Tag: halloween

A Double-sided Halloween Pillow

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When I joined the Snarky and Modern Facebook Group for the RBG Stitch Along, I found out that there was also an embroidery stitch along happening at the same time. I’ve been wanting to do more embroidery, so I decided to pick this one up as well. Here is the finished result:

As the opposite side of a scrap-stuffed pillow with this piece designed by 8.Bit.Stitch that I stitched last year:

I wasn’t entirely certain what I was going to do when I started, but luckily I made it on a large enough bit of fabric that it fit perfectly with the cross stitched piece I had finished a year earlier. It was a great way to work on some stitches I needed to practice, like French knots.

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Week 1 of the #SnarkySAL done! I have no real plan for the color scheme other than I’m not exactly following the original one. But this is my favorite looking mushroom colors, so that’s what I went with. Also, the shininess of the Sulky makes it a little difficult on the dark fabric with the light coming from behind me, but I made it work. Image description: A trio of embroidered mushrooms with cream colored whipped back stitch outlined stems and red satin stitched caps with three white French knots each in the bottom corners of the caps. The background is purple canvas and has slightly shiny stabilizer over the top with black outlines of the pattern on it. #Embroidery #Mushrooms #DIY #Sewing #HandEmbroidery #HandSewing #Halloween #Purple

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I think I can finally say I’ve got the hang of the French knot after not being able to do them consistently ever.

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Saturdays are for this #SnarkySAL. And the other one I’m doing. And some knitting. And some errands. Anyway, did the vines and leaves today, though I used a different stitch for the leaves than the one that is called for and can’t seem to find in my stitch dictionary to tell you the name of. Image description: A white embroidery hoop is holding purple fabric and a shiny stabilizer with a black outline of the pattern drawn on it. There are mushrooms with tan stems and red tops embroidered in the bottom center, and a green vine with leaves following he curve of the circle up each side, also in the lower half of the hoop. #Embroidery #Mushrooms #Vines #HandEmbroidery #HandSewing #DIY #Halloween #WIP

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I really like the way it turned out on the dark purple, even if it was difficult to see the lines on the water soluble stabilizer. Though some of that difficulty may have stemmed from the fact I didn’t have the printable type and instead had to use some from a roll I had laying around. I don’t think it was meant to be used for pattern transfers.

It worked, though. I printed the pattern on paper, originally intending to trace it directly onto the fabric with a water-removable fabric pen, but I couldn’t see the pattern through the fabric even on my lightbox’s highest setting. The clear stabilizer worked with the pattern traced in a micron pen. No marks were left once I washed it away, so it can work in a pinch if you happen to have it on hand.

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Making a Peanut

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This year I had a request to turn the smallest (and I really mean smallest, as he was only barely three months old for Halloween) into a peanut for Halloween. Ever up to the challenge, I said yes immediately and then began searching for a pattern.

Did you know there aren’t any peanut costume patterns out there? At least not any good infant ones that I could find. So I looked at the above picture of a previously available costume (which I found on a webpage about creating a Mr. Hankey costume for an infant. The Internet is a truly strange and wonderful place.) and the below pattern and set about making a costume.
Since the little dude is still quite little and this was a blanket pattern, I used the back of the three-month size as a base. I divided it into four columns and then two-inch rows, cutting armholes and drawing a circle for the face.

I cut everything double, and then went back and cut just the front pieces for the face hole. I sewed the columns, then sewed those together around, leaving the front for a zipper to make it easy to get into and out of.

I lined it in muslin and stuffed it a slight bit at the top and bottom, to give it more of a rounded peanut look.

I cut a two inch strip width-wise and the single strip managed to finish off all three holes, single fold.

Then it was on to the zipper. Fleece and zippers don’t mix easily, but I got it in there. Mostly.

The best part is, it fit!

Quick DIY Spider Costume

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Halloween is five days away. If you still need a costume for yourself or a little one, here is my formula for a quick, DIY spider costume. Unfortunately, I didn’t take process pictures, but this seriously went so quickly that I didn’t think about it beforehand.

Materials:

  • Correctly sized T-shirt
  • Long-sleeved shirt that is two-three sizes larger
  • Socks the length of your arms
  • Thread
  • Stuffing
  • Felt (optional)
  • Serger (optional)

Instructions

  1. Serge (or hand-stitch) hems of t-shirt and long-sleeved shirt, making sure the inner shirt is against the right side of the outer shirt. I did right sides together, so the inside of the costume is the outside of the t-shirt. It was unintentional, but it works well if you have shirts with tags to sandwich the tags.
  2. Flip the shirts so the long-sleeved one is on the inside, and whip-stitch the two together at shoulder and under-arm to hold in place.
  3. Stuff between the shirts to create a puffy middle. Hand-stitch the collars of the shirts together, stretching the smaller collar to match the size of the larger collar.
  4. Stuff the socks so they match the length of your arms, or the length you want them to reach. I used a Soffe big boys’ small long-sleeved shirt and Hanes womens’ size 5-9 crew socks and the lengths matched perfectly. If you are making an adult size, you may either need knee-length socks or cut one sock off at the toes and sew it to another sock to get the right length.
  5. Hand-stitch the socks to the sides of the outer shirt, spacing them evenly down the sides.
  6. Take a length of thread, doubled, to connect the arms and tie a knot at the bottom. String through or sew to a small square of felt, or you can sew it to the under side of the bottom sock-arm. Thread it through the first sock, and repeat the process (leaving some space between arms, however much you feel lets it hang appropriately) with the second sock-arm and the underarm seam of the long-sleeve shirt (placing the felt inside the arm if you are using that method). Do this at the middle and end of each side (more places if you are doing a bigger size).

    7. That’s all there is to it. Add some black pants, perhaps a black hat (I’m making one with red felt eyes) and you are a spider.