Happy Halloween- and May the Force be With You!

 

Happy Halloween from a galaxy far, far away!

What did you dress as this year?

Much love,

The Geeks

Currently, Bean is... {6 months}

 Wow okay my littlest munchkin is somehow already 6 months old!  These last three months have flown by, especially once school started and I went back to work.  I guess it's because it's been go-go-go around here, and we hardly have time to catch our breath- quite the change from the leisurely pace of life that was the hallmark of my maternity leave.  So let's slow down for a moment and check in with little Bean.

Growing crazy fast, still.  She is absolutely ravenous, nursing often and not sleeping through the night, and so she continues to just grow and grow, faster than either of her older siblings.  A few weeks ago, I noticed her 3-6 month sized clothes were getting small- sleeves a little too short, the hems of pants showing a lot of chubby little ankle- but her belly wasn't busting out of anything, so we didn't size up until about a week ago.  When I put her in a 6-9 month sized footie pajamas, I knew it would fit better than what she had worn the night before, but I assumed it would be too long.  Well it's certainly a little roomy, but this little string bean is already tall enough- her legs are the perfect length for this size.  She loves to be upright, in a standing position, either jumping in her jumparoo or just being held so that her feet can plant themselves on a flat surface and she can stand with some support, and when she's standing like that, you really appreciate how very tall she is.

Eating breastmilk and a nibble or two of some solid food, but we're just at the beginning stages.  She finally learned to love a bottle- but not before several ounces of milk were thrown out at daycare because she would stop at 3 ounces of her 4 ounce bottles.  She's now eager to drink from a bottle at daycare, she wants to hold it, and she'll suck down 4.5-5oz without a second thought, and then wants to keep the bottle to chew on for a little while.  When I'm with her, she still wants to nurse every 2 hours, and at night it's sometimes even more frequently.  We introduced her to bananas a few days ago, and although she doesn't like the way they squish in her hands, she does seem to enjoy the way they taste.

Talking up a storm, once you get her started!  Although she didn't in the beginning, she now cries to get your attention, rather than just grunting.  Sometimes we joke that her little whine sounds almost like a puppy, so we'll ask, "What's the matter, little puppy?"  She loves to blow raspberries or just randomly spit at you to try to get a reaction.  And she is really experimenting with her voice lately, cooing and singing, squealing at a painfully high pitch, and smacking her lips and repeating "dadada" which of course Mr. Geek loves.

Making facial expressions that favor her big sister more now than they did in the beginning.  She's got a beautiful little smile, and we all fall all over ourselves to earn one.

Listening to her obnoxiously loud big siblings.  She loves to listen to her big sister laugh, and will giggle right back at her.  Her big brother has decided he needs to speak to her in a very high pitch, for some reason, even though I keep reminding him to just talk to her like any other person.  She thinks it's hilarious, though, and will squeal and laugh at him.

Sleeping at daycare, apparently, but certainly not at night.  Again, I know this is why she's growing so fast- because all she ever wants to do is nurse- but man this lack of sleep is difficult.  Both of the big kids were sleeping at least 4 hours at a time by now, but not Bean.  Sometimes we get a 3 hour stretch, before midnight, but then after midnight she's up every 2 hours- or sometimes, every hour.  I'm surviving on coffee and prayers, at this point.  

Loving nursing, all the time, always; tickles; her big siblings; bouncing; putting things in her mouth.

Hating being in the same room as Mommy and not nursing; her car seat; socks; sleeping in her bed.

How quickly is your little one growing?

Much love,

The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Tinker Bell Costume

 

So this little pixie absolutely adored her costume, and it was definitely the most labor intensive costume I've made to date.  (This year's costumes are beating that record by far, though, so stay tuned!)  Unfortunately I didn't take any in-progress photos or make many notes, so I'm just going to give you a general idea of how to design and make your own.  I really wanted to play with the idea of a dress made out of leaves, so both the bodice and the skirt are pieced from multiple pieces that could ostensibly have come from individual leaves.  I installed a zipper in the back to make it easy to slip on and off, and created a ribbon belt to make the waist adjustable.  The entire thing is fully lined, including each pointy leaf on the skirt.  Finally, there are clear adjustable straps to give the illusion of a strapless dress without risking the bodice slipping down.

Supplies

-green cotton fabric

-green thread

-wide green ribbon (2 1/2" or so should be fine)

-green zipper, or invisible zipper if you're comfortable installing one

-clear adjustable straps

-fairy wings

1. Grab a camisole tank top, leotard, or swimsuit that fits your pixie well.  You're going to use it to rough out your pattern pieces for your bodice.  Begin by measuring from the waist up to the place where the straps being on your tank/leotard/swimsuit.  Next measure the width from seam to seam.

2.  I knew I wanted the front of the bodice to be composed of two overlapping leaf pieces, so I used the measurements taken in step 1 to sketch out one such leaf shape, knowing that I wanted both leaves to overlap by a few inches at the bottom and separate at the top like a V-neck.  (Ultimately, that V ended up being a little deep for my 6 year old, so I went back and added a little modesty panel out of a small triangle shape to bridge most of that separation.  I would recommend making your bodice leaves wide enough at the top that your V-neck isn't too deep.)  Cut out a couple of your leaf shapes from paper or even a muslin if you're fancy like that and lay them over your sample garment (or your model, if she'll stand still for you) to make sure you've got the shape, size, and coverage you want.  Cut out 4 of these leaf shapes from your green fabric, making sure to add seam allowance all the way around.  (If you've read any of my other tutorials, you'll know I've long preferred 1/4" seam allowance.  Lately I've decided to give myself more grace with a 3/8" seam allowance, and I've noticed my garments are much cleaner now.  Use whatever seam allowance you prefer.)

3.  Take two leaves and sew them together around the curved outsides, right sides together, leaving the bottom open.  Turn right side out and press, but don't top stitch.  To really sell the idea that these are leaves, you're going to essentially embroider some veins on them.  (I purposefully used a thread that was a lighter green than my fabric so that the veins would stick out.)  Use a straight stitch with a long-ish length and make a vertical line up the center of your leaf, with some smaller lines radiating out from it at regular intervals.  You can either sketch it first in chalk and stitch on top, or just freehand.  Repeat with the other 2 leaf pieces.  Now you've got 2 leaf pieces made of double your fabric thickness, giving them a pretty sturdy shape.

4.  Lay your two leaves overlapping each other to form the front half of your bodice and pin.  Top stitch on the top leaf as close to the edge as possible, all the way around the curve of the leaf, starting on the segment that is overlapping the other one.  Then topstitch the bottom leaf, starting where the two meet and going all the way around the outside of the curve to the edge of the waist, again staying as close to the edge as possible.  This way your top stitching looks purposeful and the garment looks more finished.  (I had to add in my little modesty triangle at this point, because this is when I discovered the V was too deep.  I just stitched right on top of the top stitching I had already done so it blended in and again looked purposeful.)

5.  To finish the front of the bodice, attach your thick green ribbon across the bottom, leaving long enough tails on both sides that they can be wrapped around your pixie and tied in a bow in the back.  Do this by laying the ribbon on top of the right side of your bodice, aligning the edge with the raw edge of the bodice.  Sew them together, then open and press the seam up towards the bodice.  Top stitch across the front of the bodice to hold that pressed seam in place.  Finish the ends of the ribbon tails so they don't unravel.

6.  Now you're going to create the back of your bodice.  You want to create two rectangle pieces which will be attached in the middle by the zipper.  Measure from about the armpit of your bodice down to the bottom of the attached ribbon; this is the height of each rectangle.  The width of each rectangle will be half of the width of the bodice.  Add seam allowances on all 4 sides and then cut out 4 of these rectangles from your green fabric.

7.  Take 2 rectangles and lay them right sides together, then sew around 3 sides (the top and 2 long sides).  Turn right side out and press, but don't top stitch.  Repeat with the other 2 rectangles.

8.  Attach the zipper in the middle of your rectangle pieces, and when you top stitch on the sides of the zipper, go ahead and extend that top stitching across the top.  (Don't bother with the sides or bottom.)  

9.  I went ahead and embroidered veins into these pieces as well- again a vertical line up the middle of each rectangle, with smaller lines branching out at even spacing.

10.  Place your bodice pieces right sides together, lining up the bottom edges.  Keep the tails of your ribbon waistband tucked safely out of the way and sew up the sides, then turn out and press.

11.  Now for the skirt.  For simplicity's sake, I wanted the skirt to be composed of many triangles, all the exact same size, so I just had to cut out about a million of the same shape.  In retrospect, they don't look very leaf-y, so maybe next time I'd do more of a curvy free-hand shape rather than triangles.  Determine how many triangles (or leaves) you want to create your skirt.  I made an identical front and back to the skirt, each with 5 triangles- a top layer of 3 slightly overlapping, and a bottom layer of 2 more peeking out in between the other 3.  You want the height of each triangle (or curvy leaf-y shape) to be the length you want your skirt to be, and you want them wide enough so that you get enough coverage when you overlap them.  Once you've determined a good size and shape, add seam allowance and then cut out twice as many from your green fabric as the number of triangles you ultimately need, because each skirt panel will be two triangles sewn together.  This mean I needed 20 triangles all together, as I have 10 panels total for my skirt.

11.  Take a pair of skirt panels and line them up right sides together, then sew across two sides, leaving the horizontal top piece open.  Turn right side out and press.  You will probably want to embroider veins on these panels as well, but I was running out of time, so I skipped that part.  Repeat with every pair of panels.

12.  Take the panels you need for the front of your skirt (in my case, 5 triangles) and overlap them to create the front of your skirt.  Sew them together across the top.  Repeat with the panels for the back of the skirt.

13.  Place the front of the skirt and the back of the skirt right sides together, lining up the waist edges, and sew together at the sides.  This will really only be a few inches of stitches total.

14.  Lay your bodice on the table right side out, front side up.  Take your skirt and lay it below the bodice the same way.  Then flip the skirt up, so that the wrong side is facing out.  Slide the bodice into the skirt so that the raw edges of each line up and the right sides are together.  Pin and sew all the way around.  Turn out and press the seam up.  You can top stitch all the way around the bottom of the bodice.

15.  Finally, you need to create some tiny loops of fabric to hook your clear elastic straps into.  Place one at the peak of each of the front leaves, and one in the top middle of each of the back rectangles.  Adjust the straps so that they fit your pixie and insert them into the loops.  I had my pixie wear the straps in an X in the back to keep everything secure.

14.  My pixie wore her leaf dress with green shorts underneath, and tights to keep her legs warm.  She wore store bought fairy wings.  Put your pixie's hair in a bun, using a bun maker or "donut" to create that distinctive shape.  For some extra fun, spray on some "pixie dust" body and hair glitter.

Do you have any fairies in your house?

Much love,

The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Peter Pan Costume

 If you follow me on Instagram, you know that last year, our family of 4 (with one on the way) dressed as the characters from Peter Pan for Halloween!  Although we did not trick-or-treat, we weren't going to let the pandemic ruin my favorite holiday and an excuse to make and wear some fun costumes.  Our neighborhood had an outdoor cookout where we got to show off our costumes (with masks on) and see other families' fun looks, too.  So now that it's October again, it's time to show you how I created these costumes- they're so easy, you can do it, too!

All children grow up.

Except one.

And if you'd like to create his costume, check out this simple tutorial!

Supplies:

-Green felt [sketch out your pattern to determine how much you need!)

-Red craft feather

-Green tshirt

-Green leggings

-Sword

-Brown belt (not pictured, because I bought it too early and he outgrew it before Halloween!)

1. To start, you want to create a pattern for the tunic.  Grab a t-shirt that fits your Pan well, tuck the sleeves in (so it looks like a tank), and fold it in half so that the shoulders are on top of each other.  Lay it on a large piece of paper (a roll of wrapping paper works well, especially if you have the kind with a grid printed on the back, but you can also use kraft paper, tracing paper, printer paper even, if your Pan is a tiny one) and trace around it.  You're probably going to end up with something that looks like a rectangle with an arm hole cut out of it; if you want, you don't have to really trace the neckline of your shirt, you can just leave it as a right angle.  It certainly makes sewing easier, and you're just going to cut the front of the tunic open in a wide V anyway, so you don't have to worry about pretty curves.  If you choose to go this route, make a mark on your tracing of where the neck opening begins on your sample t-shirt; you'll need to know this later.

2. Now you need to add seam allowance and extra length to your pattern.  Because this is felt and it does not unravel, and also because Peter Pan is a wild lost boy whose clothes can probably look unfinished, I chose to NOT HEM the bottom of the tunic, the ends of the sleeves, or the neckline.  If you're going the no-defined-neckline route like me, add 1/2 an inch for seam allowance to the top of your rectangle-with-an-armhole-cut-out-of-it (make sure to repeat your mark that denotes where the neckline of your sample t-shirt started).  Add that same 1/2 an inch seam allowance to your armhole curve and to the side of the shirt beneath the armhole as well.  Do NOT add seam allowance to the side of the shirt that was folded; you're going to cut this pattern out on the fold.  To remind yourself, you can write the word FOLD in bold letters on that side.  For the bottom of the tunic, you want the finished product to extend below the waistband of the pants in a zig-zag pattern, so that there are those classic points hanging down.  Decide how long and how wide you want those points to be (I went with 2 1/2" for the length) and go ahead and draw them on the bottom of your pattern.  You can freehand this, or you can measure it all out so that each little triangle shaped point is the same exact size.  You do you.

3.  Next, you need a pattern for your sleeve.  This is a REALLY rough way of doing this, fyi, and only works because felt is sorta stiff and has its own structure, and again, I was going for a rough-and-unfinished look for our lost boy.  What you're going to do is measure the height of the arm hole on your PATTERN (not your sample t-shirt).  Place your ruler at the top point of the arm hole (which would lay on the apex of the shoulder) and measure straight down to where the bottom of the arm hole falls (which would lay under the armpit).  If you imagine this curve on your pattern as a right triangle rather than a curve, you would draw the horizontal side of the triangle from the armpit point inward, and you would draw the vertical side of the triangle from the shoulder point down, and you would draw the hypotenuse from the shoulder point to the armpit point; the measurement we're interested in is the straight line down from the shoulder.  Got it?  Now, get some more pattern-making paper.  Draw yourself a rectangle.  The height of the rectangle is that measurement you just took- the height of the armhole- plus an additional 1/2" for seam allowance (you only need seam allowance where the sleeve is sewn to itself, at the bottom).  The length of the rectangle is going to be whatever you want the length of the sleeve to be- measure your Pan from the point of his shoulder down to where you'd like the sleeve to hit (I went with an oversized short sleeve)- plus an additional 1/2" for seam allowance (you only need seam allowance where the sleeve attaches to the bodice, since you don't have to hem felt).  Finally, you're going to add some points to the sleeve just like you did for the bottom of the tunic.  Depending on how you measured your sleeve, you can either draw zig-zags to add additional length to your rectangle, or cut a triangle shape out of your existing rectangle so that the sleeve length you decided on represents the tip of the points.  Just to remind yourself, go ahead and write the word FOLD at the top of your rectangle (perpendicular to where you put your zig-zags), because you're going to cut it out on the fold.  

4.  You're going to cut out 2 identical bodice pieces on the fold, and 2 sleeve pieces on the fold.  Use that knowledge to determine how much felt you need to buy (or be like me and drastically over-estimate because you fear you'll screw it up and have to start over several times).  When you cut out your bodice pieces, you need to transfer that mark you made denoting where the neckline starts (if you're going the right angle route, like I did, and didn't draw in a neckline shape).  To do this, take a piece of tailor's chalk (or a straight pin) and mark the place on the top of your cut piece, then, leaving the piece still folded, turn it over, turn your pattern paper piece face down, and make a mark on that side.  This way, when you un-fold your bodice pieces, you have two marks blocking off what will become the hole that Pan will stick his head through.

5. Assembling this tunic is really, really easy.  Place the bodice pieces on top of each other, right sides together, making sure to line up the arm holes (and the nice thing about felt is that there is no right or wrong side, so just lay them however).  You're going to attach these pieces together at the shoulder seams- but if, like me, your bodice has no defined shoulders separate from the neck, just a straight line, this means you're going to start each seam at the outer corner, and stop at the place where you marked the neck.  Use a serger if you have one, or, if you don't (like me), then use a zig-zag stitch.

6.  To attach the sleeves, you're going to open up your tunic and lay it flat on your table, right side up.  Then, take one sleeve rectangle and pin it, right sides together, to one armhole curve of the bodice, so that the zig-zag edge of the sleeve is pointing in towards the neck hole.  Pinning a straight line to a curve is tricky; line up the place where the rectangle was folded with the seam you just sewed at the shoulders, and line up the corners of the rectangle with the corners of the armhole.  Use lots of pins, and fold the felt in little pleats to make the rest match up (either evenly spaced and purposeful, or a bit more haphazard for that I-live-in-a-forest look).  Do the same on the other side.  Sew with a zig-zag stitch again.

7.  Now, fold the whole tunic together again, so that it looks like a shirt, with the wrong side facing out.  Line up the sleeves with themselves, and the sides of the tunic.  Sew in a continuous line from the outer edge of one sleeve, down the side of the bodice to the bottom.  Repeat on the other side.

8.  To finish the tunic, we're going to create that front neckline.  Measure your Pan and decide how deep you want the V to be.  Find the exact center of the front neckline and cut a straight line that length.  Simply fold open the fabric and press and it will probably hold its shape, creating a pointed collar of sorts; if it won't stay on its own, you can tack the corners down with a quick hand stitch.  Ta-da!

9.  Now for that hat.  You need to measure your lost boy's head in a few places.  Find the crown of his head- the highest point- and measure down to his forehead, or where you want the front of the hat to lay, and call this measurement A.  Now measure from the crown down the back of his head to where you want the back of the hat to lay, and call that measurement B.  Finally, measure from the crown of his head down the side to just above his ear, and call that measurement C.

10.  Get some more of your pattern making paper.  Draw a straight, horizontal line that is A + B + 1 inch (assuming a 1/2" seam allowance; adjust accordingly based on your preference for seam allowance.  Now, from the left side, measure in a distance of B + 1/2" (or whatever your seam allowance is).  From that point, draw a perpendicular line straight down a height of C + 1/2" (or...you get the picture).  Now, draw a curve from one end of your line to the other so that the lowest point of the curve is at the end of your perpendicular line; you'll end up with a sort of half-teardrop shape, or half-ovalish thing, that's thicker on one end than the other.  Separately, draw yourself a rectangle with a length of A + B + 2" (NOT 1/2" like in the picture, my bad) and a height of whatever you want the height of the brim of your hat to be + 1/2".  Cut one teardrop-shape piece with the straight line on the fold, and cut 2 rectangles, not on the fold.

11.  Lay your two rectangles on top of each other and sew the short ends together, both sides, so that you're left with a tube.  Open up your teardrop shape and decide which side is going to be your "right" side (the outside of the hat).  Take your tube and pin it with its right side against the WRONG side of the teardrop shape, making sure the seams on the tube line up with the very front point and very pack point of the teardrop, respectively.  Stitch them together, then fold the rectangle tube up and out of the hat, so that it becomes the brim.  If you press it down, it should hold its shape, because felt is so stiff, but if you need to, you can tack it down in a couple of places by hand-stitching.  

12.  Last, find where you'd like your red feather to go.  Draw two short parallel lines, 1/2" apart from each other, just tall enough so that you can slip the feather in.  Use an exacto knife or very sharp scissors to slit those lines open, and slide the feather in so that the quill points towards the front of the hat.

Your Peter Pan should wear green leggings and a green t-shirt, then wear the tunic on top.  (Felt can be scratchy, and the extra layer will provide warmth if your Octobers are cold.)  If he has a brown belt that fits, buckle it around his waist (you can even snip in some belt loops, the same way we created a place to slide the feather in his cap).  Wear the hat on his head and carry a toy sword or dagger, for dealing with those pesky pirates.  (If the hat won't stay well on his noggin, you can pin it to his hair with Bobby pins crossed over each other in an X, one X on each side of his head.)

Is your little one going to fly off to Neverland with the lost boys?

Much love,

The Geeks