Mario and Friends Skirt and Blouse and Chibi Lolita dress

Well, shoots everybody!  I guess some of you wondered what happened.  Well, it all started when I submitted a couple of things for Craft Gossip during my week of tutorials.  Accidentally, my first post on the sew along I was about to start got linked up instead of my piping tutorial and there I was with egg on my face!  Unable to scramble together the rest of the tutorial on account of my still heaping pile of Halloween sewing and only a couple days left to do it, I had to stick to my priorities.  Jon's Fujimoto jacket was about as daunting and tedious as I had suspected and took a lot of my attention.  A. LOT.  As soon as that was done, I hardly had time for a victory dance because I had to paint Azriella's boots (we did a trick or treat trip at the zoo the weekend before Halloween and learned that, in the rain, those spats (however cute they were) were rain bait.  D-renched. On top of painting her boots black with gold "buttons" on the sides, I made in a day in a half:

• boot covers for Sephira's Ponyo costume (they looked like water :-)

• cape for me

• cape for Sephira (a white fleece hooded one so she looked like Ponyo when she stays the night with Sosuke.)

• baby sling to carry her in in case she got tired of walking (it also was white fleece and I made a "ham" slice pocket to carry my phone in... I was a fool for not incorporating pockets into my skirt... grr.. but I digress).

• gold earrings for Jon (which he refused to wear anyways)

• red ascot for Jon

• skirt for my mother in law (hers had pockets!)

• mini top hat for my mother in law

• bow tie for my boss (which I did without a pattern and used some alternative methods to the metal adjusters)

So, forgive me for not posting the rest of the tutorial in time.  The good news?  I did make the dress right after Halloween and took a ton of pictures of the process for the tutorial(s).  You will see in the pictures below Sephira wearing the "basic Lolita dress" which came out a little bit longer than I had expected but there are long Lolita dresses out there so I can still get away with the look.  There isn't really a protocol for chibi Lolita dresses after all.  I mean that's why I make them!  

With all that marathon Halloween sewing over with, I was pooped.  Add to that the fact that I was just so plum worried about the presidential election that I completely lost my sewing and blogging mojo.  I was a bit engulfed in it.  But hey, this ain't a political blog.  It's a fun, happy sewing blog.  So as soon as the madness was over, I felt fully recharged and raring to go!  

I knew what I needed to make first.

 A couple of weeks before Halloween, Kristin and I had gotten together for a playdate and upon arrival, Em ran and greeted Azy with a birthday gift:  A picture she drew for her and a skirt that Kristin had made her as well!  There was also a little birthday gift in there for me too (yeay! I'm waiting for the perfect project for it ;-)  The girls had a blast, running all over the house, playing dress up.  They were adorable.  And it was so cool to see where Kristin makes all her fantastic creations!  And yes, her stash was extremely drool-worthy!

The skirt she made?  Nothing short of perfection for Azriella!  

After having learned that we are a family of video game nerds, she made her skirt's inspiration Mario Brothers themed which was (and still very much is) a huge hit with my little gamer!  After sewing, one of my favorite pastimes is playing Mario Party with my family.  How do we manage playing with Azy?  Well, first we pick our characters ( I'm partial to Blooper or Magikoopa) and then, when we pick our computer characters, we let Azriella "pick" her character (usually Princess Peach or Daisy).  She has no idea that what she is playing is actually just the computer (we cheer her and everything so she is none the wiser).  Someday, this won't work anymore, but for now, it works like a charm!

So Kristin stitched this truly kawaii miniature old school Mario Brother circle skirt.  And as if that wasn't cool enough, she made it reversible.  The other side has a super sweet cherry print (which Jon immediately swooned for as he has a soft spot for the whole Rockabilly girl look).  She finished the hem with a seersucker bias tape.  Nice, right?

So, I promised I would blog about it, but I wanted to make the perfect shirt for it.  Only problem was all that blimey Halloween sewing.

The perfect shirt.  Well, I wanted to make a complimenting Mario Brothers scene.  My original plan was to make a Princess Peach applique, but I had a hard time figuring out how to make it.  One day, after Halloween, Azy was sitting in my lap as I goggled Mario Brothers images for the umpteenth time.  We came across the chain chomp.  "Puppy!" she exclaimed!  I asked her if she wanted that instead of a princess for her shirt and she squealed in approval.  

I drafted out a simple A-lined blouse with a Peter Pan collar and puff sleeves.  I added black piping, black trim, and black ric rack to everything to make it look more Nintendo-like.  So I started with the chain chomp, planned out some chains and it's post that it is grounded to.  

I decided it needed something "more" so I added the Star (coincidentally one of the only ways to conquer a chain chomp) and a pink polka dot spinning block (they're in the new Wii Mario Brothers game).  Well, how's about some rolling hills?!  I interfaced and stitch-witched the crap out of everything, then top-stitched it all down.  I am soo smitten with the end result!!  

 Vintage meets gamer= awesome.  

Azriella with Jon's real live KeyBlade.  Those of you who are true gamers will know it's from Kingdom Hearts, one of my favorite games ever.  That thing is so heavy- it was adorable watching her "wield" it! Ha!

 Plus the strawberry print goes great with the cherry side of the skirt as well!

And I decided to kill two outfits with one photoshoot, so here's Sephira in a very basic Lolita one piece (aka dress), wearing Azriella's white pettiskirt (which she has always pined for!).  The fabric was some of my most coveted from my stash.  I got two half yards at Bolt around Sephira's birthday of this totally fantastic lightening sky scene in amethyst and again in dusty teal.  Probably one of the coolest and prettiest fabrics I have ever come across.  If I ever see it on sale, I'm not telling anyone; I'm buying it all myself, lol.  I'd say I'm kidding but truth be told, I'm not.  

 I love the way the dusty teal makes her eyes look even bluer.

Well, there you have it. What do you think?  I have lots more projects up my sleeve, but I am pacing myself as I can already foresee a tsunami of sewing in my holiday future.  Until then, farewell!  Have a good night!!

She made a Lego camera and "helped" me take pictures of Sephy.  So cute!

Oh, and actual Halloween pics, coming soon. ;-)