Girl's Babylonian Costume for under $10

This cute girl is my neighbor and she was gracious enough to be my model for this costume.

I was asked to come up with a Babylonian costume for an upcoming event.

It needed to be simple construction but still convey the period effectively.

After much scouring the internet for ideas, I settled on this image.

Technically it was ancient Greek, but I didn't really like the whole drapey look of the Ancient Babylonian.

Too non-descript for my taste.

I had to make a boy version also.

I will post that one tomorrow.

These are super easy to make and you can customize the pattern to fit yourself, 

or your kids, or whomever.

You will need the following measurements from your subject:

Elbow to Elbow.  Have them stand with their arms straight out to the side like a cross.

Top of Shoulder to Hip.

Top of Shoulder to Top of Shoulder (this is for the neck opening)

Bust

Waist

Hip

Waist to knee or desired length.

That's it.

Here's the patterns:

I made them on a 8 1/2 by 11 size of paper so it's easy to save and print.

I'm using a beautiful jewel toned purple sheet I picked up at Goodwill for a few dollars.

I also picked up a Gold sheet as well for the trim.

I didn't use all the material from the sheets so you will have extra material for another project or another costume.

I wrote the pattern out on 2 pieces of freezer paper.  

Any paper would work.

Butcher paper. 

Computer paper. 

Packing paper. 

Newspaper. 

Use whatever you have.

Mark all the cutting lines using the measurements you took from your subject as shown.

I'm using my quilting marking pen to mark the side seams that are under the arm.

Find your center of the pattern and mark the top of the shoulder to shoulder measurement,

then mark the fabric so you know where to do the shoulder seams.

For the gold fabric, I folded it in a large triangle, then cut bias tape in varying widths.

You will need some 2 inch and 4 inch width strips.

This shows the 6 inch strips but those are for the boy costume you'll get tomorrow.

Cut out your fabric using your patterns, both the top and the skirt.
You will need two pieces of fabric for each.

Let's do the skirt first.

Put right sides together and sew up the side seams.
Rather than serging or zig-zag-ing the edges, I just flipped the fabric over
and topstitched the seam in place to secure.

For the waistband, rather than cutting an additional strip for the waist, I notched the front center

like shown.

This will be the opening for the drawstring.

It will also save you from having to do a button-hole for the opening.

Cut a line in the center front, then fold the fabric back and topstitch to finish the edge.

Fold over the top edge of the waist and pin in place.

Stitch to create a casing for the drawstring.

I used the cut off selvage to make the drawstring.

Use a safety pin to thread the drawstring through the waist band casing.

Now with your 2 inch gold strips, join them together to make a continuous strip so you don't have to worry about running out at the last second.

The nice way is to join the strips like shown.

But you can do a straight seam as well.

Option: 

Iron the bias tape before sewing to edges of fabric.

I didn't when I first started, but it sure helps keep the fabric nice and flat

as you attach the bias tape.

Add a strip of bias tape to the bottom edge of the skirt as trim and to finish the edge.

The skirt is done.

Now for the top.

Do a rolled hem to the top edge of both rectangles of the Shirt.

Then add the bias tape trim to the remaining 3 sides like shown.

Mark your neck opening.

You will need to press 2 strips of 10-12 inch length pieces of fabric 

for the top of the shoulders like shown.

Lay the two rectangles right side up with the top seams matched up.

Pin the pressed strips in place like shown.

This will attach to top of the shoulder.

This is what it looks like full size.

With the fabric pinned in place, stitch around the gold rectangle like shown.

The tops of the shoulder is done.

Now for the side seams.

I wanted a way to add a belt to the top with out loosing the drape of the sleeve.

The easy way is to sew up the side seams.

Put right sides together and mark where the stitch line needs to be.

You will be sewing up, across about 1/2 inch, and back down parallel to the first seam.

 It will look like this.

Carefully clip between the two stitch lines.

Turn right side out and top stitch the seams to secure and finish.

Now for the tie at the waist.  I just roll hemmed the edges and pressed.

Done.

Here's the finished costume on this cute girl!
We added a gold necklace.
I wanted to add some kind of head piece but I haven't decided what to do for that.

I love the flow-y sleeves that are just attached at the shoulder.

Happy Halloween!

Girls Tunic Refash

My girl has been begging me to sew a project with her.

If you noticed it's been a while since I posted last.

My life has been in quite an upheaval lately 

and trying to balance everything was just about all I could handle.

But today isn't the day for that post.

Today is all about my girl.

I'm kind of obsessed with stripes.

Big Stripes.

Little Stripes.

Sideways Stripes.

Especially Chevron Stripes.

When I came across this American Eagle polo at Goodwill for $1, 

I was sold!

I thought about making it into a skirt, but she wanted a top.

Today she got what she wanted.

Ok. So here's the Before pic.

Just the right length for a tunic, but way too big, and that polo collar has to go.

While I had it on her, I marked where we would be cutting back with my quilting pen.

Here she is all ready to start cutting.

I don't know if you can see the marks on the shirt, but the cutting lines are there for her to follow.

Cut cut cut.

We could leave it at a sleeveless tunic but she wanted sleeves.

We don't wear tank tops around here and she didn't want to have to wear another shirt underneath.

We decided to keep the cuff on the original sleeve.

I just cut them down to fit the new top.

Now sew the side and shoulder seams.

Pin the sleeves in place, right sides together.

Sew up the side seams.  I kept the split ends and just roll-hemmed the sides.
The neck line got a piece of bias tape made from the extra fabric taken from the sides.
It was exactly enough.

Unfortunately the neck line was much too big, so took 2 pin tucks on either side of the button closure in the front to take in the extra fabric and fit it to her better.

A bit of a sassy back neck line.

Here you go Beautiful Girl!

Love you!

Ombre Pallet Wood

I really like playing with wood and paint.

This piece was super fun to play with.

I took the color combination idea from Beyond the Picket Fence

and made an Ombre version.

Keeping with the bird theme I have going right now, 

I had to add a bird on a branch.

However, Becky over at BTPF uses stain on her wood.

The little disclaimer about not storing used stain rags 

kind of freaked me out.

I definitely don't want to burn my house down 

because of some stain rags left in my garage.

So I went back to the super easy 

and cheap method of steel wool and apple cider vinegar.

It produces the same staining effect, at a fraction of the cost and 

vinegar isn't going to burn my house down.

Remember the longer the steel wool sits in the apple cider vinegar,

the darker the color you get on the wood.

I left mine in for about 24-36 hours.

You can see another project using this method here.

The steel wool was pretty much disintegrated so I used a cut up piece of sponge

that was left over from a youth activity our church had recently.

Instead of water balloons, they used sponges to have a huge water fight.

Super fun and you don't have to pick up latex pieces of balloon afterwards.

Be sure to wear gloves when using the vinegar or it will stain your hands.

Use the sponge to wipe on the vinegar mixture.

It will look a little light at first but darkens as it drys.

After the vinegar dries completely, I gathered my paint colors.

I had 4 slats and 3 paint colors so I mixed two to make the color for the other slat.

They got a light dry brush layer of paint.

Let dry and sand slightly to age a bit.

After the Ombre paint dried, I screwed the back slat to the wood to hold them together.

These aren't the same pieces but the process is exactly the same.

I got out my stencils from the last batch of pallet wood projects.

Press the contact paper in place and brush the paint on.

Let the paint dry completely before removing the stencil.

It will give you cleaner lines.

Sand again slightly and apply a finish coat.

I usually use a wax paste top coat, but a quick spray of polyurethane would also do the trick.

Add hanging hardware if desired and you're done!

I thought it would be fun to put the sign on my vintage suitcase in my living room for the photo op.

Ombre Pallet wood birds.

Simple and sweet.

Happy Crafting!

Birds on a Branch

Another batch of wall art gets delivered to Twigs and Twine today.

I must say I am so loving this creative process.

The sad part is my house gets woe-fully neglected when I'm working on projects.

So let's get this post done quick so I can save my home.

Someone asked about my process using the projector.

It's similar to the way I made this project, and this project.

These pics aren't great and I'm certainly not a professional,

but I set it up this way so I can watch/listen to something while I work.

This time it was Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.

I have a secret crush on Josh Duhamel.  Sshhh... don't tell.

I recently read the book and of course the movie was a must see.

So back to business.

I put my projector on a chair, then put my board on one of my pub table chairs.

It's just the right height for the image from the projector.

Then I get another regular chair and sit next to the board.

This one is looking from behind the projector to the pallet wood board.

Plain and simple.

Projector on chair.

It does take me a little bit to get everything all lined up,

straight, and evenly spaced.

Especially since moving the transparency is exactly opposite to what it

does on the board.  

I forget that part every time.

Sometimes I have to change the distance between the projector

and the board I'm working on to get the right size of image.

Of course the image came from The Graphics Fairy.

I printed it out at a high resolution, then took the copy to Staples.

It's about $1.00 to get it printed on a transparency.

I've definitely got my money's worth out of that $1 transparency.

Now I get my Sharpies and start tracing.

I usually use the regular tip to trace the outline,

then the broad tip to fill in the spaces.

The nice thing about sharpies is that there is no drying time like with paint 

and it is much easier to control than a paintbrush.  

I do like paint pens, but they are pricey.  

So for now I'll just stick with Sharpies.

I give the image a light sanding to age it a bit.

Then a wax paste coating.

Some easy and cheap hanging wire and I'm done!

Birds on a Branch.

Simple.

Beautiful.