Ali Boo

I had my doubts, but Halloween actually happened this year in the Mears home!

We knew what we wanted to dress the boys up as, but we didn't like the costume selection at any of the Halloween stores. We both agreed that I could sew up better costumes pretty easily. But then there was the matter of actually finding time to do it.

 time AND motivation.

Since I've had my sewing machine (about 4 months) I have bought fabric for 2 projects and barely finished the cutting process before leaving them to the wayside out of a mix of excuses and anxiety about ruining them. I mentioned this to my dad a month or so and he made the absolutely logical point that if I never even try to make it then its the same as if I had ruined it. except I never even tried so I couldn't learn from it.

So as Halloween drew ever closer I got a mixture of sadness at the idea that the boys wouldn't have any fun with the Halloween festivities, and a terrible knot in my gut wondering if I could even pull it off. luckily the first feeling was the strongest, and I made it down to the fabric store with just a few days to spare. I literally spent 3 days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday right up until go time) hunched over my sewing table. 

there was some definite trial and error. quite a few phone calls to my mother, many google searches for tutorial inspiration, and many moments of overwhelming frustration. But, when we finally took that stroll outside and around the neighborhood, I was so proud of my handiwork! 

I made a few mistakes that I didn't have time to fix, but I'm probably the only one who would notice them. I had Christian look over Cecil's blue shirt to try to find my mistake. it took him a minute to find it, and even then the first thing out of his mouth was "nobody is ever going to notice that". thank goodness for husbands with encouraging positivity.

this was the begining of my trial run. I used one of Christians old PT shirts that he nevers wears anymore. it was actually the perfect color and so I kept telling myself that it might actually be usable. It definitely didnt work. it gave me the confidence I needed though to take on the rest of  the task. one simple pattern revision and the second attempt fit just perfect. when I sent this pictire to Christian he thought my pin container was a tail. I can see it now.

here is the blue shirt. I had used Cecils beatles shirt for a pattern. in the background is the completed second attempt at Henrys costume, this time made from fleece.

And here they are! Finn and Jake from adventure time! Cecils hat was the hardest thing to figure out and even though I was pretty unhappy with it and had no time to try again, when he had it on with the rest of the costume it looked just fine.

What time is it?...

ADVENTURE TIME