Halloween WIPs

 I got my All the Good quilt laid out, but promptly had to pick it up and put it away so I could focus on Halloween costumes. It's just as well, I like to let layouts marinate and now that I've thought about this one, I'm not thrilled with what I've got. Now that I've thought about it for a week or so, I really want to bring the navy up so it's a rounder shape, and I want the "nucleus" to be closer to the center of the quilt and not so much in the corner. So I'll move a row to the left side, and possibly the top...all this switching sounds really tricky though so I'm not sure how to transfer my carefully-organized stacks of rows to the new shift...it'll be a big job. For after Halloween. 

And for Halloween, I got my four girls to commit a couple weeks ago so I could get to work. My second daughter mercifully chose to be a pirate, which my oldest had been 3 years ago. Or was it four? I can't remember. In any case, I only had to make a new skirt because the one from a few years ago was not big enough for my second daughter. But skirts are really easy and quick, and after I purchased the striped fabric, it took just about an hour to get it finished up. Love that.

My oldest and one twin want to be witches and want to match, and I had a super simple costume pattern with sizes for both of them that I'm working with. It has only 3 pattern pieces, and includes a gather neck with an elastic (which means no closures to worry about), and so I'm about done with that. My twelve year old has a vision, and making this simple pattern fit her vision has required a bit of finesse. She wanted puffy sleeves and flare out, so I took a cue from a different pattern and added an elastic casing to the bicep area (I got lucky with placement since I just guessed...). And I'm making a simple belt with eyelets from a different pattern (it's super basic, using the pattern is hardly required...) in a pretty lilac color to add some interest and some definition to the waist. 

The other twin wants to be a cowgirl, which isn't surprising at all, because she and two sisters are in horse lessons right now. I had a costume pattern I used a couple years ago for a witch costume (a different one...) for her, so I needed to retrace the size, but it's really cute. It's the most complex pattern but it's adorable. I bought a Robert Kaufman window pane woven gingham in blue and some tan canvas for the top skirt from Joanns, and some cute eyelet trim. I think it's going to turn out really cute and I hope she loves it. 

And I hope it doesn't take too long. I'd love to get this improv quilt sewn together, even though I know I can't rush it. And, I've got Christmas sewing to think about...this year, I'm making our annual Christmas pajamas because I just can't bear the disappointment and upset when the Santa pajamas don't fit right because my girls are so much taller than the average kid and off the rack clothes are just not made for them. Sigh. I ordered some cute Dear Stella nutcracker fabric for pajama pants and a great Art Gallery Fabric striped knit for the tops and I think they'll be really adorable. And if the girls whine and gripe about them, we'll have to find a new tradition because pajamas will be done, haha.