Two Steps Backwards and One Step Forward.........

This is the Lady Dracula dress adorned with a laced up ribbon corset kind-of-look.  I went back to the photos that I had looked at to start with when Miss J asked me to make her a Dracula costume and saw that most of the Lady Vampires had this feature on their dresses.  I asked Miss J if there was anything she wanted for her hair.  Duh?.......of course, she wants a black wig with white streaks in it.  I sure hope Walmart has such a thing!!!!!  If not we'll find something to "make it work" as Tim Gunn says.       

I took to heart all of your suggestions for accessorizing Miss J's patchwork shirtdress that I made for her birthday.  I bought red tights.  I couldn't find the leggings in red, so I got the winter weight tights. Remember she lives up in the NE.   I had already made her bag to carry and had already lined it with the red satin that was left over from her Lady Dracula cape, so I had to get red.  I saw lots of hot pink leggings out there. Oh yeah, I also shortened the dress by three inches.  I had a feeling it was going to be way too long, so I had my daughter measure for me.  I sure am glad that I did.  Smokey doesn't look too happy modeling for me this time, does he?

 

I found this jewelry at a Free Trade store near me.  Miss J is getting her ears pierced for this birthday.  That's because she'll be EIGHT YEARS OLD!!!!  So, of course, I had to get her some earrings.

I also knitted her this scarf and hat that she may or may not want to wear with this dress.  I used a black skein and a red one of fuzzy yarn on the scarf and another of each color on the hat.  I just knitted them together as one strand of yarn.  You bloggers out there who really know how to knit would already know this. I didn't know that Miss J's new favorite color is red.  She's always been a pink and purple sort of girl.  She's growing up!

 

Now, for Miss K's Hermione costume.   Hermione is the main girl character from Harry Potter for those of you who may not be familiar with her.  When I looked at photos of her, she usually had on a black cape that was lined in burgundy.  I happened to find this black(yeah, I know it looks like a darker burgundy, and if you look closely, you can see the burgundy peaking through the black side, but it really is black) fabric that was burgundy on the other side.  Lucky!!!! 

 

 

I found this crest on line when I was looking at costumes on line.  I ironed a piece of white fabric to a double sided adhesive interfacing.  I ironed the fabric to a piece of white computer paper.  I put it in the computer and hit "print".  I held my breath because I was afraid it would jam my printer, but it didn't .  It printed beautifully!  I just cut it out, peeled off the paper and ironed it on.  I then zigzagged around it a couple of times to be sure it would be secure!  Yea!!!!  I love this.  I guess if I was planning to sell this cape it wouldn't be legal to copy this this way.

Since this fabric didn't need to be lined, I did flat fell the seams so the inside would be neat.  She could even wear this inside out if the occasion ever arose.   You can see how I did the seams in the hood.  This is the same cape pattern that I made for Miss J's Miss Dracula costume.  I just put the hood on this one and the stand up collar on the other.

 

Hermione is a student at Hogwart's School for Wizards.  The school uniform is a gray pleated skirt, gray sweater, gray knee socks, white button down collared shirt, and a striped gold and burgundy tie.  The pictures that I found all showed her with a burgundy and gold striped scarf and toboggan, too.  I showed these to you in an earlier post.  Miss K's mom is going to Target to look for the shirt and maybe a different sweater.  I saw the shirts and a cardigan at our Target, but I didn't buy them because I was still thinking about making the shirt, and they didn't have her size in the cardigan.  I bought this one for $6 at Walmart, but it is a small lady's size and is way too long for Miss K.  I can fix that, but if her mom can find the cardigan, she will actually be able to wear this skirt and sweater outfit for church.  I used a gray wool blend for the skirt that I already had.  It has a small pin stripe of red and white, but we decided that it would be ok to use.  I already had the skirt made when I called to ask for a length measurement.  I only had about a quarter of an inch to use for a hem after clean finishing it.  So, it is barely turned up.  I think I'll go buy some hem tape and redo this.  I lined the skirt so that my Miss K won't have any itchy seams to deal with.  I actually sewed the lining and wool as one piece and then flat felled the seams.  I even lined the waist band. I hate an itchy anything next to my skin. 

I made skirts for Misses K, J, and R from this same fabric last year at Valentine's, but Miss K has outgrown hers.  Now, all I have left to do is make a tie.  I started it last night, but....................................
I have strep throat again, and I was tired and I went up stairs, knitted a little while, and then I went to bed.
Yesterday afternoon was spent making phone calls, looking through my mother's papers, and writing letters to various insurance companies, etc.... because there are some things of Mother's that I am having trouble locating.  I have to get notarized and Medallion Sealed copies of the Power of Attorney to send to about 7 places before they can give me any information.  I just did this about 6 months ago with most of these places, but they want updated proof of POA every 60 days!!  What a pain.  Tell your parents to go ahead and put your name on every thing, and be sure you know where everything is before they can no longer tell you.  My mother thought she had everything in order, but she didn't.  She got sick so suddenly 3 years ago, that she could have told me everything the day before, but not after.  Of all the things that I am doing for my mother, this type of thing is what I really don't like doing!