It seems a bit early, but we’ve already begun Halloween costume planning.

Let me start off by saying that the number of pattern costumes for children seems infinately smaller than those available for adults – especially since Taylor is out of the size 8 range in the Big 4. I was very suprised to see that Simplicity had some costumes for adults which went as small as a size 4. This is roughly the same measurments as what Taylor would need, except the bust is too large as well as the neck to back length. Both of these should be fairly easy alterations, so we decided that we liked Simplicity 4028 the best – the Zombie Bride.
I had seen that Joann’s had Spooky Hollow fabrics on sale this weekend – I didn’t realize that this wasn’t their costume collection, but printed cottons (like the kind used for crafts and quilting). So, we made our way to Hancock Fabric. There we saw the BEST fabric. It was sort of a black taffeta type fabric with a mesh lining under it. Pieces of the taffeta were burned or torn out to give it some sort of rotting fabric look to it. Unfortunately, this unusual fabric was $15.99 a yard and since the main fabric would require about 4 yards or more, this just seemed to unreasonable. So after searching the store, we found a stretch knit fabric that had a woven, lace design cut through out. It’s a bit on the heavy side, so I think the overall shape of the dress will change a bit, but I like the overall creepy effect that the fabric gives the pattern. I have yet to take a photo, but will post one soon.
I also got two new books today. One of my favorite snarky craft sites has released their book, Subversive Cross Stitch. I think that I like it so much because it’s something that would have given my dad quite the laughs – so much so that I would have had to make several of their patterns so that he could put them up in his office. The second is an upcoming book,
Sublime Stitching: Hundreds of Hip Embroidery Patterns and How-To. I’ll be posting reviews of these this coming week!