Halloween...4 days later

I was finishing Danielle's costume and sewing my coordinating shirt all the way up until dinnertime on Halloween--yikes! I was much more on the ball last year. But, it all got done and I loved the way our little pirate family turned out.

Me and my treasures:)

 The shirt says "My children are my treasure" and I'm pleased with how it turned out even though no one saw it while we were trick or treating (it was dark and I stayed on the sidewalk with Samuel in the stroller...)

Speaking of, here's what my little man looked like with the bib I didn't get a picture of before:

Mimi tied the head scarf and he
looks a little gangster...

We layered the kids because it was pretty cold this year.  Figures.  I made a fleece bumblebee costume for Danielle's first Halloween and it turned out to be 70+ degrees so she couldn't even wear it :(  It sure was cute though.

The flower headband was a last-minute idea that year

I really liked the way Danielle's pirate outfit turned out even though it was a bear to sew.  I just kept having off-days whenever I tried to work on it.  I think I ripped and re-sewed almost every seam on that darn outfit.  I did my own thing with the sash, in the interest of time.  I'm sure it's similar to what the pattern called for.  I changed her earrings just for trick-or-treating--she doesn't normally wear big ol' hoops!

Cheeeeeesssssseee

I used Simplicity 3650, which I talked about in this post.  The design of the top was pretty genius--it's a black bodice with a white collar/facing and sleeves instead of a separate top and vest.  It would look like two pieces if I hadn't forgotten the buttons...

The back closes with velcro--
very kid friendly!

Danielle LOVED trick or treating this year, since she actually knows what candy is now:) 

Enjoying her booty

She kept asking for Halloween cake, though, because she thinks all special occasions are celebrated with cake.  So I think I will make some cupcakes for her next year.

My Treasure

So the kids are going as pirates for Halloween and I wanted to coordinate, but didn't want to sew myself an entire outfit. Enter the embroidery machine. I came up with an idea to put on a shirt for myself and could have used my awesome Janome 350e's editing capabilities to combine the text and applique I wanted. BUT, it would have been quite a bit of effort, especially as I was going to make shirts for the grandmas as well. So, I finally took the plunge to try the demo for Embird embroidery software.

My first design--I merged text and an applique

I have been holding off on downloading Embird because I want to be able to purchase the program if it turns out to be really awesome. I also didn't want to try to learn to use it during the holidays when I always take on too much to sew. And I wanted a time when I would be able to get the most use in the 30 days allotted. All those reasons went out the window when I needed it for Halloween:)   Here is what the grandma design looks like stitched out (the colors are a little different):

My mother-in-law's shirt
(mine is stitching out as I type this)

The treasure chest is from Planet Applique, and I used 3 fonts from 8 Claws and a Paw (Tempus Sans, Happy Birthday and Harrington).  I really like how the design turned out and was quite pleased with Embird.

I finally got some polymesh stabilizer ordered
and the design lays so smooth!