Flying Monkeys ... a costume tutorial

How to make a Wizard of Oz inspired flying monkey costume ... with pictures and directions. Leave the wings off, add elf stockings and, yes!, you have an elf costume! (Directions in red are suggested changes for an elf costume.)

Supplies: shirt, white and red felt
Cut the bottom four inches off the shirts.
(Use a green shirt or change the colors as you'd like for the elf.
Don't cut the shirt at all and you can make the design longer for more color.)

I have one of those friends who signs me up for stuff. And then she tells me about what I am going to do. Then we walk away. 

Make a pattern
cut out the red fabric
(cut two per shirt)

Cut the white fabric adding
1/4" outside the pattern
(cut two per shirt)

Things can be going smoothly, and I get a phone call that reminds me that I was going to do something but I haven't done it. Yet.

Pin the pieces, red on top of white, and pin well.
Cut the tee-shirt between the pattern pieces and sew.
(Create a smaller design to go around the 
bottom of the shirt and don't cut it.)

You know what happens next? The deadline looms.

After sewing, trim off the neckline
and sleeves to make into a vest.

I have to get busy. But this time I got sick. Really sick. Two days in bed sick. The deadline looms ever closer. Get busy and work fast. At least this was easy. 

Cut pattern on paper (I just winged it.)
Cut out on brown felt. Sew to center back of shirt.
The black lines show where to overlap and sew or safety pin.

(No need to bother with wings for the elf.)

So flying monkeys have wings. I tried but failed. Horribly. I won't even tell you my plan. Here's what ended up happening: Using black felt, we cut wing shapes and safety-pinned them to the backs of the shirts. Later we'll use school glue or Mod Podge to make them stiff so they will stay open. I so wish I had pictures!

The hats, however, I nailed! I used the bottoms of the tee-shirts to cover recycled butter bowls. The decorations on the hats sort of match the vests. I just decided to go with a quirky almost matching design. Oddly, it worked once it was on the hat. My own pattern, I promise.

(Directions are for a pill box hat, in which an elf would be extra cute.)
Make a quirky pattern and cut out the red felt.
Cut the white felt 1/4" larger.
Sew on the knit you cut off the bottom of the shirts. 
Measure the knit using the bowl and cut . 
Staple the bottom of the bowl with the knit wrapped around the cut edge.
Gather the top and knot off.

I wrapped the blue knit around each bowl individually to get measurements. To wrap each bowl, I slipped the knit around it and folded the bottom edge to cover the opening and stapled all around. I recommend really cheap, thin bowls as they are easier to staple.


I gathered the top by sewing around the edge in a large running stitch, pulled it tight and made a knot. (See the hat on the top of the stack in this picture.) 
And that was it.

Flying Monkey suits. 
Three in an afternoon. Check!

A fire, some flowers, and some shirts ~~ finishes

Meme's stepdad is a volunteer fireman. Her mom decided that they would be a family of firefighters for Halloween. Meme, however, can't seem to say fire-anything. When asked what she wants to be for Trick or Treat, she answer, "a fire-ah." So we made her a fire-ah costume. Her little brother is going to be a dalmatian. I haven't seen his costume yet. 

A little red tee shirt with yellow and sparkly silver striped ribbon and her very own badge. I attached the silver ribbon to the yellow using adhesive web then sewed them onto the shirt. The badge I planned to made from two pieces of yellow adhered using heavy duty web, but in the end I used a zigzag stitch to applique it on. The letter, for her name, is a ready-made sticky letter. All of it is Dusti's idea and design. She also made the requisite red tutu. I can't wait to see Miss Priss in her fire-ah costume.

Also this week I finished up the last of the flowers for All Saints' Day. These are for Richard's dad. I had to wait for him to pick up the cypress vase he made a couple of months ago.

I wasn't sure what Richard would want in the way of flowers, so I bought a variety of deep fall colors when I bought all the ones for my family. Turns out he really likes them. I suppose we'll put them out tomorrow when we go to mass. His brother cleaned the grave and his mom already delivered her flowers.

The other then I've worked on has really taken some time. We are going to Disney before Christmas and the kids want tee shirts. 

Well! That is going to be interesting. It's difficult to get 10 people to agree on one shirt. So I've taken things into hand and designed two that I can cut on the Silhouette. One Meggan and I found some on Pinterest (of course) and changed the idea to fit the Marcotte clan's needs. The designs are finished. Wish me luck getting them onto the shirts.

Finally, Richard and I have babysat till we're exhausted. Meme and Brother are sweet, fun little tykes, but they are heavy (literally) and high-maintenance. One is potty-training and the other is curious. He's now mobile, crawling on all fours, pulling up and digging in everything. Meme is a big help: I say Ryder, she yells no!
Somehow we're getting on, but it's getting more difficult not less so. Any suggestions? I really need help.

Moana costume reveal ~~ finish

In case you haven't heard, Moana is Disney's latest movie. I haven't seen it (although it's played in my house many times in the last week) so my knowledge is limited to this: It's about a Hawaiian girl. She's named Moana. 

Today she had a costume fail malfunction, and I fixed her top so that her upper half is not exposed. 

Here's the backstory: Jenny ran to Walmart for a few things this morning and, as she has only one child, she looked for a surprise for Marley. Lo and behold, there was a Moana costume. Even better: one size fits all! And on sale! It was meant to be. 

It turns out that one size does not fit everyone. The entire costume was too loose. But the top? Wow, the top was loose. Really loose. 

How about matching those fabrics?

 Grandmay to the rescue. I dug around in the oranges to find fabric that might work with the original color. Whip up a strap and done!  Okay, it did take a few several minutes to turn the narrow tube right side out. But I prevailed, stitched the straps on and helped Marley get in. I decided to make a halter-type strap because they remind me of the 70's halter tops we wore to the beach. Perfect, right?

Nothing exposed and no one spoiled...

Tiny finish though it is, linking up with 

Crazy Mom Quilts

Mad about Maddie

Collars for Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

Our Beta Club decided to run for a state office, which we ordinarily do. BUT, by this time we generally have everything--costumes, props, backdrop--everything done. Made. Complete. Glittered. Sewn.

A random collar

The sewing falls to me, by default, of course. But we rarely have more than one or two costumes that need a little "tweaking." This year our theme is "Mad about Maddie" using the Alice in Wonderland idea. 

It's cute. It's fun. It's (visually) loud. We want cute, fun, and loud. We're trying to get the attention of about 5,000 teenagers and we're trying to get those teens to vote for our candidate. Tough stuff, that.

The Mad Hatter's vest (will be attached to a tee shirt)

Some ingenius buttons

So back to Alice...she falls down a rabbit hole. Meets some strange characters....blah, blah, blah. Those strange characters are dress in strange clothing (otherwise they would be quite ordinary). And they say some strange things. (I really don't remember much.) And so on and so forth. 

six card costumes angle from the hem

It's the strange characters' costumes that have me at the insane point. Well, sort of. I do have a couple of weeks, though not many. Mostly I have an insane co-sponsor who does everything except the sewing....including getting me to do what I didn't agree to. But that's how friends are and we love them anyway.

So, these pictures are the costumes that I've completed thus far. All felt. All made by me. All from my insane brain as I don't have patterns....yeah, we're on a budget. And everyone has confidence in my abilities.  This is maybe half? I still have all manner of collars to make, and I have to add the white "fur" to the king's coat, and perhaps a few other small items. I have a list. 

card costumes angle from the collar

Here's a haha for you: Did you notice the mistake I made in these card costumes? Take a look at this picture where it's more obvious--the sevens are backwards. The entire skit is all of 58 seconds long....yes, seconds is correct. Would you rip out those stitches, which are buried in the felt, for less than a minute on stage? 

all four suites included, just for fun.

There will be more little bits coming in the next few weeks, but they will trickle in slowly, and I probably won't bother you with the details. Unless they turn out especially cute! In the meantime, I'll see you at one of these linky parties!

Linking up with 

Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts

A Taste of Things to Come

I am working on a new project. Our Beta students are putting on a skit to support a member who is running for State Secretary. Our campaign theme, Mad about Maddie, plays off the Alice in Wonderland idea. That means we need costumes. Lots of costumes. Expensive costumes. We can't afford costumes.

Costume for the Queen of Diamonds
and a checked bow tie for the Mad Hatter

How do you get costumes that you can't afford? You make them yourself. That is the things I've teased you about. I've already begun. But there are still many more pieces to sew. To dream and design. To make up from felt, paper and tape. 

Pin It Wednesday #57

Apologies all around for not posting "Pin It" last week.  I have not a clue what happened, except that I got the days mixed up by the zany weather.  We missed school on Tuesday because of the ice storm.  I guess in my head Wednesday was Monday.  Who knows what's in my head?  Yep, zany.   

Since zany's the word, let's have a bit of fun.  How about...

My grandchildren did this once when they were young, but the writing surfaces were the sleeping parents!  Yes, we had great fun with that zaniness.  While they go clean up, let's get a little more serious.  How about these beauties for fun?

Have you ever wanted to dress up in one of these?  I mean, I could not get into any one of these and choosing ONE would be impossibly difficult but, oh, the fun.  I'd be thrilled to just see them in person.  Oh to touch, let me touch, please.  Please.

This next pin is not a quilt, but goodness, wouldn't it make a fantastic quilt?  I love the colors, the shapes, the almost randomness of everything about it.

Ready for a few fantastic, fun quilts?  No commentary, just enjoy!

Have a great week!  Happy pinning,

Mary

I admitted that I'm a little obsessed with Pinterest a few weeks ago, remember?  I thought I'd try to get a handle on that.  It's not so difficult, getting a handle on something.  I figured it was just a matter of not going to the Pinterest site.  Of course, the real problem is that I can't avoid the computer altogether.  That would make it much easier.



I've done fairly well, it turns out.  I'm down to pinning only once or twice a week.... visiting the site less often than I visit my Facebook page.  Of course, I admit that I keep up with family on FB, so there's a really good reason to check it at least daily.  

Then there's Etsy, I do have to check on my shop, which I reopened only a few days ago.  I also need to add a few more items in the shop.  I won't even mention all the things I need to get onto the computer for just to keep up with schoolwork.  In fact, I have a couple of new programs to learn just to keep up.

So apparently I can't live without a computer.  I need it for several good reasons and I like playing on it--not games, that's for the kids as far as I'm concerned.  No I play on Electric Quilt and Pinterest.  Ah well, there's fun to be had in all manner of places and things.  

I may not let my fun control me, but I do enjoy find photos of beautiful antique linens and laces, ancient gold-trimmed costumes, the china that I love, the newest fabrics, quilt inspiration, yummy-looking foods (especially desserts) and various other collections.  

Happy pinning....uhm, I mean quilting,
Mary