So I seem to be into Halloween these days (years).
In 2014, I repurposed a red sheath dress my sister made for me for Halloween 2011 where I was Lt. Uhura, made a pillbox hat, cut fabric to tie like a scarf, wore white kid gloves, fishnet stockings and black pumps and brought a carry-on suitcase to work. My effort was reward with a prize at my office Halloween party and confidence that I could do it again.
In 2015, while on leave from work and E’s first Halloween, I saw adorable lion costumes abounded on the Internet so I decided to make my own – he looks adorable in anything, but the costume itself was a fail – and in the mall which is like anti-Halloween yet hosts a ‘do, our matching costumes were just lost in the glaring daylight and walls that echoed hundreds of kids shrieking at any given time
The Dorothy blue gingham dress was just an apron I hand-sewed and wore over a white shirt and black pencil skirt. In a fit of discouragement, I binned the gingham apron/dress since it wasn’t a good apron either.
In 2016, I was back on a Star Trek bent. The year before, I saw the adorable Think Geek onesies only after I had committed to E’s lion costume so I filed it for this year, before he’s old enough to ask for something else! Meanwhile, since I had acquired sewing machine chops (and a sewing machine), I was confident I could make a Star Trek dress that I could use in years to come. Afterall, I would have leftover fabric and E’s shirt (as I was not going to make a onesie) did not require much fabric.
Image from thinkgeek.com
Did you know there are references detailing the various Trek uniforms? Of course there are. I was endlessly referring to them but at the same time, I do not have the patience and only half the tools to make clothing fit for everyday. I made E’s shirt first and traced an 18-month long-sleeve shirt he is currently wearing. I visited the clearance section of Dressew first and finding the right colour and the fabric is stretchy (great, no zippers required), I didn’t consider any other fabric. I think the narrow-ribbed fabric was polyester and I describe it as “cheap yoga pants material”. Following my slapdash and quick go at E’s shirt, I was disheartened that the stretchy fabric was bunching and generally giving me a lot of headaches.
But when I took more time and pinned my fabric and had a moderate foot on the sewing machine pedal, it was not impossible to work with the fabric. I was quite chuffed at the point that I fairly successfully made sleeves for the dress. Still, I had the closest eyes on it and know the shortfalls, all of which I can attempt to address next year:
- It came out with a potato sack silhouette, as NPY so tactfully described it, which I cinched at a couple of points but could stand for a more permanent fix.
- In terms of the colour-blocking proportions, there is too much teal and not enough black. The way I made it, it can be fixed but it’s not a large job relative to the entire creation.
- The neck and bottom hems flip outwards and I need to make them lay flat.
Costs:
– followed Sew Petite Gal’s Easy Shfit Dress DIY Tutorial
– 1m black stretchy fabric $2 (clearance and end of the roll)
– 1m teal stretchy fabric $4 (clearance)
– 0.3m teal trip $0.30
– pips $0.25 each and I purchased 4
– my communicator pin – purchased years ago on eBay for under $10
– E’s communicator pin – 2 pieces of foam @ $1.79 each but used for other projects as well
NPY, on seeing the teal colour, wondered if there was a significance. Yes, medical and science. “Of course it is.”
And here’s the best part. When I put E into his complete outfit (with pants), on Saturday, October 28, he squirmed off the bed where I was dressing him and was poised to crawl. He did a downward facing dog which he doesn’t often do and I find utterly adorable. Then he pushed himself up to stand and tottered several steps away from me before squatting, regrouping, standing again and taking a few more steps. Previously, he had taken some stumbling steps only with coaxing and towards you. He started to walk upon wearing his Starfleet uniform! We think it is pretty awesome.
On this day..
- Currently Reading: Margaret Atwood's "The Year of the Flood" - 2010
- Good start - 2007
- namaste - 2005