My Halloween Costume: Loofah!

This past weekend my friends and I dressed up as loofahs to hit the town for Halloween.  We followed the instructions posted by Razmataz, except added quite a few safety pins to spread out and fluff the netting up a little more.  This is a no sew costume that is quick and easy to make.  I also added a toiletry bag as a purse, and threw in a Bud Light for good measure.

We were concerned, being that we were down at the University of Illinois, that the combination of Homecoming and Halloween would cause the bars to be super crowded.  We were wrong, got to the bars obnoxiously early, and were the only ones in costume when we arrived.  What to do?  Put some Spice Girls and Gangnam Style on the jukebox and take over the dance floor.  I really mean "take over" because there wasn't much space for other people to dance with all that tulle in the way, although a few were brave enough to jump in the middle and get a scrub down.  

What are you dressing up as for Halloween?  Will any of you be rocking your costumes in the office on Wednesday?

Easy Costume: Carebear

So I love Halloween costumes.  Actually, all costumes.  I have a fairly impressive costume drawer when really I should be using that storage space for something else.

A few years ago I went to Madison for their big Halloween street party with my college roommates.  Knowing it was an outdoor event and it would probably be pretty cold, I wanted to come up with a warm and comfy costume.  Enter: the sweatsuit Carebear.

My roommate, the mad scientist.

I found the sweatsuit at Kmart for about $4 a piece.  I bought an extra sweatshirt to use for the hat.  I took an old white t-shirt and cut it into a large oval, and traced two hearts onto it.  I then hand stitched it onto the front of the sweatshirt, leaving two holes on either side to make a little pouch pocket.  For the hat, I used a beanie as an example and traced it onto the extra sweatshirt, adding on the two ears, then cut it out and sewed the two sides together.  Then I hand stitched on two white circles of fabric for the inside of the ears.  

Finally, I colored a red heart onto the extra white fabric, cut it out, and sewed it onto the bottom.  Because I did a lot of hand stitching since I'm a crazy person and not that confident on my current sewing machine, this probably took me 3-4 hours to complete.  Super comfy, super warm, and everyone wanted to give me a hug.  Win.

DIY: Pencil Skirt

So I've been using sewing machines since I got tall enough to reach the petal on my mom's machine, but I've realized recently that I really don't know that much about sewing.  Sure, a hem I can do, but when I try to work from a pattern I get completely lost.  Luckily, the Internet is full of easy tutorials.

Inspiration for today: Merrick's Art

When she posted a tutorial for "The Easiest Pencil Skirt You'll Ever Make," I thought, "The easiest?  Really??"  

It turns out she was telling the truth.  I had a little trouble because I think the thread I purchased was a little too delicate, but I think it turned out pretty well - I might even wear this creation in public!