Trick or Treat!

Halloween is coming up and that means it's costume time!  I was never into Halloween until I had Logan and Simone.  When I was a kid, I would put on overalls and say that I was a farmer.  Now, I love putting together costumes for the kiddos.

For the last 3 years, My dear friend, Amy, helped me put together Logan's costumes (i.e. she did most of the work!)  The costumes were pretty much the same - fleece hoodie and pants.  For the pattern, I just traced a pair of his pants and a hoodie to get the right size.  

Logan was Elmo in 2012.  The eyes and nose were styrofoam balls and we attached them to the hood with velcro.  I thought he really looked like Elmo when he was picking up candy :)

He was in his dinosaur phase in 2013 and here he is as a T-Rex.  We added a stuffed tail and also used styrofoam balls for the eyes.  We used felt for the teeth and claws.

Last year, he wanted to be Turbo the snail.  We used a headband and styrofoam balls for the eyes and wrapped it in orange felt.  We painted an old diaper box for the shell and duct taped it together.  I also added a glow in the dark necklace for the spiral.

This will be the first year that I'm making both of the kids' costumes and I'm really excited!  

Boy's Vest

We went to a dear friend's wedding this summer and it was a rare treat for all of us to get dressed up!  Logan hates dressing up and his nice clothes are only worn for family pictures and holidays.  I decided to spiff up his regular button down and blue slacks and made him a vest, bow tie, and pocket square.  I used about 1/2 yard of suiting fabric for the vest.  For the bow tie and pocket square, I used fabric that I already had.

I didn't have time to add a clip for the bow tie, so I just safety pinned the bow tie on his shirt.  It was little crooked, but it works.

I loved how he looked and loved that he kept his vest/tie on the whole time!

Summer Belle Dress

Simone loves Beauty and the Beast and, unsurprisingly, her favorite color is yellow.  When I take her to Joann's, she always requests to look at the Princess fabric, Hello Kitty fabric, and yellow fabric.  I happen to find a cute yellow fabric in the remnants bin and made a simple summer dress, which Simone affectionately calls her "Belle dress."  I wanted to experiment with bias tape, ruffles, and pleats, so I worked them into the dress.  It definitely looks homemade but I'm glad Simone it!  I'm hoping she can wear this as a tunic next year since I didn't put in a distinct bodice.

Here's a look at the details in the front.  I need to spend more time working with bias tape.

The back also had 2 pleats