A Touch of This, a Pinch of That: September 2012

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind......It all started 2 months ago when my Mother-in-law, said "did you know that while we are at Disney in September the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party will be going on?" I didn't know that, I hadn't ever heard of it, what was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, and how much more was it going to cost me, because as Claire Dunphy (from the hit TV show Modern Family) put it while Disney is the "happiest place on earth, it's also home to the most expensive churro on earth." 2 months ago I hadn't heard of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, today I am an expert on MNSSHP (the first thing I learned was the abbreviation!)

We decided all the Disney Bloggers out there had to know what they were talking about. Since we couldn't really find anything bad about MNSSHP on any blog, and most of them said if you can do it, then go. Why not do it, right? I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I agreed to this.

MNSSHP is a special ticketed event from 7pm-12am at The Magic Kingdom Park. A day pass will not get you into the park after 7pm, they actually make people without wristbands leave the park at 7. There are special shows, lots of character interaction with characters that are not "out and about" at the parks typically. There is a villain show followed by a mix-n-mingle, a couple different character dance parties, a special parade lead by the headless horseman, a special "HalloWishes" fireworks show, Disney Characters are dressed in costumes, all but one ride (jungle cruise) are open, and the lines are, (from what I've read) fifteen minutes or less wait time without a fast pass. The wait time in itself makes it worth it. To top the cake, kids and adults can dress up and trick-or-treat throughout the park where I found out today (opening day of MNSSHP for 2012) that they have 215 TONS of candy to distribute this year, that's 430,000 POUNDS of candy, OH MY!

And sew it begins. Being a crafty person, a store bought costume just won't do especially if you plan on wearing it more than one time. As my Mother-in-law and I started planning out this evening of fun we decided (since I had a tinker bell dress for my daughter already) that we would do a Peter Pan group. My Father-in-law will be George Darling, Mother-in-law Mary Darling, I will be Wendy, my husband Mr. Smee, my son Peter Pan, and my daughter Tinker Bell. From this I decided it was time to bite the bullet and break out my sewing machine I have had for 4 years now and see what I could do with it, with no classes or training what-so-ever! Oh, and only 3 weeks to get it all done!

The only thing I ever made with my sewing machine was a taggie blanket for a baby, and I still have yet to finish that! So when I pulled out my machine 2 weeks ago it took me an hour to figure out how to wind the bobbin and thread the needle! I should have known then to just quit, take the easy way out and get the really expensive (and cheaply made) costumes, but where is the fun in that? I bought all the material for the Peter costume first including the hat, tunic, belt, knife sheath, and shoes. Better to start there than on the Wendy dress which included a pattern (I had never even looked at a pattern before)
I tackled the shoes first, figuring if I messed them up they weren't that imperative to the costume anyways. I looked for tutorials on the internet on the shoes and there weren't any good ones. So I got out some newspaper and drew what I thought would be half of the shoe, taped (duh, use pins next time) my "pattern" to the felt and with a sweaty brow made my first cut. I followed this with a newspaper pattern for a pointed hat from an online tutorial by Ashley at www.makeit-loveit.com and made my own alterations along the way. Oh my, I was really doing this. I knew I needed my son to be able to wear shoes under the "Peter" shoes so I had to make a slipcover for his sneakers. I pinned the pieces together around his sneakers, spent that hour threading the needle, and put in my first stitch, and I haven't stopped since. In 2 weeks I have made Peter's tunic, shoes, hat, knife sheath, belt, a Smee hat, cut off and hemmed Smee's pants, a Tinker Bell dress (I know I already had one but my daughter wanted her own homemade costume,) 2 reversible Trick-or-Treat bags for the kids to use, and a Wendy dress with the help of an amazing friend who could have easily done it for me, but instead wanted to let me learn. Thanks Dolly I will take all your knowledge with me as I step forth into the world of sewing, and I will probably call you up with a question or 2! Here are the Peter shoes I made first. I hope to have a blog up with tutorials on the different costumes I made so other people can experience the feeling of complete satisfaction when you take a limp piece of material and create something that makes your kids eyes light up when they see it. Until I have the tutorials up (after our Disney trip) all I have is a few pictures! I hope you find time in your life to sew something, to take nothing and piece it together and make something. It may be fabric, it may be a family, whatever it is be proud of your masterpiece!