The Singing Costumer

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, cinn...

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...

This ensemble is my most-worn self-made items ever. I lived in it most nights (allowing for washing, obviously) for weeks and weeks the winter I finished it. So soft, so warm, and so comfy. I came across this fabulous Elsa Schiaparelli sweater while surfing the web years ago. Schiaparelli was a famous fashion designer during the early and middle part of the 20th century. She was well known for her use of "Shocking Pink".  I liked it a lot.   I am too lazy to knit such a complicated sweater, but if I ever see one like it, I'll probably buy it. I bought this cotton flannel during the Black Friday Sale 2013 at Joann's Fabrics only because it reminded me of this sweater. Almost immediately, I decided to make a traditional pajama set with it. I used McCall’s 6659, long sleeves top and long straight pants. (The pattern also includes options for shorts sleeves top and tapered pants or shorts, plus a short or medium length robe. Very usef...

My last post, I wrote that I bought a yard of each of two diferent Beauty and the Beast stained glass fabric. You've seen what I made with first one, (see the previous blog here https://thesingingcostumer.blogspot.com/2018/08/beauty-and-beast-set.html . ) And this is what I made with the second. I loved both prints equally, so I had to buy both. The two were similar, but were different enough that I could find a use for them both. Joann Fabrics has really stepped up their game in the licensed character prints. They are all so beautiful. They've also added some ch aracter knit fabrics, so check it out if you would like. There's some fun Harry Potter prints, which are very popular, I'm sure. Star Wars is well represented also, as well as Star Trek. Basically any fandom or theme you could want. Please observe the beauty of this fabric. I bought purple 1/4" cord from "Paracord Planet" on Amazon. This shade wasn't an exact match to the fabric w...

I have written about my time at Joann Fabrics multiple times. This travel set was made from a double-sided quilted fabric that I found there while working. Sadly, I didn't buy it in time and there wasn't enough for all the projects I wanted to do. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. It is actually two cotton fabrics quilted together. Joann Fabrics carried quite a few different prints in this line. It has one side with a leopard print. And the other side has stripes of Leopard print, Zebra Stripes, and Giraffe spots.  I used Simplicity 2551 for the handbag. I matched the pattern of the fabrics across the front of the purse and the pockets. It is lined in simple black cotton. The duffle bag was made from Simplicity 2274. I used the solid Leopard print side of the fabric. My favorite feature is the gold-tone metal zipper. For some reason, a metal zipper elevates the whole look of the project to the next level. It has a large pocket on the end for s...