October's Hat: Pumpkin Beret

A quickie, made in a few hours. This is the same beret pattern I always use (McCall's 2629, out of print), but the top of the beret is pieced to look like the lobes (ribs?) of a pumpkin. Once I got it all sewn together, I ran a stitch up the bottom of the hat to connect with the pieced top. Yes, there is a seam that runs through the middle of my "pumpkin," but I didn't want to spend the day figuring out how to do it without the seam.

To get the stem, I cut a piece of felt on slight angle and rolled it up. I stitched that together at the bottom, and secured the loose end, then stitched it to the center of my beret. I found a pattern for pumpkin leaves, and used a crocheted corkscrew to look like vine, using a YouTube tutorial. (Yes, it's true: I didn't know how to make one of those things until today.) I was lucky enough to have yarn that matched the felt on hand. In fact, all of this was from my stash.

You can see the vertical stitch here.

Honestly, I don't think this could have been any simpler. And now I have something to wear when I meet Jill Thompson later this month!

The Skirt of Evil!

Cross-posted to Plastic Heroines. This is going to be really brief, because I didn't get nearly enough sleep. Then I think I might have to take a nap before dinner... I'll post more about the overskirt I made later.

I finally got the Skirt of Evil cut out and sewn up. I finished the skirt at midnight, and got up this morning to make an overskirt. (It's the same simple pattern as the Skirt of Awesome, but this time I sewed the seams down.)

I saw the fabric at Joann's, but it was pricey, then they had an internet-only 24-hour sale, and I caved. Unfortunately, one of the styles (the dark grey in the top row) sold out, but I was able to buy some in the store (not on super-sale).

Purchased at Joann's. If you love it, go get it; they're sold out online.

I need 13 wedges to make my skirt. To figure out how I wanted to use the fabric, I used a triskaidecagon* with the wedges marked out, and the Photoshop "define pattern" and "fill" tools, and played with it until I got this:

Top of the image is the front of the skirt.

That enabled me to play with the colors and patterns until I got the look I wanted. Then I knew how many wedges of each color I needed, and could cut them out. Pinning it together took nearly as long as sewing. Then I turned in all the exposed edges, stiched them down, turned the waistband and added bias tape to the hem. There are no exposed edges, none.

Comfortable, floaty... and evil!

The overskirt is shimmer tulle petals attached to an elastic band using half hitch knots. It's longer in the back.

Sparkly!

The overskirt isn't supposed to look like a tutu, or a petticoat (worn on top); it's supposed to look like a cloud of malevolence, stalking toward you. Mwahahahahaaaaaaa!

More craziness: e.l.f. makeup featuring palettes for four Disney villains, found at Walgreens. Bought 'em. Had to. All four of those ladies (Evil Queen, Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula) are all on my skirt! 



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* triskaidecagon = 13-sided polygon