Mama Makes

I split this post in two because it was getting rather long with both costumes.  For Part One, click here:  Princess Leia Reptar was a bit more involved. I started with this pattern: Which proved to be a good base to start with.  The first change I made was to use flannel instead of polar fleece, partly because I prefer natural fibers when sewing (especially for my baby) and partly because I found a remnant of cotton flannel in the right color without even trying. I did end up having to go back to JoAnn's a total of four times for more fabric - twice because I forgot to bring a swatch with me to match the color (there were two dye lots of the same green flannel) and once because I had miscalculated how much additional fabric I needed.  Oh, and then again to get the right color of invisible zipper.   But it was quite a fun costume to put together!   My inspiration I did not want a contrasting center front section li...

I feel like I've probably set the bar a bit high with my sweet pea's first Halloween, but I couldn't help myself.  I made her two costumes (well, one and a half) for two different Halloween events:  Princess Leia for a neighborhood party, Reptar for trick-or-treating I say "one and a half" because I already had the Princess Leia hat/wig - it was a baby shower gift from my cousin Erin - so I only had to make the dress and belt.  It was a very last-minute, because the neighborhood party was in two days and I needed to get more fabric for the Reptar costume.  So the dress was very quick-and-dirty. I made a slight miscalculation when I cut out the dress, so I had to add a panel in the back to add more room. I made it up so quickly that I didn't really take any in-progress photos, other than this mirror selfie of me trying out the hood piece on my sweet pea over the hair: The dress was so simple - just a t-shape with some flare to the skirt an...