Baby Sock Monkey Costume

For Halloween last year, Hero wanted to be a Power Ranger. I borrowed that costume from my mom's old stash. Easy!

Pretty didn't have a strong opinion, so I just asked my sister what she had in Pretty's size and borrowed that. Pretty was excited about getting to wear "red sparkle shoes" as Dorothy. Easy #2!

The only thing I didn't have was a good costume for Dragon. At first I was going to add some diamonds and cuffs to a sleeper and make him a Power Ranger, too. But then I saw this idea for a sock monkey costume. I loved it and thought, I can do that! So I did.

Kathleen at Grosgrain didn't give any sort of tutorial, other than to say that she used thrifted sweaters and a pajama pattern to make up her costume. So I had a lot of wiggle room.

I also used thrifted sweaters. I had these baby pants pinned FOR-E-VER, and thought they would be perfect! I only made a little change to the way I sewed them, to make it easier. I never could figure out the stuff-one-leg-into-the-other way of sewing pants...

I extended the length and rounded the bottom of the legs, so they would look like a sock monkey. Then I made the back panel the way the tutorial on Sew a Straight Line describes, putting the red in the place of a design on the bum. The changes I made was to sew the "J" shape on the front panel.

You'll have the front and back panel like this:

Now, just lay one on top of the other, right sides facing and sew all the way around! Since I was making a closed bottom for the sock monkey, this could be done in one continuous seam. But if you were making real pants, with openings for the feet, you would just sew the side seams first, then do the inseam (inside/crotch seam).

Finish it up with an elastic waistband, and you have pants!

For the shirt, I used a pattern for a knit shirt from my mom. But if you want a tutorial, Dana's 90 Minute Shirt would be super cute! But I wanted the option of tucking Dragon's little fingers inside. Halloween can include snow some years in Utah...

To add a pocket that I could tuck over, I cut out a rectangle, hemmed one side, and placed it on the edge of the sleeve. I sewed around the three sides shown in the picture.

Then hem the sleeve and finish sewing the shirt. Attach the sleeve to the shirt,

and sew under the sleeve and down the side seam in one long line.

Now you have a sleeve where you can fold over the hands to keep them warm.

To make the hat, I used this Upcycled Boy Hats tutorial from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar. I lined it with an old white t-shirt and added little monkey ears on the side, the same way I would for an actual sock monkey. Last, but not least, I made a tail, stuffed it and sewed it into place. Voila! Sock Monkey Baby!!

Hands out:

Hands in:

Cute monkey bum!

I may be biased, but I think he's the cutest sock monkey I've ever made...and I've made a lot of sock monkeys!

We moved! and Halloween!

If you follow me on FB or on Twitter, you know that my husband and I just bought a house and moved! It was a busy week, with us getting keys on Friday, and a week later on Saturday, moving. It was hectic with packing up all our stuff and trying to clean and paint in the new house. (I'll show you the paint later).

This is how I hoped I would be through the whole experience: happy, excited and lookin' cute.

(google image search)

Instead, I looked more like this, except even worse, because this woman has make-up and earrings, I had neither. They were packed...

(google image search)

I am so lucky to have my in-laws who helped me just dump stuff in boxes the night before the move so that when our friends/family showed up the next morning, we were out of the old place and into the new in less than 2 hours. Not joking.

(google search image)

After 3 weeks, I am mostly unpacked, with one big exception: my craft stuff. I just haven't had the energy for sewing/crafting anyway. It's coming out this weekend though, and I'm excited! It's a big endeavor. 

I only had 4 boxes of clothes (including hangers and shoes), but I have 7 boxes of craft stuff. And that's not counting the 3 plastic storage tubs of fabric... I think it might be a sickness. . . or at least a good entry for Linda's (at Craftaholics Anonymous) "You might be a craftaholic when..." contest.

Moving on to the Halloween part, I didn't do much for the holiday because it was right after we had moved. I whipped up a costume for Hero before we moved. At first, he wanted to be a tiger, then a gorilla. But knowing that I was going to be busy packing and moving, I didn't want to attempt anything big and was thrilled when I suggested Cat in the Hat (inspired by MADE) and he went for it! I did have a moment when he whined about wanted to be a gorilla instead. My response was the choice of Cat in the Hat or nothing. He chose the Cat, thank goodness! I made the hat (a bit too big), and the bowtie. I bought a black shirt and pants, and white gloves. The bowtie is just stitched onto the shirt. I took it off to store and Hero can now use the shirt while it fits.

I reused Hero's old panda costume for Pretty. I moved the bowtie onto the hat for a hairbow instead. . . make it a bit more girly. I figure I can move it back and forth depending on the gender it is needed for. It was a simple thing.

We always go trick or treating at Jake's mom's work in the morning.

And that night we went trick or treating in our new neighborhood. Hero refused to pose for pictures for me, but I tricked them with "Hey, Buddy!" and I'm happy with the resulting picture of both kids. It wasn't until I was almost done with Hero's costume that I noticed they would both be wearing red, black and white. Cuteness.

Hero wimped out on trick or treating after half the street, so he and Jake went home to pass out candy. Pretty was going strong and we did the whole street, both sides. She was so funny because as long as the bowl of candy was on her level, she would keep taking treats and putting them in her bucket. I tried to stop her, but the people thought it was cute. She ended up getting 3 or 4 pieces at each house! On the walk home, she wouldn't let me hold her heavy bucket or hold her. Stubborn girl walked and carried her own bucket the whole time!

Happy late Halloween! And here's hoping I get the sewing machine out this weekend! Wish me luck!

The Mad Hatter Accessories

Here it is! The Mad Hatter Costume in full! I got all dressed up to go to a church party last night, but didn't have time to really freak out my hair. I'll post pictures of when I do better on Halloween night! I made most of the accessories, but not the whole outfit.

First I'll start with the items I bought and wore as is. The jacket and vest I bought second hand at Savers. The jacket is a purple velvet and actually is pretty cute. The shirt I'm wearing is just a white shirt I already had. The orange "sock" is actually a pair of footless tights, the purple is one of a pair, both were bought at Target.

#1 - Bow Tie: I made this the same way I made the sash for the hat, except the length was about 60 inches. Then I just tied it in a bow. The fabric is a nice soft silk I got for $1.50/yd at Wal-Mart.

#2 - Thread Ammo: Ok, I know it's supposed to be longer and slung across my chest like machine gun ammo, but I didn't want to use that many threads. I bought the wooden bobbins at JoAnns and just used thread I had already. Then I used black hemp string to put them together. To attach it to the jacket, I just tied it onto the top button.

#3 - Lace Cuffs: I used Dana's Circle Skirt tutorial in miniature to make the lace cuffs. I measured some, but ended up just using the lid from one of Pretty's baby puffs cans to make the inner circle. I also used a candle to singe and melt the edges.

#4 - Fingerless gloves: I made another pair of fingerless gloves from socks (tutorial here). I ended up changing the tutorial a bit because of this pair. That thumb cuff was just way too small before. Sorry for not fixing that before I ever posted it! But it's fixed now...

#5 - Embroidered pants: These pants I bought at Savers, too. I cut them off to mid-calf and hemmed the bottom. Then I used a charcol pencil to draw on the design, close to what the Mad Hatter has, but being realistic to the time I was willing to spend.

I just did a running stitch with 2 threads of embroidery thread.

Part of me wishes I had used a purple thread instead of the gold. With my light colored pants, it doesn't stand out too well.

And there you have it! My somewhat feminine version of the Mad Hatter!

And look who I happened to run into at the church party:

"Downa wyth Bluddy Behg Hid!!"

The Mad Hatter Hat Tutorial

Making this hat was a fun experience, however, I must say that I now fully understand why the Mad Hatter's hands are all scarred and bloody. I can't tell you how many times I pricked myself (deep and violently!) on the pins while making this hat! Ouch!

Supplies:

• 1 1/2 yards of main fabric (mine is heavy upholstery fabric)
• 1 1/2 yards of black lace
• 2 yards of lining (used for sash, too)
• 2 yards heavy sew-in interfacing (the thickest you can find!)
• WALKING FOOT! (it probably isn't necessary to have one, but with how thick it can be, it was extremely nice to have)

Details supplies:

• peacock feather
• some ribbon and scrap fabric for patch
• extra piece of heavy sew-in interfacing for fraction tag
• hat pins (or substitute look alike)

The toughest part of any project for me is making up the pattern. I will do my best to explain the math so you can adjust the pattern to your head, but I also wrote the dimensions I used too.

First, to determine the height of the hat, I measured from my chin to mid-forehead and multiplied by 1 1/2. I came up with a height of 10 inches. I measured the circumference of my head and got 22 in. (I made mine 22 in exactly and it fits a bit snug, I think adding an inch here would be a great idea!). Since you need to cut 4, I divided the 22 in by 4 and got 5 1/2 in for the bottom. For the top and brim, I would suggest just using the same that I used. The math brought Jr. High flashbacks... In the end, I came up with 10 1/4" for the top. I added 1/2 in all the way around for sewing allowance making the end dimensions the ones listed in the picture: 

The top of the hat has a 14 in diameter (sewing allowance already added!).

To make the brim piece, I made a circle from pipe cleaner that measured 22 in (you should add an inch. . .) and fit it to my head. Then I traced the slightly elongated circle onto the butcher paper. Next, measure 4 1/2 in from the line (sewing allowance added).

Even though I cut the whole circle out of the butcher paper, I ended up folding it in half and placing on the fold when I cut the fabric.

Cut out the pieces:

Let's start sewing! First, layer interfacing, fabric and lace together of side piece and pin together.

Pin around the edges and in the center. The lace will shift a bit, and that's ok, just try the best you can to make it even.

Baste together around all outer edges. Then, machine quilt it by sewing back and forth in a somewhat random pattern. 

Back View: 

I didn't worry about going all the way down because of the sash that will cover the bottom part.

Repeat for all four side pieces and the top circle as well.

Next, sew the side pieces together to form a round using a 1/2 in seam.

Then pin the sides to the top circle, right sides facing. Make it even around.

The corners will be above the circle. Trim these off (if you want, I didn't) and sew following the circle using a 1/2 in seam allowance. 

Turn it inside out. 

Prepare the brim by layering one side with all three (interfacing, fabric and lace) and the second layering only fabric and lace. Pin and baste around the outside and inside edges of each piece separately (through all layers), but DO NOT machine quilt yet.

Place brims together, right sides facing and sewing around outer edge on 1/2 in seam.

Clip to stitching around the outside edge.

Turn right side out. Iron flat. Pin together. Top stitch around outer edge. Baste inside edges together on 1/2 in seam.

Now is when you machine quilt! This way the brim stays together.

Clip inside edge to stitch line.

Pin brim to right side of hat, matching the front and back center with center of a side piece.

I removed the table piece of the sewing machine and hooked the hat around the machine to sew the brim on. Sew together on 1/2 in seam.

Now you have the hat!! Time to decorate it!

Prepare the lining the same way you made the top of the hat by sewing sides together to make a round, and sewing sides to top. Sew all seams with 1/2 in seam.

Iron bottom edge 1/2 in toward wrong side.

Without turning, drop lining inside the hat. Match the side seams and pin in place. (I just pushed the pins in like a pin cushion because of how thick and stiff the hat is.)

First you need to tack the top of the lining inside, so it doesn't fall down. Thread needle with same color as the lace. Tie a knot in the end of the thread

Find the lining corner (where side seam matches top circle). Tuck inside and match as close to hat corner.

Tack in place by stitching from inside to outside, back in, back out and then tie a knot. Because the thread matches the lace, it won't been seen. Then push the pin back inside and snip the thread off.

Hand stitch the lining edge to the brim, hiding the raw edges.

Next, prepare the sash by cutting 8 inches wide by 47 inches long. I had to sew two long pieces together to get it long enough.

Fold in half, right sides together, and iron. Cut at an angle on each end.

Sew around raw edges, leaving a gap for turning. Trim corners.

Turn right side out and press. Hand stitch opening closed.

Wrap sash around hat 2 times. 

Tie with a square knot  in the back. Each tail should end up being 18 - 19 inches from knot to the longest corner.

Make the fraction tag by cutting a pieces from the heavy sew-in interfacing 6" x 2 1/2". Use a Sharpie to write the fraction 2 1/2" tall.

Tuck the tag in the sash on the left hand side.

My peacock feather had a loop in the end (I think they were for jewelry). Tuck it inside the sash on the right side. I tacked the feather to the hat at the loop.

The patch was made by cutting a scrap fabric 3"  long x 2 1/2" wide. I sewed some stripped ribbon on top to add color. Position the patch on the front off to the right.

Hand stitch the patch on, taking larger stitches so they will show.

I couldn't find hat pins in stores, only online (if someone knows where I can get some, let me know!!) so I ended up using "Wire Stem Accents" that I found in the wedding isle at JoAnns. The picture on the package makes it look like the go in a bouquet.