Scooby Doo Dress

We had Spirit Week at the elementary school where I work.  For movie star day, my coworkers and I discussed possible group ideas.  We settled on Scooby Doo.  I was Velma, so I wore an assortment of orange articles of clothing--even dying a pair of stockings red/orange.

But one of my coworkers asked if I could construct a Scooby Doo dress out of fleece.  I still have a ton of fleece left in my fabric stock, so I looked to see what I could do.

I only had scraps of this brownish color, so I had to get creative with my cutting.  Using a shirt as a pattern, I cut a front and back based on this shape.

I sewed them together, right side to right side, leaving openings at the neck, arms, and bottom hem.

From there, I used the rest of the fabric to cut out two skirt panels, both slightly wider than the bottom hem of the shirt.  I sewed the two panels together along both sides, then gathered the top to match the width of the shirt.  I sewed them together, right side to right side.  Very, very easy.

Next, I took black fleece and cut out Scooby Doo spots.  In canon, he has two spots on each shoulder, and a long spot along his back.  I tired to mimic this.

Finally, I used blue fleece to cut a belt, and added on a SD tag.

My coworker decided to wear the belt as a collar instead.  It looked so cute!

~Buttons

Milk Pocket Skirt

A few weeks ago I discovered a new fabric store called Bolts and More.  (It's right next to one of my favorite restaurants: New Mexican Grill.)

Anyway, I was delighted to see a new fabric store, so I eagerly went inside to explore.  They had an amazingly beautiful selection.  Of course, most were way out of my price range.  Still, I found a fat quarter in this pattern and nearly flipped:

I loved it so much!  But fat quarters were all I could afford at the time, so I envisioned a bulky brown skirt with milk bottle pockets.

Fast forward to last weekend.  While at Goodwill looking for some casual cosplay accessories, I found two perfect brown pillowcases ($0.99 for both!) and knew they were exactly what I needed to complete my bulky brown skirt with milk pockets.

I cut off both ends of the pillowcases, which gave me about a yard of fabric!  Not bad for $0.99!

I kept the width at the bottom and trimmed each top to half my waist measurement plus an inch seam allowance.

I sewed the pieces together, right side to right side.  Then I sewed up the bottom and top hems, and added an elastic band for the waist.

I cut my milk fat quarters into long rectangles and sewed them vertically onto the skirt.

I love this skirt!  It so comfy and beautiful!  Apparently it also makes me look like a pre-school teacher.  *LOL*


~Buttons

Phichit Chulanont Hamster Hats

The season finale of Yuri on Ice left me with many different emotions: happiness, contentedness, a bit of disappointment, hope for the next level.  But above all others: inspiration!

There is so much about this show that is praiseworthy.  The plot (and plot twists), the animation, the relateable characters, the healthy relationships.  This anime was a powerhouse from start to finish.  It's been a long time since something struck me so deeply.

In the finale, we got a peek into many of the skaters' minds as they performed.  I think I speak for the entire fandom when I say how sweet and perfect Phichit's inner monologue was.  He's such a bright ray of sunshine.  Optimistic.  Confident.  A skilled skater with a ton of potential.  I think the world needs more Phichits to brighten up the day!  His dream of having a skate show because he wants "everyone in Thailand to know how fun figure skating is" can't get anymore beautiful!

And those costumes!  So over the top!  I adore everything about that idea, and would love to see this in an OVA!

Moving on.  Phichit's imagination made me start thinking about the adorable hamster hats, and how easy they would be to make.  Of course, my version goes for ease over 100% correctness, so there are a few modifications from the ones the skaters wear in the ice show.

First, I started out with this template.  I've used it several times for many projects and love how functional and customizable it is.

I traced it onto a bronzeish-brown fleece fabric.

Then I cut two white rectangles for the cheeks of the hamster.

Next, I cut out two rounded pieces in brown for the ears.

They need to be folded over like this.

Then I added a white part in the center.

I used a blanket stitch to put them together.

I sandwiched the ears in between the two brown hat pieces and sewed both sides of the seam.

After that, I stitched shut the V on the top.

Next, I sewed the white rectangles together, right side to right side, along both short edges to form a band.

 I folded the band in half then sewed it to the brown part, right side to right side.

Since the hats are small (and my head is tiny), I folded the brim up.  This gave it a cuter, fluffier look.

Next, I got a piece of white fleece and sewed a line down the middle for teeth.

I cut out a nose and two eyes (and two white eye shimmers).

To save time and energy, I used a hot glue gun to attached all the added details.

And it's finished!  It took me about an hour!

Dog Bed/Cushion Cover

This year, our classroom inherited a little cushioned bench for our "cool down" area.  The bench, though, has seen better days.

My teacher asked me if I could sew a cover for the cushion.  The bench had a skirt around the bottom that was red and white chevrons, so I looked through my fabrics for something that would match.  After sifting through tons of options, I found this adorable dachshund print that I got at a craft show earlier this year!

As luck would have it, this piece was just big enough to make the top and bottom panels of the covers.  So I found a red and white polka dot cotton for the sides.

I had to get a bit creative with the layout of the sides since I didn't have enough full pieces to fit.  I had to trim the two side pieces and construct the back piece from four smaller cuts.  This worked out okay since I had to add in a zipper to get the cushion in and out.

To start, I sewed the front piece to the long side of the dachshund fabric, right side to right side.

Next, I sewed on both sides, letting the corners overlap a little.

Next, I joined the corners, forming a box.

Now for the hard part, the back panel.  I took two smaller pieces that were the same length as the zipper and sewed them together.

I ironed the seam flat.

Then I sewed down the zipper onto the closed seam, making sure to sew down the opening and closing edges of the zipper to keep my seams from unraveling.

With a seam ripper, I opened the seam in between the opening and closing edges of the zipper.

With that done, I sewed it onto two smaller pieces of the polka dot fabric to get the correct length.  Then I sewed the whole thing onto the back.  Finally I finished up the last two corners.

After that, it was just sewing on the bottom panel.  This was simple since the zipper allowed me to flip my cover inside out.

Now, long story short, I misunderstood the idea of the bench.  The cushion on top doesn't come off!  I made a cushion cover where the cushion needs to be put inside.  Whoops!  So instead, I turned this into a makeshift bunbed for my dachshunds.  I just put two pillows inside, one on either end, leaving a small gap in the middle.  For some reason, they love sinking into the indent.

For the bench at school, I just did the same thing, except instead of adding a bottom panel, I made the sides long enough to cover the bench from top to bottom--almost like an extra long table cloth.  That way, I didn't have to match with the red and white chevron pattern; I used a cute brown swirl fabric for the top, and a brown plaid for the sides (which you can see in the picture behind my doggie)!


~Buttons