The Singing Costumer

Once again, I found a dress that I loved at a thrift store that didn't fit. I absolutely loved the print. It was a sad day when I realized it was way too small. But happily, I know how to sew! It is a really pretty orange and pink floral. Orange has always been my least favorite color, as long as I can remember. But apparently I love it when mixed with pink. So weird. But whatever. I adore my new bag. I'd never really made a backpack, so I thought I'd do that. When browsing my patterns, Simplicity 1439 caught my eye. It has several dainty and precious bags plus a backpack included in the pattern. It seems to have been inspired by Laura Ashley, perhaps? I loved it. For some reason, I really wanted to quilt the fabric. So I did. I quilted diamonds all across, at 1.5 inches apart, I believe. I always love using my walking foot on my machine when quilting any straight lines. That metal “arm” on the side helps me keeps my lines nice and even. A major goal for this yea

I am trying to only post projects that I have completed, but I will be making an exception today. I am SO excited for this costume, I couldn't wait. Let's begin with my initial idea. We all know the story of Beauty and the Beast. But I had an idea for an interesting twist on that story. Imagine that instead of staying with the Beast in his castle, she decides to leave. She “wants adventures in the great wide somewhere”, after all. She runs away and makes her fortune on the open sea and ends up as a Pirate Queen. This past weekend was the Medieval Fair of Norman, Oklahoma. This is my home fair and I have been attending and performing for many years. Unfortunately, the weather this year was not ideal. It rained quite a bit on Saturday and there was mud everywhere. But I had shopping to do! So I braved the mud. I wanted a corset for this costume and also a pink fairy costume. I never quite found the perfect corset for either one, but I found something else. S

Joann Fabrics has tons of yarn. So many choices! And when I was working there, I decided to learn to knit. I was not then nor am I now very advanced or speedy at the craft, but it's fun. My favorite color is purple, and I loved this shade of dusty purple/lavender. This yarn is a polyester/cotton. It was cheap and not the softest ever, but it worked just fine. Since it's a purse and I'm not wearing it next to my skin, a bit of scratchiness is not a big issue. This bag is from “ Knit Accessories” from the Go Crafty line of pattern books. Probably bought, again, at Joann Fabrics. It is the “Ridged Bag”. I would call this pattern advanced beginner. You do need to know how to increase and knit 2 together, and of course the basic stitches. But it isn't impossibly difficult. It has multiple rows of knit and purl stitches, so it's a good pattern to get some practice in your basics before moving on to more complicated patterns. It did take me a long tim

This cape is wonderfully warm. But it is harder to keep your hands and lower arms warm. Coats are better for this purpose. I especially love the hood with attached long scarf. It adds the perfect amount of glamour to this otherwise quite utilitarian cape. I keep imagining myself as Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn or another star of that era. And then I laugh at myself and move along.  But also, I still want some black huge movie star sunglasses for when I need to hide away from the paparazzi. Someday, this will happen. For now, these white Target sunglasses I found on  clearance  for $3 will have to suffice. This fleece was from Joann's. For some reason, I thought I wanted a huge fleece blanket in a leopard print. Imagine that on a bed. Thankfully, I thought better of it, and the fleece just sat in my stash and marinated for a little bit. I don't remember if there was any particular inspiration for making this fleece into a cape. I believe I used Mc

For this cute blouse, I used Simplicity 8523. Only alteration I made was to add fish-eye darts to pull in the waistline. So much more flattering and added some curves to my not-so hourglass shape.  It made me look stumpy made as instructed.  Not a good look at all. So if you are short like me and not-so thin, that's what I would suggest. I like the gathers on the sleeves, but if I made another, I might reduce the volume so it's not so puffy. Other then adding the darts, I made it exactly as directed, and it wasn't difficult. I recommend this pattern. It's loose enough to slip over the head, but curvy enough to be flattering. This sweet kitty chiffon is from the Gertie line from Joann. Gertie is a sewing and fashion blogger with a fun, retro style I enjoy. You can find her blog at https://blog.bygertie.com/ This fabric is from several years ago, so sadly it is no longer available. But aren't these little cats just the cutest? This skirt is made

This is the smaller Heidi Foldover Wristlet from Swoon Patterns. It is available at https://swoonpatterns.com/shop/heidi-foldover/ Two sizes, the Wristlet and the larger Clutch bag, are available in the same free pattern. Which is a fantastic deal, in my opinion. I have loved the TV show Supernatural for many years now. This fabric came up in my Facebook feed and I could not resist it. It features candy conversation hearts, with many famous quotes from the show. My personal favorite is “My 'people' skills are 'rusty' ”. Misha Collins, the actor who plays Castial, is so talented. Anyway, back to the sewing. This time, I had plenty of vinyl to do the accent piece on the bottom as the pattern shows. A large remnant from Joann's Fabrics worked nicely. It was a good thing I had lots to work with, as it would turn out. I had to cut and sew one side twice because I forgot to put my walking foot on the machine. Rookie mistake. The stitches tu

Holiday season 2016, I got the opportunity to walk in a Christmas parade with some princesses and it was lots of fun. But before the parade, I knew that the Princesses would be cold. I know that Queen Elsa wouldn't mind it, since the cold doesn't bother her anyway, but I didn't want to leave her out of the fun. Of course, a princess can't wear just any old coat. Oh, no. Not on my watch. Now, I only had time to make two, so our Alice of Wonderland fame had to make due with a borrowed cloak. But she was warm enough, so I didn't worry about her. I was shopping at Ross Dress for Less in early December and found some super soft blankets in a few beautiful colors. Yes, the princesses were literally wearing blankets :-) This fact still makes me laugh a few years later. I love it. Else wore a smart bolero in cream with embossed lines, cut as to not obscure her beautiful sequined bodice. Original pattern (Very Cute) And Queen Elsa's version (S

I decided to wear mid-1850s underpinnings with my future Princess gowns. These have to be complete before I can fit my new gown to myself, as these proper underpinnings change your shape significantly. First layer is a chemise. A thrift store soft cotton dress fills this role admirably. The cut of the neckline just falling off the shoulders is very accurate to this time. I especially love the flower print and the lace trim along the neckline. The second layer is the corset. I have made a few corsets in the past, but they were more like a bodice, not meant for waist reduction. And my skills are not quite up to the task yet. So I bought a Timeless Trends corset from their Nude Corset Collection,  The Hourglass Nude in Vanilla.  (  https://timeless-trends.com/ )  I love this collection because it has a whole range of colors to fit different skin tones. It comes in latte, crème, caramel, butterscotch, vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate. These color names are making me hu

Thrift stores are a wealth of treasures, waiting to be found. True, you have to dig deep sometimes, but these gems do exist. Take for example, this wonderful Walt Disney World sweatshirt. The bold, gorgeous blue! The adorable embroidery of Minnie Mouse! And in brand new condition, too! Love it. I would've worn it proudly, but it was an XL. Which I am not. It never was worn and eventually, I just put it away. It sadly languished in my fabric stash for way too long. Recently, I was reorganizing my fabric stash and I really wanted to do a quick project to get my creative juices flowing. And then I recalled seeing free patterns for fleece warm winter accessories on recent favorite patterns websites; Patterns for Pirates and Made for Mermaids. The two are sister companies, both literally and figuratively :-) One sister owns one, and another owns the other. I love it. I made a neck warmer. https://www.madeformermaids.com/product/neckwarmer/ Some sweet littl