Halloween 2012: Owl style

For Halloween I decided to break in my new-ish sewing machine and lose my typical cat costume.  (Seriously, for at least ten years I've always been a cat, with the very occasional crayon or raver costume thrown in there.)  I did a little research on Pinterest and found this, which led me to this (for the dress) and this (for the wings).  I was sold... I had to be an owl!

The blogs I read suggested using scrap fabric for feathers, but since I haven't sewn much yet and tend to use every little piece of fabric when I do, I needed to purchase my material.  I relied mostly on remnants and a few yards of discount fabric.

The solid colors were remnants on sale between $1-2.  The prints (which I absolutely love!) were each on sale for $2/yard.  I got a yard of each.  I did purchase more than you see in the picture because I realized it wasn't quite enough.  My grand total for the feather fabric was around $10 for about 3.5 yards.  I had just enough to cover the costume. 

The biggest expense for the project was the least exciting, but most necessary part: the plain black base fabric for the wings.  I needed 4 yards, and at $4/yard, it cost $16 plus another $5 for bias tape for edging.  I doubled the layers of the backing to cover up my stitching (I guessed it wouldn't be particularly pretty, I assumed correctly), so it looked good, but also helped keep me warm in the 40-degree weather!

To make my feathers I cut a paper sample, about 4"x4", like this:

I added a little point on my feathers.  Then I got cutting.  Initially I was being oh-so-careful about cutting the edges perfect and smooth, but when I realized how many feathers I'd need, I just started layering the fabric and chopping away three or four at a time. I cut them like a puzzle so I wouldn't waste any fabric:

After I cut them all (around 350 feathers), it was time to sew!  I divided the feathers three ways, with a few extra for the dress, laid them out just to make sure I had enough.  Then I started sewing in layers, beginning at the bottom of each piece.  As you can see, the wings were quarter circles, long enough to reach my hands from the middle of my upper back.  The dress was a bathing suit cover up I already had. 

After all the sewing was complete, I added a tie around the neck with feathers and velcro wrist straps to hold my wings on.  I also made a headpiece with felt, feathers, ribbon, and a wire hanger for shape. 

I absolutely loved how my costume turned out!  I wore iridescent mint eyeshadow with feathery eyeliner on the corners of my eyes, leggings, warm boots, and extra feathers in my hair.  I was comfortable, warm, and definitely in one of the more unique outfits of the evening!   I just wish Halloween lasted longer so I could wear this outfit more!  Oh, well, there's always next year!

Cat dentistry

Well, Mr. Jake went to the vet today for some much-needed dental attention. 

 (Clearly unimpressed, and also has a transparent head?!)

Mark has had him for years, and I think as his stinky breath got worse, Mark's nose just adapted.  Now that I've known Jake for almost a year but still can barely sit on a couch with him, we decided it was time to figure out what was up.  He went in last week for the check-up and the vet suggested an intense cleaning and maybe pulling some teeth. 

He went in today for his big appointment.  All four canines- gone.  And as you can see above, they were quite impressive.  All together the vet pulled 8 teeth. 

He's pretty drugged up now, and we're going to have to make some dietary changes to accommodate his less-toothy grin/ prevent him from needing more taken out, BUT... I think he's going to be much happier now.  Plus, now I can cuddle with him and his breath won't force me to move him away.  (Seriously, I'm a cat person, but it was that bad!)

So, goodbye lovely grin, and hello much happier and healthier old man cat!

(I realize this picture makes him look crazed, but it was too funny to pass up!)

Changeable scenery terrarium pendant

A few months back I saw some great terrarium necklaces on Etsy and Pinterest, and decided to make my own.

I looked all over online for pendants that would work for this project and wound up buying a set of two shadow box pendants from HHHdesigns for around $11. They're copper and big enough to make some cute little scenes inside.  They're a little bigger than a typical pendant, but despite that, it was still a challenge to find small enough figures to put inside.  I had a little owl that I thought would be perfect, but, like, one claw on his tiny foot stuck out too far to fit. 

Initially, I put Velcro in the back and bottom of the box and on the felt I used for the scenes, with the thought that it would make it easier to change scenes out.  Unfortunately it was too bulky.  I ditched that and sewed the felt into little L shapes, connecting the back and bottom pieces so they'd sit in the box without any support or adhesive.

First I made this little duck scene (although I did redo it before this picture, after the Velcro idea failed).  The ceramic duck was $1 at the Mall of Saint Paul.  The water is felt and beads, sky- felt, cloud-batting, sun- felt, and the reeds are felt and sticks from the end of incense.  All I bought for these scenes were the animals, the rest was from around the house with felt as the main medium. 

I got this glass cat at a bead store for $1.50.  I used some rhinestone beads for stars and felt for the rest.  The great thing about the cat bead is that it has a hole. I used wire to attach it to the felt.   

Now, this elephant is probably my favorite and cost a little more ($5 at the Mall of Saint Paul), but I love it.  It's pewter and pretty heavy.  I put felt hills behind it and a bead for a setting sun.

And last is this cute little ceramic bluebird from an antique store for $1.  I used twigs from the yard and star beads.  This is the only one that doesn't have a felt base at the bottom of the box, but the twigs fit snugly and hold it all in place. 

I think this pendant is going to be great to switch up and wear, especially to work for the kids in my class!  I  want to find a chain or cord that matches better than my typical silver chain.

Honestly, when I first took on the project, I thought it would be something I could duplicate and sell on Etsy, but it took so long to find the tiny animals for my own necklace, that it would be a pretty time-consuming.  I'm happy with this being a personal project that maybe other people can try out and have fun with!  I'd love to see other ideas and results, so please post anything that you make!

Baby squirrels

Last night we were sitting on the porch when one of the cats started going crazy, running from window to window.  We looked out and didn't see anything, but noticed that the the plastic sheets I'd laid out to kill weeds for future landscaping endeavors had been moved around by the storms a few nights before.  I went out to adjust it and was startled by a tiny little animal jumping around on the plastic.  It looked like a mouse with a fluffy tail and didn't seem at all scared by my presence.  He proceeded to scale the bricks and screens on the porch (much to the displeasure of Jake the cat) and then leaped from 15'+ high onto the ground.  Silly me- it was a baby squirrel!  He hopped around a bit, picked up a seed to nibble, and then curled up.

Of course I had to get a closer look, I didn't touch him at all- I always hear those stories of parent abandonment of baby animals after they've been handled by humans.  He was just sort of snuggling up in the grass with his seed, maybe hiding, but I'm not sure.  After a while he bounced up, drank some sitting water on the plastic sheets, scaled the huge tree a few feet away, and was gone.

An hour or so later I went back outside to check for any signs and now there was not one, but two baby squirrels curled in the same spot in the grass!  I'm not sure what was so attractive about the spot, and wonder if maybe the parent died.  They seemed old enough to survive on their own, as they were climbing, finding food, and drinking on their own.

The unfortunate thing about this is that we really don't want the squirrels around.  They're fine outside, but ours have been getting into the attic and scratching around.  Another time Mark pulled a sleeping bag out of a closet and a bunch of nuts fell out.  They're also probably not the most sanitary things- just a cute baby rodent.  So, we'll see what happens with these.  Maybe they will politely relocate across the street.