Knight in Shining Armor Suit

My youngest grandson wants nothing more than to be a knight in shining armor, so for Christmas he is getting a whole knight costume.  His mother is making the sword and shield and I offered to make the suit of armor.  I found the perfect shiny material and I had a tin man costume pattern.  With only a slight alteration to the hood, I was able to convert a tin man funnel into a knight helmet.  I hope it fits him.  I made the suit a size three although he is still two, and a small one at that.  I want it to fit him for awhile.  Here is my creation.  I wish the camera did more justice to it.

Because it is hanging on a hanger, the top is closer to the knee joints that it will be on the child, hopefully.

I tried to get a better shot of the helmet from the side. I created the face joints by taking the two joint parts, and instead of sewing them together to form the joint, I sewed one to the top of the face opening and the other one on the bottom.

This is a great shot of the shoulder joint.  These joints were added to the shoulders, elbows, and knees. Each joint consists of two joint parts sewed together to give the curved look.  Then, I had to hand sew the joints in place. 

I'm actually finished with Christmas projects and I am going to take a break before I start next year's projects.  I still have two more sweaters on order.  I also already know what I am making for next year's presents for the adults.  It is not knit this time.  I am going to do cross stitch for a switch.  I will probably still do knit projects for the grand kids.  I might make sweaters again, since I know they have all outgrown their last sweaters.

No More Knitting Until After Christmas

I just finished another sweater.  It will be the last knitting project I do before Christmas.  I still have orders for two more sweaters for after Christmas.  I need to take a small break from knitting again.  I am now working on the knight in shining armor costume for my youngest grandson who is asking for nothing else this year. When you are two years old, you get one thing in your head and that is what stays there. He's always being either a big, mean, daddy lion, or he is a knight in shining armor.  His mother is making his sword and shield and I offered to make the suit.  It is nearly done. Here's the sweater.

Done in the charcoal gray, I needed a bright background so it would show up better. 

The pattern for this sweater has become a very popular one for many who see it.  I keep getting orders for more like it.  It is quite easy, but is done in one big piece, so it gets really heavy before I get to the bottom.  I start at one sleeve and go all away across the front and back and back down the other sleeve all in one continuous circle.  I break at the center front and switch to straight needles to complete the center front and back sections so I can do the collar. Then, I connect back to the circular needle to go down the other sleeve.  Once the sleeves and yoke are completed, I pick up stitches around the yoke section and knit the body on a circular needle.  That is why it gets so heavy and bulky before I finish. The biggest problem I am having with this sweater is that everyone is a bit different in size.  I finally adjusted to that, but this sweater was also being done in a lighter weight yarn.  I needed to not only make this sweater larger for the lady it was being made for, but I also had to adjust to the lighter yarn.  I finished the whole first sleeve before I could see that it was not going to be big enough, so I had to take the whole thing out and add more stitches to begin with.  I think I finally have it right.  I sure hope this sweater fits because I need to make another one for this same lady.

Did I Say More Socks?

Yes, I have been making more socks.  I always think that I won't make them again, but then someone asks for some and I do them.  I don't really mind doing socks, but I feel it is hard to earn anything doing them.  My labor is pretty much free because I don't feel easy about charging a big price for a pair of socks, although they can take me as long to make as a sweater sometimes. I have decided that in the future I will continue to charge twenty dollars for a pair, plus the cost of the yarn.  That will make it worth the time it takes to make them.  I was disappointed to get my first recall on my last pair.  I guess a small hole has started in the toe.  I'm sure it was the pair that I did the kind of weaving that the pattern calls for.  I have never felt like I was getting a good tight finish that way, so I started doing it my way and it works much better.  I know the toe will be finished securely with my method. Anyway, I told Rhonda to bring the sock back and I will fix it.  I really hate knowing that my work is less than best and Rhonda has been good to me with all her orders. She deserves a good product for what she pays me.

These are the ladies' socks.  The gray pair is the recall.

These are the men's socks.

Now, I need to get to work on another sweater, same pattern, just a different color.  The pattern has become a hit with a lot of people who have asked me to make one for them.  I have at least three more ordered.  One needs to be finished for Christmas, so I will get right on it.  The other two will have to wait until after Christmas.  There isn't enough time for me to get everything finished and still stay sane for Christmas.  I have other things I need to do, like making my candies.

Sweater for Tori is Finished

I just finished Tori's sweater.  I had finished a big portion of the sweater before I decided to take out a bunch of it and do it over.  I was trying to make it a little wider than Rhonda's, so I decided to make the collar just four stitches wider.  Big mistake.  It just did not look right.  I meant to just take it out back to the collar, but when I was trying to cut the yarn that was where I had sewed the inside of the collar down to the neck edge, I accidentally cut the front stitching on the neck.  I had to take the whole thing apart, back to where I broke off from the circular needle to straight needles at the end of the first sleeve, so I could do the front and back yokes.  Anyway, I'm happy to say that that was my only big mistake.  I was able to complete the rest of the sweater without any major problems. 

I hope it will be long enough.  It is only two rounds shorter than Rhonda's and Tori is shorter.

Now, I need to knit four more pairs of socks for Rhonda's family.  Two are for ladies and two are for men.  It will take a little while, so I better get right on it.  Here I go.

Kim's Socks

Another pair of socks completed for Kim.  Now that these are finished, I will get onto the new projects of another sweater for Rhonda to give to her daughter for Christmas and four pairs of socks for her family.  I have a lot to get done before Christmas.  I am finding that it takes about ten hours to complete a pair of socks and the sweater will take about thirty hours.  I really will be busy trying to get everything done in time, but I know I will do it.

These are self-striping socks, but I had to work with the yarn a bit to try to get them to look matched.  I thought this pattern would look better if they did match.  I know the front sock looks smaller, but it isn't. It just was not stretched out.

Let's Cover That Little Bottom With Pretty

Kim said she was ready to put Annie into cloth diapers.  She wanted some more since Ezra's were pretty worn out, and besides they were for a boy.  I went shopping for some nice soft flannel to make the diapers out of, but got carried away at all the wonderful prints.  I had to finally just tell myself that enough was enough.  I like to line the diapers with water proof material, but I am getting low on it and the colors I do have weren't that great for diapers.  Kim said that was okay because she puts a cover over them either way, with or without the liner. I was able to get two packages of water proof material that was cut the right size for making diapers.  The store only had two packages, so I took both.  I was happy that the ones they had were girly print, since that is what I needed.  I've run out of material, so I could only make twenty-two diapers, instead of the twenty-four that I was trying to get.  I think this will be enough so she doesn't have to wash every couple of days.

This is actually eight diapers.  There are two of each print.  The elephant prints have orange inside, the frog prints have green inside, the cupcake prints have pink inside, and the camouflage have purple inside.

These are the six diapers that have waterproof lining.  What you see is the waterproof material.  I lined the insides with soft pink or cream colored flannel so they will be soft on little Annie's bottom. 

I ran out of solid flannel, so these are all the same on inside and out, except for the one on the bottom left.  That material was not as soft and it had sparkles on it.  I didn't think that would be too kind to Annie, so I lined it with white flannel.

I now need to get back to Kim's other pair of socks.  I finished another scarf like the one I made before for the same lady.  She wants to give it to her daughter for Christmas.  She also wants another sweater like hers, but of a different color.  I need to wait until I hear from her about what color and the measurements before I start that.  I did get the other sweater finished with both sleeves the same color.  I will not show it again, since I already showed it with the mis-colored sleeves.  It looks the same, except now the sleeves match.  I also did not post a picture of the scarf because it looks just like the other one. This same lady now says she wants me to make socks, too.  She wants (I hope just four pairs and not eight); for her husband, son, daughter, and herself. She didn't say if they were for Christmas, but if they are, I am going to be one very busy lady trying to fill her order.  She pays well, so I want to keep her happy.

Oh, The Sorrow of it All!

I recently received an order for a scarf that needed to be crocheted, and I showed that in an earlier blog.  Along with the scarf order, was one for a sweater that was crocheted and needed to be converted to knitting.  I got on it right away after finishing the scarf, but after having finished the whole sweater up to the last arm, I realized it was going to be much too big for the petite little lady that ordered it.  I took out the body of the sweater and re-used the yarn to start a new sweater.  I finished the first arm, across the front and back of the yoke, and the collar out of that yarn and another ball of yarn I had.  I bought another ball of yarn to do the last sleeve, since I did not want to take out any more of the first sweater.  I bought the same yarn, from the same store, and even from the same bin.  I did not check dye lots.  In artificial light, everything looked just fine. Things were looking pretty good after a few take outs and do overs.  I went to bed last night, thinking I was finished with the sweater. I went to take a picture of the sweater this morning, and much to my dismay, the sleeve that I had finished just last night with a different ball of yarn was a different color.  It looked awful.  Well, I was sad all day, but did not want to do anything until I was sure the sweater would fit.  I was going to be seeing the lady tonight, so I took it as it was to have her try it on and to see if she was happy with it.  She was thrilled.  It fit her perfectly.  She likes it so much that she wants me to make one for her daughter in a different color.  She also loved the scarf and wants me to make one exactly like it for her daughter, also.  She said that when her daughter got home from college for Christmas, that she would want one, so she plans to have me make the scarf to give to her as a present.  She also said she would like for me to make some socks.  I guess I will be busy for awhile.  I took a picture of her wearing the sweater with the two tones, so I will not show it again when it is finished once again.

This is Rhonda in her sweater with the two toned sleeves.

Rhonda with the sweater and the scarf.

During my day of frustration because of the sweater, I couldn't let time go by without starting a new project.  I have a few to go.  I need to make diapers for my little Annie, another pair of socks for Kim, and I just got a request today to make some Bible character toys for my grandson, Joey, who is really in to hearing Bible stories right now.  I need to make David and Goliath, Danial and the lions, and one more that is slipping my memory right now.  I decided to start on the diapers first.  I cut out sixteen and started to sew them.  I finished three.  They go quickly, so it shouldn't take too long to finish them.  Of course, now I need to get that sweater done over since she plans to pay me on Sunday.  I also want to do the other scarf right away, since I have the yarn for it.  She wants it to be exactly the same as hers.  She said the sweater will be a different color, but she didn't say what, so I cannot start it yet. I told Joey he had to wait before I could get to his toys. There is just so much I can do at one time.

Not My Project

Sometimes, I like to do crafts with Dot and Lucy when they come to visit.  Today, since it is Halloween, I decided to make ghosts with them.  I found the idea online, but because I couldn't get it to work the way it showed, I adapted it to my own design.  The kids did the rest.  I helped Ezra make his and the one I made to show as a model is going to be Annie's.  Here they are, four little ghosts, sitting on a post...well, not really, but that is how the song goes.

Ghost 1: Ezra's, Ghost 2: Lucy's, Ghost 3: Dot's, and Ghost 4: Annie's

To do this project, we used sticky back felt for the feet and pipe cleaners to connect the feet up into an inverted plastic cup that had been stuffed with Kleenex.  Just a little bit of stuffing was hot glue gunned to the top of the cup to round off the head a bit and to hold the material on.  We used glue dots to put on the googlie eyes and the kids drew the faces.  I also hot glued the cup to the feet so they would hold together and not just fall off when they picked the ghost up. I think they are pretty cute.

Oh, This is Sooooooo Hard!

I am trying to do something new.  I have had an order for an infinity scarf that is crocheted.  I haven't done a lot of crocheting, and I could not find the pattern online like it said it could be found.  I looked at it and decided that it was a braided treble crochet.  I thought it looked like four strands, so I proceeded to make four strands of 300 stitches in treble crochet.  I braided it, and it just didn't look right and I wasn't very happy with the color.  I decided to go buy a different color and try again. I was able to go online again and get some partial explanation from someone who had also tried to make the scarf.  I found out that it was double crochet and that the braid was five strands of 70 inches each.  I have never braided with five strands, so I went online again to find out how.  I found some nice instructions for braiding with five strands on You Tube.  Well, crocheting goes fast, so I was able to complete the five strands very quickly.  However, because I have not crocheted much, my tension was not completely even and so two of the strands were slightly shorter than the other two.  That caused a bit of difficulty when it came time to tie in the braid, since it is an infinity scarf. Well, it is done, and it doesn't look too bad, though it does not look nearly as nice as the one in the picture.  Rhonda is a rather classy gal, so I hope she will be happy with it.  However, if she is not happy with it, she does not have to buy it.  I need to have complete satisfaction for my products before I let someone pay me for them.  I do my best, but since I am not a professional, and I have had no formal training, I need to know that the article I am making meets the satisfaction of the customer.

I always have a difficult time capturing a nice shot of my product.  This is the best I could do with this scarf. It doesn't really show the braid very well, but it does look nice.

I now have to tackle another difficult project for Rhonda.  She has also requested a pull over sweater with very large sleeves and a big loose turtle neck.  It is also crocheted.  I have looked at the picture, and I think I will be able to come up with a pattern in knitting that will look very similar to it.  I hope I can do it.  I'll do my best.  Here's hoping.  She is willing to pay me well for it, so I want to make her very happy.

Socks for Kim

Kim certainly loves my socks, so she asks for them just about every year.  She wears them so much that they wear out on her.  Here is the latest pair.  I can actually say that this is probably the first pair of socks I have made that I have not made some big mistake that needs to be taken out and done over.  I had not made socks in a while, so I am surprised at how fast I was able to do them.  It took me about three days to make one sock.

I usually use the self striping wool yarn for socks, but I tried the cotton one this time.  It seems a little stronger and may last longer for her.  At least, that is what I am hoping for. 

I just received an order for some new things, so I am anxious to get started on the projects.  I do plan to make another pair of the wool socks for Kim, but that will be after I complete my two new projects.  I have been asked to duplicate a sweater pull over and a scarf.  Both are really crocheted, but I plan on trying to convert the sweater to knit.  I am going to attempt to crochet the scarf, since it looks like it is just double crocheted strips that are wove like a basket. I think I can do it.  I tried a small swatch last night to see if my plan would work, and I think I am good to go.  I also have to come up with my own patterns, since I have just seen pictures online of what they look like.

A Couple of Good Guys

Joey and Ellis were able to get together the other night and put on their Halloween costumes to play around for awhile.  Here they are, posing as a couple of good guys.  Joey did not have his beard that was shown in my previous post.

Joey as a beardless Obi-Wan-Kenobi and Ellis as Batman.

Obi-Wan-Kenobi and Ariel

I just finished the last two costumes.  The Ariel costume was a trial and error type of thing.  I really had to come up with the pattern on my own.  I started by making a simple jump suit like I had with the other costumes.  I covered the legs with the net to make it look fishy. I planned to just add fins with the net material on the sides of the legs.  I could see that that was not going to be enough to make it look like a fish tail, so I made a shape of the body and the tail with the net and made a front and a back.  I thought I would just sew those together and it would look okay, but it was too sheer and the legs showed through.  I decided to cut that same shape out of the green material and put the net over it.  It worked perfectly.  However, it was too short.  That is when I came up with the idea to add the ruffle to the bottom.  I think it finally came out right.  Lexi really wanted to have the shells top, so I just used some shiny pink material with some sheer blue over it.  I made it look like a bikini top.  It works.

Joey as Obi-Wan-Kenobi.

Back of Obi-Wan-Kenobi.

Obi-Wan-Kenobi with hood up and holding an invisible light sabre.

Lexi makes a very adorable Ariel.

Backside of Ariel.

Another cute shot.

Finally, Halloween costumes are finished.  The Christmas pillows and covers are also finished. I am now working on making a winter brimmed hat that I can wear.  I have it knitted.  Now, I have to add the plastic canvas to the brim to make it stiff and add the buttons on the band strap.  I started to make a matching scarf, but it is going to take some time to get it finished. If I don't have any more projects come up, I will just continue to work on it.

Costumes for Zoe & Jackson

I visited my son and his family this past weekend.  I decided that it would be a good thing to make costumes for Zoe and Jackson since I have never done that before.  Mindy loved the idea, so I asked what they wanted to be and came home.  I started right away.  First, I had to go to the store to get the material that I would need to make them.  I needed to make a pink kitty and Spiderman costume.  While I was working on cutting out the costumes, I decided to also cut out Joey's and Lexi's costumes.  Joey is going to be Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars and Lexi is going to be Ariel from The Little Mermaid.  I worked all afternoon on Sunday and finished cutting all four costumes.  Today, I sewed all day and managed to get two finished.  I needed to do Zoe's and Jackson's first so that I can get them packaged and sent.  I want to be sure they will get them in time.  I will finish the other two later this week.  I need to have them done by the 25th for the Trunk-or-treat activity at church that night. Here are the finished costumes.

I had to draw all the webs on the red material. I got the spider pattern from online and I bought the mask and gloves.

I decided to make the headband ears instead of a hood, and have Zoe wear her hair down long. Tom will paint the face.

Surprise! Surprise! Costumes

Well, I didn't think I could sew without my glasses, but I ended up giving it a try anyway.  My sister-in-law was heading to Maine and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get the costumes up there for Portia and Ellis, just in case we don't make it up before Halloween.  I found out she was going and had just one day to complete them if I wanted them done for her to take them with her.  I got right to work on them first thing Wed. morning and worked on them all day until 12:30 a.m.  I got them all finished, except for the hems in the batman costume because I didn't know how long to make them.  I probably should have just done them, but it was late and I figured his mom could finish that part for me.  My biggest challenge was in cutting out the patterns.  I had to come up with a design for Portia's jack-o-lantern.  I didn't know for sure if my plan would work, but I think it is going to be just fine.  I had a bit of a problem getting the points on the cape for batman, but I think it will work.  I wish it was longer, but it will have to do.  Ellis is getting so tall that I am afraid it will not reach much lower than his bottom end.  Here's my end results.

I stuffed the head so that the hood would show up better.  I used a plastic mask and sewed it onto the hood.  Then, I sewed the hood to the cape.  The ears look a little thin from this angle, but they look good from the side.

Between the hat and the pumpkin, there will be the cute little face of Portia.

I had a request for round eyes and a triangle nose.  The mouth was supposed to be a smile. The pumpkin is lined and stuffed in between.  The bottom has an elastic so that it can just slip over her head and onto her body.  She will be wearing a black sweatshirt and pants under the pumpkin.

Little Pumpkin Annie

I have been making hats again.  I have to make a Jack-o-lantern costume for Portia, so I started by knitting her a pumpkin hat.  I will finish the rest of the costume when I have healed from my surgery and I can see better.  Right now, I have to use magnifiers to see because I cannot wear my glasses.  I don't really need to see to knit, but I still like to use the magnifiers to do it when I am doing a complex pattern like this hat calls for.  I made it from an infant sized hat pattern, but because it looked so much like what I could use to make a pumpkin, I wanted to use it.  I have made a larger size of this before for Zoe as a strawberry.  She was three at the time, and so is Portia.  However, I could not remember how I increased to make it fit a three year old.  The pattern only uses larger sized needles to increase the size, but because I was enlarging it so much, the size of needles would not work, even though I did increase the size of them to a seven and a nine.  It would not look good to use any larger needles than I used and the pattern is so complex that I didn't want to start messing with stitch counts. I ended up following the pattern exactly as it called for on the top with the stem and leaves. I increased the number of stitches when I got to the body of the hat which was the pumpkin part.  I did a complete hat, but when I got it done, it was even too large for me.  I took it out back to the end of the leaves and started again.  That is no big deal because that part of the hat is done in the simplest of stitches, the garter stitch.  I decreased by twenty stitches thinking that would do it, but when I completed the hat again, it still was large enough to fit me.  Instead of taking it out again and doing it over, I simply took it in by making three more seams like in the back.  That way, it looked like the ridges of a pumpkin.  It is still a little too big, but it will do.  I know it will at least fit on her head.  

While I was making Portia's hat, I thought it would be fun to make one for our new little Annie.  At least the pattern was for an infant, and that is what she is.  I finished her hat today, and it fits just fine.  Here is our precious little pumpkin.

My little Annie Pannie in her pumpkin hat.

I wish the top of the hat showed up a little better, but because it is so dark green, it is hard to see the leaf and the stem.  From this part of the hat you can see just the tip of one of the four leaves and the stem does not show at all.  Because of this, I am going to take a picture of Portia's hat so you can see the top. I wasn't planning on showing it until after I had finished her whole costume.

The top of Annie's looks like this, except the stem is shorter.  The body of this one shows the ridges like in a pumpkin from where I had to take it in so that it would be smaller.  I think it looks just fine this way.

Now that I have the hats finished, it is back to the pillow covers.  I am actually on my last one.  I started it just today.  However, I will not be showing these last six that I have made because they are for Kim's family and I know she reads my blog.  I at least want it to be a little bit of a surprise for her when they open their pillows and covers on Christmas.

As soon as I am able to wear my glasses again, I will get on the Halloween costumes.  I have to make Ariel for Lexi, a Star Wars character for Joey (I can't spell his name, so I will just leave it as being a Star Wars character), Batman for Ellis, and the Jack-o-lantern for Portia.  It is just too hard to sew on the machine using my magnifiers.  They are great for anything right in front of me, but when I look away just a little, everything becomes too magnified and messes with my eyes.  Two more days until surgery, and hopefully this time it will not keep me from wearing my glasses.  I can't wait to see normally again and be able to sew anything and any time I want.

Another Family of Pillows

Yes, another family's pillows have been completed, along with the covers. Here they are for viewing.

Front of the covers for Jon, Cheryl, Joey, and Alexis.

Back of the covers for Jon, Cheryl, Joey, and Alexis.

Close up of Jon's basket weave for the back of the cover and Cheryl's berry stitch back. Joey's and Alexis' backs have plain stocking stitch backs with garter stitch borders.

Front of Jon's, Cheryl's, Joey's, and Alexis' pillows.

Back of Jon's, Cheryl's, Joey's, and Alexis' pillow.

This has turned into quite a project, but with three families, Isamu's, and Tony's finished, I now only have one more family to do.  However, that is the biggest family.  There are now six members to this family since the birth of our sweet little Annie.  I had to save this family for last, because I didn't know what the initial would be for Annie.  We knew it was a girl, but a name had not been decided on until she was born.  I will not show these pillows and covers when they are finished because I don't want Kim to see them before Christmas.  I know she reads my blog and though she knows what they are getting, I don't want her to see what they are actually getting until they open their presents.

Elsa and Belle Revisited

I recently found out that two more of my lovely grand daughters were desirous to have some more play dresses like the ones that I made for Lexi.  When I asked which princess they wanted to be, Lucy immediately said that she wanted an Elsa dress.  Dot said she would like Sleeping Beauty.  I asked her what color I needed for Sleeping Beauty and she said it was pink.  Since I knew that I needed to use old sheets for the dresses like I did for Lexi's Belle dress, I told her that I didn't have any pink sheets.  She said that is okay, I could just be Belle.  That solved the problem.  I had enough of the sheet left over from Lexi's Belle costume and with a little extra from three other colors of yellow from my remnant stash, I was able to come up with enough yellow to make another Belle dress.  I had plenty of left over material from Lexi's birthday Elsa dress and a blue sheet to complete a dress for Lucy. I set out on Thursday afternoon at about 2:00 to gather all the materials and get the dresses cut out.  I finished the second dress at 11:30 that night.  Marty took them home to give to the girls when they woke up the next morning.  However, the dress for Belle was designed to have sleeves that go down over the shoulders and was kind of low cut in the front.  Dot had told me when she tried it on that it was inappropriate.  I agreed, and so Marty and Kim decided to wait until I returned from my trip to Maine this weekend to show the dresses to the girls.  When they did give them to the girls to try on, Dot's did hang down too low on her shoulders and around the neck line.  They brought the dress back and asked if I could alter it in a way to make it higher.  I was able to just add yet another, slightly differently colored yellow to raise the neck line. It is finally finished and fits her nicely.  Lucy's dress fit wonderfully, but, because the sleeves were made from the sheer material, it tore immediately around the sleeve insert.  They brought it back while I was altering Dot's dress and asked if I could do something about that.  I was able to reinforce the sleeve so it should not tear now.  If it does, then I will have to redo the sleeves with a different material all together, but I don't think it will be necessary.  Here are my two beautiful girls in their new dresses.

Lucy makes a lovely Elsa.

Dot shines in her yellow Belle dress.

Robin and Belle

Joey and Lexi are going to kill me with all their requests for more costumes.  Which ever super hero is on Joey's favorite list needs a costume and every princess that is on Lexi's favorite list needs a dress.  Sunday, Joey told me that he just had to have a Robin costume because they don't have them in the store and he simply needed to have one...like yesterday.  He hounded me all Sunday at church and in the evening when they were here for a visit.  As soon as Lexi heard Joey ask for the Robin costume, she said she wanted a Belle dress.  I guess she is into Beauty and the Beast right now.  Well, I went on line to see what the costumes needed to look like.  I checked out my stash of material and could find nothing much that would be enough to do the costumes, so I did a little creativity.  I had just seen The Sound of Music last Saturday and Maria used old curtains to make play clothes for the kids, so I thought, "Hey, I have some old green and yellow sheets and a sheer yellow curtain."  There was plenty of material to make the costumes.  I was even able to use some more of the left over remnants of the red from the graduation gowns that I converted into boxing robes to use for the red on Robin's costume.  Another problem was coming up with a pattern that would do.  I used the standard body suit for the Robin costume, but I wanted to add muscles like the picture showed.  For some unknown reason, the torso part of the costume was way too long, and since I had bulked up the front to look like muscles, when Joey tried it on, the belt came down below his rear end.  I had to drastically change the length of the torso.  I also took out a little bit of the bulk from the top, and now it looks a little better.  I had to use a couple of different patterns for the Belle dress to get the look I wanted, and even then, I had to alter some parts of those patterns.  All in all, it went together pretty smoothly and fit her on the first try.

Surprise.  For some reason, Lexi doesn't want to look at the camera.  Just before this shot, she showed me only hair because her head was bent forward.  When we told her to look up and smile, this is what I got.  This dress is made from a sheet for the skirt and the lining of the bodice.  The top layer of the skirt is the sheer curtain on top and the sheet underneath.  The only part of the dress that used regular material was the bodice and the capped sleeves.  I have had this material for a long time and I knew that some day I would have something to use it for.  It is hard to see in the picture, but it is a pretty eyelet lace and the brighter yellow helped to make the dress look a little more colorful.

This is actually a shot from before I altered the torso of the costume.  It looks pretty good in this picture because of the way Joey was standing, however, the belt doesn't even show because it is below the muscles that are hanging way to low.  The green part of this costume is made from an old sheet.  The cape is made from the sheer curtain, lined with the sheet material.  The black is regular cotton material from my stash.

This is the altered version, along with the mask which he said he had to have.  I hadn't planned on making a mask, but he said Robin needs to have a mask.

Joey loves to pose in his costumes.  This gives a nice view of the cape.

Back to the pillows.  I have half of the back finished on my next cover.  So much more to do to complete this huge project.  Christmas will be here before we know it.

Another Family's Pillows and Tops

I have finally finished with another family's Christmas pillows and knitted covers to go with them. I now have finished ten of the twenty-one pillows and covers.

These are the fronts of the covers for Tom, Mindy, Zoe, and Jackson.

This shows the covers from the back.

This is a close up of the backs of Tom's with basket weave and Mindy's with the berry border and cabled center.

Fronts of the pillows for Tom, Mindy, Zoe, and Jackson.

Backs of the pillows.

I have sewn five more pillows and completed Tony's pillow and cover.  I don't believe I have shown it yet, but I will at a later date. 

Doll Clothes

I've been working on the doll clothes for Dot's, Lucy's, and Lexi's 18" dolls.  I spent one whole day picking out the material I wanted to use from my scrap supply and cutting out the patterns for the outfits I wanted to make.  I decided to make one of each garment for each girl, but make them all from different material. For two days, I have been sewing the different things.  I have finished a sleeveless dress, a short sleeve top to go with the pair of shorts, and a long sleeve top to go with the pants for each girl.  I still have a long sleeve dress and a short sleeve dress to sew for each of them.
Here are the finished items.  I borrowed one of Lexi's two dolls to try the clothes on and to take the pictures.

Lucy's shirt and shorts.

Lexi's shirt and shorts.

Dot's shirt and shorts.

Lexi's sleeveless dress.

Dot's sleeveless dress.

Lucy's sleeveless dress.  For some reason it is shorter than the others.

Lexi's long sleeve top and pants.

Dot's long sleeve top and pants.

Lucy's long sleeve top and pants.

Most of the things are made from cotton.  The long sleeve tops are made from jersey knit and the pants are made from corduroy.