Witchcraft...

Happy Halloween!

How very American of me... well, why not? I'm in the mood! Especially as, over the past week, I've been spurred into action to meet the deadline for the Burda Style Baby Lock Halloween Costume Contest!

The premise is you upload a pic of yourself in your inventive Halloween gear, the first prize being a swish computerised sewing machine... do I need a new sewing machine? No! Am I interested in beating off the crafty competition? No! So why am I entering..? Because I love challenging myself... and having an excuse to sew!

A few weeks ago I was in the green room at work, and The Witches of Eastwick was on TV - I wondered if the audience back then, in 1987, adored the outfits as much I do sitting here in 2013... I mean, are they just fabulous, full stop..? Or is it that whole vintage vibe that reminds me of Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex in The City, that makes the Witches' wardrobes so... utterly gorgeous..?! It made me realise that's something I'd love to do on this Blog; recreate movie outfits! It would mean I get to combine things I love - honing my customising skills, giving a nod to the vintage vibe, and dressing up!! What's not to love? Ha ha!! So Susan, if you're reading this, thank-you for being the first muse of my many Movie Remakes to come... (*hopefully).


I'm sure you'll understand why I've picked The Dance of the Witches as the blog post soundtrack for today - apart from featuring in The Witches of Eastwick soundtrack, it also has a feisty feel that matches my mood! Listen at your peril....... ah ha ha ha haaaaaaa! (OK, less of the witchy laughter... back to the outfit comp!) 

A Little Witchy Wonder...

I'm sure I don't need to tell you that Americans love celebrating... much like Spaniards with their various Saints' days, Americans make the most of 'holidays' - and that, in itself, should be celebrated. I mean, my Spanish half loves to fiesta - dressing up, socialising, letting my hair down - whilst my English half worries it'll get chilly and I'll need my coat later on in the evening. My point being that we should all celebrate more! There are SO many reasons to worry in life, there has to be balance... and now, with that point made, you might understand why I sometimes feel like an honorary American - at least in the celebratory aspect! 

ALSO - when we 'do' Halloween in this country, we like to be quite traditional in our fancy dress attire, in the US you can be anything... and, just so we're clear on that, I mean ANYTHING! I thought I'd share with you a few of the entries that caught my eye in the Burda Style Baby Lock Competition before I share my entry with you, much like I did with the Laurel dressmaking competition blog post... in no particular order, here are my faves...

Sleeping Beauty, just waiting to be kissed. Or be presented with first prize in the competition. In fact, if we're splitting hairs, the prince can wait, a sewing machine is much more useful...

;)

On a technical note, satin is not the easiest fabric to work with, and corsetry is not for the faint hearted - so this is a beautiful creation. And I'm a sucker for proper staging, the only thing missing is a glass case for her to sleep in! Love the staged shot, well done Sleeping Beauty. And from one princess to another fantasy female...

Yes - that is who you think it is, Mary Poppins...

In Liverpool we have an expression "Who got you ready..?" and there's no real translation, apart from to say "What on earth is that you're wearing?" - which is what this lovely lady would get, if she were to enter a Halloween competition in this country... 

If I were to meet her I'd want to know where she bought her white tights (kids' tights, fine - but adults' in white? Now there's a prize category right there - 'Person Who Can Locate White Opaque 70 Denier Or Plus Tights'). In all seriousness though, you can tell this outfit has taken a long time to make, and it's beautifully finished...

I could just leave the Mr T entry as a photo, with no 'supporting text', but really I'd be missing a trick. I mean, 'Pity The Foo!'!? HA! This really tickled me... 

I don't remember Mr T wearing cotton mittens to prevent him from scratching himself..! WHAT A CUTIE! If it wasn't for the fact it would mean having a photo on my phone of a stranger's baby, this would be my screen saver. That is all.

...and what is this..? Only The Most Modern Entry out - an APP. And not just any app, but the Instagram App. Actually, let's forget modern, let's say 'post-modern', this pic opens up all sorts of questions about the future of fancy dress competitions... that go way over my head.

Suffice to say, if the competition is about inventiveness, then this is definitely a winner!

And finally, probably my favourite (although it's been tough choosing)......................

This baby's face is saying 'Why does HE get to play Dorothy, surely he'd be the obvious choice for Toto..?'. All I know is, if I dressed Rod in that, he'd never speak to me again. 

And as if discovering opaque white tights for adults wasn't exciting enough, now I've been introduced to wigs for dogs... remind me why I'm not living in America?! 

(*apart from family, friends, work, home all being here)

Do you see why I found this Blog so funny to research..? Honestly, seamstresses are underrated comedians... 

So, they're my favourites to date (although there's still time for plenty more beauts to be added, take a look for yourself...)

And how did I get on with mine? 

Well... I learned A LOT along the way (including, no matter how many layers of net you use, they'll always make a see-through skirt) - but I'll share all that with you in another post about 'The Making Of', in the meantime I'll cut straight to the 'After' shot... after a quick reminder of what I was going for, with the gorgeous Susan Sarandon...

 p.s. A small aside, I couldn't find the right coloured wig, in the time frame I had... I don't like excuses, but there you go, I feel I need to put that out there. All other criticisms are more than welcome :)

Oh look! I made my leg disappear! I really am a witch...

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In other news;

• My bibs sold out!!! I took another batch in, I'm still finding it hard to believe they're selling, thank-you all so much for your feedback, and compliments!
• My Nan's neighbour's dog, Pippi, is now the proud owner of one of my heated dog pads - and I'm relieved to say, in spite of all her nibbles, the pad is still intact. Up to now.
• I'm in talks to present an 'Upgrade your LBD' segment on a VERY POPULAR daytime show!!! I can't say any more (until I know either way) - but I'm very excited, and will be sharing tips here on my Blog that relate to that... Thanks for visiting! :D