Good morning! What a weekend. K seems to have recovered nicely and it’s been a bonanza of parties: a school Halloween-fest, an extra special birthday celebration with her best friend, a grown-up dinner party at a delicious Moroccan restaurant that I joined at the last minute (I could have done without the belly dancer writhing in my face and the water accidentally poured down my lap, but it was fun nonetheless). I also worked on updating this here blog, and though a few nit-picky aspects are still not working quite right, things are looking up. The spam issue has been resolved and I feel as though I’ve gained years of my time back. I also changed the look of the blog a little – nothing dramatic, but it’s even cleaner and simpler! I like.
Yes, I know that I was supposed to be making an owl costume, but I had forgotten to take into account the Halloween-fest at school on Saturday, so I had to whip up this quick little witch number the day of. There were approximately five hundred other witches at the party, and K’s costume was by far the most subdued…but I like to consider it chic.
Though I loosely based the dress on the knit hoodie dress I made a little while ago, this one is pretty much entirely self-drafted. The fabric is your basic jersey knit (though a touch slinkier than 100% cotton jersey, maybe?), and I’ve had it in my stash for years. She was very specific about the dress being plain black with jewels somewhere, so I found a few onyx beads and hand-stitched them on lightning fast:
I seem to have a resistance about making Halloween costumes even though it’s what spurred my sewing obsession. I think it’s because they’re often one-time only outfits, and I find that a bit wasteful. It’s one of the big reasons I made the dress so simple – it can be worn over and over again, long past Hallow’s Eve. Having said that, K is still expecting an owl costume for this Thursday, so I will have to wrack my brains to make it multi-purpose.
For warmth’s sake and to add a little more sparkle, I also sewed up this sweater knit cardigan. This stuff is tricky to work with and sheds like crazy. Fluffy black and silver tufts were all over my sewing space, and I remembered why it was so unpleasant to make this bolero out of the same fabric many moon ago. The cardi pattern is from this book, and I left out the buttons since that seemed to be asking for trouble.
K is besotted with the ensemble. And for a last-minute costume, I’m pretty happy with it too. And whoa, we stepped outside of our house! K requested an outdoor photoshoot, so we walked ten feet to our backyard.
Did you have a good KCW week if you participated? I floundered quite a bit, but I’m pleased with the few items I was able to sew. Low expectations are the key to happiness, it seems…
Oh, and Niki, who won my fabric giveaway sent me a link to her post that shows what she did with the fabrics. So fun! I love seeing what people make with my giveaway fabrics!
Man, your adult dinner parties sound a lot more exciting than mine:) Glad it was a fun weekend and that K is on the mend again – may it be for good this time!
Kudos on making a costume that K is delighted to wear, but that can also be used post-Halloween! That takes creativity and a good eye for editing, which of course we know you have in spades.
Happy that you were able to resolve your computer spam issues and give the blog a little facelift along the way:) Love the clean look.
The dinner was more like a comedy of errors (I failed to mention that when I sat down on a pouf at the extremely low table, I stumbled and almost toppled the entire table and wine glasses, etc. Oy). So far K seems to be better for real this time. She had a couple of friends over after school and was the picture of health so I think I can relax a little. So glad you like the new blog look! Again, technical difficulties made it hard for me to make it truly customized, but it’s getting there…:-)
I like the new outfit for your blog! Glad to hear you could solve the spam problem, that must have been awful. Your little witch is indeed very chic and french looking and reminds me a bit of Helena Bonham Carter. I also made a witch skirt this weekend with the remnants of a black silk kimono. It is not so easy to find halloween costumes that are not too scary or totally over the top. I like that you made it so it can be worn again. Looking forward to your owl! Have a great week!
The spam was so out of control Ute…it’s a testament to how unsavvy I am with technical matters. Ooh, your witch skirt sounds fab! Black silk kimono?? Where did you score that?
This is such a fashionable costume! I’ve never sewn costumes for anybody else, but I’ve felt the same resistance to putting too much into my own. My strategy this year is making a top and bottom that come together as a costume but might be usable on their own – we’ll see!
And I think I’ve been to that Moroccan restaurant before…
Smart move, Morgan! I’m thinking of making K’s owl costume separates that can be worn as regular clothes with an owl-feathers bib…I wonder if that would be too much work? And was the restaurant Marrakesh? It was so good! I haven’t been in eons, but every time I go, a belly dancer likes to stick her gyrating tummy in front of my face while I’m in the middle of a sentence. Quite awkward…:-)
It was Marrakesh! I agree, it’s super tasty and slightly awkward.
I like lots the changes you made to the blog! and the outfit, spot on! very chic and totally wearable after the Halloween season. I was asked for a witch outfit too, but you know I’m not in a very creative moment then I just made a violet-black tutu and matched with some black stocking and jumper, felt very lazy, but she has used for some parties and hopefully for her Birthday…she is a Halloween baby!. x
Oh, that sounds lovely, Maria! And Miss V is definitely getting a lot of use out of it, it sounds like, which I’m all for! 🙂
That witch is so chic! It’s so hard to come up with costumes that aren’t tacky and crazy but satisfy a little girl. I’m probably going to be dry-heaving at my daughter’s school party today after seeing 1,001 Disney princesses. Of course, my daughter is going as a pink Disney character too, but at least it’s a girl pirate. Sigh. Anyway, I love this costume, and I’m all for the subdued look. 🙂 And thank you for the shout out on my spooky skirt! I have now also made them for two nieces and a neighbor girl, and I still have a good amount of scraps left over for something small and spooky. Such fun fabric. Thanks again!!!
Oh hooray, so glad you’re getting use out of the fabric and thank you for the costume love. It’s a good, solid staple 🙂