Robot Halloween Costume

For Halloween 2013 hubby and I collaborated on Silly Bean’s costume. Little Miss V was just a few months old (and had colic for all of September and half of October) so I didn’t have much time to work on a costume by myself.

robot costume by Lulu&Celeste

My contribution to this was to sew the fleece cover to fit over the box and sewing the helmet.

For the helmet I measured the circumference of Silly Bean’s head and then cut out a rectangle for the neck/face part. I drew a huge oval for her face (cuz, well she needed to see where she was going!) and sewed around the edge (for detail) and then cut out the oval. I the sewed the rectangle to the oval piece to make a tube shape. Nothing fancy here. If anyone wants an actual tutorial let me know and I’ll work on one!

Hubby is an electrician so of course the robot needed working lights!

lights on!


lights off!

He bought the little battery light sets from the dollar store and hooked them up to the switch, poked the holes through the box and fleece and the arm thing. And voila! My super non-electrical explanation of what he did.

He bought some pink duct tape to add some pink detail for my pink loving (at the time) 3-year-old.


And well, this costume was also a hit! During a night full of little kids in store-bought costumes, the handmade ones stand out. Hubby said people were having playing with the switch, and teen boys were pointing out her costume to their friends! Hubby was so proud! lol


Ula writes for Lulu&Celeste

Link up parties you might find me at:

Perfect Petal Purse and a GIVEAWAY!

Perfect Petal purse a pattern from FABulous Home Sewn, sewn by Lulu&Celeste



Disclaimer: I received the pattern for free for the purpose of this review. This post contains affiliate links to Craftsy. That means if you click the link and buy through it, there is a slim possibility that I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are 100% my own though.

Ah, purses! Silly Bean LOVES purses (and little Miss V loves to copy her big sis so she loves them too) so I HAD to take part in this blog tour when Fenna from FABulous Home Sewn asked for participants. I HAD to.

I decided to make one from scraps of this dress I had made for Silly Bean, you know, so she can coordinate.

Perfect Petal purse a pattern from FABulous Home Sewn, sewn by Lulu&Celeste
of course she decided to wear her tutu for this shoot


The instructions are pretty thorough and straightforward, I have the misfortune of doing most of my sewing late at night so I tend to make little mistakes, but Silly Bean loves her purse anyway even with all it’s little flaws. (like the upside down zipper, lol)

Perfect Petal purse a pattern from FABulous Home Sewn, sewn by Lulu&Celeste


I think this purse is absolutely adorable and I will for sure be making some more (Miss V needs one and I have two little nieces!). I think that a confident beginner could easily make one.

Perfect Petal purse a pattern from FABulous Home Sewn, sewn by Lulu&Celeste

You can pick up a copy of the pattern in her Craftsy shop here (affiliate link). But enter the contest below for your chance to win a pattern of your choice from her shop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

September 28 

September 29

September 30 

October 1

October 2

 October 3

October 4

The Secret Garden dress blog tour

Secret Garden Dress pattern by E+M Patterns sewn by Lulu & Celeste
PATTERN: THE SECRET GARDEN DRESS (MODIFIED) BY E+M PATTERNS | FABRIC: FLIRT FLORAL BY DEAR STELLA
Disclaimer: I received the pattern for free back when I tested it. This post contains affiliate links to Craftsy. That means if you click the link and buy through it, there is a slim possibility that I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links are marked with a *. All opinions are 100% my own though.
Edited April 25, 2015 to update shop links.
I’m super excited about taking part in this blog tour! Look at the lineup (links at the bottom of the post). There were some super nice dresses that were revealed during this tour, and here I am on the last day to show you all my version. (There’s also a giveaway so go to the bottom of the post to enter!!) AND there’s a coupon code! Use SGTOUR25 to get 25% off the pattern in the Etsy shop.
 
 
 
 
The Secret Garden Dress was designed by Audrey & Tiffany, a collaboration between Allison of E+M Patterns, and Deb of Sprouting JubeJube. I first got a sneak peek of the dress back in March when Deb was working on an early version of the dress, then I got to test it and I showed off my version with the “bow” back here during the tester tour. The “bow”version is a showstopper. Silly Bean got so many compliments on it each time she wore it (which was a lot since it has been her favourite dress the last few months).
 
 
Secret Garden Dress pattern by E+M Patterns sewn by Lulu & Celeste
 
 
For this tour I decided to do the simple version. Originally I really wanted to do the simple version in a pink polka dot I had but I was a few inches short of enough fabric and no time to get more since I was leaving on vacation (I just got back a few days ago). So I used this gorgeous fabric from Dear Stella, and decided I wanted to do a super full gathered skirt.
 
 
Secret Garden Dress pattern by E+M Patterns sewn by Lulu & Celeste
 
 
I really love the back on this dress. With the high neckline in the front, the low back adds drama. (But don’t worry, it’s not too low).
 
 
 
 
The version with the flounce is a little tricky in some parts, it’s labelled as an Intermediate level pattern and I would agree with that. The simple version isn’t as tricky and an adventurous beginner should be able to tackle it. (There is a side seam zipper in both versions though, but zippers aren’t really that hard, I prefer them to buttons).
 
 
I ♥ this fabric
 
For my modified simple version of the Secret Garden Dress I cut two pieces the full width of fabric for the skirt. I wanted a very full skirt. Silly Bean is about 43″ tall, and I cut the skirt pieces at 17″ but I could have added another inch to the length I think. 
 
 
Is rolling your socks the “in” thing with 4-year-olds? I haven’t seen people do that since I was in highschool, lol.

 

 
 
Now I just need to find a little cardigan for Silly Bean to wear with the dress and she will be ready for a wedding we’re going to next week!
 
 
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway. You could win some great prizes 🙂
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the tour below!
 
September 22
September 23
September 24
September 25
September 26
September 27

Mystery Sewing Challenge ~ Morpho Butterfly

Morpho Butterfly inspired 'Sugar and Spice' Dress
Morpho Butterfly inspired dress

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click the link and buy through it, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are 100% my own though.

I belong to a group on Facebook for crafty bloggers (art, sewing, etc) and one of the bloggers, Amy, of Friends Stitched Together, decided to organize this round of a little challenge for any crafty/sewing blogger that wanted to take part. The Mystery Sewing Challenge.

Mystery Challenge


The basic premise is after being assigned a mystery partner, we had to assign a theme for the other blogger who then had to design an item based on that theme. It’s a friendly little challenge, no prizes or anything, so it’s more of a personal challenge to go out of your comfort zone I suppose. It was a little tough. It was hard enough just coming up with a theme that would hopefully be interesting and inspiring for the other blogger let alone coming up with ideas once I got my own theme. 

Morpho Butterfly inspired 'Sugar and Spice' Dress sewn by Lulu&Celeste
SUGAR AND SPICE PATTERN BY PEEK-A-BOO PATTERNS

So what was my theme? The Morpho Butterfly/Rainforest! (Morpho butterflies live in the Rainforest so in case I couldn’t think of anything for the butterfly I had a broader category to fall back on. Thanks Jessica for the theme!)

So I had never heard of the Morpho butterfly but after a quick Google image search I realized that I had seen pictures of them before. They are a gorgeous, brilliant blue, and I happened to have the perfect Kona cotton in my stash!

Morpho Butterfly inspired 'Sugar and Spice' Dress sewn by Lulu&Celeste
My little butterfly

At first I thought about making a skirt with faux butterfly wings (kinda like this)  but then decided I wanted it to be less of a dress up skirt and more of a real skirt to wear. So then I decided on a cute little twirly skirt with layers of chiffon to make it flowy and mimic a butterfly’s movement but I figured the layers of chiffon would just hide the beautiful blue colour. Then I was testing a cute twirly and flippy skirt that would have been perfect for what I was picturing that would work without chiffon but since the pattern isn’t being released until next week that idea was nixed as well. 

I go through this same thought process almost every time I tackle a project. (Even for test projects I have to debate fabric choices for a few days).

Morpho Butterfly inspired 'Sugar and Spice' Dress sewn by Lulu&Celeste


So I changed tactics and decided to do a dress with flutter sleeves. Ha! There are many flutter sleeve dress patterns out there but the perfect one for me was the Sugar and Spice (affiliate link) from Peek-a-boo Patterns. The morpho butterfly’s wings are edged in black and the Sugar and Spice has side panel details as well a small, square yoke that worked perfectly by making those pieces in black.

I knew I was playing with fire by making a blue dress for my pink and sparkle obsessed daughter. So I found her this pretty SPARKLY scarf (it’s part of Salwar Kameez outfit my friend gave me) that she ran around with for pictures. (Also the reason for the pink leggings she had to keep on wearing, one day soon -I hope- this child will decide she likes other colours. I’m waiting!)

Morpho Butterfly inspired 'Sugar and Spice' Dress sewn by Lulu&Celeste



After I finally had come up with that I thought I should make a raincoat as well to complete the outfit. (Hey it rains in the Rainforest right?!) But the only raincoat pattern I own needed to print out on something like 70 pages and it was running late and I just didn’t have the time to spend on putting  together that pattern. Another time!


The outfit didn’t turn out exactly how I envisioned it. Next time I’ll try less writing down and drawing out my ideas and spend more time sewing them. I had really wanted a whole rainforest inspired look but the dress is all I wound up having time for. 

If you want to see a top I made with the Sugar and Spice (affiliate link) pattern you can go here. It’s a cute pattern!

Check out the rest of the challenge looks:

Friends Stitched Together – History of Flight – 8/17
Felt with Love Designs – Under the Sea – 8/18
Knot Sew Normal – Fruit – 8/19
Friends Stitched Together – My Little Pony – 8/20
The Berry Bunch – Cover Up – 8/21
Pensebrox – Titanic – 8/22
Tangible Pursuits – London Dapper – 8/23
Rebel and Malice – Disco – 8/24
Sewing Sober – Espionage – 8/25
Sugaridoo – Musical Instruments – 8/26
Lulu & Celeste – Morpho Butterfly/Rainforest – 8/27
Paisley Roots – Classic Summer Movies – 8/28
Create 3.5 – Morocco – 8/29
Mae&K – Solar System – 8/30
The Sewing Sparrow – Safari – 8/31

*****

Project #5 for the  August Sewing from the Stash challenge! The black I’ve had for years and years, and the blue has been in the stash since last October. I also used the blue in this project.


Ula writes for Lulu&Celeste

Link up parties you might find me at:

LOL Swing top by Jennuine Designs

This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click the link and buy through it, I’ll receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

UPDATED: The pattern has now been released! Regular price is $8, and with the discount code LOLRelease save 20% for one week only!

Welcome to my stop on the LOL Swing Top Pattern Tester Tour!

LOL Swing top by Jennuine Design



This was such a fun and cute pattern to test! The LOL Swing top is the newest pattern from Jenn of Jennuine Design (shop name) and A Jennuine Life (blog).

The LOL Swing top is such a sweet tunic length top. With a racerback style back, it’s a perfect summer top!

LOL swing top swinging around
The swing top in swingy action!

 (Although I feel like summer is nearly over. My girls are too young for school still but seeing all the “Back-to-school” blog posts and sales popping up all over the place makes me feel like summer is already over and I should be starting my Fall sewing!!)


I got to test it with Silly Bean as the model which almost never happens so that was fun. 

Silly Bean chose the gnome fabric from my stash but then once the top was sewn up she decided didn’t like the fabric anymore. Ahh! It was a fight to get her to put it on for pictures. So in these pictures it looks a little tight under the arms but that’s because the bias measurements were too short, and it has since been adjusted in the final pattern. BUT I couldn’t convince Silly Bean to put the fixed shirt back on, but since the extra length for the bias worked for other testers that had the same issue it should be fine for this top as well. 



I really wanted to make a second top in a fabric she liked better with the adjusted pattern pieces, but I’ve been having quite the hectic couple of weeks and just was never able to find the time. Hopefully, in the next couple days she’ll have a new top that I will share.

She may not have liked the fabric but she did like how it swung about as she danced around!

I love the top though. It goes together fairly quickly, and I think a beginner should be able to tackle this easily. Jenn (of Jennuine Design) gives clear instructions and even gives proper and ‘cheater’ methods for things like sewing on bias tape. And you can tell she puts a lot of thought and hard work into her patterns. During the whole process she was available to answer questions 24/7 practically!


Pattern Details:

  • Sizes Newborn to 12!
  • Can be made for knits or woven (mine was woven)
  • Charts include: printing guide, sizing charts (chest and height), bias tape cut chart (for woven version), ribbing cut chart (knit version) 
  • Instructions on how to alter the length if your child is taller than the average height measurement
  • Clear instructions separate for knit and woven with illustrations
Fabric:
  • Better Gnomes and Gardens Pink Gnomes/Mushrooms by In The Beginning Fabrics (I can’t remember where I purchased it from, sorry!)
The pattern has now been released and there is a special release discount of 20% off with the code LOLRelease. Code valid in her shop only.

Thank you so much Jenn for having me test! It was a real pleasure!! And check out Jenn’s blog to see the rest of the stops on the tour! 

Link up parties you might find me at: