Tree pants are (mostly) complete! Also, a few clips.

The people running the sew-along added another week to finish the project as I think it was taking people longer than they had originally planned.  I know with all the stuff I had going on that I definitely needed more time.  Unfortunately I had a number of problems finishing it, so I'll need even more time.  I'm planning on putting it and the sewing machine away for a couple of weeks so that I can catch up on other things.

The other good news is that the Halloween costumes are mostly finished.  Dan isn't sure yet how he wants to finish his costume, so I won't post photos until everything and everyone is ready to go.  And then I'll probably post a lot about it. :D

Anyway, here are some photos of the tree pants.

I clearly had issues with the binding which, for the first time, I made rather than purchased.  I couldn't sew it on evenly so will have to remove the whole thing and start over.  I'n not in a hurry to do that but as long as I get it done by the time we put up our tree, I'm happy.

I was also asked by a couple of friends to make some hairclips, which I was very happy to do.  Frankly, I miss clip making and hope to get back to it this weekend. 

Tree Pants, Week 1

Yesterday I managed to make five of these before the sewing machine told me to f- off and leave it alone.  Hopefully I can finish the last three tonight.

Today I was working on dying Lauren's wig and hopefully tonight I'll also be able to finish a couple of bows requested by a friend.

BUSY!

Sew Along - Tree Pants

Yesterday I was able to finally cut the fabric for the sew along.  Well, most of it anyway.  I decided on these fabrics:

The red is the main fabric, the leaves will be the stars and the stripes are for the back.  Seriously worried about using a stripe pattern, but we'll see how it goes.  Worst case, it can be well hidden. :)

I have some squares pinned and will (hopefully) start sewing today.  I need to have all the blocks done for the next assignment on Friday.  I can't afford to get behind with Lauren's birthday celebrations this weekend and all the costume stuff I'm still working on.

Oh, and I learned the hard way why you shouldn't open your rotary cutter until the moment you need it.  Ouch.

Tulle Halloween wreath

Here's one of the projects I've been working on. The idea came from here.  I ended up using tulle by the yard because it was on sale last week for about $1/yd (I ended up using the shiny tulle).  For the record, I greatly preferred the tulle from Hobby Lobby over that at JoAnn.  Unfortunately I didn't know how much tulle to get as the directions indicated rolls, so I ended up having to make three more trips to the store.  I think in the end I used about two yards of orange and six yards of black.  The wreath cost about $10 to make and would have been complete in an evening if I didn't have to keep pausing for more tulle. :)

Oh, and here's a handy tutorial on cutting tulle.

Clearly I'm a little wreath obsessed at the moment. I have another waiting in the wings to tell you about, it's just waiting for a finishing touch.

Ahh!! Projects!!

I had meant to write a lot more before now, and more often, but I suddenly found myself inundated with projects.  I started the week working on a binding project that I had meant to do about a year ago.  I also had to finish a couple other projects including a Halloween wreath, a Christmas wreath, and posting tutorials on a couple things like making custom buttons with fabric.  Oh, and work on a few more hair clips.  The binding project never made it past Monday, and I've been working periodically on the other items as the week progressed.  I knew that starting today I would be working on my tree skirt sew-along and that was going to make me crazy busy.  And then the kids (and Dan) hit me with their costume choices for Halloween this year.  They would like to be characters from Adventure Time: Lauren = Princess Bubblegum, Dan = The Ice King, Clark = Finn.  None of these have existing costumes so I will be putting them together.  That has me in a little bit of a panic, but two very long days of trips to many, many stores is at least making it seem doable.  I'll post pictures of my progress as I work on all of these projects.

Oh, and I failed to mention I have Lauren's birthday in a week.    I might have bitten off a little more than I could chew.

An update to the fall wreath

As previously posted, I had worked on a new fall wreath and ended up with this:

It was missing something.  As much as I loved the sparkly colored beads and pumpkin, they couldn't pull it off completely.  So, I spent about five more dollars and ended up with this:  

Much better.

And now I seem to have wreath-making fever as I've already made one for Christmas (and will make another one!), and am planning on a Halloween wreath.  I'll post about them when they're complete.

Sew-Along project - Tree Skirt

I've been aware of sew-alongs but never felt like I could possibly be a part of them.  The other day I came across one for a tree skirt with a very cool giveaway.  This one I think I can at least attempt, and I have always wanted to make a tree skirt!

The giveaway is for some fabric called Happy Mochi Yum Yum, which is GORGEOUS!  Hopefully it's a giveaway based on those who participated and not on quality of the finished project, so then I have a chance! :)

I'll keep track of how I'm doing on  here.