I'm happy to finally be getting back to sewing work just this week. The sewing/doll room is still a WIP as is the rest of the house, but things are slowly and surely getting more and more organized. I am very much looking forward to when things are under control enough where we can start painting.
Any return to normalcy is nice, and where sewing is concerned, I've really missed it! Not to mention having a back stock of orders is always a stress in the back of your mind, even if all your customers are very nice and patient with the delays. (Commissions are also a bit behind, but progress will be happening soon.) I have mailed my final late orders out today. Whew! What a relief! I finished the rest of the sewing on those yesterday. And since those were all finally done, I figured it was completely justifiable to start working on some new Critter items. Me being me, that just so happened to be something Halloween!
Since cutting down my Calico Critter families to a much more sensible number of 12, I really want to work on developing each Critter. Most of them have no clothes, so my original plan was to start making them outfits, simply doing one a day. But as I was sewing an order of Halloween clothes, I got to thinking - just how much fun would it be to actually have each Critter have their own Halloween costume this year? And to set up a Halloween party scene? I love seeing other collectors Halloween posts, and I have never been to where I could do it myself, or even enjoy trying to. This year will be different. :D
I immediately started thinking about my Garden Bed family. They were my first (those ubiquitous Hopscotches) and also some of my very top favorites. I cut down their multitude to simply 4 adults (my child sized figures are just adults who are smaller in stature) and then a reasonable 6 babies. That was initially hard for me as I just adore the baby Hopscotch so much. I just needed to do it for my own sake. I want each baby to have a personality and a name and the only way to accomplish that was to simply cut down my 18 plus to something much, much smaller. I'm so glad that I did it. Here are the Garden Beds:
Twin boys named Lettuce and Spinach (larger adult size)
Middle sister Asparagus (big sister)
Youngest brother Brussel Sprout (child size body)
The babies are as follows, in 3 sets of twins, each a girl and boy:
Turnip and Potato
Parsnip and Carrot
Radish and Green Bean
As I was sewing that Halloween dress for an Etsy order, visions of making a Freddy Krueger costume for Brussel Sprout flashed through my mind. I had briefly thought about that earlier this year, but pretty much forgot about it in the ongoing mayhem. I could make the twins Jason and Michael Myers. But after thinking about Michael Myers, I got a little hung up in how to accomplish making that mask for a Critter. That's when I thought about Sam from Trick R Treat! (Terrible movie, BTW. Great concept, really poor execution. Sam though, Sam is forever.) How perfect would Sam be on a smaller Critter? I got so excited, and therefore, I had to start with that one.
After eating supper and reading my Latin chapter (that summer goal is going well! I have about 7 chapters left and will have reached that goal. Yay!) I got any remaining Etsy sewing done, and then, it was time to sew a Sam outfit!
With freshly washed orange cotton fabric in hand, I reworked my blouse and pant pattern into Sam's cute little jumpsuit. It took a couple of tries until I was satisfied with it. I found some light orange on yellow tonal print (it's hard to describe) that was perfect for the patches. I fray checked around the edges of the tiny squares instead of trying to hem them before sewing them on. The first square I pretty much drowned in fray check, so I had to recut it. (My fray check is especially temperamental this time around. The slightest pressure sends a geyser!) Those little patches I sewed on by hand with black thread. I wasn't sure if the black was too much of a contrast, and while I like it, I might try a darker brown. Or maybe I am nitpicking. I always have to nitpick. Once I got the suit done, I was really happy. Sam was coming together!
The hood was the part that I was the most uncertain of how to make it. I had to make it to go around Brussel Sprout's ears and that's always a little nerve wracking. I drafted the hood pattern into 4 pieces after measuring Brussel's head both across and from ear to down where I wanted the hood to end, keeping in mind that it needed to bush out a little. From there, I drew what I felt was the right proportioning for each ear hole. I didn't bother with fray checking the first hood as I was expecting to need to redo it. I hemmed first around each part of the ear hole - each piece had a notch to hem. Then, I sewed both the front and the back of the hood together. On Sam's hood you see some stitch detailing down the middle of each half, as well as a stitched mouth in the front and 2 button eyes. I decided in the end to simply zig zag this detailing. I started out with a wider stitch then I wanted, so I took that out, and readjusted my stitch width and then re-stitched my seams. It turned out even better than expected. I did the mouth in the same manner. Once the mouth was done, I sewed the hood sides and top together. After that was done, I slipped it onto Brussel's head, and viola! It fit perfectly!!! I figured out the placement for the eyes and marked that spot with a pin. I luckily had tiny little 2 mm buttons in brown, which I stitched onto the hood with black thread. The sewing was now done! All that was left was to figure out how I wanted to tie it on.
My original plan was to tie it on using embroidery floss. Unfortunately, I have no idea where on earth that ended up, so I had to go to plan B. At this point it was nearing 10 o clock, so I wanted to get the outfit wrapped up so I could quit for the night. The quickest thing that I thought of and also actually found was some golden brown thin yarn. Yay for it being in some unexpected place right in front of me! I got the hood tied on, and Brussel Sprout is now ready to go trick or Treating.
I think after I am done with this post, I'll get to work on the big 10 tee shirt order that came in the other day on Etsy and just maybe I will start on a second Halloween costume! :)
