Monday, November 26, 2012

DIY Cuddly Owl Costume {Halloween 2012}

My goal each year is to make my daughter's Halloween costume.  I knew that it was going to be cold this year, in years past it has been very warm.  I wanted to make sure that after all of my hard work on her costume....it wasn't necessary to wear a coat over all that hard work!  It was very simple...labor intensive....but simple.  I have included my steps in making the costume as well as the template for cutting out the leaf shapes.  

What you need:

  • 1-2 yards of brown fleece for the body and the wings.
    • More or less, depending on the size
  • 1/2 yard of felt (for each color)
    • I used 4 colors
  • Leaf template (included)
  • Faux feathers
  • Thread
  • Scissors
  • Sewing Machine
  • Straight Pins
  • +/- elastic for the bottom of the costume.
    • I found that this helped it poof out at the bottom

Step 1: Make a pattern from an already existing dress. Note: Make sure the dress fits now or you may have to adjust for the sizing.  I laid the dress on the butcher paper and traced around it, leaving a 1/4 inch margin just for stitching.  Cut 2 exactly the same.


 Step 2: Stitch together the 2 pieces at the shoulders only!



Step 3: Here is where the labor intensive part comes in......cutting the feathers.  I have included a template just to help with the shaping of the leaves.  There are 2 sizes of leaves.  I found that the little ones helped to cover any gaps.  The little ones also work very well around the neck of the costume. I cut 10 of each color.  This will vary depending on the amount of colors and the size of your costume.

 owl feather template


Step 4: VERY IMPORTANT...start at the bottom when attaching your feathers.  I found that pinning and stitching them one row at a time worked well.  Be sure to distribute your colors to avoid too much of the same color in one area. 



Step 5: Love on your little helper!


Step 6: Keep sewing......and sewing. Then voila!
Step 7: This is the point when I added the faux feathers in random places.  Unfortunately, I did not photograph this step.  But you can see how they were placed in the final result.

Step 8: I am lucky....I have an embroidery machine so I was able to find an ITH owl mask from Sweet Peas Place Embroidery.  I could have easily made one without the machine, but I was under a time constraint. 


Step 9: WINGS!!  For whatever reason, I forgot about taking photos during this step.  I cut the brown fleece in a wide triangle shape, sewed a tie on the inside close to the wrist area to keep them on her arms during the festivities.  Repeated the feather cutting format for the back of the wings.


Step 10:  Cross my fingers that after all that work....she will wear it and let me take some cut photos!  I will note that this is the only time throughout the night that she would wear the mask.  hrmf!

Enjoy!


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Spring is here!

Spring is here and little ladybugs are in the air!  I created this little outfit for my Tootie Bug!  Complete with ruffled capri pants and a monogrammed ladybug shirt.  Oh and the ladybug hair clip {not pictured}.

Photo {Mayken Stitches}

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Festive cupcakes in a jar!

It is that time of year!  I just love FALL...the crispy leaves, the beautiful colors, the coziness of the house, and the treats....oh my goodness the treats!  I inherited a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer from my generous mother-in-law recently and the first order of business is to make these yummy bites of pleasure! I found these beauties at Glorious Treats.



{Photos: Glorious Treats} 




Enjoy!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Saturday, November 20, 2010

I usually create my own but...........

Each year...I stress and stress about the perfect Christmas card! Getting the just the right photo and designing the layout just perfectly and then struggling to find a reasonable place to print them. Well....guess what.......Shutterfly to the rescue!! Shutterfly.com is offering 50 free holiday cards!! All you have to do is blog about it! Amazing! I am so excited because they have so many adorable designs to choose from.

Just take a look at these! I love the square cards, they are my favorite!



To learn more about how you can earn your cards....check this out!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Thankful Thursday!

Thankful for wonderful family! Even the ones that bring M..lollipops with bugs in them! ;)


Friday, July 16, 2010

Already halfway through!!!

WOW! I can not believe that June is gone and we are already half way through July! I guess time flies when you are busy-busy!

June was FULL of projects! We completed....several new wedding logo designs, an anniversary video, numerous rehearsal dinner photo stories, a graduation video, several video transfers and much more! I am exhausted just thinking about it. We are now full steam ahead in July and already taking reservations for August projects.

Here is a video project from June from one of my wonderful clients......I was able to incorporate the theme of the rehearsal dinner throughout the video using the invitations that the client provided.

Click the image and check it out!