Gryffindor Halloween Costume - Part 2, Scarf & Wand

Gryffindor Scarf 

 This lovely scarf was knitted by Tammy. I asked her to make it 'Evie sized' and she took it from there.

Magic Wand

If you want to make a wand of your own, get a 12 inch or so wooden dowel. You could use Balsa wood, it would be very easy to carve but would be fragile.  I've made a wand before, but I used clay for the handle and I knew that if Evie dropped something like that it would break.

I needed something sturdy so that's why I went with the dowel. I bought some wood carving tools as well and then went at it. It takes a lot of time and patience. I would suggest using gloves to protect your fingers in case you slip.

I carved a flower into the end (though you can't see it well in this picture).

I used 'Mahogony' colored wood stain to make it dark and finished it off with several coats of lacquer.

Surprisingly, Evie clutched onto this thing almost the entire time we were out trick-or-treating. She knows exactly what she's supposed to do with it - poke Mommy in the eye and hit her in the face.

Mermaid Halloween Costume - Part 2, 'Mermaid' Top

For Madeline's top I used McCall's pattern M5732 (fairies) instead of the top that went with the tail for a couple of reasons. First, I was more concerned with modesty than being accurate to what a mermaid is supposed to look like. Secondly, it's October. In Pennsylvania. Hello, it's cold. A halter style top just wasn't going to cut it.

The top has two parts, the undershirt and the vest.

The pattern for the undershirt was actually a mid-thigh length dress. I altered the pattern by cutting the length off to about five or six inches under where the shirt cinches at the waist. I should have added a couple more inches - it's a little short. I would totally make a shirt like this for Madeline's everyday wear, though, because it's super cute(!).

This is the vest:

I made it one size too big....but that means she can wear it for play longer, right? The sequin/bead clusters weren't a part of the original pattern, but the petals at the neck kept flipping upward and Madeline said it wasn't comfortable. So that's how I tacked the petals down.

And they look cool...It also served to tie the look of the top to the tail.

For those of you who want to try sequins, they're really easy! It's just sequin, bead and then back through the sequin hole. Repeat. If you're using seed beads you'll need a beading needle, which are super fine, that you can get at any craft store.

And there you have it! Madeline's mermaid top!


Stay tuned for more!

Gryffindor Halloween Costume - Part 1, Zonko's Bag

Tammy has dubbed this costume 'Evie Potter.'

There will be a time in the not-so-distant future when my baby girl will have an opinion about such things as birthday parties and Halloween costumes. I thought I would strike while we're still in that magical stage of basically doing whatever I tell her to do. Thus, here you have the cutest little Gryffindor, ever.



The only parts I didn't make (or had made) were the shirt ($8 at Old Navy), the shoes (Target hand-me-downs from Madeline), and the black tights (Walmart). So, like with Madeline's costume, I'll be breaking it down into several posts.

My goal this year was to have both the girl's costumes finished by the time we left on our cruise, which was the 1st week or October. And I made it! Except for Madeline's fish bag and barrettes. But, I actually finished Evie's costume first because I was worried about doing the 'hard' part and I wanted to get it out of the way. But more on that later.

Today I'm talking about one of the easier elements which is her treat bag. It says Zonko's on it. For those who aren't familiar with Harry Potter - firstly, have you been living under a rock for the last thirteen years? And secondly, Zonko's is a joke shop in Hogsmeade village.

I wanted it to be bright. Bright stripes, maybe some zigzags. Orange. It took me awhile to find the fabric I wanted and I had to settle for plain old stripes, but they were slanted, so huzzah!

I made this just like you'd make a big tote (I didn't use a tutorial but here's one if you're interested) except I made it toddler sized (I think my fabric dimensions were 9 x 7 or so).



I printed ZONKO's out on a piece of paper and then made the letters super chunky (added 1/4 inch all the way around), then cut them out. Using the cut out letters as patterns, I pinned them on the fabric and cut around them. I top-stitched them on the outer layer of fabric before I assembled the rest of the bag.

And voilà! Evie has a cute little bag to carry around her little wizard treats.

Mermaid Halloween Costume - Part 1, Fish bag

This year for Halloween, my firstborn wanted to be a blue mermaid.



I'm planning to do a post for each step in the process since I did several things for this costume. The first thing I'm going to talk about is her little fish bag.

When I asked Madeline what kind of treat bag she wanted she said 'A fish!', and I'm like 'Really? You don't want something classier than that?'...

She really wanted a fish.... so after thinking about it for a couple of days, I got to work.

I made a fish pattern and then used fabric scraps and sequins left over from her costume. I whipped it together pretty fast. If you've done lined bags before, it's the same concept, just, err, fish shaped. I hand sewed the sequins on after finishing the bag.

The 'eyes' are buttons I got from my grandmother. They're older than I am.

Cake-pop Book Giveaway on twelvemonthsoffun.com

You all know how much I love cake (making it AND eating it) as evidenced by this post, and this one, and this one too, and oh-my-goodness this one.

I've seen this book mentioned around the blogosphere and thought it would be something fun to try, someday. I even got to leaf through it about a month ago when I was over at my friend Becky's house. (I rifle through your cookbooks when I come over - beware!)

Well, it just so happens that she's having a giveaway on her blog, Twelve Months of Fun, for this lovely book and some accessories.

Check it ~~> HERE

And enjoy!

Baby Legwarmers

I guess the trendy thing nowadays is to make your baby look like they've just come from the set of an 80s work-out video... But since I don't wanna pay for something I can clearly make myself, I made a pattern for some baby leg warmers.

I used Serenity (Deborah Norville Collection) sock weight/super fine yarn in Aquamarine.

0-6 month size

Cast on 40 sts, on US size 3 dpns.
Work *k2, p2* rib for 16 rows.
Knit stockinette stitch until the work measures 6" from cast-on edge. Increase 4 sts evenly over the next knitted row (I increased at every 10th stitch); knit 1 row straight; Next row, increase 4 sts evenly again, knit 1 row straight(48 sts). (The block of increases should make up 4 rows total)
Continue in ss until the work measures 7". Increase row (4 sts evenly), knit 1 row; increase 4 again, knit 1 row (56 sts).
Continue in ss until the work measures 8". Increase row (4 sts evenly), knit 1 row; increase 4 again, knit 1 row (64 sts).
**If you need to add length, continue in ss stitch and do increases every inch as needed**
End with *k2, p2* rib for 16 rows. Cast-off loosely and weave in all ends.

The ones I made are clearly too short for my baby at this point (I started these a couple months ago). Plus, he has super fat thighs (which I tried to compensate for with the increases). He's almost 7 months and in the 90th percentile for height, so these are now much more like calf-warmers. He had a lot of fun chewing on them.

Laptop Sleeve

I whipped this up back in April. I did consult a tutorial I found online but I can't remember which one it was. Oh well, I didn't follow the instructions exactly anyway!

Here's my wee laptop....



And my spiffy sleeve sans the laptop. You may recognize the pattern of the fabric...I used the same for my sister's knitting needle roll.



Spiffy buttons (this was my second attempt at attaching buttons to a project and they turned out perfect this time - YAY!):



With the laptop inside - you can see the quilting I did on the inside of the flap.



Baby proof:



I also made an easy little bag for my cords and mouse but I'll save that for another day.