Category: Free inquiry
So it is two days before Halloween and I think I have everything ready to go……
We carved pumpkins tonight……
And made sure all costumes were looking good……
Sewing takes so much preparation, and the prep is not the fun part.
First you have to spend time looking at the instructions from the pattern you bought. They are written in such a way as to be as confusing and unintelligible as possible, much like some academic papers, where the language is so foreign that you wonder if it is still written in English. You must walk the fine line between studying the sewing instructions for long enough to get the gist of them and studying the instructions for so long you go clinically insane from confusion. You can fill in the rest of your understanding with some good old fashioned guess work.
Then you have to make a pattern. Here I have made a pattern for fur legwarmers. It is essentially just a quadrilateral but it is also the most intricate pattern I have made so far.
Then you have to pin the patterns on the fabric and cut everything out, trying not to accidentally cut anything you are not supposed to. The cut pattern pieces are then draped all over every possible surface in your home so as to try to keep them in some kind of order so you don’t sew your arm piece onto where the hood piece should go.
And then the fun part….. you are finally ready to sew!! I’m sewing with a machine my Gran gave me years ago. She was an amazing seamstress and while I can’t do the machine justice (or any pattern I attempt for that matter), I think she would be happy to know that it still makes all of our Halloween costumes every year. My skill might even be improving!
The biggest annoyance when creating with faux fur is getting flyaway hairy bits in your mouth! So here are a few tips and tricks to try to minimize the amount of fur flying around your workspace.
To stop having fur bits flying all over your house when you cut your fabric you need to….
- trace the pattern piece
- don’t cut more than one fur layer at a time
- try to only cut through the back layer and not the pile (which is the fur layer), this requires poking the tip of your scissors into the pile and making tiny cuts
- gently pull pieces apart and the long fur will still be attached right up to the side of your cut (and therefore not flying around your workspace
To sew two pieces together so the long fur doesn’t get trapped into the seam you need to….
- finger comb the fur so it is going into the middle of your cut piece – away from the cut edge, that way when you sew the cut edge the fur won’t get caught
- use pins! Pinning the two pieces together after finger combing the fur into the centre means the fur will be more likely to stay inside your two pieces and not get caught in the seam as you sew.
It is time to get something going with regards to the creation of our Halloween costumes.
My daughter desires to be a fox. For this we will need….
- tail – buy
- ears – buy
- furry legwarmers – make
- furry armwarmers – make
- furry fingerless gloves – make
- furry shorts – make (might be challenging)
- orange shirt – have
- black leggings – have
- black long sleeve shirt – buy
I am going to dress up like a zebra. For this I will need….
- tail – make
- zebra print jacket with hood and mane (ears?) – make
- zebra print legwarmers – make
- zebra print armwarmers – make
- black leggings – have
- black dress – have
I managed to find some great costume fabric.
Supplies still needed…..
- elastic
- how to videos on making legwarmers and shorts
My son is still undecided 🙁 tick tock little buddy
I have always loved Halloween. The lead up to October 31st for me includes finding the perfect pumpkin, carving something spooky into it and roasting the seeds. It includes watching terrifying movies (like 1408 with John Cusack) and of course it involves being inspired to try to make a costume.
One costume that I am particularly proud of….
…the headdress of this costume took forever.
Luckily for me, my kids (and husband) are as into Halloween as I am. Sooooo, that is why I am going to make our Halloween costumes and document them for my free inquiry project.
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