On the look out for red Dorothy shoes

Hubby & I finally got to the fabric store and picked out patterns and fabric for our Halloween costumes. Assuming I get them made in time, we are going to be Dorothy & the Lion from the Wizard of Oz. I kind of want to make our dog a tin-man costume, and hubby agreed that might be ok, but we'll see what happens there :) (he strongly opposes our dog having a wardrobe)

McCall's Costumes M4948 Dorothy

McCall's Costumes M6106 Lion

I'm keeping an eye out for red Dorothy shoes, since that is pretty much key for her character. I've seen them in the past (and almost bought them) but if anyone has seen some similar shoes that are inexpensive around this year, let me know where. Otherwise, I'll probably end up making fabric shoe covers or something.

costume fabric

We couldn't find long fake fur fabric for the lion mane, so instead we bought two 6' long boas in a brownish color (pictured above) which will hopefully look ok instead. I think that will have to be hand sewn onto some fabric so the "hood" area of the lion costume will likely not follow the pattern. The fabric for the lions body is fleece, which should be nice and warm.

The sewing machine I'm borrowing is being tuned-up right now, so I won't be sewing until next week. But, cutting patterns and fabric (along with studying for my huge exam next month) should keep me busy enough :)

*** Take a look into the future... Dorothy's ruby red shoes! ***

Another blog

I've started another blog, in addition to this one. Since I am a newly-wed and new(ish) home owner there are a lot of other projects and miscellaneous things going on other than my sewing projects that I wanted to blog about. But, I am going to keep this one specifically for sewing and crafty projects. The other blog is for "everything else" Click here if you want to check it out!

On a sewing note: hubby nicely accompanied me to the fabric store (we literally only had 5 minutes though... which was hard because McCalls patterns were on sale, so I'll probably be going back!) Anyways we've been trying to think of what to be for Halloween (not sure if we'll be around or not though) and are thinking now of possibly making costumes from the Wizard of Oz. Possibly Dorothy and the Scarecrow?

Dollies!

I have been working on making dollies from the website dolly donations to send to Haiti (there are several patterns for making dollies on that website). However the drive for dolls I was planning on sending mine to was completed early! (which is awesome) But, luckily there will be another drive soon, so these dollies will make it there eventually.

Here are the dollies that are done so far (there are many more in various stages of being made around the house right now)

Dollies!

The hubby and I were working on making a couple and have a pretty good system going... I sew a bunch of appendages, he kindly stuffs them while watching football games, then I finish sewing them together :)

updates & an oldie

I'm currently borrowing my Mom's sewing machine, so the search to purchase my own can be less rushed. Now, I'm trying to figure out my next big project to work on... maybe halloween costumes for the hubby & I? (and... dog?)

There are still a couple of buttons left to sew on the coat I'm making, but that's almost done! Hopefully I'll have it posted as complete soon.

Since I haven't done too much new lately, I decided to post a picture of the first blanket I crocheted. This is the one I made in Dec 2009-January 2010.



This was surprisingly quick to make. It took 5 skeins of Lion Brand, Homespun Yarn to make. The texture of the yarn was a little frustrating at times, especially when trying to count stitches, but since the blanket was all double crocheted, there wasn't much counting at all.

More sewing soon!

Sewing machine suggestions?

Sew what's happening? A lot of "catching up" and not enough sewing since my wedding & honeymoon. This is largely due to the fact that I no longer have continuous access to a nice sewing machine.

Currently, I have a travel machine (Singer, I believe) but it is not something you'd want to use for more than a few hems. I have access to another sewing machine, my Grandma's, but can't find the directions... so have to hand spin my bobbins. (the travel machine bobbin spinner doesn't work now either haha)

Anyways, I have been putting off buying my own machine, because there are so many options out there, I don't even know where to begin.

I want a good, all around machine, that will last a really long time. Any suggestions? What kind do you use? (I'm also in the market for a serger & nice iron, any thoughts on those would be great too)

Hopefully back to sewing soon...