DIY Starfish Costume

Somehow Ivy got it in her head that she was going to be a Starfish for Halloween. I have no idea how she came up with this. Why couldn't she be a Super Hero? (I made a cape for her already, see post here). Or Rapunzel? Or Cinderella? We have those costumes... (see post here). But no, a Starfish. I have to admit, I thought it was a great idea, (super creative) but I didn't want to get it wrong, because I knew my decisive child had some type of vision of what her costume would look like. After a little prying and convincing, we decided it would be a Starfish Princess costume. (That was my vision, and what I knew I could pull off). I went to Sew Special and Ben Franklin and got some fabric and accessories. Ivy had a hacking cough, so we couldn't go to church the next day, so I had a whole Sunday to put this together.

Supplies:

-white leotard (Ivy had a white leotard already)

-white tutu (I got one from Icing for $6.25)

-1/2 yard of orange seashell fabric ($2)

-1/2 yard of white star fabric ($2)

-1 yard of green star fabric (had this)

-faux fishing net ($6.99)

-starfish ($4.99)

-yellow mesh netting (had this)

-orange bias tape (had this)

-green leaf ribbon ($2.99)

-glittery gold Christmas leaf decor ($4.99)

-headband ($1.50)

-small piece of felt

-sewing machine

-scissors

-glue gun

-thread

1. I cut out 4 large stars for the skirt, and 4 smaller stars for the bodice. (Green was the underneath color. I just layer the fabric over the tutu and made it a little wider than the tutu. Same for the leotard. I wanted it to slightly wrap around the tutu.) 

2. I sewed the stars together right side in, (orange w/green, white w/green) but left a little seam open so I could flip it right side out.  

3. After flipping it right side out, I re-sewed the edges so that they would lay flat.

4. I layer the stars over the tutu, and sketched a hole over the waist band, then cut out a circle. This was a very ghetto way of doing this. I tacked net and "seaweed" (the green leaf ribbon) to the orange star and glue gunned starfish to the edge of the orange star. Then I sewed orange bias tape around the waist. I wish I thought through this part a little better. Luckily Ivy is a skinny-mini and can just slip this on over her non-existent booty, but in all honesty, I needed to put some type of elastic waistband here. Oh well... 

5. I tacked a few piece of the yellow mesh netting onto the tutu, to give it some "life & depth" under the starfish.

6. Since all the Christmas decor was out at Ben Franklin, I picked up this gold Christmas leaf decor thing. I think you're supposed to put them in a vase? (I'm not really all about putting fake plants in vases.) I made sure to choose one that looked like seaweed. I cut off some pieces and sewed them under the orange stars on both the bodice and the skirt portion, so they would "peek out" from under.

   

7. I got a yellow headband from Icing for $1.50 on clearance. I cut a circle out of white felt and glue gunned the mesh, the leaf ribbon, the gold Christmas seaweed and a starfish onto the felt. When it dried, I glue gunned the felt to the yellow headband.

Of course, as is the case in every Ivy/Becca project, it results in an informal photo shoot. No children were harmed in this shoot. All pure fun! For this particular shoot, I chose the beach in front of my late grandma's condo, where she lived for at least 15+ years before she passed away last year. It's 2 blocks from my house, and I hadn't been to the condo or the beach since July 20, 2011, (the day before it sold.) My, Ivy and my dad (it was his birthday) had gone there for one last swim in the pool. My grandma taught kids to swim for much of her life, and being the fact that Ivy just finished her first round of swimming lessons, I'm a little sentimental and wish my grandma were here to teach her. My grandma also had lived on a boat in Florida and had such a love for the ocean. She definitely passed that on to her family. Maybe that's why Ivy chose to be a starfish?!

 So for $31.71 plus tax, this is a custom-made Starfish Princess Costume! Not bad. And to think I almost gave in and picked up a Wal-mart costume for $19.99...

Be safe this Halloween!

Aloha,

Rebecca

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Super Hero Cape Tutorial

Yesterday we made a cape. 

You heard me. 

I guess I should back up. It's not every day you make your kid a cape.

Well, we were at a baby shower on Labor Day (pun intended) and Ivy and a little friend were stealing the tissue paper and ribbon from the opened gifts and making capes. All week, Ivy's been begging to wear the tissue paper cape, but it's pretty much ripped to shreds. So I got tired of the disappointment in her eyes every time I told her we weren't going to wear the ripped cape, and asked her, "Should we make a better cape?" Of course she said, "Yes!" So we went to my fabric and she picked out this magenta fabric with chartreuse root/coral/dead tree print on it. Girl's got style.

First I cut it out like so:

Ivy is almost 3 years old, and tall for her age. 

The bottom is about 24 inches across. 

It's 22 inches from the bottom to the base of the neck, then I eyeballed the part that goes around the neck. It goes up to about 28.5 inches from the bottom.

It's 18 inches across the top (part that sits on the back of the shoulders)

I used a white piece to line the cape.

 Then I created the letter "I" in white fabric, and sewed it over a black circle. I didn't like it alone like that, so I added a white square around it. Plus, I hate sewing circles, so it was much easier to sew a square to the cape. You can see in the photo below, I just sewed straight lines up and down the circle to fasten it, rather than actually sew a circle. It will fray, but what good super hero's cape doesn't show some wear and tear from the crime they're fighting in the world? ;)

Before you sew it all together, sew on some velcro to the neck pieces. Think about which sides you're going to sew... 

Then I placed the two pieces of fabric together, so I could sew them. I did add a little "super power" to this magenta/chartreuse cape...  Black leather fringe along the bottom. I picked it up at a garage sale in San Diego earlier this summer. This cape demanded for it. Look closely at the photo below on the right-- you can see I pinned it inside, so it would be included in the stitch.

I left the nape of the neck unsewn so I could flip it inside out through there, then sew a reinforcement stitch around it once it was right side out. 

See the stitch around the neck?

So then Ivy enthusiastically suited up. Checked herself out in the mirror...

Then flew next door to grandma and grandpa's house to show them...

Showing it to grandma was super (hero) exciting.

And that's the story of Ivy's cape. 

NEWS UPDATE: Super Ivy has been spotted flying around in her cape since yesterday. 

Aloha, 

Rebecca

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Vintage Aquariums - my new obsession

I was at my grandma's house last week looking at her home decor magazines and came across this photo:

This image has been stuck in my head ever since! How awesome is a vintage aquarium?! It just took me back to another time... another world... and I thought, "Wow, people of old wanted to enjoy fish back then too!" I know. I'm crazy. Most people would never think that way. I do. I tore out the photo from the magazine (sorry Grandma) and keep taking a peak at it. 

Maybe it takes me back to a few movies I loved in high school. Remember this scene from Romeo and Juliet? Unforgettable.

The Great Expectations remake in 1998 with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke also comes to mind. I can't spot any vintage aquariums in any photos from the movie, but I envision them in there somewhere, haha. I have no idea why I liked that movie. I can remember walking across the highway to Premiere Video and renting it. I was 14. 

There's not a ton of info about vintage/antique aquariums online. Here's a few I found that aren't round:

I like these ones too.

 

I still can't get the original one I found out of my head! I want one! I don't know where it would go in my 700 sq ft cottage, but I'd find a place! We don't need a dining table, right?

Aloha, Rebecca

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