Happy Halloween from The Little Mermaid cast!

Trick-or-treating early at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's Air-and-Scare 2018

Happy Halloween! 

Remember as you scurry home from school to scarf down dinner and throw on costumes, that today is all about remembering our own mortality.  One day, we're going to die...we should take care of each other in the meantime, and help each other get to heaven when that happens.  So hand out some soul cakes if anyone needy comes knocking on your door tonight!  (Or candy.  I think the kids like candy these days.)

Were you able to convince your crew to wear a theme costume this year?

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Paw Patrol Ryder

It's time for the last tutorial from our family Paw Patrol costume: Ryder!  Of course the baby runs the show around here, so he got to dress as the human master of the Paw Patrol pups.  While the steps below show you how to make this for a baby, it will easily translate to a larger size for an older child (or Dad!) simply by using more fabric, since you're going to make your own pattern using clothing that fits your Ryder.  Of the four Paw Patrol costumes, this one involves the most sewing- and a zipper!  But don't fret, I know you can do it- no job is too big, no pup is too small!

What you need:

-white fabric
-red fabric
-yellow ribbon
-blue ribbon
-a white separating zipper
-white long-sleeved onesie/shirt
-jeans

Here's a look at Ryder:

image via Paw Patrol

This little boy wears a variation on his Paw Patrol uniform depending on the weather and the type of rescue, but his standard look involves jeans, a long sleeved white shirt, and a puffer vest that is 2/3's red and 1/3 white with a yellow accent and blue trim, plus the paw logo on his chest.

1. You're going to make your own pattern for this vest, so choose a shirt that fits your Ryder a little loosely, if possible.  I went with a rather boxy onesie; it may even be helpful to choose something one size too big because this style is not going to provide much stretch or give.  Turn the onesie (or shirt) inside out, tuck in the sleeves, and tuck in the bottom snaps, so your left with what looks like a tank top.  You're going to trace around this to create your pattern.

2. Fold the inside-out onesie in half, with the back portion on the outside, and lay it on top of a sheet of blank white paper.  Trace around the outside, giving an extra quarter inch of seam allowance on the top, arm hole, and side; do not give any seam allowance on the fold (you're going to be cutting a piece of folded fabric to get a completely symmetrical piece).  Now unfold the oneside and fold it in half again, this time with the front on the outside.  Trace this one with the seam allowance all the way around, and take care to mimic the dip in the neckline.  You're going to have two pieces for the front of the vest, so you'll need that seam allowance around all sides.

3. Now, remember this vest is color blocked, so before we cut our fabric we're actually going to cut this pattern in two pieces.  Cut your paper pieces (both the front piece and the back piece) in two just beneath the bottom of the arm hole.  For the yellow accent, I chose to use a bit of 1" ribbon.  Now, follow my math here for a moment: you're going to use 1/4" seam allowance to attach the top to the ribbon, and then the ribbon to the bottom.  So your ribbon will be 1/4" shorter on both the top and the bottom- meaning you'll have 1/2" yellow strip between your two pieces of fabric when it's finished.  So, in order to keep the same overall height of your pattern piece, you would need to remove 1/2" of paper total, or 1/4" from each piece (since it's now been cut in half), right?  But then you need to add a seam allowance to those pieces, too.  And the seam allowance is...1/4".  SO, all of this math means that all you have to do here is cut your paper as shown above, and that's it!  (For both your front pattern piece and your back pattern piece.)  Of course, this fancy math hinges on you using a 1" yellow ribbon as your accent piece- if you use a different size...you'll have to do the math yourself.  To cut your fabric, fold a piece of white fabric in half.  Lay the top portion of your back pattern piece right along the fold and cut around the pattern (remember when you unfold, you'll have a completely symmetrical piece).  Lay the top portion of your front pattern piece away from the fold and cut around it (so that you end up with 2 pieces).  Repeat with the red fabric and the bottom pattern pieces.  Cut 3 pieces of yellow ribbon- one the total width of your back fabric (unfolded), and 2 the width of your front fabric pieces.  (If you want to get fancy, you can line your vest by cutting the same pattern pieces out of a lining fabric, but without the color blocking, and sew it to your main fabric before attaching the zipper.  I'm not fancy.)

4. To assemble, you're going to start by attaching the color blocks together so that you have full front and back pieces.  Use that 1/4" seam allowance and sew the bottom of the white fabric to the top of the yellow ribbon, and the bottom of the yellow ribbon to the top of the red fabric, so you end up with a fully assembled back of your vest and two fully assembled front pieces.

5. Next, place one front piece on top of your back piece, right sides together, and sew together at the top of the shoulder.  Repeat with the other front piece.

6. I used blue ribbon to trim the arm holes rather than a strip of fabric because it makes things easier (and it's possible when you're dealing with someone so tiny).  Pin the blue ribbon around the arm hole, with the right side of the vest facing up.  (Ribbons don't really have a right or wrong side, but if they did, you'd be pinning it with the right side facing the right side of the vest.)  When the whole thing is done, you're going to fold the ribbon out (it'll almost be like a tiny little cap sleeve).

7. Now you're going to put the whole thing together, so you're going to turn the vest wrong side out, with the ribbon sandwiched in the middle.  Sew a straight line right down the side, and your vest is mostly assembled! (of course you have to do steps 6 & 7 for both front pieces)

8. Rather than having to worry about hemming, you're going to attach another piece of blue ribbon all the way around the bottom of the vest.  Do the same thing for the neckline.

9.  Now you need to attach your separating zipper.  I used the instructions that I found here at Professor Pin Cushion, but I'm going to come clean- I didn't really account for a zipper stop at the top of the vest (because yes, I had to cut my zipper down) so the zipper head would come clean off if you zipped it all the way up!  Be smarter than me, dear reader.

10.  Finally, the little paw badge.  I cut out some paw print shapes from white fabric and a badge shape from the red fabric.  I used fabric glue to attach the paw print to the badge, because the pieces were so small.  Then stitch around the badge to attach it to the white portion of the left front of the vest (the wearer's left, that is); this is an applique technically, so use a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying.

11.  Ryder needs to wear a white shirt and jeans, and then the vest on top, zipped about 3/4's of the way.  You did it!

What's your baby going to be for Halloween?

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Paw Patrol Everest

I've shared tutorials for both Skye and Chase, so what about Everest?  This one is a little more sewing, but just a little, I promise.

What you need:

-teal sweatshirt
-purple sweatpants
-purple long sleeved shirt
-teal ski hat
-yellow ribbon
-purple fleece
-white fleece
-pillow fill or cotton balls
-and if you really want to go above and beyond, purple and white face paint

As a reminder, here's Everest:

via Paw Patrol

She has purple fur (as most Huskies do...right?) and wears a teal vest trimmed in yellow, along with a teal ski hat with a yellow stripe.

1. To start, you'll want to remove the sleeves from your sweatshirt to create your vest.  Next, sew (or hot glue, I won't judge) yellow ribbon around the arm holes and the bottom.

2. Next, cut the fabric for your ears.  You'll need 2 triangular purple shapes and one smaller triangular white shape for each ear.  I rounded the corners of the triangles a bit.  For sizing, just eyeball what looks good on top of your head. 

3. Attach your smaller white triangle to the right side of one of your purple triangles.  If you're sewing, this should be top stitched in a thread that's the same color as your "inner ear" fabric (so white or maybe a light grey).  Whereas normally I would advocate for a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying, in this case a straight stitch isn't such a bad idea- fleece doesn't really fray, and even if you do use a fabric which unravels a bit, the effect can make it look more like fur.

4.  Place your purple triangles right sides together and stitch around two of the sides, leaving the bottom of the triangle open.  Definitely use a zigzag stitch here for the added strength.  Turn the ear right side out, then stuff it with your pillow stuffing (or cotton balls). 

5. Now, I wanted to be able to re-use my teal ski hat after this costume, so I didn't want to attach the ears directly to it.  (Although I suppose it could be rather cute to walk around with Husky ears on in the winter time...)  Because I needed to add a yellow stripe to the hat any way, what I did was cut a length of the yellow ribbon long enough to tie around my head, and I sewed the ears onto the ribbon instead of the hat.  Then I just wore the hat and tied the ribbon around it; either way the effect is of two little furry ears poking out of this hat. 

6.  Finally, you need to make the tail.  Much like with Skye, you simply need to cut two tail-shaped pieces of the purple fabric and, just like with your ears, stitch together all sides but one, and stuff it with fluff.  Cut a slit in the bottom of the back of your sweatshirt and sandwich the tail in there, then stitch it closed.

7.  To assemble the costume, simply wear your purple shirt and sweatpants (representing her purple fur) and put on the now-sleeveless teal sweatshirt.  Wear the hat (with the ribbon and ears tied on top, if you go with that method).  If you want to go all-in, paint your face white with purple around the edges, and a black nose and black freckles.

Do you get dressed up with the kids at Halloween?

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Paw Patrol Chase

Did you enjoy yesterday's look at Skye?  Today I'm sharing a quick tutorial for the police pup, Chase.  This one does involve some sewing, but if you're really averse to the idea, you could always use liquid stitch or even hot glue, and I won't tell a soul.

What you need:

-navy blue polo
-khaki or brown pants
-yellow ribbon
-police hat (from the costume store)
-dark brown fabric
-lighter brown fabric
-Chase pup tag (from the costume store, but again feel free to make this out of cardboard and paint)

Again for reference, here's a look at Chase:

image via Paw Patrol

He wears a navy blue vest, police cap, and his pup tag collar.  (We're not going to worry about the pup pack this time.)  He's a German Shepherd puppy with dark brown fur and some little freckles next to his nose.

1. Let's start with the ears.  For each ear, you need to cut 2 ear-shaped pieces of dark brown fabric, and one inner-ear-shaped piece of light brown fabric.  Use your police hat as a guide to eyeball the size.  Tip: when you need to cut multiple identical pieces of fabric, fold your fabric in half (multiple times, depending on how many pieces you need to cut), pin it all together so it doesn't slide, and cut from a single pattern piece.

2. Next, attach the light piece to one of the dark pieces, with the right side of both pieces facing up.  You'll want to center the light piece horizontally, and place it below center vertically.  You could line up the bottoms of each piece, but for whatever reason I thought it would give these ears a feeling of depth if there were some darker "fur" at the bottom of the ear.  You're going to top-stitch here, like an applique; you can use a zig-zag stitch for maximum strength, or a straight stitch if you're not feeling too fancy.  Choose a thread that matches your lighter fabric.

3. Place the two dark pieces together, right sides facing, and stitch around the sides and the curve; leave the bottom open.  Turn the ear right side out, using a turning stick (or the eraser end of a pencil, or just your finger) to make sure you get the whole curve flat.  Again a zigzag stitch is recommended for strength, and this time you'll want your thread to match the dark fabric.

4. Now you'll need to attach your ears to either side of your cap.  You can use hot glue, or you can run a few stitches directly to the fabric part of the cap.  Now, I realize that our German Shepherd pup has straight, pointy ears, but I wasn't looking directly at a reference when I made this and anyway, who doesn't love floppy puppy ears?  So I chose to fold over the tips of the ears and press with an iron for a little adorable flop.  You decide what works best for your pup.

5. Because Daddy would be playing the role of Chase, I decided to have him wear a polo shirt and khakis rather than a vest (or disassembled sweatshirt, as the case may be); it lent both a grownup and an official, police-like air to the costume.  All that's necessary to dress up the polo is to cut some strips of yellow ribbon with angled corners and attach them together to make little arrows on either sleeve.  (Chase has 3 arrows on either side, which probably signifies his rank; I only added 2 arrows because I wasn't working off of an accurate model, just my own memory.)  I removed the pup tag from the weird rubber choker it came with from the costume store and simply attached it to the button placket of the polo shirt with a large safety pin.

6. Finally, paint your pup's nose brown and add some freckles in triangle patterns on both cheeks.  Chase is on the case!

Do the parents get in on the costume action in your family?

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Paw Patrol Skye

It's the most wonderful time of the year- the time when it's completely appropriate for a grown woman like me to prance around dressed like a Disney character, when you walk up to strangers and ask for candy and they give it to you, when my husband consents to wear something that looks slightly ridiculous but perfectly adorable as part of a group.

I'm talking, of course, about Halloween!  I just finished this year's costumes (well, technically I have one more accessory to whip up for mine, but it will be done in time for the Renaissance Faire this weekend) and if you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a peek on my Stories.

But that's not the costume we're talking about today.

I want to share with you the tutorials for how I made last year's costumes!  I shared several pictures on social media last year, but it never made the blog.  So what was the Geek family dressed as last year, you ask?

Paw Patrol is on a roll!

Miss Chief was just shy of 4-years-old and Ryder and his team of pups were her obsession of the moment.  (Paw Patrol is still a big deal in our house though- and we told Santa how much we love these pups so hopefully the love doesn't fade any time soon!)

Today I want to take a look at that high-flying pup, Skye!

What you need:

-pink hooded zip-front sweatshirt that fits your Skye
-cardboard
-pink ribbon
-silver duct tape
-pink duct tape
-pink skirt
-tan fabric
-cotton balls or pillow filling
-pink goggles
-Skye pup tag (I found this at the costume store, but you can easily make one with some cardboard and paint)

For reference, here's what this good pup looks like in flight:

via Paw Patrol

She wears a pink zip-front sweater vest, a pink pilot's cap, goggles, a collar with her pup tag, and her pup pack with expandable wings.

1. So the first thing you want to do is disassemble your sweatshirt.  remove the sleeves and the hood; keep the hood, ditch the sleeves.  Put the hood on your little pup's head and approximate where you would place pigtails; mark the spots, then remove the cap and cut 2" slits where you marked.  (Or a little larger, it doesn't really matter.)

2. Now you need to make the pup pack.  My measurements here are entirely random; essentially, I disassembled a cardboard box I had lying around (it was either from Amazon or Pampers, who knows) and made it work.  Basically, you need 3 pieces- 2 for the wings (one longer than the other) and one for the pack itself.  My base unit here is the pup's little body; the height of her torso (measured from shoulder to hip) and the width of her torso (measured from shoulder to shoulder).  Make a mock-up out of newspaper first, if you want, to make sure the proportions are going to work.

3. Now you need to color the cardboard.  I simply wrapped everything in duct tape- most of it silver, but then I used a pink sparkly duct tape for the pack and the edges of the wings.

4.  Now assemble the pup pack: first, arrange the wing pieces with the longer one on top and the centers aligned.  Then overlap them by 3 inches or so- this adds a little strength to the whole arrangement, so it's less likely to buckle and tear where they are attached.  And of course attach them with duct tape!  Next take the pack piece (the one that's entirely pink) and fold the top and bottom sections (just a few inches).  It'll basically resemble a box that has only 3 sides.  Now, lay the wings inside the box, with the box centered, and the folded pieces cradling the top and bottom of the wings.  Once again, take advantage of your duct tape to attach everything together.

5. To finish the pup pack, you need to add straps.  Measure 2 pieces of pink ribbon that can attach to the top folded section of your pink box, go over the pup's shoulders, and then attach at the bottom folded section of the box.  Once you've got the pieces of ribbon cut, attach them with- you guessed it!- the duct tape, shoulder width apart.  (Remember the pink box should be on the outside when your pup is wearing it; looking at her from the back, it should appear as though the wings have extended from the sides of the pink pack.)

6. Next, you're going to make the pup's tail.  She has a tiny cone-shaped tail, so cut out two vaguely tail-shaped pieces of your tan fabric and sew them together, leaving the base open.  Turn it right-side-out and stuff the tail with pillow filling (or cotton balls).  Take your pink sweatshirt-that's-now-a-vest and fold it in half to find the center line of the back.  At the very bottom of this center line, cut a slit that is the same height as the base of your tail.  Squish the base of the tail closed and sandwich it in the middle of this slit, then sew it together.

7. Finally, create the pup tag collar with a piece of ribbon.  The pup tag came on this weird rubber choker at the costume store; I removed it and slid it on to some pink ribbon instead, and safety pinned the ends of the ribbon because hey, I had a 3-month-old baby at home, don't judge me.

8.  To dress your pup, have her put on her pink skirt and vest.  Put her hair in pig tails, put the cap on her head, and pull the pig tails through the holes you cut.  (Those pig tails are going to stand in for her ears!)  Put the goggles on her head, the collar around her neck, and put on the pup pack like a back pack.  Paint her little nose black, and you're all set!

What are you going to be for Halloween this year?

Much love,
The Geeks