Jersey 3/4 sleeve from Simplicity 1711

Of course Kathleen need some sort of "Halloweenish" top to go along with her cute little orange Tutu.

 The instructions call for an applique and I couldn't find any so I bought some buttons.  The Pumpkins are flat and I thought it would look cute with the tutu.

Looks like Miss Kathleen is almost ready for Trick or Treating.  Just need to make a cute little bag and some better tights.

Tulle Tutu from Simplicity 1711

So Miss V wanted a Halloween Costume for Kathleen and that is was started the funky tights idea.  Well I couldn't find a pattern for a witch costume that didn't cost a lot so I went to Hobby Lobby (aka my happy place).

The Simplicity patterns were on sale for $0.99 and I found two that would work.  One was number 1711 and it was regular clothes with a tutu.

I figured I could make it halloweenish.

Now....after the disastrous tutorials on the tights, this is what I first see for the tutu instructions.

 It does not say how long these 32 strips should be....so I measured Kathleen and it was 6 inches from waist to knee, so I doubled it so I could loop it.  Now it said to loop it over the elastic.

It was becoming a nightmare with the elastic twisting and some of the pieces slipped off the ends.  So I sewed the ends together.  After all 32 pieces were looped onto the elastic, I put it on Kathleen.

Really cute from the front (I did trim it a bit after the pictures)

 So clearly 32 pieces weren't enough, so I added 6 or 8 more.  Can I just tell you how much easier it was to loop the tulle onto the elastic, while it was on Kathleen?  The elastic didn't roll and you could see where you needed to add some.

Much better and like I said, I did trim it after the pictures were taken.  It is almost done, but you are supposed to tie on a little satin bow.  Well I cannot make a pretty bow to save my own life.  I am having a dear friend who is the QUEEN of bows make me a few and I will sew them on.

Tights for Miss V's American Girl Doll from knee socks

You know how much I love Pinterest.  I found the coolest idea and I am sure many of you have seen the oh so easy tutorials about making tights for American Girl Dolls from adult knee high socks.

So I ran around Friday and found a pair at Target and three pair at the Dollar Store.  I am not going to bore you with the details of the tutorial....because they lie or at least don't give all the details.

This should have been my first clue that something wasn't going to work right....

So the first thing you are supposed to do is cut off the heel.

 Then turn the sock tube inside out.

Measure down 3 inches and mark with a pin for the crotch area.

 Mark a half inch line for the seams

 Sew....

 Am already noticing a problem

 The first pair wouldn't even go over the butt.  The second pair I measured down 3 1/2 inch and that worked better, but made the legs super tight.

 So....I tried with another pair of socks.  This time measured down 3 1/2 inches for the crotch area and then used a marking pencil for the inside seams and made it about 1/4 inch.

 These are better, but still kind of tight.

 Then I laid the socks next to each other.  Now these are all woman's knee high socks.  Do you see the difference?  NOT ONE STINKING TUTORIAL MENTIONS HOW DIFFERENT SIZES THEY ARE!

 Cheap dollar store sock measured 17 inches from tip to toe.

 Another cheap dollar store sock measured 20 inches from tip to toe.

 Sock from Target which was $4.00 measured 21 inches from tip to toe, but is also an inch wider.

So if you are going to do this, measure the socks first.