Blue Chevron Baby Blanket

Things have been quiet around this blog lately - but not because I've been idle!  I've spent the past month and a half working on a very special gift for my sister-in-law's baby-boy-to-be, who will be debuting this February.  His mom lives way up North, so I figured she could use something to keep her and baby warm until the snow melts or they move back South - whichever happens first.

A special bundle for the bundle of joy

I've been getting better at crochet after I cut my teeth on my other nephew's crochet blanket this past summer and I really wanted to try a new pattern.  I absolutely LOVE crocheting patterns (once I get the hang of them, of course) because I can count much more easily.  For example, this pattern required me to crochet 11 single crochet, do something special, then crochet 11 single crochet, etc.  It's much easier than trying to keep count of all 225 stitches in each row!  Not to mention, crochet stitches look so pretty when done in a pattern.  I was really amazed at how easy the chevron pattern was.

Star Trek Costumes and Dragon*Con progress!

I haven't posted in a while because I've been stuck in this awkward phase wherein I have a lot of projects in progress but very few actually completed.  My latest "completed" project was the two Star Trek costumes I made for husband and myself for the movie premiere of Star Trek Beyond the last week in July.  And wow, what a headache these two costumes turned out to be.

He was on board with the idea until I told him he had to wear it in public

You all may remember my fabric dyeing woes from June.  I had the absolute worst time selecting fabric for these costumes.  Aside from the fact that the colors used in the official costumes were kind of a strange, dark teal rather than true blue, the shiny pattern on the fabric was impossible to replicate.  So I gave in, decided that if one of us had a red costume and the other one had a blue costume we would at least look like Star Trek, even if they weren't the official colors.  So we did that.  I ordered the same kind of adamantium god-awful fabric in true blue and true red, and they look fine.  Really, fine.  I was no longer Carol Marcus, but I could be generic Red Shirt Lady #3.

The second problems came from the sewing patterns.  They were both "Learn to Sew" easy things, yet somehow the sizing was completely off.  I used this pattern for husband's shirt, and I guess because it was supposed to be for pajamas or gorillas his shirt came out easily 3x too big.  I spent most of my first evening of sewing cutting down the sleeves and then having poor husband try it on again.  I used this pattern for my dress, and even though I measured myself pretty carefully I also ended up taking in about six inches of excess fabric on the side!  I suppose I should be happy I didn't accidentally make it too small, but geez.

The Fabric from Hell, not to be undone, also did its best to be unhelpful in the utmost.  Since it's incredibly stretchy, anything other than sewing it to itself became a problem.  When I went to sew on the metallic ribbon, the fabric stretched out horribly as it attached to the ribbon, creating weird waves.  The same problem happened when I tried to finish the neckline with bias tape on both costumes.  You can see it especially well on my costume in the picture above.  Having researched the problem, I believe I need an even feed sewing machine foot, or a "walking foot" that keeps the fabric from stretching unevenly as you sew.  Next time... next time...

Hahaha then there was that time I tried to make a turtleneck without a pattern and I realized that no matter what you do, the thread it requires to sew a seam around your neck and lie flat will always be too small for your head.  Duh.  So I remain mystified as to how turtlenecks can stretch over your head and then lie snug against your neck.  I suspect magic, or elastic thread, if that's such a thing.  I ended up buying the cheapest black turtlenecks available on Amazon and then cutting off the sleeves.  So as my husband says, "Redneck Steve Jobs".

In the mean time, I am trying to spruce these costumes up for Dragon*Con, which is only a little more than a week away!  I'm removing the bias tape from the neckline and just putting in a simple band of the same fabric.  Hopefully that will work.

Stay tuned for my Rey costume progress!

Yes, I've actually gotten farther along than this

I'm Dyeing Over Here

My latest costuming adventure has turned into something of a headache, and not only because chemistry was involved.

Testing the dye.  Turns out the wine was mandatory.

So since my last post I have a spent some time plotting out my next costumes because there is a finite amount of time between now (first week of July) and Dragon*Con (first week of September) and realistically this signals the end of the costuming season.  True, if I wanted to start another costume after that point I could use it for Halloween, but since there are no predictable events requiring a costume between November 2016 and September 2017, I can foresee a lull in the costume-making business.  I mean, I could try to plan ahead for next Dragon*Con but a) I don't know what will be relevant next year (after all - they already changed the stupid Star Trek uniforms yet again!) and b) maybe I'll be a different (hopefully smaller) size by then.  So really not useful to plan ahead too far.

With that in mind and given my erratic costume making schedule, I budgeted out two more costumes I could make in time for the convention, which gives them each one month to make.  I decided to try to make a Star Trek costume first because I could wear it to Dragon*Con as well as the premiere of the new movie on July 22nd.  There was also this amazing moment about two weeks ago when I was browsing McCall's patterns online and found out that they not only had a Rey costume pattern from Star Wars, but that the entire site was having a $2 pattern sale.  Um, sounds like destiny to me.  As a bonus, I could wear that costume to the next Star Wars movie premiere if we end up going.

Awesome, so first up is the Star Trek costume that will hopefully be ready by July 23rd.

Outlander White Dress - Complete!

Huzzah!

Mom came through two times last month on either side of her visit with New Nephew, and her encouragement gave me the strength I needed to finally work on my Outlander White Dress costume I started over a month ago.

Ignore the clompy shoes -- borrowed husband's until I can find the right pair

With her help, I finished the dress in about two days (not counting the day I spent cutting out the pieces earlier) and the shawl in one evening.

Purple Woven Wall Hanging

A few months ago, I started a new job and got my own office for the first time in my life.  I wasted no time decorating the space behind my desk so that when people walked in I would be framed by colorful clutter artfully eclectic decorations.  However the space directly across from my desk, which no one sees but me, is completely blank but for a retro wall clock I found in the supply room.  The cinderblock wall even has a screw installed in it, just waiting for something to hang on it.

I already had some posters and picture frames in my office and I was craving something a little different to put there.  Something 3-dimensional with a bit of texture.  Then I remembered a girl on my Facebook list who made these textile wall hangings (Shout out to Rachel, not even sure if you read my page, but if you do, thanks for the inspiration!).  I always wondered exactly how she made these things or where she even got the ideas for them.  I decided I wanted to learn about it and try to make one on my own.

It's supposed to look like that, I promise.

Rainbow Crochet Baby Blanket for New Nephew

My brand new nephew is here!  And I couldn't wait to practice my newly-learned crochet pattern, the V-Stitch, on a new blanket for him.

The art of "Procraftinating"

Update:  My Latin-speaking husband has recommended I use the term "Procraftinating" as opposed to "Craftcrastinating" because it actually makes sense.  Suggestion taken under advisement.

OK, I'm not totally to blame for not working on my Outlander costume anymore this week.  I did have to wait for the jersey needle to come in (though I could have just driven to the store to purchase it instead...).  However, mostly I'm nervous to start the costume because I'm afraid it will be too difficult and I will mess up and then I will be sad.

But that's OK - I'm apparently at my most productive when I'm procrastinating.  Or in this case, "Procraftinating".

First up, I spent an entire evening assembling this gorgeous beast.

Note the multiple stacks of as-yet unused fabric

The dimensions are slightly smaller than I thought they would be, but I am able to store most of my crafting supplies in here.  I have a section for sewing, crochet, coloring/drawing, and even my old scrapbooking stuff from back before I figured out that making digital photobooks and then printing them was way, way easier.  Hopefully now that I can see all my stuff I'll be more likely to use it!

Crochet Cowl - Another Outlander Inspiration

While I'm waiting on the special sewing machine needle to come in the mail so I can finish my Outlander dress, I decided to occupy my time with some other crafts!

Outlander has apparently caused quite a stir in the crochet and knitting community because of its plethora of fabulous cowls, wraps, etc.  As such, there has been an explosion of copy-cat patterns emerging online.  Learning to properly crochet has been on my crafting to-do list ever since a few friends and I decided to pick it up together a few months ago.  I understand how to do the various stitches, but following patterns has been the bane of my existence.  I have been trying and failing at a shell pattern scarf over the past month, and so decided to take myself back to Crochet 101 and follow an Outlander pattern I found online.

Outlander Costume - Planning and Preparing Stages

While I have a million costume ideas in mind, I decided to try something simple first that would easily be recognizable for what it was without having to add too much detail.  Lately I have been fawning over the show Outlander - which, for those of you not in the know, is a show based on the epic series by Diana Gabaldon about a woman from the 1940s who goes back in time to Scotland in the 1700s.  So while I would love to make (some day!) one of the main character's gorgeous 18th century gowns, I thought I'd try first the simple white dress she's wearing when she's transported back in time.

Here are some screenshots from the show.

Claire Randall, pre-time travel 

Very first costume attempt - inspired by the show Vikings

Let me first backtrack and explain my history with sewing costumes or clothes.

Last Halloween was really my first attempt at sewing anything that wasn't a lopsided curtain or pillowcase.  I understand the general idea of using the sewing machine for making seams, so I figured I was ready to take my skills to the next level and attempt to make a costume.

Definitely a logical conclusion, right?

So I was pretty obsessed with the show Vikings at the time, particularly with the show's leading female character Lagertha, a shield maiden who proves that being feminine and being a complete badass are not mutually exclusive, and everything looks better when you do it in eyeliner and chainmail.

Halloween was around the corner, and I thought it would be fun if I could cobble together a costume that though it maybe didn't look exactly like one of Lagertha's costumes, it would at least suggest the general idea of being a Viking.  Here is what I came up with - you be the judge of how "period accurate" it really is.

Viking-inspired Costume, Halloween 2015

Why am I starting this blog?

Sort of an existential question, but sometimes the universe sends you an undeniable sign.

Hancock Fabrics was set to close all of its stores nationwide, and as a result my local store was putting everything on FIRE SALE at 50%-80% off.

It.  was.  BONKERS.

So I innocently went in, thinking I'd pick up some costume patterns for next year's Halloween or maybe even Dragon*Con, to which we'd already bought tickets.  I was floored by the prices - patterns that normally cost $17 were on sale for $2.50.  I couldn't help myself and I bought six patterns of costumes I *might* consider making over the next couple of years.

Two days later, I'd taken a look at the patterns and plotted out what kind of fabric requirements they would each require.  Would I really be able to afford all that fabric?  Would the store even have any left?  So I went back to the store that evening with some "preferred" fabric types and the amounts needed.  I also had in the back of my mind this DIY Woven Wall Hanging project I'd seen online a few weeks ago and thought I might pick some yarn for it as well.

TWO HOURS LATER.

My haul

I now had a total of TWELVE patterns, five skeins of fancy yarn, and enough fabric to get me started on 4-5 costumes.  All in all it cost me about $150, which is definitely more than I walked in trying to spend, however I saved almost $300.  The most expensive fabric I bought was discounted to $4.50 a yard, which puts even my favorite bargain table finds to shame!

So my plan is to really make the most of this fortuitous event and actually, you know, learn to sew properly.  Since my first costume experiment, described in the next post, I have taken a sewing machine basics class that explained to me exactly why my needle kept bending or my thread kept getting tangled - hooray!  I have also been watching some excellent sewing tutorials online and planning out the notions, interfacing, and other supplies I will need before I actually get started.  My hope is to document my sewing (and other crafting) projects on this blog to keep me motivated!  

The goal for this year is modest:  complete one costume to wear at Dragon*Con this year that will not embarrass me.

Let the crafting begin :)