Let it go– finally finished another costume

So 8,9 months ago, after walking out of the theater having just seen Frozen, Vanessa looks at me and says “Mom I want to be Elsa for Halloween”. So I knew for that long I had to make her a dress. But in good ole Laura fashion, I waited two weeks before Halloween to start making something. BAD idea since most of the fabric that would resemble an Elsa ensemble was gone. Sooooo, I had to get creative. I looked at what was left and knew the dress would have lots of layers to give the same effect as Elsa’s dress. It turned out pretty good.

 

I got the pattern from McCalls since I liked the look a little better than Simplicity’s version of Elsa. I did make some big changes to the dress though. For one, I put in a lace-up back which I always wanted to try. The pattern was pretty straightforward and I really wasn’t confused by anything until I got tired. But I seem to have really good luck with McCalls patterns – they do me well.

 

And two, instead of cutting out fabric snowflake appliques, I stenciled out snowflakes first on the Cricut (then the design didn’t turn out right so I exact knifed each snowflake by hand (yes, it did take hours)). I used freezer paper for the first time for the stencils.

You iron it, waxy side down, and then use your glue and sprinkle glitter over it. I used Martha Stewart glitter glue and her silver glitter. The only problem was peeling each and every snowflake off and that was tough. It just didn’t want to peel off.

 

 

Time to sew all these tons and tons of layers together. That was the hardest part. Because I layered all the materials for an effect, it was hard to keep it together as it ran through the machine. I had glitter on my face and my clothes for days. Looks like I took up a night job.

Then I added the lace up back which wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be but I did hit my finger a couple times with the hammer when I was closing up the grommets. I still would like to try it out the grommets on a cotton material because it really was a fun way to close something up.

Then once the dress was together I got to do some of the fun parts. I decided to add a silver/glitter rope to the bottom of the bodice. Then on the neck and the back of the cape I wanted to add crystals everywhere for extra sparkle. I used my hotfix crystal tool, but you could use a hot iron to put the crystals on as well.

Then the dress was done, but I still had to figure out how to make her hair. So I crocheted a basic cap and then on every loop at the bottom I used either 1,2, or 3 strands of 3 feet yarn and made a side braid. It looked a little plain so I put ribbon through the top and then added crocheted snowflakes. This is what I did to make snowflakes: Make a magic loop. Rnd 1: Ch 1, 12 sc in ring, join with slip stich Rnd 2: Ch 1 (sc, ch5, sc, ch1) in same stitch, skip 1 sc, and repeat till end. Fasten off.

Last, I just got some silver shoes from Old Navy and called it good.

 

 

 

So its done. I think I might want to make a trick or treat bag but I’ll save that for another post. Here is the finished product. And thanks to my husband for looking at fabric and putting up with me while I made it.

 

Running on Empty

So many of the closest to me knew I had my favorite race a couple weeks ago - the Urban cow half marathon.

 

This is truly the one race I'll never miss. It is just a blast. Bands every couple miles blasting music to keep you going, along with at least 7 aid stations with water and Gatorade. And this time the Gatorade was my saving grace to keep me going for those 13.1 miles. My timing was better than I thought but a few things happened that I need to correct for next time: 

 1) need to eat a small breakfast before a run with that kind of distance. I usually don't eat at all out of nerves but I need to get over it because my body was aching for fuel. 

2) need to think about some type of pack to wear to carry additional fuel. Again with that kind of distance you need to be refueling at some point. 

3) don't sit down at all when its over - at least not for awhile. I sat down immediately and the lactic acid came rushing to my muscles and I was in extreme pain. Thank goodness they had an abundant supply of beach hut sandwhiches, cookies, cheese and fruit to eat after the race to help, again, with fueling your body. Urban cow you rock 

4) as always, have your biggest fans cheering you on. That's what makes me the happiest. And the run is all worth it. 

Calligraphy - practice practice practice

Been a long time since I've posted. What have I been up to - been busy helping coach Nessie's soccer team and now her being in preschool while still trying to fit in running, knitting/sewing, and making dinner (which lately comes in a plastic bag with the words Subway on front). And leave it to me to wait to the last minute to renew my license. praying my skills that got me through procrastination in college will get me through now. So I decided I would like to make life even harder on myself and perfect calligraphy. It's been hard. Really hard. I even took a course and you know what... It's still hard.  Here are a few pics of my stuff. I am improving just more at the rate of someone who is learning to write with their feet.