It's Halloween week :o)

halloween

Definition: a period of time, around the 31st October until the annual G&G Halloween party, when holiday is taken to cook, craft and costume

And you know it's Halloween week when you are hammering in eyelets at 8.15am on a Wednesday morning, visiting Ellis and his blood box at the local fancy dress shop mid afternoon and finishing the day staking shrunken heads and making your boyf a brain! Yesterday was not much quieter, with food shopping, haunted hands and a little DIY, I was still hemming the kirtle at 10pm and today I started on the cooking before I'd got out of my dressing gown.

Eyelets for the Tudor Gown:

It couldn't have gone smoother or quicker, 11 perfect eyelets in less than half an hour.  The double eyelets at the top and bottom of the right hand side stagger the lacings to keep the bodice straight. 

The lacings were temporary until I bought some ribbon later in the day.

The Kirtle hem:

The kirtle was hemmed by hand.  Having done so much handsewing of late I am preferring it to the machine, but the kirtle hem was a surprisingly fiddly and uncomfortable to sew; I hope that the gown hem treats me more kindly.

The Plastron:

The plastron was then pinned to the laced up bodice and the piping pinned in place.  It was then sewn to the top fabric, turned in and the lining handsewn.  The plastron top now perfectly lines up in front of the laced bodice and in line with the kirtle bodice.

Finally, I restrung all the beads and sewed them to the plastron before it is attached to the bodice; photos to follow as i'll sew this on after I've finished the hem.

Lorraine the Brain:

Yes, Lorraine, I blame the 11yr old ;o)

Lorraine is based on this great instructable.  She is the third attempt, it's safe to the boyf and I are not natural brain makers!  Essentially, you deconstruct a baseball cap, paint it brain red, use an acrylic caulk to create your brain and then paint that blood red too.  I also bloodied some bandage - that got some looks, drip drying in the kitchen!

As I couldn't get a cap without an adjuster, I used the brim to cover the gap.

The cupboard:

In amongst all the Halloween stuff, I had a couple of jobs that I also needed to get done.  One of which was the shelf on my "everything fits" cupboard.  We originally took it out as it wouldn't fit with the ironing board in there.  Normally I wouldn't agree with cutting up old bits of furniture but I need the extra space in the cupboard and to fit the ironing board in.  I took the jigsaw to the shelf and cut a ironing board shaped rectangle out of it.  I can't tell you how pleased I am to get all the extra stuff in there (Christmas presents at the moment) and not now have to fight the ironing board to get it in their too!  It's the small things :o)

I will finish off the shelf properly, sand it and stain it.

The to do list for tomorrow night.... decorate, hem the gown, finish the plastron and cook.  I think that's it and lets hope it is because that simple "cook" comprises 12 different dishes... I'd better get back to it!  Pics of everything, hands and heads included to follow, probably not until after the party though if I'm being honest.  Happy Halloween!