Basic Children's Bat Wing Tutorial

Remember the wings I made for DS's halloween costume?

Well, I promised a tutorial. Here it is, in all it's picture-y glory, including my terrible MS Paint skills applied.

Materials:

• 2 wire coat hangers
• wire cutters
• pliers (2 pairs makes some things easier)
• electrical tape
• fabric of your choice (I chose a navy upholstery suede that I had lying around & no use for)
• coordinating thread
• tailor's chalk
• scissors
• straight pins
• sewing machine
• Elastic

Instructions:

1. Grab your wire cutters, and cut the hanging portion off your hangers at the bend. One of your hangers then needs to be cut into 4 (fairly) equal lengths. Here's an MS Paint mock-up:

2. Bend your hangers. For the first hanger, bend in half on the long (bottom) piece, then extend the angles until it resembles a wide "W" For the second hanger, try to straighten out any bends that are left behind. Another MS Paint diagram, with fancy arrows:

3. Wrap the ends of all your cut hanger pieces in electrical tape to cover any sharp ends & prevent them from poking your little one or coming out of the channels we will make later.

4. Place your fabric, right sides together on a flat surface (like my thread & lint-covered floor). Lie your "W" out upside down, and place your short pieces inside the points like boning in a bat's wing, like so:

5. Trace a wing shape around your wires , remove the wires, pin & cut out. Leave a 1/4" - 1/2" seam allowance.

6. With right sides still together, sew along the top of the wings. Clip the curves, trim any excess & turn right side out. Place the "W" inside the new seam, and pin in place securely. With the wire on the right of your machine, move your needle to the right. Sew a straight line along the length of the "W", creating a channel. Remember to close the ends of the channels so the wire doesn't pop/fall out.

7. Place your straight pieces, pin & sew channels, moving your needle from left to right as necessary, keeping it on the side closest to the wires. Remember to close the channels & encase the wire. Do this for all 4 pieces.

8. Measure the child's arms over the shoulder, & cut 2 pieces of elastic. Sew into loops & attach to the center back.

9. Put them on, wear them, love them, but remember to make scary faces!

If you find them a little floppy, you can throw a couple more stitches in the elastic at the top of the wings.

There are a few more steps to finish this set off to make it flow with his costume, but this should be easily altered & elaborated upon to suit your needs :)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is Coming!

know I have a lot of projects on the go, and a lot of things that I need to complete, but in case you didn't know, Halloween is right around the corner! A month and a half until all the awesome costumes & an excuse to go a little crazy!

DS & I have sat down & discussed costume ideas for this year, and he wants to be scary. A scary monster.

We had written down all of the components that his costume must have, and drawn a little sketch. When he added one more element, I had an "AHA!" moment & showed him some pictures from Google. He loved them! So, costume decision for him is finalized.

Today, he & I sat down to start the first piece - the wings!

A tutorial will follow, but for now, here is a couple cute shots:

There are some things left to do, of course. First, we need to figure out something to stop them from flopping around so much, and changing the colours to something more suiting & authentic.

HESTA Tie Up Espadrille Sandal Knockoff from the Dollar Store?

With Craftster's "I <3 the Dollar Store" swap that I am angeling for, I have to work with supplies from the dollar store, which can present a bit of a challenge when you are trying to make something chic & trendy.

I scoured through all the posts the Leeska has on Craftster as well as stalking her wists. I came up with so many ideas, and had to then narrow it down to what I could make in a short amount of time that looks like a million while only costing a couple bucks.

Well, one thing she had on her wist were these amazing HESTA tie up espadrille sandals that retail for $50US at TopShop. 

Gorgeous, no? I knew I had to at least try it. I figured that I would use cheap sandals and some ribbon and go from there.

But, I couldn't find any nice ribbon in a large enough quantity at Dollarama to make it cost-effective. I decided to cheat a little bit, and head to Fabricland and see what I could find there. Of course, I checked the remnant bins first, but they are having a sale, so I managed to snag some really nice knit for 50% off. Half a meter only cost me $3.50!!

So, I managed to muddle through it today, and took tons of pictures along the way in the hopes that I could throw a tutorial up if they worked out :)

Without further ado, the HESTA knock-off tutorial:

First, gather your supplies:

• cheap flip flops ($2 at Dollarama)
• .5m fabric, 45"width ($3.50 at Fabricland), ribbon, etc
• rubber cement ($1 at Dollarama) [other adhesives might look tempting, but rubber cement is the best choice here other than actual cobbler's glue, as it is flexible when it dries]
• scissors
• high-tech prying device (aka butter knife)

**Make sure your sandals are of the variety that have a separate sole & upper with the thong wedged between. If they aren't thong, that's ok, just one more step later.

Next, start making your awesome new sandals:

Insert your knife between the two layers. Usually there is a bit of a gap where the thong is inserted, which is a good spot to stick it in. 

Gently & carefully start prying the layers apart, working your way around the entire sandal. Have some patience & take your time, or you could rip some of the foam or fabric. 

You can see my first sandal ripped apart here, and notice that it is made of cheap foam for the sole & rubberized foam fabric wrapped around cardboard for the upper. The thong was faux-leather.

Repeat with the other sandal: 

If your sandals are of the thong variety (like mine), continue to the next step. If your sandals don't have the space between the toe, like this, then you will need to place your foot on the upper & mark the space between your big toe & first toe, then carefully cut a slit there on each upper where you marked. Then, move along with the rest of us... 

You are going to cut your fabric into 3 strips lengthwise in whatever width you desire. I made mine a little under 2 inches wide. Cut one of the 3 strips in half, so you have 2x45" lengths & 2x22.5" lengths.

And this is where it gets a little more complicated. Find the center of one of the short lengths & place it over the center of the top of the upper where your arch would be. I found it helpful to do this with my foot in place.

Wrap around & criss-cross under the upper, bringing the ends up and between your big toe & second toe. Insert both ends into the thong hole of the upper & pull as snug as you desire. I made mine snug for the thong portion, and looser on the arch portion.

If you are working with knits, keep in mind that the fabric has a good bit of stretch.

If you are working with ribbons, keep in mind that it likely does not have any stretch.

Trim the excess fabric underneath leaving about an inch:

Take the long length of fabric and find the center. Place this underneath where your heel would be on the botttom of the upper. You can practice wrapping & tying if you like, just to get a feel for how this will sit & make any adjustments you feel necessary. 

 Now, get your rubber cement & tack in place the two ends under the thong, as well as the criss-crossed fabric under your arch & the center of the long piece under your heel. You could, of course, use hot glue or something, but I just stuck to one adhesive. Plus, I didn't want to risk stiffness & cracking from other adhesives.

Once this has sat for a bit, place the rubber cement around the edges of the upper & a line up the middle for extra hold. Repeat this pattern with the sole. Wait 10 minutes, then stick together. [make sure you follow the directions on your package; mine said 10 minutes, then at least 30 minutes drying time]

 Firmly & carefully clamp the pieces together for at least 30 minutes:

Hey, the thousands spent on 2 years of education & all those text books have to be good for something, right? Plus, Leeska's geeky, so I'm sure she can appreciate that anatomy, physiology, neurology, kinesiology, pathology, hydrotherapy, treatments, etc were used on her shoes :P

Repeat the fabric placing with the other flip flop, glue, clamp, dry, etc... Don't forget to clean up any rubber cement that might have leaked out the side (like mine did)

And VOILA! $50 HESTAs for a mere $6.50!!

*I know these are a little small, but Leeska wears a 7/8, and I wear a 9/10.

Let me know what you all think! And if you decide to give it a shot, please do share pictures!! 

Think of the variations of colour, tying, knotting, embellishment - oh my! And, you could buy heels or wedges...maybe even several pairs of cheap foam flip flops to build your own wedges or platforms?

Random

So, I forgot to take pictures of DS's father's day gift for my ex.
I have to say it came out pretty well though. We took an old hardcover that was in very poor shape (moldy pages, ripped, etc) & glued it all together nice & tight, then after it dried, I carved out the inside. More glueing & drying, then we lined the inside with black felt. We also recovered the outside in black Dollarama scrapbooking paper that had silver print. The front & back were stripes placed horizontally. The spine we "bound" with a scrollwork pattern. Since the only thing I didn't have on hand was the paper, the entire project cost us less than $2 after tax!!
I encouraged him to fill it up for daddy. He put in some coins, rocks & his plasticine "turtle" (multi-coloured lump). I put in copies of pictures of DS that he had either lost or given away. I also added a pack of cognac & honey rolling papers (link semi-NSFW) for his smoking needs. More from me than from DS, obviously.

Anyways, DS & I have been in our new place for almost 2 months, and besides all of the problems we have had (dead stove, fridge died, no hot water in shower, ant infestation, more plumbing, microwave died....etc), I have tried to make a livable space. First step was his bedroom. It was previously used as a storage room & it really showed.
His room was unclean as well as unsafe. I put all my energy into making it child-safe, then child-friendly. I slept on the couch for almost a week, because everything got dumped in my room & I didn't have a bed.
I will update with pictures of his room later...
The living room is long & narrow, so is set up very wide so as to be closer to the small TV. One end is an "office space" that I don't really use much. There is also an unsightly gaping hole in one part of the wall that the landlord doesn't think needs to be fixed.
My bedroom is part craft space, part storage & part sleeping space.
This has worked in the meantime, but it doesn't flow very well. Also, the lighting in my room is absolutely terrible, so I am always dragging my projects out to the living room where there is a large fluorescent overhead.
I have worked through several ideas & floor plans in my head as well as on paper, and I have finally settled on a set that I like & I feel flows much better.
Hopefully this weekend, DS will allow me to move things around and get our space a little nicer.

Since I don't have the $$ to buy paint right now, let alone some of the other projects I want to take on (like a huge couch overhaul!), I will have to be satisfied with rearranging the furniture & further organizing...

Oh, and the other day (Wednesday night) I found a perfectly good, solid wood, 6-drawer dresser on the curb! The lady told me I could take it if I wanted it. It's got scratches, but the drawers are still solid & the original pulls are all on (with no damage, as well as not being loose).The wheels (!) are a little wonky, but I might just remove them. Eventually sand & paint. But it's the perfect home for my fabric! It houses almost 3/4 of it in it's current state, but I want to re-fold things, catalogue some new finds, and see if I can't get it all in there. And find a new organizing system for my craft notions, since I will be losing that glass shelf....