Ember Costumes and Crafts

Ya'll...I am so behind on posting! I meant this to go up a month ago! And I haven't finished writing up any of the Halloween Costumes! And I also haven't finished writing my October watching/reading/playing post! And I have three baby quilts and some renfair stuff to finish this month! I'm also working on a video that John and I made! I'm excited, but definitely a little swamped right now!  So anyway.... I'm a big Sailor Moon fan and I have been since I was a little girl! My first exposure to it was actually the Manga, which I saw at a local Austin Comic Book Shop when accompanying my dad and uncle on their monthly comics and cards shopping trips. It was hanging in on a rack beside our usual Ninja Turtles and Duck Tales reads, but it had GIRL super heroes with long hair and cute dresses! I bought it and was hooked, and when the show aired in the late 90's in the U.S., I ate that up too! I even made a Sailor Jupiter outfit for myself back in college wi...

This doll ensemble was made with the pattern " Medieval Lady's Wardrobe " by Lee and Pearl that I bought off of Etsy. The pattern included instructions for a shift, dress, and cloak, all of which I made. It turned out....okay. It was a lot more work than I expected (fully lined so you basically make two entire dresses), and I definitely had a few problems! I thought about not lining it and just using a petticoat from another project to puff out the skirt, but because the dress is so tight, the lines from the petticoat would have stood out and made the waist look bulky. The lining gives it a much nicer silhouette. The dress itself is made from an old cotton/sateen bedsheet and very fitted. I went for the smooth-front variant, with laces up the back and it is a struggle to get the doll in and out of this dress! I know it's historically accurate for the dress to be so fitted, but this is not an easy on/easy off dress! The other big problem I had was the velcro o...

Back in October, my friend Susan mentioned that her little girl was begging for a Little Mermaid doll costume to match her Little Mermaid Halloween costume. And it just so happened that I had all the materials on hand, so how could I resist? It was really fast to make and it turned out adorable!  In fact, I had all the materials already because I had made a Little Mermaid costume for myself back in 2010, and when my parents cleaned out their house before they moved last year they dropped off a pile of my old costumes. So this was a chance to get rid of something I'm never going to wear again and make something for a sweet little girl.  Me, in 2010. Before babies! The hair is a wig!  The top is made from purple satin and has elastic along the bottom. It closes in the back with two small hook and eyes.  The tail part is made from stretchy sequined material and green organza, with velcro closure in the back. I'm still not great with sewin...

This month I needed a break from quilting and wanted to make something for my doll! I had a long-sleeve camo kid's shirt that was too small for my boys and instead of throwing it away, I bought this  pattern from Pixie Faire  to make an Army uniform! I used up eeeeevery inch of fabric in that shirt and it was just barely enough! In fact, I didn't actually have quite enough to line the inside of the cap, but I made it work anyway.  I think it turned out great! I also made a rucksack out of some scraps of black canvas. I was inspired by the big green bags my parents had when they were in the Coast Guard. I want to make some cute duffel bags and backpacks for my dolls too, but I haven't had a chance to play around with it much yet. This rucksack was just the beginning! I also think this uniform would look cool in all black, like a SWAT or FBI type uniform. It also makes me want to make a Star Trek uniform for my dolls!  Jack helped me take the pictur...

I've been doing some major scrap busting to clear out space in my closet between bigger costume projects, and this past week I finished up two doll quilts using scraps leftover from Rosemary's Make a Wish baby quilt. I was originally going to make a scrappy binding for the baby quilt, but decided against it, so I ended up with a bunch of small strips. The backing for each doll quilt is a fat quarter that came in the pack that I decided not to use in the quilt top, ditto the binding on the strips quilt. This one was bound in plain white, and is made up of leftover quarter-square triangle pieces. I bound it in white quilter's cotton and quilted it in diamonds. No way was I going to stitch in the ditch again, after breaking 5 needles on that previous quilt!  I gave this one away as a birthday gift for my friend's little girl Marigold. I'll definitely be making a ton more of these to give away! The strips one I am keeping for Rosemary, so when ...

To go with my previous post, I made a cute "casual" NASA outfit for my doll! I used the free t-shirt pattern , The jeans bundle , and pixie sweets slip-ons all purchased from Pixie Faire .  The shirt took a few tries because I'm not great with hemming knits. I tried a few different ways and ended up taping down the hem with washi tape to keep it from stretching out, sewing over it, and then ripping the washi tape off. It worked great, but getting the bits of washi tape out was a pain. It worked, but I need to do more research on sewing with knits, and definitely more practice! The NASA logo I just ironed on...the first shirt I tried, I held the iron on too long and burned a shiny yellow iron print onto the shirt. Oops. The pants turned out good.. I had a few problems. I love this pattern, actually, but I used a stretchy fabric with too much bulk. I also had trouble placing the pockets properly on the butt--they are too far down and too wide set. I also, ...

For this project I used the Koski Flight Suit from Pixie Faire, with the intention to dupe the official American Girl brand NASA flightsuit , but I made some changes and if I make it again I will make even more changes! Overall it was a good pattern and pretty easy to make, with excellent details and options that you can skip for a simpler suit if you want.   I found the pant legs are too short and the crotch was waaaay too small. I ended up having to add a gore to the crotch seam to make it work. (User error?) I'll try to remember to take a picture of the gore. The pockets were also...well, I don't know if you can tell form the picture, but the breast pockets aren't perfectly symmetrical (my fault). The official AG version appear to have fake pockets outlined in stitching, which is lame. This pattern gives the option for zippered pockets or these welt pockets, which I opted for. I highly suggest doing a few practice welts! It took a few tries to get it to ...

I've been having lots of of fun making doll clothes lately. I tried out the Victorian Unmentionables pattern from Pixie Faire because I thought it would be a good base layer for any fancy ball gowns or princess dresses I want to make in the future. I also have a deep love of Civil War era dresses and underthings because of my previously mentioned Little House on the Prairie obsession of my youth. I made the corset, petticoat( underskirt), and crinoline (hoopskirt). I didn't feel the need to make another chemise (underdress) or another pair of drawers (underpants) and just re-used the ones I made from the Kirsten's Pretty Things pattern.   This is how the hoopskirt turned out. Pretty good! I didn't have enough boning of the right size, so I used some heavy-duty zip ties and cut them in half down the center--this was not ideal because the edges were a bit jaggedy and got caught a lot as I tried to slide them into the channels...which were not perfect and every time ...

Sewing for dolls is so fast and easy and addicting! This went together in just a few hours, and the model doesn't squirm! I actually bought a half yard of this pretty blue cotton at the fabric store just for this project--it was so perfect, and it's so easy to spend just a few dollars when you need so little fabric!  This was also from the American Girl Historical Pattens , this time the "Apron Dress" style. I added cotton lace down the front, on the puffed sleeves, and along the hem. I do wish that these dresses were a little bit longer per historical accuracy, but they doo look really cute when the lace from the bloomers pokes out from underneath the hem. I had a little bit of trouble with the elastic on the sleeves, but I'm pretty sure it was user error. Overall the pattern was easy to follow and went together simply and easily. I lined the bodice with fabric that same white cotton sheet that I used to make her underthings .  Yes, there's...

As soon as I got my doll, I immediately stripped her naked and started sewing. This doll was destined to have a full pioneer wardrobe from the moment I bought her, seeing as my Little House on the Prairie obsession as a kid is what got me started sewing in the first place! I went to my fabric stash in my craft room closet and pulled out some fabric salvaged from a pair of old cotton pajama pants. I love the tiny white and pink and teal flowers--the print is the perfect size for a doll. Then I went to my computer and started googling doll dress patterns. Luckily I found links for all of the old  American Girl historical patterns . Dress dress is I believe the "school dress" pattern with the gathered bodice and cuffed sleeves. I also made a sunbonnet, apron, chemise, bloomers, and petticoat out of the old sheet, trimming them each with thin pink ribbon and scraps of cotton lace. I made the socks out of little tubes of white jersey. The tops are raw, since I don't ...

I think that everyone has that "one toy" that they always wanted as a kid but never got. A poll of my friends included things like an Easy-Bake Oven, Crossfire, a Transformer action figure, or the Millennium Falcon Lego set.  For me it was the American Girl Doll. I was almost too old by the time I became aware of them, and they were ridiculously expensive (for a kid with a $5 a week allowance!), and I already had tons of Barbies that I played with all the time. But I pored over the catalogs and the exquisitely detailed doll-sized antique furniture and accessories. I especially wanted pioneer girl Kirsten because of my obsession with Little House on the Prairie. And so I got one! 31 years old, mother of 3, and I bought myself a doll. There are stranger things, I guess!  She's an American Girl #55 and I love her! As you can see from her home-made outfit, I've been making lots of doll clothes recently. It's fun and really quick. Expect to see a lot more doll clo...