The Grim Reaper

This is the costume my mom made me for Halloween, The Grim Reaper. And yes the handsome model in this picture is me, the famous Robbie.  But my mom made all of this except for the stick.  The cardboard thing she made.  But i had to cut down a tree for the actual stick.

Robbie

Okay, mom's turn.  Robbie designs his costumes every year for Halloween.  And mom is in charge of making them. :)  And it's a lot of fun especially when he is so involved in the process.  The one thing I totally forgot was his hands. :(  I told him to wear gloves, but dad nixed that idea since he would be the one keeping up with them tonight. lol

Once he decided what he wanted to be, we went online looking at all sorts of pictures so I could see how easy it would be to make.  I found a cape pattern here.  But I only wanted the hood.  Then I found a tute here on how to make the actual robe.  I opted not to use fleece, because it is so hot here in South Georgia. 

I found a cotton sheeting material at Joann's and bought 2 yards.  That was plenty to make this.  I cut out the hood, then had him lay down on the remaining fabric to trace the shape of the robe.  I followed the instructions for the robe just for that part.  I cut a hole in the top of the fabric where his head would go.  Then I made a slit about 6 inches down at the center front.  I lined the hood before attaching it to the robe.  I wanted extra fullness there. I had to gather the back of the robe to get the hood to fit properly.  That gave me extra fullness in the back which was perfect. 

He did not want me to paint his face, so I found a mesh material at Joann's and cut a big square.  I stitched it to the top of the hood all the way around to the top of his ears.  Then I just tucked the bottom into the robe. I know the face cover won't last all night, and I wanted him to be able to pull it up and out of the way to be comfortable.  I used a velcro closure in the front to keep it all in place.  I cut 2 slits up both sides of the robe about 10 inches up so he'd have plenty of room to run around.

Robbie literally went into the woods and cut down a small tree for his scythe.  I cut the blade out of cardboard and used a metallic paint to finish it.  Then I just drilled a hole in top of the stick and secured the blade with a small screw. 

This was by far the easiest costume I've made.  If you have any questions about how I did it, feel free to email me.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Robbie and Angela a.k.a. Robbie's mom :)

DIY Scarf

I found the tutorial for this scarf on Pinterest.  Isn't Pinterest addicting??  Here is the link.  Look around while you are there.  She has other cute scarf tutes too!

My niece up north is getting to that age where it's hard to know what to give her.  I thought this would be the perfect gift since it can get super cold there.  I found this flannel here. My niece's favorite color is orange, but I couldn't find that color in any pattern I liked. :(

Here is Robbie being a jewel and modeling it for me.

He really didn't want to, but he was a little trooper.  It's a little big on him.

The pattern calls for the length to be 60", and I decided to go 75".  I've made scarves before from an Amy Butler pattern that were 90".  I was afraid the 60" would be too short.  I think too long is better than too short in a scarf.  And there are so many different ways to tie them.

I love the gathered piece at the bottom.  This is a closer look at it.  I hope my niece loves her new scarf.  And you can't beat a $10 price tag.  I actually was able to get 2 scarves out of this fabric and still have roughly 1/3 yard left over.  I think I stretched that $20 fairly well.  lol

I'm at 13/14 gifts now for Christmas and have spent right at $200.  Two of my gifts were a bit more expensive.  The tote and crochet clutch were $40 because I chose an expensive fabric.  And the dresden tie quilt I'm working on is right at $50 because I chose an expensive fabric and batting.  I still have to get it quilted.

Happy Monday!!
Angela

Dresden Necktie Quilt Tutorial

One of my very best friends lost her father earlier this year.  He was a pastor at a local church, one that I attended for years.  He was a sweet man, and I will miss him much.  My friend is heart broken along with the rest of her family.  So for her mom for Christmas, she wanted to make a lap quilt with his neckties, so she could keep him close.  She asked if I could do it.

I did some research and realized there wasn't a lot of information on exactly how to do these.  But I thought I had enough that I felt comfortable tackling it.  Plus, I have some really sweet ladies at everything sewing that are fabulous sources of information.  I thought I would post a tutorial as I go, so I could help someone else who might want to make one of these quilts.

**UPDATE:  Many of you have asked about the dresden ruler.  I bought the Fast2Cut dresden ruler by Anelie Belden but it is no longer available. You can use any dresden ruler but the size may be different and create a smaller dresden.  I found some alternatives if you want a longer ruler. This one is available at Joann's but it is more narrow than Anelie's. I found this one as well, and it appears to be close to the size of mine but call or email to be sure. This one is about an inch shorter and should work. Just remember to adjust for the size of the dresden. Practice first on scraps to see what your size will be.**

The first order of business is to decide whether you want your quilt to be washable.  Some people do, some don't.  Obviously, washable is more practical.  But not all ties are created equal, and they can get ruined in the wash.  I didn't want the painstaking task of determining which of the ties would hold up.  Plus, these had such sentimental value, I didn't want to ruin even one.

My solution, thanks to my friend, Sandy, at Quarterdeck Quilts, was to make it removable.  Genius!!  And that is what this tutorial will be all about - making a removable dresden.

Most of the information out there says not to use interfacing, because it will shrink.  So if you make your quilt washable, wash the interfacing, or use this stuff.  It doesn't shrink.  I chose to use stabilizer.  I'm glad I did.  Ties are cut on the bias, and they will stretch and move when cutting and stitching.  It is VERY important that your cuts are near perfect. Now let's get into how I did mine.

I first decided I wanted a 20 blade dresden.  That's roughly 30" in diameter.  I went through all the ties and chose the ones I wanted by laying them all out on the floor.

Next, take your ties apart and remove the layer inside.  These are mine taken apart and pressed.  Be sure to press first on low heat to remove all the wrinkles and crease lines.

Cut your stabilizer about 2 inches longer and 1 inch wider than your dresden ruler.  Here is one tie and one piece of stabilizer already cut.  Notice I did not remove the lining from the tie before I cut it.  I wanted to keep that nice sharp point on the end, and it is so lightweight, I didn't think it would matter.

Now line up your stabilizer so the middle lines up with the point of the tie.  You want the stabilizer right to the end of the point, not past it.  Iron it in place.

Now flip it over and line up your dresden ruler so the edges line up with the tie close to the point as shown.

This is a closeup but not the same tie.

Now, very carefully cut your dresden.  Go slowly so you get as even a cut as possible. Here are two of mine cut.

Now stitch 5 blades together using a 1/4" seam allowance, so you have 4 quarters.  These are my 4 quarters already stitched.

 And this is one of the quarters from the back.  Press all the seams in one direction.  And press the front with low heat.

Stop right now and make sure you have pretty equal right angles.  I don't have that picture.  Square up the quarters now to avoid having them wonky when sewn together.  If you look at the photo above, you can see if I lined up one side with my cutting mat, the other side would be off just slightly.  I did not square mine up and I had a little buckling going on in the center when I was finished.  Luckily, it will be hidden by my inner circle.

Here are all 4 quarters stitched together.

And the back.

And that is it for now.  Your dresden is almost complete.  Stay tuned for my next series on how I backed this thing and made it removable from the quilt.

If you chose to make a washable quilt, you can simply place this where you want on the quilt and run a satin stitch, blanket stitch or some other decorative stitch around the outside edge.

I hope this helps someone else!!


Happy Thursday!
Angela