How to Stencil a Bleached Ribcage Shirt – DiY Halloween Tutorial

Greetings, ghosts and ghouls! Today’s project is this spooktacular bleached ribcage shirt which is perfect for the Halloween season… but also for everyday wear.

(In my humble opinion, one can never have too many articles of skeleton-inspired clothing in their wardrobe.)

This creepy skeleton shirt was a staple item in my shop for years, and now it’s your turn to make one of your own.

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New Ruffle Bustle Skirt Pattern in the Shop!

Well, so far I have not met my New Year’s Resolution goal of one new pattern a month. But I did at least meet the goal of having this pattern ready before Halloween!

The newest WhatTheCraft Pattern is the Ruffle Bustle Skirt!
This voluminous tie-on bustle skirt is the perfect accessory for any steampunk, burlesque, or Halloween costume-  complete your look with a corset and a pair of bloomers or leggings!
The skirt has an open front with three lace trimmed, ruffled layers that cascade around your hips, emphasizing your feminine curves. The satin ribbon ties at the waist allow for flexible sizing.

ruffle_bustle_skirt_printable_sewing_pattern
The sample I made is Queen of Hearts inspired, now I’m thinking versions for Alice, the Cheshire Cat, and the Mad Hatter are in order! These bustle skirts would be so awesome for a group costume theme.

I’m Alive!

Pardon my lackadaisical posting habits, I am experiencing an unprecedented custom order boom. Usually the first few months of the year are slower for me, but good GOD, not this year. Plus it’s nearing the end of March and I’m not trying to panic over how much garden prep I have NOT done yet.

Also I know I have already totally failed at my “one new tutorial and one new sewing pattern” per month thing.  BOO! I actually have things mostly ready, but I just haven’t had time to finish them. ARG!

Yeah, that’s right. BOO and ARG!

Anyway, here are some of my new designs that I’ve been working on!

A new sweater coat called Absinthe- I had planned on designing a whole bunch of new coats, and then got completely overwhelmed with all these orders, so I only got one out in time!

The TARDIS dress! Featuring my custom designed fabric:

The Party Animal dress. Or as some people call it, The Lisa Frank dress.

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January’s New Pattern!

Keeping up with my New Year’s Resolution to have at least one new sewing pattern in the shop each month, here’s the new pattern for January!

Fingerless Gloves! This is a super easy pattern- PERFECT as a beginner’s first project, or as a quickie project for a seasoned seamstress!

gloves

You can get this pattern AND my Cheeky Bikini Panties pattern for $15! That’s $3 off!
There’s no coupon code necessary, just add both patterns to your cart and the discount will be applied when you checkout.Read more…

Sketches in Triplicate

I wasn’t much of a sketcher (is that a word? Or just a shoe) up until recently. I’ve always had more luck in 3 dimensional art (sewing, sculpting, etc.) than I was with 2 dimensional art (drawing and painting).

Then I got a Wacom Bamboo Tablet for my computer. I LOVE THIS THING. If I’d known how easy it was to draw on the computer, I would have started doing this years ago!

Perfectly sharp lines and no erase marks! (Maybe that’s why I was never a big fan of drawing. I make too many mistakes and have to start over. Not anymore!)

I sketch in Photoshop, even though it would probably make more sense to sketch in an illustrating program like Inkscape. But I’ve used Photoshop for so much longer, I’m way faster.

You can see one of my old sketches in my Why Handmade Is “So Expensive” article. It has a certain coloring book charm, I suppose, but here’s a computer sketch I did a few months ago:

Upgrade time!

I did a few more sketches this week (and I also sewed all three dresses, so you’ll get to see the real life versions soon!).Read more…