I’m making Moana costumes this year for Halloween, so I thought I’d do a series of Moana costume tutorials on how I am modifying the official Disney costume. To start with, I decided to re-make the top. I really like how the skirt looks, but I don’t like how the top requires straps to stay up and the top edge looks wrong. I figured it can’t be that hard to make a new top that is actually a tube top and has a shirred back for fit. Today’s tutorial is on how I created the fabric for the top. I used a freezer paper stencil to paint some linen fabric I got from Joann. (FYI, this orangish red color Moana has going on is kind of hard to find.) I posted my stencil pattern for anyone who wants to use it. It’s 7″ high and is sized to fit a 4 year old (approximately). You can adjust [...]

Big news guys! My Kickstarter just launched to fund my adorable new enamel pins! Please go check it out, we’re already 90% funded in just one day!  I’ll drawing cute animals over on my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter over the next month during the course of the Kickstarter, so please follow me there to enjoy! Reminder if you want to stay up on what I’m working on and get first dibs, please join my email list! Subscribe to our mailing list [...]

I needed pattern weights so I was doing some research into making or buying them. I found some really cute polymer clay ones on Etsy but I am world’s biggest klutz (like I run into walls on a regular basis), and anything made from sculpey is pretty much doomed around me. Then I remembered these cute plastic macaron boxes I had seen on Amazon that I could turn into pattern weights. Those would stand a good change of surviving an unexpected trip to the floor! If you’re interested in making a set for yourself, here’s a super fast tutorial for making macaron pattern weights… Purchase a set of mini macaron trinket boxes from Amazon. Make sure you get the plastic ones. The boxes with the hinge are made of some sort of porcelain or clay and break if dropped on the floor. (Ask me how I know…) You’ll also need to swing [...]

Hey guys! I set up a proper mailing list! If you like my art or pins, please sign up: http://eepurl.com/c2D9H9 I won’t mail that often but you’ll get first dibs! I’m going to be starting a kickstarter soon and there will be early bird stuff on that! Thanks! [...]

In May, I made an 18th century round gown to wear to Colonial Williamsburg. I’ll post photos later from the trip (assuming I ever catch up on photo processing), but I wanted to post a couple of quick photos of the dress. A lot of people in the historical costuming community have made dresses using duvet covers and curtains from IKEA. I needed a breathable fabric for the heat of Williamsburg and I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on fabric, so an IKEA duvet cover was a perfect choice. I decided to dye the fabric because I don’t really like white. I washed my fabric to pre-shrink and wash out any sizing. The next step should have been to dye the fabric before cutting, but I didn’t have a pot big enough to dye an entire duvet cover. I decided to cut all my pieces out first and serge [...]