The Pumpkin Carriage-Part I

Since these projects are not in chronological order anyway and I mentioned it in the first post, I'll go ahead and tell you about the pumpkin-carriage stroller costume.

Now, I've made lots of Halloween costumes over the years for my daughter, Snow White, a mermaid, a unicorn and various others. But this one, this one, has to be the oddest request ever.  About mid-September, daughter calls and tells me about her Halloween plans.  She wants everyone to be a character from Cinderella. Everyone being her ten-year-old son (forced into the role of Prince Charming), his half-sister, Ava, as Cinderella, Mackenzie as the little mouse that runs around saying "Cinderelly", and daughter and her friend portraying the stepsisters. Can I do costumes for everyone, except Cinderella who already has hers? Keep in mind folks that this is 6 weeks from Halloween, I'm already working on projects she's given me for Erik's birthday party in a few weeks and I'm going out of town in mid-October for a month. All I can think of is surely she doesn't mean Halloween this year! She must be kidding! And, oh yeah, can I turn the stroller into a pumpkin carriage since Kenzie is not yet walking too well yet and will have to ride. My first reaction to all this was, of course, hysterical laughter. When I finally regained my senses, I gave my answer. NO WAY! No way I was sewing 4 outfits and turning the stroller into a pumpkin carriage!

We compromised on no stepsister costumes, 2 semi-handmade costumes for the prince and the mouse and a pumpkin carriage costume for the stroller. The prince was pretty easy. We got a pair of blue jeans at Walmart and I basted some gold trim down the legs. She bought the jacket, and sash and I shortened the sleeves and the sash because they were adult-sized.

Erik's Prince Costume

Miss Mouse was made from a brown shirt and pants, again, from Walmart. I sewed a pink flannel oval to the front of the shirt for the mouse tummy. We found this cute hat at a consignment sale. It already had little ears on it, so I just made some larger ears of brown felt and pink flannel and basted them to the the existing ears.

Miss Mouse

Now for the pumpkin carriage. I'll have to admit, my usually creative mind, completely drew a blank on that one. How on earth could I do that?  After brainstorming with my hubby, we decided on cardboard....two very large pieces of cardboard. Large enough to cover the sides of the stroller, leaving the front open so Kenzie could see where she was going. After procuring a very large box, so large in fact it would not fit into the car and I had to wait at the store with it while my hubby went home to get the truck, we commenced work on this unusual project.

Post 1....The First Ever

Hi there!  My name is Elizabeth. I am a retired teacher, Gramma to four ranging from 19 to 1. I love to sew, knit, crochet, smock and craft. This is a blog about my sewing and crafting exploits because it gives me a place to keep a record of projects and my 91-year-old parents can see it online.  I'm not sure anyone else would be interested.

My grandmother taught my to sew when I was about 10. Her sew machine was always going with six granddaughters to sew for.  A thought that just occurred to me....we all turned out to be creative in different areas.....one knits lovely things, one makes beautiful pottery items, one is very musical and plays in a city band, one weaves gorgeous things on her loom, one is a creative problem solver and one sews little things and makes crazy projects (that's me).

Anyway, after working my way through various crafts over the years, including the above-mentioned and cross-stitch, tatting, beading, painting and a feeble attempt at scrapbooking, I have settled comfortably into sewing things for the the newest addition to our family, Baby Mackenzie. I make things for her for three reasons: 1) I love doing it; 2) she doesn't complain about the style or color; 3) she has to wear it if I put it on her.

Sew.....(a pun...not a typo....haha) here it goes......

Generally I follow a pattern to sew things, but I do have a few breakout creative moments and come up with something original, like the pumpkin-carriage stroller costume for Halloween....but that's a blog for another day.

Today's blog is about one of my favorite projects, Mackenzie's Kilted Skirt.  One has to call it a kilted skirt, because traditionally, females do not wear kilts. I read some tutorials on kilt-making and decided to give it a go. Being somewhat hesitant in my kilt-making abilities, I decided to skip the $25-a-yard wool and used a plaid flannel fabric instead. And, no Dad, it's not a Fraser tartan, either.  It came out pretty cute, if I do say so. If I ever make another though, I will definitely heed a tip I read...DO THE HEM FIRST!  I was so into pleating the back, I neglected to do that, much to my later regret.

Skirt Front

I used hook-and-loop closures on the waist band, but it wasn't quite tight enough to keep the skirt from slipping down her baby tummy so I added some snap-on straps.

Skirt Back

Here she is in her completed outfit. The white t-shirt is from Walmart. I fused an applique of a scottie dog to the front of it. I got everything finished just in time for her to wear it to the local Scottish Highland Games event.

Herself getting ready to go

We all had a great time at the Games. It was a lovely sunny day...wonderful company....good food...great music. Must be the Scots in me that makes my toe tap whenever I hear a pipe band. Kenzie must have that gene, too, because she started dancing her little baby dance when the bands played nearby.

So, Mom and Dad, that's my first blog. Sorry about the pictures. I'm not much of  a photographer. I definitely need to improve my skills in that area.