Buzzmills

Halloween Classic, Black Cat...

For the past five out of eight years of Halloween costumes Henry has been an animal of some sort or the other.  This year was no different...

This was not his original plan, but once he knew that Violet was going as a witch... he knew he wanted to be her black cat! 

I'm not sure whether it's the tail...

or the ears...

Or just the fact that he loves animals so much...

But he couldn't have been happier at the prospect of being a cat!

The top is the Rowan tee and and the pants are the Wild and Free Lounge Pants...both in black french terry from Raspberry Creek Fabrics.  I had a bit of velvet leftover from Violet's witches cape which meant that Henry got a velvet kangaroo pocket which he adores! 

His cat ears and the stripe along the top of his hood are also velvet...

I added a reflective strip of trim along the bottom edge of the hoodie for Henry's costume as well (where the cuff meets the top) so he wasn't completely invisible in the night...though that didn't stop him from being stealthy!

The mask is simply two layers of black felt...soft copper jewelry wire tucked between the layers for whiskers, and more felt for facial features...I had two whip it up in less than a half an hour, but really love the way it turned out!

And the candy bucket is simply a traditional jack o lantern bucket with paper modge podged to it, and then painted...similarly to this one. 

There have been a lot of tails around here during Halloween...but let's face it...this kid really knows how to be a good animal!

And that's a Halloween 2017 wrap!  

Until next year!

Halloween Classic, Witch...

What could be more classic for Halloween than a Witch?  Violet knew very early on that a witch was what she wanted to be.  A witch in black double gauze (which I purchased from here) no less!  Well, this witch certainly knows a thing about comfort, fabric and fashion, right?!

The dress, is the Geranium (with the expansion pack options of lowered bodice and fitted sleeves) Violet loved her first long sleeved Geranium so much that we decided to do it again...though this one we left much longer, used buttons instead of a zipper, and left the neckline simply rounded.  

I added a little ruffle of black lace along the elasticized sleeve edge to make it more "witchy" 

Violet chose some witchy jewelry to add as well...

And, every witch needs a cape of course!  I used the cape pattern from "Growing up Sew Liberated".  I've used this pattern countless times, in fact for every single cape I've ever made, as a jumping off point ...it's worked for, kings, queens, super hero, elsa, magician...you name it, this time a witch...

The inside of the cape is Gossamer Lace and the exterior is Velveteen both from Hawthorne Threads.  I added a little collar to the cape using the collar from the Geranium Expansion packet as a guide.

And along the bottom...seeing that she was wearing all black, I added a bit of reflective ribbon along the bottom edge to ensure that she was at least somewhat visible!  It looks pretty cool too, mostly just like a silver trim, but truly reflects in the dark when light is present, so success!

Violet really couldn't have been happier with the way her whole costume turned out!  

The best part...is that, while it's a costume, it's not costumey!  So, while it is perfectly perfect for conjuring up spells...

It's also perfectly perfect for wearing any old day of the week too, not just when you want to be a witch!  Which, I have to say was the entire point!  Another Success!

Next up...

The witches favorite companion, her black cat...

Halloween...the Classics!

Halloween...always a fun time around here!  In keeping with our tradition I gave the deadline of October 1 for deciding costumes.  Contrary to many other years both kids knew what they wanted to be well before the "deadline" and they didn't waiver!

A witch and her black cat!

The perfect pair...

And, perfectly classical Halloween! 

And, in keeping with our tradition...my husband and I planned our costumes around the kid's choices. 

What could be more classic than a Halloween ghost!

And of course even a Witch and a black cat need a "Mummy"!

The ghost...well...he's pretty obviously a white sheet, but with my husband's height (6'4"!) it was quite dramatic...and honestly scared many many children!  Oops!

And my mummy costume...welp, truly it was a pair of tights, a tee, a quick sewn beenie, and a twin sheet ripped to strips, tied and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped...

It was loads of fun!  The perfect little Halloween family!

And, as with years past, the costumes were handmade...so for details on the kid's costumes I plan to post them in following posts, so keep a look out for that up and coming!

Halloween Pajamas...

Because, a tradition is a tradition... And because I couldn't resist these spiders by Riley Blake (from Raspberry Creek Fabrics) or these spider webs for that matter...

Halloween pajamas... 

Henry's are favorites, Rowan tee and Wild and Free Lounge Pants...

 

I didn't quite have enough of the spiders to make full bottoms, so I mixed them with some grey knit I had in my stash and added knee patches and blocked the bottoms...I actually love the way it turned out!

For Violet...another favorite pattern, the All you need Jammies because she requested a nightgown...

And for her I had even less of each kind of fabric...so it's all kinds of hodge podged "color-blocked" together...but she loves it and so do I!

I just finished Halloween costumes yesterday!  Hooray!  So now we are ready for the big day!  Between costumes, raglans and now...jammies!  

 

Oh, and their dolls got some too! 

Last year's Halloween pjs here.

Pumpkin pillow here.

Halloween garland here.

And Giant stuffed pumpkin here.

Batty Raglans...

As soon I saw this bat fabric show up in Emily's instagram feed I knew I needed it!  We are after all pretty big "bat fans" around here it seems...

Well need might be a little bit of a strong word...but I loved it!  Plus, I always try to make the kids some sort of Halloweeny tee of one sort or the other...so a pair of batty raglans seemed in order...

This is my first time ordering from Raspberry Creek Fabrics (I also order some mustard and the black is Laguna from Imagine Gnats).  The fabric is four way stretch and super soft!  The kids both immediately fell in love the moment they put them on. 

The raglan is, my old tried and true, Safari Raglan from Titchy Threads.  Henry is wearing a size six (at age 7 1/2) but with size 8 length for arms and body, I realized my mistake in length when his panda shirt ended up on the shortish side...

 
and Violet, well she just keeps growing like a weed...So, while I knew it would be on the big side this year, I knew it as least would still fit her next year too...so I made her a size 12.  

I had ordered only 1 yard not knowing what exactly I was going to make, but had managed to figure out how to squeeze two fronts and backs out of it...and then, of course, I accidentally cut two fronts for the smaller size instead of a front and back.  I made it work by giving Violet a solid black back, and she likes it that way!  YAY! 

Three days this week the kids have had half days for parent conferences.  Our weekends have been so packed with soccer since school started that it's hard to find time for our usual fall fun kinds of things, plus, with our new town/state/area...we need to find new places to do these things!  Yesterday, after their half day I found a corn maze that was relatively close by and open so we decided to give it a try and squeeze it in before soccer practice.  Well, as I suspected, it was barely a maze (it's what you get when you travel only 25 minutes!) but more of a small rectangle of corn planted with two paths cut through.  But, it was free and empty and who doesn't like to run through corn!  

We all had fun peaking our heads out through the corn, calling to each other and finding each other and just being silly.  

I think it'll take a while for us to fill those "tradition" voids.  We all got so used to our farms for fruit and Christmas trees.  

But, at the same time we all keep the mood light and the humor high, knowing we are there for the family fun time...

and whatever else we get out of it is a bonus!

Happy Fall!