can draw and draw well!

Anyways, so this dress was important. I wanted to LOVE this dress. And as much as I loooove her ball gown in the film, because it's hers, it is not my favorite Disney Princess dress. Iconic and wonderful, but very big and very yellow (because gold was hard to pull off in animation?). So I to make something that would represent her dress, but still be something I would love (and wear).

At my sewing job, we just so happened to have scraps left of two rather fantastic pale gold fabrics that just so happened to match perfectly. THANK YOU to my boss and to the clients who have such lovely taste in drapery fabric YES THIS DRESS IS MADE OF DRAPES. Channeling Maria Von Trapp, at all times. The bodice is made of the loveliest platinum-gold silk (!!!) and the skirt and sleeves are made of embroidered linen in the prettiest shade of butter. This dress is fancy. But basically free because life is so good sometimes?! This dress was meant to be.

Why yes, I did make myself a little silk bow to match. To pay homage to Belle's gold hair piece. And also because bows. For this dress I was going for a sort of french provincial (HAAA) feel, a lot more casual than Belle's cray cray ballgown. Because honestly, they were out in the country. I wanted something someone would wear while frolicking through the grass, miffed about Gaston.

At first I couldn't find a pattern that made all my Belle dreams come true. And it took me a while to settle on an idea. In fact I had an entirely different dress completely planned out that I scrapped at the last moment. I ended up using the top of one pattern and the bottom of the other. I used Butterick 5814 for the bodice and sleeves and the simple but rather full skirt from Butterick 5708. The bodice was very complicated. It is asymmetrical, pleated, boned, fully lined, and every seam inside is encased. So much hand sewing. Slip stitching for years. The only exposed seam allowances on the whole dress are the center, sides, and back of the skirt, and the zipper. And the zipper is an invisible zipper, which thanks to YouTube, I am no longer scared of! SO much easier than regular zips, I have been converted.

This dress was a big time learning experience. Very challenging, very fun, and I am very happy with it. It fits me perfectly (after a few adjustments, the sleeves were way too big!) and oh my gosh silk. Yes please. Sewing with silk is fantastic. It is so pretty.

And yes, this had to happen. Because the skirt is so full and fun and Belle twirls all over the ballroom in her dress so:

I am a huge nerd.

HURRAH, the Belle dress! How I slaved over you! Thank goodness I am happy with it. And thanks to Belle for being such a bad ass. I feel like a bad ass in this dress. (Insert sunglasses emoji.)

The rest of the Disney Princess are here! On to the next one! Can you guess where we're headed next? Off to another continent!

Ariel

WOOO first Disney Princess that I was alive for! Barely alive. Like 1 year old. The first Princess with a tail, Ariel! She was the first angsty princess too. "But daddy, I LOVE HIM!" Girl was 16 and in love with a prince she saw, like saw as in zero interaction, for like under half an hour. But love at first sight I guess. And hey, first redhead! I loved the Little Mermaid. Mostly because of the songs. I think this is the first Disney film Alan Menken wrote the songs to. Under the Sea? Kiss the girl? Such a riot. Also, y'all all know you were instantly Ariel as soon as you got into the pool. Flippin' yo fins. I remember going to the river when I was little and busting up onto a rock Ariel style. Chest out. Maybe even tossing my hair around? Don't lie, you all did it too.

Ariel has quite a few outfits to chose from. Unlike the previous Princesses who have a very set "Princess" outfit, Ariel has a bunch. Her promo outfit as a Disney Princess is a sea foam green concoction that doesn't even exist in the film. Not sure how that happened. Google it, it's odd. So I just went with what she wears most often and is most easily recognizable, the seashell bra and tail combo. Classic Ariel.

So I guess this isn't really a dress. It's a pencil skirt and bustier. I wasn't trying to go full on Selena bra top, I needed a little more coverage. So it's a long bustier and a high waisted skirt. I also went with separates because the Little Mermaid came out in 1989, so I feel like the style and these bright colors kind of fit that time. It's like a power suit. But cuter.

I used Burda 6970 for the top and Simplicity 2154 for the skirt. The top is made out of fairly simple purple poplin.The skirt is made out of outerwear fabric I found on clearance. I added a lining because I wasn't sure how jacket fabric would work as a skirt, but it's actually super great! Really comfy. Both these things fit me like a glove and were sewn with much more precision than Aurora's (yay stable fabric!), so that was refreshing. And forgive the photos for lying to you, both the purple and green are much brighter in real life. The dusky light didn't do me any favors.

Too bad my hair isn't still bright red, eh? Overall I'm pretty dang happy with how this came out. It was fun and easy to put together. And comfy. I love comfy. I think I'll get a lot of use out of both pieces, together and/or apart. The top will be super fun this summer! Or, you know, in February. Because it's Texas and I was definitely not cold taking these photos.

And now for the usual weirdness, me acting like a fish? Because that makes sense?

????? After taking these Brendon was like, "yeah, Ariel wasn't a fish." Shut up. Speaking of Brendon, he is finally home from his first of six workweeks away and I'm thrilled. The Hogans don't do well apart.

I'm sorry, I just had to. Missed that creep.

Next up, we break into the nineties! Check out the rest of the gang here!

Aurora

Round three, y'all. Aurora, from Sleeping Beauty. Did you know that she's got the shortest screen time of any Disney Princess? That movie is more about those fairies and Maleficent. And Prince Phillip. This is the first Disney Prince with a name. And personality. I had such a crush on him when I was a kid. Aurora is a stunner though, she's got fabulous hair. I've been watching each movie as I'm making the dresses and the first thing Dr. Hogan said when he saw her was, "she's got really nice hair." I mean, right?? Fabulous hair.

Sleeping Beauty came out in 1959. She's got the first slinky style dress, no big ball gown skirt for her. Her dress alternates from blue to pink via dueling fairies, and honestly I think during the film it spends more time blue, but she's always seen in the pink dress outside of the film. So I made a pink version! Because it's almost Valentine's Day, and I just did blue with Cinderella. I kind of wanted a mod style feel to her dress since the film was made at the end of the fifties. I'm so interested in how current fashion of the time effects costume design, especially when they're replicating a certain era. NERD ALERT. So for a modish vibe I picked a (very slight) drop waist pattern, Simplicity 1715, and free handed a pattern for a little collar (I love collars). I used some sort of mock-linen for the sleeves. I wanted the dress to be kind of rustic... even though it's pink... I mean, Aurora grew up barefoot in the woods! She and I have that in common.

The fabric for this dress was kind of crazy. It's a shimmery, spongy poly blend from the clearance section, and I used the wrong side of it. The face side is a metallic silvery pink. The back of it is a rich dark pink, with just the teensiest bit of shimmer from the face side. It's definitely not the softest thing in the world and it has a lot of stretch to it, but the color is fantastic and it drapes and pleats well. It just seems to pull every which way, especially when you're sewing. Straight, even seams... nah.

Goofball photo number one... but I love the waistline! And that fabric moves so well! And it totally matches my hair, which is now a fun shade of magenta.

Real quick, we've got to discuss this pattern. It's an "Amazing Fit" pattern, which I've never used before. Turns out, they're kind of silly. I eventually completely disregarded the instructions because they are full of all kinds of extra steps (putting the dress together with a one inch basted seam allowance, marking your adjustments, taking it apart, and putting it back together? WHAT?). I guess it's good if you're learning to adjust patterns to your size, but ain't nobody got time for that. I'm the world's most impatient sewer. I'm all about doing things the quick way. And cutting corners. And paying for it later. As you do. But anyways, I will probably be staying away from "Amazing Fit" patterns from here on out. Or just disregarding the instructions.

I'm pretty happy with it. I think I'll wear it on Valentine's Day while I consume all the carbs for the Half Marathon. And smooch on my husband.

Aaaaand I leave you with this:

Disney Princess of Awkardness. Brendon told me to dance with an imaginary prince like Aurora does while singing Once Upon a Dream. Why are my hands so big? And where my owl, birdies, and bunnies at?

Until next time, y'all. Who do you think is next? Hmmm??? See the other Princesses of Disney here!

Disney Princess Dress Project - Snow White

Okay okay okay okay, so flashback about a month ago, we're at Disneyland. And there's like a gazillion little girls dressed as princesses, all the stores sell teeny princess dresses, and you can even get made over princess style in a tiny little child sized salon. But what about the adults? What about the grown up princesses? You can get a t-shirt with a princess on it. So I was like, the heck? This is a market someone needs to cash in on. We adults (I swear, it is not just me) want dresses too! A month or so later, boom, I've got my next ridiculous project. The Disney Princess Dress Project. DPDP. Like double Doctor Pepper. I'm making a dress for each Disney Princess. Because I want them all and no one's selling them. And I'm going in chronological order, because I'm a freak. Starting with my dearest, Snow White.

Snow White has never been my absolute favorite princess, but I've always had mad respect because she was the first. Circa 1937. And animals love her. And she sports a primary colored dress like no ones business. Plus she's the only Disney Princess with short hair. You go girl.

You like that princess pose? The wind seriously started blowing just as we were taking this picture, thus, fabulous hair. So, these dresses are not costumes (although, I have been Snow White before). I mean, not for me anyway. I will rock a dress on the reg though. They'll be made out of regular apparel fabric, made to be worn whenever. They're inspired by Disney Princesses, however they're not replicas by any means. Because I don't want to look TOO ridiculous in public.

Snow White is a German fairy tale, so I went with a dirndl-esque top. Plus, duh I love dirndls. I wanted it to be relatively casual and sundressy, since I mean, Snow White runs off into the woods in this dress. Just a regular almost get your heart cut out by a huntsman and meet a ton of woodland creatures plus seven little men dress. Nothing too fancy.

To keep it simple, I made it out of quilting cotton in fun prints (the sleeves have butterflies and flowers on them!), and it is extra comfortable. The sleeves have elastic in them... seriously comfy. I'd clean the house while singing and then take a nap in this dress. I used Simplicity 1803 (which I've made here and here) for the bodice and skirt, and I stole the sleeves off of McCall's 5619. Since this was basically the third time I've made this pattern and I was sewing on cotton, it came together easy peasy. And I love love love it. It will be perfect for frolicking around Austin this spring! With all that free time I have.

And in case you live under a social media rock, I have red hair! I dyed it a little over a week ago and it's still pretty dang red! It's a semi-permanent dye (this one if you're interested) over mostly my natural color and what's left of my ombre. And I love it. It came out much brighter than I thought it would and it's lasting longer than I thought. I've been washing my hair at the last minute during my showers and only using cold water, which is not so fun when it's cold outside, but it's helping the color last!

So this is my new project. Don't judge me. Or do, I don't care. ;) There are a lot of Disney Princesses, so I'm hoping this keeps me busy for a while. I've already started the next one, and y'all, I'm having the time of my life. Can I just make princess dresses for a living?

And big ol' shout out to the future good Doctor Hogan, who took time out of his busy day to take pictures of me pretending to be the Fairest of Them All.

Love you, boo. Thanks for encouraging my princess complex.

Texas Renaissance Festival 2014

A couple weekends ago (on a whim, as you do) we hit up the Texas Renaissance Festival! This was our second time going, we went a few years ago, and again we had a blast. I love how into it everyone gets. The costumes were amazing and endlessly entertaining. Prime people watching. So much middle aged tomfoolery.

We went on a Saturday, after getting up at 6am to run seven miles. Because we're crazy. By the end we were exhausted. It's about a two and a half hour drive and we just went for the day. I was ready for bed when we got home to say the least.

We went on "All Hallow's Eve" weekend, which was obviously, Halloween themed. We went as a Renaissance witch and wizard, and I whipped our costumes up just a few days before. It was an intense few days of a sewing. My costume was really easy, Brendon's on the other hand took some work. SO much trim. But it came out great and is probably the most well made thing I've sewn!

I got henna as a souvenir (which was soooo well done, it's still faintly showing on my hand!) and boy wonder got his very own wand. He's the cutest thing ever.

Grainiest photo ever of us attempting to stay awake while waiting for the fireworks show. We ending up bailing and heading home early. Sleepy heads were we!

We had a blast. Ready to go again next year! I think I'm going to make me a princess costume next time. Complete with tiara. Because when else in your life do you get to be a princess??