You've already seen what costume I wore last weekend; now here's what Bridget wore trick-or-treating and what we both wore yesterday for our respective Halloween parties.
For trick-or-treating on Saturday, we went with a simple Doc McStuffins (Disney Junior show) costume comprised of pieces I found mostly at Old Navy and her doctor's kit her Nana bought her. Obviously, most of the clothes are from the toddler girls' department, but I found the white shirt from the little boys' area of the store.
Our pumpkins we brought home from the pumpkin carving party we attended earlier that day. My husband did both of these - Dracula Mickey and Frankenstein Goofy.
For Bridget's Halloween party at daycare, which of course was inside so I didn't have to worry about her being warm enough (which she still wasn't during trick-or-treating, even with her heavy winter coat on), I got a little more creative. Bridget's favorite movie of the moment is The Little Mermaid (Thanks, oh-so-illusive Disney vault! We've been waiting for this one!), so I decided to attempt to make her a mermaid costume.
I was going to do a tutorial on the mermaid tail I whipped up, but I was winging it as I went along, and I would've done the waistband differently had I thought about it more. If someone is really clamoring for step-by-step instructions, I can make a separate post about it.
Even though the tail came out a little wonky, Bridget LOVES it, and that's all that matters.
Normally, my company doesn't get that into Halloween. We do have a costume contest, but not many people enter. This year, someone on my team suggested we do a group costume, which I was all about since I can't resist dressing up every year anyway. We ended up with a group of 17 minions, Gru, and Dr. Nefario. If you haven't seen Despicable Me yet, you should. It's good.
After purchasing the yellow shirts and hats for the minions, we DIYed the hair with pipe cleaners, the goggles with mini pie tins and elastic (they served free pie in the cafeteria one day, so a group of us sat around hitting people up for their pie tins after they were done), and the overalls with duct tape for those of us who didn't own overalls or suspenders.
Being a troublemaker
The whole group
We ended up getting second place out of three in the group competition. Wah wah. The winners deserved it though.
When I first trimmed the sleeves of this sweatshirt with lace a couple years ago (using this tutorial), I didn't have enough lace to do the shoulders. Cut to now, when I got the idea to make kind of lace epaulets to finish it off. I can't remember where the idea originated, but I may have gotten it from Miranda on Project Runway with her military background.
This may be self explanatory, but here's a little step-by-step tutorial for you anyway.
Materials you'll need:
sweatshirt
lace trim
six buttons
tape measure
scissors
thread
needle
pins
Optional materials:
needle threader
thimble
sewing machine
Directions:
1. Line up the lace how you'd like it. I doubled it over and placed the folded end toward the shoulder.
2. Cut the lace for one shoulder and then lay it on top of the remaining lace to cut a second piece of the same size.
3. Pin the lace to the shoulders.
4. Hand or machine stitch around the edges. I used a needle and thread and stitched all the way around through both layers, but you could play with sewing only the bottom layer for a more three-dimensional look to the epaulets.
5. Use a tape measure to determine where you want to place the buttons.
6. Mark the spots with either a writing utensil or pins. I chose to put the buttons at 1-1/2, 2-1/2, and 3-1/2 inches from the neck.
7. Sew each of the buttons into place while trying to ignore my un-manicured nails.
Back in late summer of 2011, I bought the Butterick ‘52 Retro pattern B4790 after reading about it on What I Wore. I got the FF size since I fit the measurements pretty closely for a size 20. Oh vintage sizes, you kill me. Maybe I don't mind vanity sizing after all. The top ended up being a little loose, so next time, I'm going to cut the chest area down to an 18.
The pattern is described as very easy, and thankfully, it was. The only complicated instructions were for the hem, which I assume were intended to make the garment look more finished. I just pressed the ends under and sewed normally since I didn't really understand what the instructions were trying to tell me. Since I'm going to be the only one wearing it, I wasn't too concerned. Really, the most tedious part was the hand sewing of the buttons and snaps, and that's just because I don't like hand sewing.
It wouldn't be a project of mine if I didn't mess something up. I had to rip out about half of the seam after I sewed the bodice to the skirt because some of the bodice fabric folded over and got stuck in the seam. It's in the back, so luckily my mistake is not too noticeable.
I made the mistake of sewing these buttons on with white thread instead of navy blue.
Next up is to use the same same pattern with this Marc Jacobs fabric I bought in New York. The only problem is, I can't decide what color bias tape to use. Nothing looks quite right. Thoughts?
It doesn't bode well when the first thing I do is cut the biggest pattern piece (the skirt) the wrong way and eff up half of the five yards of fabric. As a result, the fabric was not wide enough to cut the bodice, so the bodice ended up as two different pieces. Thankfully, the scalloped edge made my mistake look intentional.
I modified the bottom of the pattern in an attempt to simplify it and make the whole process go faster. Instead of a skirt with a zipper and buttons, I went with elastic just in the back. The back straps were supposed to have buttons, too, but I skipped those in the hopes that the dress would go on easily without them, which it does. Frankly, I've never done buttonholes before, and I didn't think I had the time to learn.
When I made it to the last step, sewing the skirt to the bodice, almost home free, I messed up again and sewed the left side on too low. So now I have to fix that if I really intend on wearing this thing. In the end, I kind of think I hate it, though. I think the neckline should be more open, the skirt should be shorter and narrower, and my back should be less fat. Also, I thought the hanging scallops at the bust would look cool, but it just looks unflattering and dated, so maybe sewing that down will help, too.
Maybe I'll take it apart and try to fix some of those things when I have more time. I just don't see it happening in the next two days.
These are my two outfits for the What We Wore stripes challenge. The first one is from Friday, and the second one is from yesterday.
Striped Shirt: Old Navy; Sweater: Banana Republic (gift); Pants: NY&Co; Necklace: ?; Sunglasses: Express; Shoes: Poetic License via (shoo); Bag: Michael Kors
These pants are purple, but they never photograph that way. I guess that's a good thing that the color is so subtle.
Shirt and Watch: NY&Co; Skirt: self-made; Shoes: Kohl's; Belt: Luci Boutique; Bangles: Kate Spade
You may or may not remember, but this skirt used to be midi length. This circle skirt was the first one I made, and the length was just bugging me with this crazy fabric.
To fix the awkwardness that I saw, I chopped off 7.5 inches and re-hemmed. And now I think this is one of my favorite outfits. Not great for a windy day, though... I ended up wearing shorts underneath to combat against wardrobe malfunctions when my skirt spontaneously turned into a parachute.
My sis-in-law made me an awesome circle scarf a couple years ago for Christmas. It's the coziest thing ever, but it's huuuuuuuuge. I keep telling myself I'm going to wash and dry it and see what happens, but I still haven't tried that yet.
When I saw this on Pinterest, I thought I could turn my giant circle scarf into a cute wrap sweater.
I stood in front of the hall mirror for probably 10 minutes, draping it over and over again. But alas, there's always going to be a twist in it, making it bulky and awkward.
Pretty sure I'm still going to wear it this way around the house because it's too comfy not to.
As I was walking into work today, a woman came up behind me and was like, “Excuse me!” Immediately, I thought, uh oh. Is my skirt see-through? Is there something on the back of it? Has the hem fallen out? She came up next to me and was like, “I LOVE your outfit! It looks kind of vintage, right?” I told her I made the skirt, and she was like, “I love the whole thing! I love all the colors together. My friend sews, and she would love this.” I just grinned and said thank you repeatedly. Turns out we were walking into the same building, so I didn’t know what to say after that, but she sped ahead and went on her way. So that was a nice start to the day.
Skirt: self-made; Sweater: Boston Store, I think; Necklace: Maurices; Belt: Forever 21; Shoes: Kohl's
I made this skirt in an hour last night, again using this tutorial from Made, so there are quite a few imperfections. I get so impatient with hemming--it always looks like I was sewing drunk or something. Plus, the skirt is longer in the back; good thing high-low skirts are in because yeah...I accidentally made one. But overall, I do like it. I’ve been eyeing this crinkle cotton fabric at Walmart for months now, but I couldn’t decide which color to get. Cobalt is so big this season, I guess I picked the right one!
I’ve been wearing a few other homemade pieces recently, like my striped circle skirt and my guitar print studded square top.
I think it’s time I try making my daughter something again. This candy corn dress from Pinterest is a definite possibility...
Tank Top: Target; Cardigan: Old Navy; Cords: Gap; Boots: Mr. Shoe; Guitar Necklace: Forever 21; Long Necklace: ?
Wednesday, two of my friends and I drove down to Chicago after work to catch Hanson at the House of Blues. Historically, we’ve kind of dreaded going to HOB shows. In the past, we’ve had to deal with Chicago traffic getting down there, inconsistent security, bitchy fans, and not being able to meet Hanson because the buses are underground. Over the years, though, HOB has kind of begun to feel like home away from home, we’ve been to so many shows there. Plus, Hanson loves Chicago, so they’re in good spirits, and they tend to do something exciting at their second HOB show (they always do two nights there per tour).
On E - Boots and Top: Kohls; Jeans: Gap; Cardigan: Old Navy
On T - Tights and Dress: Express; Shoes: Candies; Blazer: borrowed for me
We arrived 10 minutes before Hanson went on and found a decent spot behind the sound system. This tour, Hanson has been featuring one of their five albums at each show, with songs from other albums sprinkled in. They started the show with “Musical Ride” (also the title of the tour) and a few other random songs before they went into Underneath, the featured album and also probably my favorite one. The surprise number of the night was when Meiko, the opener, joined them on stage and sang “Super Freak” plus Isaac did the rap from “U Can’t Touch This.” It was awesome. Often, when they end the show, they jump off the drum platform, which they did again and then started doing push ups on the floor. Hi-larious. And impressive actually, haha.
My next adventure began on Saturday, when a friend, her boyfriend, and I left for Minnesota for the weekend. We dropped the bf off at a friend’s house where we would be sleeping and then headed to my friend, Mrs. T’s house. We got to meet her adorable new puppy, Indiana Firefox, and he immediately became my best friend for the night, probably because he could smell my dog.
We got a tour of their gorgeous new house and then headed to Burger Jones for dinner. I ordered the White Trash burger, which was topped with cheese, chicken fried bacon, and cheese curds!! The cheese curds were a perfect add, but I picked off most of the bacon. I also had a very delish s’mores shake. The most random part of dinner was spotting a big group of Hanson fans at a table outside.
After dinner, we headed back to the house for an amusing game of Taboo. The teams were my friend and me versus Mr. and Mrs. T, and we ended up winning by a little bit. I’m trying to remember all the jokes of the night, but now I’m blanking...girls? They were all probably “you had to be there” type jokes anyway. I know we used graffiti and criminals for a lot of the clues.
At about 11, the two of us fans headed to the venue to stake out a spot in line. Turns out, there wasn’t a line yet because there was a dance party at First Ave until 2:00. We did find a group of four fans, so we kept each other company for the night. The second group of fans didn’t show up until 6 AM, so it was a little disheartening that we could’ve gone and slept for five hours instead of getting three interrupted hours of sleep in the car and on the sidewalk, but whatevs. Since there were two doors, we split up, and the two of us were first in line at the left door. So it was worth it in the end!
Camping out
The day dragged a little at times, and fans didn’t really start showing up en masse until late in the afternoon. We kept ourselves amused by going to Starbucks a couple times, reading magazines, snacking, getting ready in a parking garage bathroom, chatting a little with fans, and eating dinner brought to us by the guys, who had gone skydiving earlier in the day (crazy fools)!
I wore this studded guitar print square top that I made by referencing this tutorial on Cotton & Curls.
Top: self-made; Jeans: New York & Company; Necklace: Target; Shoes: TOMS
At 5:30 we began to get really anxious and impatient for the doors to open a half hour later. We reviewed the plan to get a good spot and kept an eye on the staff getting everything ready inside. When it was time, we hurried inside and scored a spot right in front of Isaac. The cocktail waitress came by, and we each ordered vodka cranberries right off the bat. Time to get the party started!
The show itself was surprisingly prompt. The opener, Charlie Mars, played for about 45 minutes, and we only had to wait another 15 minutes until Hanson came on stage. In the past, it was always a half hour between the two, so I was very pleased not to have to wait that long.
Charlie Mars
The featured album of the night was Middle of Nowhere, which is their first album. I wasn’t terribly excited about hearing all the old school stuff, but it definitely helped that we were front row. I liked that they played some stuff from each album, though, which they didn’t do at the Chicago show. That’s the nice thing about this tour--the setlists are more varied than usual. They still play all their singles, it seems, but you’re guaranteed to hear stuff they don’t play that often. I wouldn’t mind if they did a Musical Ride Tour part 2 next year. You can check out the rest of my pictures in my Facebook album.
After the show, we headed outside to see if Hanson was going to come out to take pictures or sign autographs. Normally at First Ave, they park the bus on the street and come out to mingle with the fans for awhile before they leave. This time, they parked in a garage with a fence on the side. At least we could see through the fence, but it definitely was not as satisfying. Each of the guys came out by the fence for a few minutes to sign things fans could poke through the small openings. I was exhausted and bitter at that point, so I just hung back. We waited around for an hour or so, but the bus was not showing any signs of budging, so eventually we called it a night and headed back to sleep.
Then Monday, we drove home, stopping at Perkins on the way to have lunch with the friend whose house we crashed at. That ham and cheese omelet definitely hit the spot. I slept most of the way back, and my friend read me excerpts from her tour journal. Needless to say, her boyfriend was more than ready to get back into his car and not be surrounded by Hanson talk and music for awhile after that.
In retrospect, I did have a good time at both concerts, but I’m definitely getting older and feeling less hardcore. I think in the future, I’ll continue to just go to local shows and maybe not try so hard to actually meet Hanson. If it happens, awesome, but if not, I’ll be happy to go home, see the husband and baby, and sleep. Ah sleep, so lovely. I feel like I say this every tour, though, so we’ll see.
