Mr. Six and a Pokeball

hula girl

I was cutting out the pieces for S's Mr. Six costume on Saturday morning, but I made it! By Sunday, the kids' costumes were all done and I'd even found time to improve that crappy looking cummerbund I'd made for Mr. Six.

Mr. Six's bow tie and cummerbund were from McCalls 4290. Turns out, I could have skipped the cummerbund entirely because it was so chilly that S had to keep his jacket closed the whole night. The jacket was from Simplicity 3997 and looked awesome! It came together very quickly and really made the costume.

The pokeball costume was made from Simplicity 3993 (the same pattern I used for the boys' pumpkin costumes four years ago). The little quilting experience I have helped me rework the pieces into colored sections and stitch on the big circle applique in the center. Recalling some quilt labels I'd made with inkjet printer fabric, I thought that what the pokeball really needed was a big Pokemon sign across the chest. I found an image online, printed it out on the fabric, stitched it on, and it was perfect! The Six Flags logo on S's jacket was made the same way.

And then there was the hula girl. This costume was from McCalls 2795, which is a great simple pattern for six different costumes. I'm so glad wee changed from the ladybug costume we had originally picked out to this one. It was so her! Once we talked her out of wearing her flip-flops, she had a blast running from house to house telling everyone she was a hula girl and beaming when they told her she looked pretty.

I'm so lucky that the kids enjoy the costumes I make for them and I can't wait to hear what they want to be next year!

B LOVES his pokeball costume so far! He keeps saying, "that looks just like it! that is exactly how it looks!" He was giddy when we did this first try on. There are still a couple of details to finish on it, but I made enough progress that I could take one evening to start S's Mr. Six costume.

The cummerbund is by far the manliest thing I've ever sewn, which is ironic because it was a little bitch to make! The satin did not cooperate. It'll look good enough though. In the dark.

And last but not least, we have wee, who had a completed costume to wear to her little kid Halloween party over the weekend. She took off her flower headband and flower leis after a few minutes, but she was still pretty adorable. Here she is doing her version of a hula dance.

It's going to be a cute Halloween!

After a full weekend of classes (Friday 5-9, Saturday & Sunday 8-4), I've returned home to find laundry and Halloween costumes waiting for me. Here's where I left the costumes before I had to stop to work on a large project for my Teaching Elementary Mathematics class.

One sixth of a pokeball and one half of a hula girl. Math is everywhere!

So, if it took me one week to sew one sixth of a pokeball and one half of a hula girl, how long will it take me to sew the rest? What if I sewed twice as fast? And how long before I start Mr. Six's cummerbund and bow tie? What if I procrastinated twice as much?

Answers are due by Saturday when wee one has a Halloween party to go to. If she can't go as a hula girl, she can go as a math problem!

That's the makings of two Halloween costumes there all stacked up on top of my actual homework from school.

Wait, did I mention that I've gone back to school? Well, if you were wondering where the heck I was, I'm at this tiny desk right here doing homework next to my serger. Do you like how the serger tray is now a pencil holder?! Priorities are a little different around here.

But Halloween must go on! After much deliberating, the kids have settled on their costume ideas. S, as we know, will be Mr. Six from Six Flags, complete with bald cap and giant glasses and black jacket, black cummerbund and red bow tie sewn by mommy.

B will also be in red and black, as he has chosen to be a Pokeball.

This was a much better choice than some individual pokemon - most of which are crazy dragon-y looking creatures that no one but other equally obsessed 9 year-olds would recognize. And I already had the pattern I could use! It's the old Simplicity pattern I used to make the boys pumpkin costumes back when they were in kindergarten. Awwwwww.

And wee one, breaking with the red/black color scheme, is going to be a hula girl.

She picked out the most awesome blue flowered fabric ever!

Sewing will commence very soon in the impromptu sewing area I've set up in the dining room. I've got to do homework in my sewing space, you know!

p.s. - You might have noticed that all my archives and finished projects pages are nonfunctional right now. I don't know why. I hope I can get them back. I'd hate to stop blogging this way.

update - My master webmaster seems to have fixed the problem. (THANK YOU!) So, for now, it looks like I may be back from the dead. How very perfectly Halloweeny!

Halloween is coming! We've been choosing patterns for Hansel Homemade Halloween: Year 7 and made a little trip out to the party store for supplies this week. Here is wee wearing a couple of the items we picked up for S's costume.

Any guesses?