Halloween| Brownie Goose Pattern Flip

Flip this Pattern- Brownie Goose, Hattie

April was the first time I ever participated in a "Flip the Pattern" with Frances Susanne and it was so fun!  You can see my flip here.  It truly inspired me to do more and while I've had every intention to do the next and the next and the next, we decided to move from Toronto to Florida and my life is currently chaotic. I have checked in monthly, voted for my favourites and longed for a time I could rejoin.  And, while my life is still spread across two countries, my parents home, my in-laws home and a storage unit, Halloween always gets me sewing for my girls and getting creative.  In fact,  Halloween 2011 was my very first "Flip the pattern" ever, even though that wasn't a thing then.  I used a Heidi and Finn pattern I loved and altered it ever so slightly to make a Shamu costume for our whale loving daughter. 

This year I was worried she would want to be Elsa and look like every other child trick or treating in 2014.  She actually settle on Rapunzel which I thought could be fun, naturally baby sis would be pascal.  She then changed her mind to Aurora.... this actually shocked me because Aurora is the one princess I know very little about.  I wasn't sure where she was coming from since there hasn't been much hype about her until...the re-release of Sleeping Beauty on DVD October 7.  My girl is ahead of the curve.  So while everyone else will be Aurora in 2015, my girl will be leading the charge on the next big princess.

Once we decided on Aurora I set to work trying to figure out who Baby sister would be and decided on Merryweather.  Nothing could be more perfect!

And here's how we ended up with our flip.  I had already purchased the Brownie Goose Hattie pattern and was dying to give it a try.  I absolutely love the vintage vibe it has.  When I saw it was this months flip, it was the right motivation to print that Hattie and get one made.  So Merryweather's costume was inspired by the Hattie.  The gathered sleeve and the stand up collar are the perfect Disney costume details.  

I didn't make huge changes...it didn't need huge changes.  It fit so perfectly for what I had in mind.  I started with blue broadcloth, this was not a recommended material and I would not recommend using it for this pattern, but it was cheap and this was a costume not an everyday dress.  The fabric was thin so it was difficult to get the structured look that I love about this pattern, but again for a costume it did the trick.  I used tulle instead of fabric for the collar and doubled the width of the neck ruffle to 4 inches to make it larger and more Disney like.  I also used the selvage length and didn't cut it down nearly what I says in the pattern as tulle is much finer than other fabrics and I wanted to give it a fuller look.  I added tulle to the bottom of the skirt and then put a tutu our daughter already had under the dress to make the skirt appear fuller (although our almost 18 month old has a fairly similar shape to Merry Weather to begin with!).   I added sequence to the neckline and a sequence and ruffle embellishment to the bottom to give it the fairy detail and make it special for Halloween.

I added a cape by purchasing I meter of broadcloth.  It was a super simple construction, again relying on embellishments to give the fairy costume look.  Here is what I did. 1. Folded the fabric in half 2. Then I traced two semi-circles at the top sides then trimmed the outer edges to leave the semi circles at the top.  3. I stitched it up leaving a small opening to turn it inside out.  4. I then folded the top section (the semi-circles and across to create a collar).  I then used a basting stitch to gather it and create a flowy look.  5. Cover the basting stitch with a ribbon or an extra piece of fabric.  See the terrible diagram below (I did feel like pictures helped explain my process).

The final touch....her hat.  I purchased a mini-brown cardboard witch hat from target and covered it with remaining fabric from the dress.

 

Halloween Costume

This year, despite my best persuasion, The Boss was Shamu.  She was stuck on the idea and while I tried to talk her out of it I ended up LOVING it.  When we were invited to a halloween party the easy answer for Mr. D and I was to be whale trainers.  So our little family, dressed in black and white, and represented one of our favourite places we have been as a family...Sea World!

I made The Boss' costume from a sweater pattern I purchased from Heidi and Finn.  I absolutely love their stuff so it was a great excuse to purchase another pattern.  I used the urban unisex hoodie pattern and  just exchanged the front section with white instead of black.  Her eyes were made of felt and then I made her fins are made from of thick batting and covered with some black taffeta I had at home.  

Unfortunately most of the pictures we have are blurry because as you can imagine the girl was so excited and in constant motion.  She was so funny tromping around in her costume.

At first she seemed very unsure of tricker treating, but once she saw all the attention and food she was getting she got really into it.  She went door to door saying "Treat....treat!"  When her and Mr. D got home she show me each item she was given again saying "Treat...treat" as she took them out to show me.

Here is one of my favourite pictures from the day.  Her with her cousins, Brainy Smurf and Abby-Cadabby!

Halloween Costume Hit...

If only The Boss was not so obsessed with Shamu, she would be Audrey for Halloween.

I am obsessed with this project Simple Simon & Co did for Project Run and Play.

I am a huge fan of it, and everything they do.

They won this cycle, which is no surprise to me, they are so talented.

If you don't already follow them, you should!

I showed The Boss this picture and asked her if she wanted to be this or Shamu...she responded "Mamu"!

This is a choice I am sure she will regret when she is older and looks back on her photos.

DIY Costume? I need some help!

I am starting to feel stressed about Halloween.  This time last year I was almost completely done The Girl's costume.  I am not sure if it was because it her first Halloween or if it was because I was home with the girl full time and my brain was not preoccupied with work.   Who has time for a job, really?  When The Girl received this bag with brown handles on it at the time, with a baby gift in it I instantly knew how I would transform it for Halloween.  I was literally planning her Halloween costume since the day she was born.  Not this year...

While The Hubby and I were brainstorming ideas for this year he made it very clear that he was less than thrilled with my idea of making her an owl.  I thought the costume would be cute,  but it wouldn't have any significance and she might appear rather random.  As we talked we quickly came up with the idea of making her Shamu or "Mamu" as she calls it.  To say the The Girl is OBSESSED, would be an understatement.    Ever since our family trip to Sea World she has gone crazy!  We made the mistake of showing her YouTube videos of other people's trips to Sea World following our family vacation and now whenever she sees the ipad she heads straight for it and selects the YouTube app saying "Mamu...pease, Mamu".  At least she says please?

I saw this costume online, but I was less than thrilled with the $45 price tag.  The Hubby was more than happy to spend the money to be done and have a happy relaxed wife, but the DIYer in me can't rest.  I actually partially blame my mother.  She always made our costumes and I think there is this small amount of June Cleaver berried in this modern Mama.  A piece that says "a good Mom makes their baby a custom costume".

I have a bit of a game plan but I am definitely not ready to execute.  Any suggestions you might have would be more than welcome!  I am thinking about making a track suit with a pattern from one of my favourite etsy retailers.  I am not exactly sure how to alter it to make the fins.  I'll keep you posted.

Wish me luck!