Halloween: A Spider, His Web, and His Prey

My first of many homemade halloween costumes for Peter!

We decided to go as a spider, his web, and his prey.

Being in the pest control business, we thought the spider theme was a perfect choice for the family. 

I was so excited as soon as we came up with the idea for these costumes. The first thing I did was look through my craft and sewing supplies to see what I already had that could be used in making the costumes. I found some felt, some fabric, some wire, and some ribbon that I figured might be helpful.

I was able to make the wings with supplies I already had. I used some wire to shape them and then made the fabric cover out of white tricot fabric. I then used a black sharpie to draw the wing details.

Close up of the wing detail. Not perfect, but it turned out pretty good!

The wings would be pinned to the back of Jesse's shirt.
Next I made the fly's big eyeballs. I cut four circles out of a dark red fabric, the same fabric that I cut Peter's hour glass out of. Of the four red circles, two were bigger and two were a little smaller. I attached each small circle to a big circle, turned them right side out, stuffed them, and drew a honeycomb pattern on them. Then I glued them to a beanie. That was it for the prey's costume! 

For my web costume, I cut a giant circle from two yards of fabric to make a poncho. I cut evenly spaced curves around the edges and sewed white yarn around the whole outer edge and the rest of the poncho in the shape of a web. This was the most time consuming part of the process, but I think it turned out great.

I used the leftover fabric from the poncho to make the extra legs for Peter's spider costume.

I stuffed the extra legs and glued them onto a black outfit I bought for Peter.
I also hand stitched the hour glass onto the stomach.

It was so cute to watch Peter crawl around in his spider outfit. It is the perfect costume for a baby in the crawling phase.

All three costumes done!  Jesse is wrapped up in yarn as the prey. We even went a little farther and put a tiny bit of fake blood next to Peter's mouth and on Jesse's neck!
We got one quick picture on our way out to trick-or-treat, but mostly just to say hi to friends in the neighborhood. We got in the car to drive to a few houses and Peter fell asleep immediately! We visited one family and then went home. 

We are so excited for next halloween when we can take Peter trick-or-treating!

Graduation Dress

I graduated from college three years ago today! College went by in a flash, and so has life after college. Being an adult is hard work sometimes, but so far I've loved each phase of life more than the last!

Not a great shot of the dress, but the only pic where I'm not bundled in a coat and beanie!

I made myself a maroon dress a few years ago in my pattern making class. I'd hardly worn it at all, but I decided it was the perfect dress to wear to graduation. In the dead of winter, maroon was a fitting color. Plus, it looked amazing with my new cream coat, a graduation gift from my parents!

Also, I still miss working at the costume shop.

My Love for Costumes

I've always had a thing for costumes. 

It seems like everyone has their thing that they pay close attention to in movies or TV. For some it's the special effects. For others it's the dialogue or the camera angles. For some it's the costumes. That's me. I love me a good costume.

Despite that, I never had a passion for theater. 

However, for the first three years of college, I would walk past the Costume Shop on my way home each day, see the dress forms and sewing machines through the window and find myself wishing that I could get paid to sew. That would be the life! My senior year, I finally mustered up the courage to apply. I there until I graduated. I only wish I had applied three years sooner!

After the experience of working so closely with the theater productions, I have a new-found appreciation for theater and the work that goes into it. 

So much fabric!

When I graduated, my parents wanted a tour of the costume shop I had told them so much about. We took these pictures as we walked around.

The storage room was filled with costumes, sorted by era. The system of racks moves to the row selected.

There are so many textures, styles, and prints!

Surprisingly enough, I learned a lot about history from working here. In order to find the piece you were looking for, you had to know the difference between Edwardian and Victorian. I found it fascinating how greatly fashion has changed over time and the factors that influenced it, like war and revolutions. 

The cutting table is where Patty, my boss, worked her magic. She was a master pattern maker and an incredible seamstress. Each of us would sit at a sewing machine and get to work. There were often visitors, sometimes students and sometimes a helpless wanderer with button-less pants in need of our services. 

Often, we would play cheesy romantic comedies as we worked. We couldn't very well watch the movie, but we could listen! 

The Costume Shop

I graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho in December of 2013. I majored in Health Science with an emphasis in Community and Worksite Wellness and I minored in Clothing Construction. 

I took every sewing class the university offered, but it still wasn't enough! I wanted to work as a seamstress. My senior year I worked for the Theater Department Costume Shop making costumes for productions. The BYU-Idaho Theater webpage shows some of the past theater productions, many of which I worked on during my year of working there. 

Here are a few screenshots from that website:

Each semester the theater department put on two production, Giving us about six weeks to construct every costume in time for the show.

There were usually about six of us employed each semester. I usually worked a few hours most days a week. On an ordinary work day, would come in after class, grab something from the rack that needed work, and sit at a sewing machine and sew for a few hours. 

We had visitors, did fittings, ran errands, and often listened to movies as we worked. When available, we would watch the movie rendition of the theater production we were constructing for. I learned a lot about theater and even more about sewing. My boss was a great seamstress and pattern maker and I loved working for her. 

I only wish I had applied as a freshman and not waited until I was a senior.