"Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs"

This is, of course, Olaf from Frozen.  I'm sure we'll see lots of Olafs, Elsas, Annas and Kristoffs for Halloween this year!  I was surprised but not altogether unhappy when K. told me (in July!) what she wanted to be.  It tends to be quite cool in this part of the world at the end of October but there's no danger that she'll be cold in this!  In fact, I debated about making a second "indoor" costume for school and Sparks and parties but came up with an even better (quicker) solution which you'll see if you make it to the end!

I started with the Roller Skate Dress from Oliver and S and, other than the elastic at the bottom, actually didn't make any changes to it. To accommodate all the extra padding, I made it in size 10 although K. would normally wear a 7 or 8.

I used fleece for both the lining and the outside of the dress, mostly because I was initially going to rely on the dress and the elastic to make it "pouf".  That wasn't enough though so I also stuffed it with batting.  I added strips of tulle in the bottom, too, because I had them and I ran out of batting. I really should have just bought another bag of batting, though.  She loves it but I feel it could have been rounder.

I asked her to let me take a picture of the back and this what I got, complete with a booty shake.  This kid makes me laugh :).  I didn't change anything except that the button is on the inside and that wasn't on purpose -- hey, when the lining and the dress are both the same fabric, it's easy to get them mixed up.

The hat is, of course, the cozy winter hood from Little Things to Sew.  I've lost count of how many time I've made that pattern!  (I think I say that everytime, lol!).  I made it twice for this costume, though.  This is the medium but I made a large, too.  I thought it would look more olaf-y but K.  wouldn't even consider putting it on. She has a thing about hats (and shoes) being small almost to the point of being uncomfortable.   But if she's happy in this one, I'm happy, too.  And I have a hat to send to my nephew for his birthday!

The hood is fleece lined with flannel and the "twigs" are pipe cleaners covered in velour.  I sliced to top pattern piece into two pieces so that I could sew them in.  I don't think they'll make it through the wash but they only have to last through three events.

And the shirt underneath is also Oliver and S -- the Field Trip Tee.  K. just got lucky on this one because I was just going to buy a shirt but I accidentally bought brown velour instead of black for another project (I have no idea how, I could swear it looked black on the cutting table but it most definitely is not!) so I had enough to make her a tee.  I initially made the whole thing brown but it showed at the neckline so I decided to rip it apart and make it white.  Which turned out to be a good decision and it solved my problem a slightly less warm costume for indoors.  Some black circles, and voilà -- an Olaf "inspired" outfit (which will be worn with white leggings when the time comes of course!).

The best part of this costume is how thrilled K. is about it.  It reminds me why I started to sew in the first place -- to be creative and make something unique (or not so unique in this case!!) for the people that I love.  I still haven't gotten over the Kristoff incident (nor have I heard from the person who commissioned me to make that costume!) but I'm happy I can do this for my lovely sweet adorable appreciative daughter :).

Kristoff Tunic

A few weeks ago, my daughter's teacher approached me after school and asked if I would do her a favour. She used to work with a boy named Tommy.  He has Autism and is an athlete and a runner. He also has a huge love for all things Disney, so much so that his parents take him to Disney World every year.  This year they timed their trip to coincide with Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party and he wants to go as Kristoff from Frozen.

Sewing for other people makes me nervous but I figured a tunic couldn't be too hard.  Plus I was already making one for my husband so I said yes. I'm happy it's done and I'm hoping Tommy and his mom are happy with it but oh my goodness I was cursing this thing while I was making it!  I redid the collar about a million times (well, six (!!) times but it felt like a million).

And the fur!!  The bound fur trim was $26/metre and the yardage was $19/metre so guess which one I bought, lol?  So not only did I have to try to cut through this stuff, I had to give each piece a hair cut along the seam allowance after I cut it out.  There was fur everywhere!  It took me a good couple of hours to vacuum my sewing room when I finished.  And I'm still finding clumps that I missed (and clumps that I carried through the house on my clothes. Some even ended up in our dinner. oops!).  I will never willingly make anything with fake fur again.  Or I will be smart and track down some that's on a ribbon like this stuff.  Jeez, I wish I'd done a bit of research first!

The main fabric is from my stash - Brussels Washer Linen blend in charcoal.  Good thing I had it because I couldn't find anything locally that would be suitable for Florida weather!

Anyway, I started with Thread Theory's Finlayson sweater then extended the shoulders, made the neckline more a v-shape, lengthened it and added the shaping.  Then drafted (and re-drafted and re-drafted) a new collar.  So really, it's not much of a Finlayson anymore!

edited to add:  Wow.  I'm completely floored and devastated.  The woman who asked me to make this for her son feels it's not close enough to the original for his needs.  According to her it would okay for a casual party or trick or treating but not for someone who would be making YouTube videos at the "actual Disney World".  She offered to pay for it if I needed her to but said she'd sell it on kijiji!!

I'm not a professional but agreed to do this as favour.  She didn't give me any criteria and even asked me to source all the fabric and materials without her input.  I agonized over every detail and it didn't turn out exactly as I pictured it but I thought it was pretty good.  I am honestly hurt.