Cowabunga!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action!

 Have you ever realized that you really had no idea what was going on when you were kid?

I learned way more google-ing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than I ever actually knew the from the first time I watched them.  Was I the only one that didn't know that Raphael was the 'bad/angry/rebellious' one?

It was kind of like watching Grease for the first time again as an adult.

Totally did not get what was going on there either.

In any case, I don't think B knows that either; he just likes the red one.

The Details:

Pattern: McCall's 6417

Fabric: kelly green and tea green Kona cotton, 

khaki twill scraps, red cotton flannel scraps, and dark green sateen scraps, all from stash

Notions: 14" zipper, 3/4" elastic for waistband, cardboard circle and quilt batting scraps for shell

Notes: 

On this version, I put the entire side fronts together and inserted the zipper flat, rather than wait and follow the instructions as written.  Those belly shell panels overlap the waist seam, so there really wasn't a way to do that as written.  Inserting the elastic after the fact really wasn't hard, so I think I would go this route again should I need another zippered jumpsuit anytime soon.  (?)  

The shell IS currently attached with safety pins, and I know that's not very classy, but for practical purposes, we really need a removable shell, especially for Ninja Turtles who ride in carseats.  Honestly, I struggle with getting puffy coats buckled in there, let alone an additional endoskeleton.   I did try to take the cheater route with stick on velcro, but that didn't really work for very long, and a ninja turtle really can't be spending every 10 minutes reattaching his shell.  Cuts down on crime fighting, you know.

We're ready to fight crime and take candy, too.

So, our pumpkin is carved, our costumes are ready, and all systems are go for a night of spooky haunts and all manners of tricks and treats.

Happy Halloween!

Fernando Alonso

So, Fernando Alonso is kind of a big deal in our house.  

A) He's a racecar driver, B) he drives a Ferrari, and c) uh, we like Ferraris.  

Naturally.

So when E outgrew last year's Tony Kanaan costume, and he told me he wanted to be Fernando Alonso this year for Halloween, what's a mom to do other than make that happen?  Should I mention here that his first grade teacher and I had a whole discussion about his plans to be a Formula 1 race car driver when he grows up?  I blame his father.

Earlier this summer at a Rolex race with Dad.

I will pose for exactly one picture, and that's it, Mom. I mean it.

Every driver needs to acknowledge their sponsors.

 Fine, you can take a picture of the back.  But then I'm going in.

The Details:

Pattern: McCall's 6417

Fabric: Red Kona Cotton for suit; leftover white cotton scraps for sleeve stripes and sponsor patches

Notions: 18" zipper from stash, 3/4" wide elastic, iron-on transfer paper

Notes:

First of all, McCall's has this pattern listed as 'easy'.  How do they choose difficulty levels? The cape included in the pattern was probably easy, but this pattern envelope includes a hat, 4 different variations of a zippered jump-suit, a vest, and boot covers. While I didn't find this hard, I definitely wouldn't give it to a beginner, which I find odd, because wouldn't beginner sewers (sewists?) think a costume could be easy?  The way the directions instruct you to put this together, you're putting the zipper in LAST, after sewing everything else together...not easy.  For my second version, I put the front zipper in flat, which was much easier and looked much nicer.

Second, on the sponsor patches, I just googled Fernando's sponsors, and copied and pasted the logos into Microsoft Paint.  I know that's not particularly savvy, but I needed something easy that would invert the picture horizontally.  The writing needs to be mirrored so it will transfer correctly when its ironed on.  I then then ironed it onto scraps, which were then appliqued onto the flat pattern pieces.

  

Waiting for our hot chocolate after the parade.

Finally, heartbreak city: we wore our costumes already to E's school's Haunt the Halls, and again to our town parade on Saturday morning.  After enjoying hot chocolate, I threw everything in the washing machine.  FORESHADOWING ALERT:

The red on the sponsor patches bled.

.

.

.

(whispered expletives deleted)

  

photo source: mingle.kansascity.com

So, although I considered myself finished, I spent last night picking off the worst of the patches, re-printed them on my remaining transfer paper, and reattached new patches in the same spot.  Let me say, it was much easier done when all the pieces were flat.

But he's worth it.  

And with that, I'm done.

Sewing for Others

I've been silent lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been sewing.

I will be the first to say that I don't often sew for others.  Sometimes, though, it's a lot of fun.  Especially when you get new tools to try out.

After the initial top I made for my mom, she asked for another one, in black, for an upcoming trip.  She liked the cowl neckline, but asked for a couple of changes--namely, the armscye needed to be raised.  

Honestly, no one wants to flash bra band in the armhole.

So why isn't this shirt black, you're asking?  2 reasons: 

1.  Black is boring classic, but it doesn't photograph well.  

Read: I forgot to take a picture of it.  

2.  I talked her into this fabulous raspberry color, too.  

And, I added short sleeves to this one.

And the new tools?

Well, I bought myself a coverstitch machine.

It's AMAZING.

The hemming of the sleeves and body was lickety-split quick, and the neckline is just incredible.  My double needle never looked so nice, even with all the additional time spent adjusting the tension on the bobbin case.

After reading Andrea's review of her's, here, and Sunny's post about her's here, I hemmed and hawed, and hemmed and hawed, and talked myself into.  I justified it in every possible way, and it is a luxury purchase, but I'm really happy I finally did.  If you need justification, too, let me know, and I'll get you going, too.

Long story short, my husband said yes, my local sewing store worked with me, and I decided to go with the Janome Coverpro 1000cpx.  It has 3 needles vs the 900cpx, which has 2. 

But, before you think me too selfless, I did actually run-through the sleeve changes on this one first:

Details:

Pattern: Maria Denmark Day-to-Night Drape top + Renfrew sleeves (minus bands)

Fabric: black (not pictured) and raspberry modal; polka dot bamboo knit; 1 yard each, all from Hart's Fabric

Notions: clear elastic to stabilize the back neckline

Time to complete: an evening for each, a month to blog about it

And because I like the coverstitch so much, I've got a stack of knits waiting to be made into t-shirts.

Especially now that my Halloween sewing is done.  

(I may have a slight turqouise problem.)

Exit Signs Shirt

My youngest son has already christened this the "Exit Signs Shirt".  He was playing in the button box while I was sewing this morning, and asked whose exit sign shirt I was making.  I guess the design looks like exit signs.  I'm down with that; I like exit signs.

I've been overthinking this shirt all week, and on Thursday, I got tired of thinking about it, and just jumped in. The body is from Simplicity 2060, but the sleeves are stolen straight from 2211, minus the sleeve band.  I've made a couple of shirts from the Itinerary dress pattern, and I don't like those sleeves.  For some reason, they just bug me--either I've set them in wrong each time, or they needed some alteration--they're fine when my arms are hanging loose, but any sort of movement and the whole yoke slides up.  And this was even after sewing the seam with a narrow allowance for a little more ease. ( I'm open to suggestions here if you've got 'em.)  Rather than dinking with bicep alteration, I just pirated the sleeves from the Market blouse, again minus the sleeve bands because they are ridiculously narrow.  My biceps lift children and cast-iron cookware; I don't know whose arms these are drafted for.  I would like to be able to say I took careful consideration to compare the cap heights and seam lines, but no, I just gathered the top as needed to fit the hole.  And we have functional arm-movement!  Hooray!

The armscye still may need to be dropped a smidge, but this works for now.

The buttons are from my inherited stash--they are Sears brand, and there were only 3 of the 4 remaining on the card.  They're 5/8" vs the 1/2" listed on the pattern, but really, what's an 1/8 of an inch between friends? Also, I would've sworn these buttons were red on the card, but they look like a pretty dead-on match for the fuschia/magenta/dark pinky-purple of the blouse.

Let's all just agree to not notice the first button hole is stitched twice, and the other two, not so much.

The fabic is Tina Givens voile, and it is soft and light.  I also bought this in a pale turquoise colorway, so I could actually have this exact shirt in two different colors...although that may be too much, even for me.

Anyway, easy sewing, easy shirt, short weekend, and I'm already plotting out the next 4 projects. : )