Hermione Granger Costume

Louisa loves Harry Potter and so do we. She is reading the Sorcerer's Stone for the 4th time right now. Hermione is so smart and brave and I was very happy that she chose her for Halloween this year.

I made the robe, the blouse and the skirt.

Doctor Scrubs (Simplicity 4378)

My husband is a radiology resident and happily gets to wear scrubs to work a lot. But at just over 6'6", he has a hard time fitting them well, and he needs several sets to get him through the week. I've been meaning to make him a "custom" pair for a while.

Rose Fairy Princess Costume (Simplicity 1792)

Louisa decided long ago she was going to be a fairy for Halloween, so I got Simplicity 1792 (Disney Fairies) during a $3.99 sale. We decided on View C, but in pink and purple rather than yellow. She is calling herself a Rose Fairy Princess.

The main fabric is a pink crepe-backed satin, used for the bodice and skirt. The bodice is lined in white cotton. The sleeves and top petals are iridescent organza, and the bodice overlay and bottom petals are purple organza. The overskirt is baby pink sparkle tulle (six yards).

We picked out all the fabric together at Jo-Ann.

Dogwood Dress (Simplicity 2265)

A long overdue follow up post to the father's days ties... here is what I made for Louisa: Simplicity 2265, also in "Dogwood Floral" linen-blend by April Johnston for Jo-Ann. It is fully lined with a solid peach silky rayon-blend from the same line. (Both are sold out now, sadly.) Coincidentally, both the fabric and the pattern are "Project Runway" lines.

I thought this pattern was very cute and fairly easy to sew. The only thing I wish I had done differently was to turn the sleeve binding under so it was hidden and the shoulders didn't look so wide, or else to have used the cap sleeve option from the pattern. Looking back I don't know why I didn't make the sleeves.

Children at Play Dress (Simplicity 5226)

I wanted to make Louisa a play dress, and found this pattern, Simplicity "Easy to Sew" 5226, in my drawer (not sure where or when I got it). I decided it would be good for putting to use some of my Sarah Jane Children at Play Michael Miller prints that I've been hoarding. I bought these (and a bunch of boy prints that you will hopefully see up here soon!) from Hawthorne Threads when they were first released last year.


I really like Sarah Jane's illustrations (Louisa has this print over her bed, and Leo has this one over his crib), and Louisa loves white dandelions, so that drew me to this print, Summer Gardens in Lilac.

She actually requested this dress this morning... "the one you made with the dandelion girls on it, you know, Mom?"

I wish I had made the bias binding around the collar and arm holes out of the flower print I used on the ruffle (Meadow in Pink) but I was trying to save that yardage for another project, and also, I hate making bias tape. So, I used some close-enough-pink packaged tape. It closes with a single pink button and fabric loop in the back.


Everything has to have a pocket these days. Lots of treasures to keep track of.


I turned and stitched most of the seams, used some french seams, and serged the bottom. I also made it quite a bit shorter than the original pattern.

Here it is at play!

Running with her classmates in her school's Mini Relay for Life:


And at the first Friday's After Five of the season, getting her face painted with her dear pal Dorothy:

Princess Halloween Costume (Simplicity 2463)

Louisa picked her own pattern and her own fabric for her specially-requested princess costume.

Who can resist a pink and purple ombre organza with star sequins?!

I made view A of Simplicity 2463.

We got all the fabric from Jo-Ann, except the lining, which is a pink acetate from fabric.com that I had purchased for my Lonsdale dress lining, before I realized I wanted to stick with cotton. Acetate is kind of sickly smooth and slippery in its 100% synthetic-ness, but perfect for a princess costume.

The pattern was easy to follow. I'd say it ran a little big, even though I cut it according to her measurements. I made the size 3 and it will definitely still fit her next year.

I cut it a little longer than the 3 because she is tall (and her number-one request was that it go "all the way to my toes!") but it ended up being way too long even after I tacked up the hem and she was tripping on it some while we trick-or-treated.

My other change was to line the yoke (not just the bodice pieces) and skip the neck binding, as someone else had done on patternreview.com.

I think it would have looked nice with a contrast binding, however, because the pale pink disappeared a bit against her skin. But I am happy with it fully lined (I even under stitched the neck edge!) and I don't do a great job stitching in the ditch like the binding had called for.

I also left out the net ruffles. I had bought a bunch of purple netting and tulle, but it was a mess to work with, and since the skirt fabric was sheer, it wasn't going to look right. It's not as poofy as it could be, but she still loves it.

Some of these photos are from her Halloween Parade at school and some are from Halloween night. I hadn't finished sewing the jewels on the bodice for her preschool celebration.

I finished all the exposed seam with bias binding because acetate and organza just frays like crazy. Plus the binding looks nice around the sleeves since they are sheer. The skirt and skirt lining seams I did as french seams for the same reasons.

And just in case you were wondering, Leo was a doctor. His scrubs were a gift, and we had the requisite black clogs and fleece jacket already.

Halloween sure is a exhausting! Up late on a school night, candy for dinner, all her friends over here... phew! But the memories are fantastic.