2016 Halloween

As I'm currently sewing this year's costumes... here's a flashback to last year's costumes!

Ev was a beautiful princess Cinderella! 

Pattern: M4M's Cinderella Dress

Fabric: Stretch Velvet/Velour/type stuff from Hancock in their going out of business sale.

James went as a dinosaur... but look! He has on his mommy-made hat at least :D 

We took the kid's to the Corn Palace for a Harvest Festival.

Doesn't every princess need a picture on a vintage tractor?

Oh, and there's a football player and a crazy fairy (you can't see my wings, but they are there!). Homemade for me? My very first pair of Peg Legs (free leggings pattern from Patterns for Pirates)!

Fabric: Brushed Poly from Raspberry Creek Fabrics

And she has worn that dress so often since Halloween... I'm sure I'll have a few "Handmade in the Wild" posts for it, haha!

Pretty in Peplums

Remember when I tested two different patterns for Sew Much Ado Patterns last year? Well, Abby (the designer) gifts each pattern tester a free pattern from her collection as a thank-you for helping with the process. The first pattern I chose was the Schoolboy Vest, and then the second pattern I chose was the Pretty-in-Peplum top and dress. Let's just say that I went crazy with making these once I received the pattern!!!

Here's one in Springs Creative princess knit and Art Gallery knit for the sleeves... we gave this as a birthday gift to one of Evelyn's friends. 

I won this "Happy Fall Y'all" panel from Peekaboo Pattern Shop, so I purchased just a little bit of coordinating material to make a fall top for Ev. It probably didn't get worn as much as it could have because we were having difficulties understanding the difference between a one-day holiday and a full season... toddler/preschoolers... :)

She definitely wore this one a few times though - a Halloween top made from two different thrifted tops I purchased the year before. 

Last, but not least, I made coordinating tops for Ev and her cousins! I finished them in time for Kae's birthday celebration last October! The girls really do love matching, and these tops are so easy and quick! The green fabric is designed by Lizzy House, but I can't remember which fabric manufacturer she designs for. The solids either came from my local shop or from Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy.

A Minnie Costume.

There was no question as to what E would be for Halloween this year. She is enthralled by Mickey Mouse and is duly devoted to both Mickey and Minnie. 

Therefore, I decided to make her a Minnie outfit.

Dress Pattern: Made for Mermaids Minnie Top and Tunic

Bloomers Pattern: Made for Mermaids Olivia Bloomers and Pantaloons

Ears Pattern: Ribbon Retreat Tulle Puff Mouse Ears

Dress Fabric and Ears Tulle: JoAnns

Bloomers Fabric: Eyelet from my stash

Both clothing patterns are perfect for quick and simple sewing. They may not have the most professional finishes, but I don't mind when it comes to play clothes and costumes! For example, both the sleeve cuffs and the bloomers leg elastic and hems are done flat, prior to sewing the sleeves and legs. This leads to slightly messier and visible inside seams, but E doesn't know any better and I'm not sewing for 4-H judges anymore! The bloomers were bought, cut and sewn up all in one day. Nothing better than that! 

Her personality is certainly getting bigger and bigger. I can no longer ask her to do the "itsy-bitsy" in order to get her to smile. Instead of smiling, she now starts singing! She loves getting her pictures taken though, so I can't complain :)

The hair bows were fun, too. Walmart wants $8 for Minnie Mouse ears... so I made these instead. 

She makes me smile.

I cannot wait for trick-or-treating! Yay for "Halloween-time!"

Something Wicked This Way Crosses {Blog Hop}

Wendy from Why Knot Quilt?  and Mdm Samm from Sew We Quilt have continued a wicked tradition with hosting a wickedly fun blog hop for the fourth year in a row. I and the rest of today's wicked sewists plan on showing you lots of wonderfully wicked projects! 

Enjoy your Black Cat Crossing Blog Hoppers on the Eve of All-Hallows-Eve!

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Thursday, October 30

On the Banks of Frog Creek (You Are Here!)

How Art You?

Cucki Stitching Cove

Dancing Moon Farmstead

Life in the Scrapatch 

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Now, here are my two wicked projects... I was not able to purchase the very fun Black Cat Crossing fabrics, but I was able to dig through my stash and finally use some of the Halloween fabrics that I've bought over the years.

I have this family treasure in my kitchen that enjoys being dressed up for the holidays. I already have Christmas and Valentine's Day runners for it, so I was happy to have a wicked-good reason to sew up a Halloween one for it!

I googled "cat sillouettes" and searched and searched until I found this one that fit the runner perfectly. I then measured, cut and sewed and then sewed, measured and cut until the runner fit the antique kitchen cabinet. I quilted it with crazy lines to enhance the feeling of Halloween being a holiday of crazy surprises! 

 I had just enough of this fun fabric for the backing.

With all that cutting and measuring I did for the runner, I had some extras strips and scraps to use up. I figured a quick pillow was just the thing!

 The quilting was my favorite part of this!

My walking foot has been giving me some wicked tension issues, so all I could use was my regular foot. Straight lines can still make a great spider's web! Even E had fun following the lines :)

More stash fabrics for the pillow backing.

Thanks for stopping by! Now, go say "boo!" to those other bloggers listed at the top of this post... I hope you all have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

PS: Finishing these projects in time for the blog hop was also my ALYOF Goal finish for October. I was number #19 on the goal setting link party. Here is a link to my goal post.

Sneaky Peak and October Goal {ALYOF}

I missed out on September's goal setting. At the beginning of September, I wasn't sure if I'd get anything done, so I was pleasantly surprised when I actually did get some work done.

So, here I am getting back on the goal-posting-track. My October goal is to have this Halloween project finished for the Black Cat Crossing Blog Hop. Come back on October 30th to see the finish!

(The hop starts on the 20th... don't miss any of the fantastic projects!)

This 'n' That

The daughter's room has been painted, her furniture has been painted, and her walls are being decorated. My husband's office desk will be painted soon, along with some reclaimed wood shelves. 

Pictures to come... eventually!

But in sewing news, I have a few projects on my to-do list! I can't chat too much about this one, since it's for the upcoming Halloween blog hop...

I have two baby quits basted and ready to be quilted, plus two others than still need to be basted first. Let's not even talk about the baby gifts for friends and dresses for Ev that I'm excited to sew!

I'll end this random posting with some stormy pictures. I was able to practice using my camera's remote and shutter speed settings to try and capture lightning bolts, since we had quite the show last week... the storm did eventually get to us, and left us with more than 2" of rain. 

Happy Halloween!

From all of us here on the farm... may your night be full of treats :)

Happy Halloween!!

PS: I may have had a little too much fun on PicMonkey creating this picture...

PPS: I am still surprised that Mute stayed still long enough for me to even capture this picture. He got extra pettings as a reward.

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It's time for the Wicked Hop!

I knew better than to join this hop, even though I would have loved to make a Halloween project! Things have just been so busy around here :) Click on the button above to go see today's Wicked projects... and then follow along until the 31st to see all of this year's inspiring projects!

These are all from Mom's place, and are all projects that she has created over the years... the cheesecloth ghosts are always a favorite!

Isn't the log cabin jack-o-lantern, fun?! Oh, and then there's one of my 4-H projects... the painted chunk of wood :)

I get a kick out of the flying witch, who has flying witches on her apron!

Maybe next year I'll have a fun Halloween project of my own to show you! Until then, enjoy the blog hop!

Pumpkin Painting Party

I had one sewing and crafting friend back in Montana, and we had lots of fun sewing and crafty together. But I have to admit... an entire crafting party... with 7 other fun crafty ladies... was pretty fun, too :)

 You can't have a party without some yummy goodies! Of course I needed a close-up of the yummy apples! Aren't they fabulous?!

 The hostess had the tables set out in her garage, prepared with lots of fun supplies... spray paint, craft paint and brushes, thumb tacks and ribbons! We all love Pinterest inspiration, right?!

We did the spray painting outside, and yet the fumes were still very strong...

Here are my creations! I added the pink paint after some of the black spray paint got under the tape. I'm not usually a hot-pink type of gal, but I thought it looked pretty neat with the black. And of course, GO JACKRABBITS! (The real SDSU... aka, South Dakota State...)

 Finally, here is the entire collection. It was such a wonderful afternoon! 

We're already planning our Christmas-themed get-togehter :)