Little Red Riding Hood Costume

When I was asking my oldest what she wanted to be for Halloween this year, she replied with the answer that I am sure every other 5 year old girl replied when asked the same question: "Elsa". In the event that my youngest would have said she wanted to be Anna, we would have totally gone with the Frozen theme this year... especially since we already had the dress ups in our closet. (I honestly don't care what they choose to be for Halloween. I leave it totally up to them.) But, it wasn't meant to be... The youngest was set on Sheriff Callie. So if you read my last couple posts, you saw that I was forced into handmade Halloween costumes this Halloween. 

It really isn't a big deal. I know so many awesome moms make Halloween costumes every year... and who knows, maybe this was a first of many years of handmade Halloween costumes in our house. (never say never right?) But I was not super excited to do handmade in the beginning... just because it ends up being more expensive to buy the supplies and it takes way more time obviously. 

After I got over the initial feelings of not wanting to be making costumes, I started to enjoy it. My girls were so excited to take part in putting the costumes together. Since our playroom and my studio are in the very same room, they played and would come check on the progress and try on their costumes along the way. It was a lot of fun. 

So since I was making one costume already, I offered to make the other a costume for her to be whatever she wanted. She didn't really have any ideas of what I could make, so I showed her a couple things in the Oliver + S Little Things to Sew book. (it really is the greatest book... I love it)

Once she saw the Little Red Riding Hood pattern, she was sold. Little Red is a favorite story in our home. 

I made the hood with red micro corduroy (picked up at hobby lobby) for the outside and a red and white gingham fabric for the inside, which was a poly-blend so it was super lightweight (also hobby lobby). This combo was a dream. I loved that the cord was slightly heavier than reg. quilting cotton and the gingham was so lightweight which made the drape of the cape perfect. Also- since I didn't use quilting cotton, it isn't as prone to wrinkles. I made the smaller version of the two cape patterns for my 5 year old and it works great, especially since she is pretty tiny and my 4 year old also likes to play with it, but I would opt for the large size for 5 years and older definitely. The only modification that I made to the hood was that I left off the button closure and used gingham ribbon (hobby lobby) to make ties.

I decided to pair it with the tutu pattern in the book to make it a bit more frilly. I got all of my tulle at Hobby Lobby. I used a combo of 2 layers dark cranberry red tulle on the bottom of the skirt, then 4 layers of cherry red tulle, and 1 layer of cream tulle. I also picked up my ribbon for the waistband at hobby lobby too. 

The last element for the costume was Little Red's basket. I found the perfect basket at Hobby Lobby and used leftovers of the fabrics and ribbon to make a quick liner and bow to dress things up a bit. It was perfect because she used this basket to hold the treats while trick or treating. I am all for functional props!

The cutest thing about the costume, was how much she loved it and how darling she looked once she was all dressed up. She even took 1st place at our wards trunk or treat. (Little sis was a bit miffed because last year in our old ward big sis also took 1st place for her store bought Doc McStuffins costume, so little sis thought that this was her year to take the prize. Luckily daddy won the award for best cornbread, so there were blue ribbons for both of them to pin to their costumes. ha ha) 

I hope y'all have a wonderful and very safe Halloween! 

xoxo, Ashley

DIY Sheriff Callie Costume

Sweet Sassafras! Have y'all heard of Sheriff Callie? Well, my 4 year old daughter LOVES her and decided that she just had to be Sheriff Callie for Halloween this year. 

(If you have no idea what I am talking about, Sheriff Callie's Wild West is cute little show on Disney Jr about a kitty cat that's a sheriff.)

The only problem is that Disney hasn't come out with a costume yet. 

So that meant one thing... CRAP! 

I've never made a halloween costume before... and to be honest, I kinda wanted to keep it that way. "Aint' nobody got time for dat!"

It's one thing if you are saving money to make a costume yourself, but in my experience with handmade costumes this year, I spent twice a much as I would have if I had just bought costumes and let's not even talk about the time I put into it.

(my other daughter is being Little Red Riding Hood- new post about that coming soon.) 

My little gal had her mind made up though... No persuading her. So I started brain storming with her help and we decided that we needed to make a mask. I think it turned out so cute... She loves it!

(It's so funny, because I never even thought about painting my daughters face to make her look like Sheriff Callie- That totally would have been so much easier! ha ha)

In case you were wondering- I make it a priority to not show my kids faces on blog... just for safety reasons. I know it is not as "fun" but it's a choice I made when I started my blog, so I am "sticking to my guns" and you will have to take my word for it- the mask looks darling on her! :)

Here are the details for the costume....

Mask: Made by me

I enlarged a coloring sheet found here and used it as my template for making the mask. I used stiff felt (I got mine at Hobby Lobby) for the white of the mask and then just used cheap felt for the rest of the pieces to create the face. I literally just cut out each of the elements from the coloring page and used them to trace onto felt to create the design so it really looked like Sheriff Callie. I used felt glue to glue the pieces onto the stiff base of the mask and then hand stitched them on to secure. Then I used some elastic and sewed it to each side of the mask using a zig zag stitch with a 0 stitch length and bar tacked the elastic to the mask on each side. That's it... Super easy!

Vest: Made by me

I modified the Oliver + S Explorer Vest pattern found in Little Things to Sew book. I used the smallest size of the pattern because my daughter is a tiny 4 year old and I wanted the vest to be fitted. Then I trimmed the pattern piece for the front of the vest so that it didn't come up so high around the neck and had a more "western" shape. I also left off all of the pockets and buttons on the vest. I used tan faux suede (hobby lobby) for the outside of the vest as well as the bias tape and then used some quilting cotton for the lining. 

Sheriff Badge: Made by me 

 I used the deputy badge coloring page found here as a pattern to cut the yellow felt and then stitched it to the vest.

Belt: I used dark brown faux suede (hobby lobby) and created a belt that velcros in the back with a felt oval belt buckle sewn to the middle front. 

Here are links for the elements of the costume that I bought... 

Boots: Target 

Hat: Amazon

(I used a long sleeved white t-shirt and some jean leggings we had already)

 I hope you all have a wonderful and very safe Halloween!

xoxo, Ashley

P.S. I normally never dress up for Halloween, but just for fun... I will share what my hubby and I wore for his work party this year...

Any Buckeye fans out there?? 

Can I get an OH-IO?!?

We were Coach Urban Meyer and his newest recruit! GO BUCKS! ;)

WIP Wednesday: Handmade Halloween Costumes

It's finally looking like fall has come to visit in my neck of the woods... Temps dropped from in the 90s to the 60s in a matter of 2 days. A little drastic if you ask me, but I love this time of year so I guess I shouldn't complain! I have pumpkin spice candles filling my home with a yummy, cozy aroma and I've started working on Halloween costumes for my two little girls. 

It's totally crazy to me that it's already time for Halloween costume preparations, but with going the handmade route, it is a lot of work and I don't want to be burning the midnight oil on October 30th to finish them up. Thus, I am being proactive and feeling on top of things (for once in my life!;).

I said I would never do handmade costumes. EVER.

For a couple reasons.... 

1- On a whole, I think they cost A LOT more than buying a costume at the store. 

and 

2- They are so much extra work and time... 

But never say never I guess... I waffled this year and the handmade costumes are in full swing at our house! 

I am going the homemade route mainly because my youngest wanted to be something that I knew I was not going to be able to buy somewhere. She wants to be Sheriff Callie. (If you don't have a toddler in your house, you probably have no idea who that is, but trust me- She's a big deal)

I'm really excited with how the costume is coming along so far... I can't wait to finish all of the other details and  try it all on my daughter. She is loving watching the progress and very excited about the thought of being "Sheriff Callie"- which is making all this extra work totally worth it! :)  

My oldest daughter was kinda wishy washy on what she wanted to be, but leaning toward Elsa- which we already have a costume for, but since I was doing handmade for one I figured I better go all the way crazy and do handmade for the other- right? 

So after brain storming together, we came up with Little Red Riding Hood. 

Luckily, I have the darling book Little Things to Sew, which has a pattern for the cutest Little Red Cape. 

So with my favorite show starting again tonight (NASHVILLE- can I get a Hallelujah?! I dying to see what Rayna is going to say about Deacon's proposal!!) and lots of pattern pieces to cut out, you know where you can find me for the next little bit!

Hope you have a wonderful week!!

xoxo, Ashley

P.S.

I haven't done a work in progress post in a while...  do y'all like WIP posts?? I post plenty of behind the scenes pictures on Instagram, but I know not everyone is on there, so I thought I would pop over and go the "old fashioned" route with the old bloggety blog... So let me know one way or the other by leaving a comment on whether you like seeing it here, or would rather just see it all on insta and see finished projects on the blog...

Thanks in advance for your input! 

How to Make a Halloween Trick or Treat Bag

A couple weeks ago I was invited to share a fun Halloween project in the Spooktacular September series over at the darling eighteen25 blog. It was the perfect motivation to make some trick or treat bags for my girls with some ideas that had been floating around in my head!

The ideas started brewing a few months back when I came across a preview for this darling fabric line by Maude Ashbury called Spooktackular. I fell in love with this awesome print (witches brew) and ordered a bit of it as soon as it came out.

I wanted my bags to be simple, but with a bit of a twist. I made two versions... a big and a small- one  simple and one with a bit more detail to it and I love how they each turned out. 

I will be sharing my simplified version in a step by step tutorial below, but I thought I would share how I did the quilted version in a couple pictures in case you are wanting to make something simiar- if not scroll down to the simple Halloween bag tutorial....

To start, I decided I wanted to try my hand at making my own foundation paper piecing pattern. (In case you are new to foundation paper piecing- here is a great video that teaches how to do it.) I cut a piece of freezer paper to be the size I wanted for the front of my bag (I made mine 12x15 inches). (I used freezer paper because it was the largest paper I had on hand but you could use any paper you would like.) Then I used a pencil and drew out a spider web-ish design on the paper. As you can see, it was a bit of trial and error with my design... I erased lots of lines that simply weren't working with the design- which is why I recommend using a pencil. It doesn't have to be perfect... the paper is just a guide for where to sew. I looked at my pattern when I was all done and numbered the areas by where I would need to start and end and then I was ready to start sewing...

 When I finished sewing scraps to my template, I ripped away the paper on the back side and was ready to make the rest of the bag... You will just quilt it as desired with a scrap of batting and the coordinating lining piece to make a quilt sandwich and then follow the rest of the steps in the tutorial below... 

Simple Halloween Trick of Treat Bag Tutorial

Ok... Lets start with your supplies.

-1/2 yard fabric for the outside of your bag

-1/2 yard of contrasting fabric for the inside of your bag + handles

(optional: I used a scrap of fabric for the handles, but there is plenty of spare fabric from your contrasting fabric for you to use for this purpose if you would rather.)

-1 package of 1/2 inch double fold bias tape or make a few yards of your own

1/2 yard fusible fleece or scraps of batting if you will be quilting your bag

You can make this trick or treat bag any size you would like... I made a square and rectangle version.

For this tutorial I will be showing pictures of the square version but it would be very easy to change the measurements and make your own size.

To cut your fabric you will need to cut:

12 x 12 inch main panels - 2 from the main fabric and 2 contrasting fabric

4 x 12 inch side and base panels - 3 from the main fabric and 3 from the contrasting fabric

5 x 12 inch handles - cut 2 of whichever fabric you would like

fusible fleece - cut two 12 x 12 inch main panels and 3- 4 x 12 panels

Step 1: Apply the fusible fleece to all of the main fabric panels (you do not need to apply it to the panels to your lining)

Step 2: I made two versions of the bag- one quilted and one not quilted. I like the quilted one better but you can make either option. Take each of your pattern pieces and line up each one with it's coordinating lining piece. They should all be wrong sides together. You will now make each one a unit... So you can either quilt each piece as desired or you can baste each of your pieces together with basting stitch. To baste them you will take your pieces- for example: to create the front of your bag you would take one main panel piece and one of the main lining pieces and put them wrong sides together and sew around each of the 4 sides with a 1/4 seam allowance using your longest stitch length on your machine. This will hold your pieces together so it is easier to get things all lined up.  Repeat for each of your pattern pieces... In the end you should have 5 units: 2 main panels, 2 side panels and 1 bottom panel. 

Step 3: Make your handles. I made handles two ways- one with fusible fleece (pictured) and one without and I prefer the one without, but you can do whichever option you prefer. Take one of your handle panels and fold and press it in half with the wrong sides together. Open up and fold raw edges in to the center fold and press. (At this point you can add a 1 inch strip of fusible fleece if you would like)  Unfold again and tuck the short raw edges on each end in about a half inch and press and then fold back into fourths and press well. Now your strap should be folded into 4 with the raw edges inclosed. Top stitch around all the edges to create one handle. Repeat to create second handle. 

Step 4: Attach your handles to your main panel units. I measured and pinned each of the handles to the main panels and sewed a 1 inch square on each side of the base of the handles to secure it to the bag. Be sure when doing this step that you place your handles at least 1 1/2 inch down so that you still have enough room at the top to sew your 1/2 inch bias tape on. (I placed my handles 3 inches from the side and 1 1/2 inch down from the top of the bag- then that 1 inch square of stitches was in an area free of where I needed to sew my bias tape on.)

Step 5: Assemble your bag. You are going to be putting your bag together opposite of how you normally would... you are going to sew it so that the seams are exposed on the exterior of your bag so that you can apply bias tape to finish off the exposed seams. So start by sewing your two side panels to one of the main panels. You will pin them so the lining is together. Use a 1/4 inch seam allowance. After the sides are attached to one main panel, attach to the other main panel. 

Step 6: Apply bias tape to your exposed seams. Here is a great tutorial if you need help doing that. Be sure to do the proper way of sewing on bias tape so that you have a nice finish and accurately enclose those exposed seams .

Step 7: Pin and sew the base of your bag on. This step will be slightly awkward... Hang in there! ;) The bias tape corners are thick and tricky to get through so sew slowly.

Step 8: Apply bias tape to the base of your bag as well as the top of your bag to finish off any exposed seams... It is slightly awkward once more to sew over those corners that already have bias tape applied. Just go slow and be patient... It will be over soon! 

I found it easiest to machine stitch the bias tape to the exterior of the bag and then whip stitch the other side of the bias tape (like you would a quilt binding) to insure that you have  a nice finish and no stray looking stitches... So for the top I machine stitched on the outside of the bag and then folded the bias tape over and whip stitched it to the lining and for the bottom of the bag I machine stitched to the "top" side of the bag and then whip stitched it to the bottom where the bag sits. 

That's it... you have a finished trick or treat bag just in time for Halloween! 

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley