Pirates 2017

Arg, Mateys, 'tis time again for the pirate costumes...

Not because Captain Jack is back on the big screen, but because, in our 6 -year rotation of summer themes in the children's ministry,  Pirates of Paradise Island has come back around.  And, as it so happened, this year we did a Family Crusade instead of kids camp.

So, that meant we were pirating from ages 0 to whatever. (We have to beat the villain to the treasure...which turns out to the Bible....)

Twelve years ago, just before I started the blog, we did the Pirates theme and did a family crusade with it.  My older kids were helping the then-youth-pastors with the Red Team efforts, so we all joined up.  The Artist actually wanted me to make a shirt for him; I found a DEAL on rayon/acetate at the dollar table at Wal-Mart (pause for sad reflection as that source is no more) and I made a shirt for him and also one for myself (still my favorite pattern review).

It just so happened that My Sweet Babboo and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary right in the middle of it and we got a family photo:

                                                                   (August 2005)

Well, in the intevening years I made a shirt from the same pattern for My Sweet Babboo, as the Royal Rangers did a pirate theme for Pow Wow  about three years later.  So when we were coming up on this event, I realized that everyone in the family had a pirate shirt...except the two kids who work in our children's ministry every week.    I looked through my fabric stash, but didn't have a piece suitable for pirate shirts.  I had used the piece I'd intended for shirts for them for a charitable cause and never managed to replace it.

But, I had to run some errands on Friday and made my way to the opposite corner of town to the only fabric store left in The Rocket City...Jo Ann's.  I'd only been in there about 4 times since it opened several years ago and wasn't hopeful.  But...they had a rayon/linen blend in creme that was right at the top of my price range (sale price at that) and there was exactly what I needed for two shirts...5 yards...on the bolt.  So I brought it home and ran it through the washer and dryer.

Whilst it was preshrinking, I poked through my collection of patterns.  Keep in mind, this was Friday afternoon and the event started Sunday evening.  I didn't have much time and I really didn't want to do twenty eyelets  in a hurry.  So I pulled out an as-yet untried pattern, Butterick 5008, which is apparently out of print.

No Eyelets....very basic.  I picked view D, with the front seam and flounce, for The Flute Player and view C, minus the sleeve ruffles, for The Actor.  I figured I could trace the pattern in less time than it would take to hammer on 20 eyelets anyway.

I read the reviews on PatternReview and decided to use buttons on the cuffs instead of the ties and just cut the ties for the neck.  I *thought* I was cutting the ties twice the length stated on the pattern, intending to cut the number of tubes to turn in half.    I also altered the collar pattern for a one-piece collar, ala Nancy Zieman and Louise Cutting.

Got up Saturday morning but got a slow start and really didn't get to sewing until around noon.  But I figured it should only take about 6 hours to make the two shirts, so I wasn't worried.  I could do it around the laundry....

I started by making the fiddly bits first... the ruffles, the collar and band assembly, the sleeves and  cuffs, and the ties.  I used my rolled edge foot..the skinny one...for the ruffles.  It wasn't hard but it was tedious slow work.  Not as slow as any other method of edge finish, though, I'm sure!  I fused the interfacing on the collars, bands and cuffs, and ran the ties through the serger.  

And hit problems.  The tie pieces were only an inch wide, and I thought I'd be slick and run  long serger chain,. then fold the strip around it and sew the edge so I could use the long chain to turn it.

Well, the strips were cut on the straight of grain and with a 1/4" serger seam, I COULD NOT get the first strip turned.  Finally broke the chain trying.  I decided that 1) the strip is too narrow to use a 1/4" seam 2) the straight of grain had no give in it and 3) it was too short for me to cut it in half.  I don't know if I misremembered the measurement when I cut it or if the measurement was just skimpy to begin with.

So I went upstairs and cut 1 1/4" bias strips out of the remnant of the fabric.  I couldn't cut these long enough to split them, because I only had a wee bit of fabric left, so I had to cut 8 ties.  I sewed them on my conventional machine with about a 3/16 seam allowance...and fought to get them turned.  I finally went to my ancient beauty supplies and pulled out a roller clip...essentially a giant bobby pin...cut a slit in the end of the tie and managed to get them all turned with the bobby pin.

But I lost something like TWO HOURS messing with those stupid ties.  And I had to keep stopping for a bit to switch laundry out and fold stuff.  By the time I got the ties on the bands, it was time for a dinner break.  The Actor and the Artist were both involved in the big Opening Sword Fight and were at rehearsal all day Saturday;  The Artist came by the house to work a bit on his costume.  He wanted a peg leg for at least part of the week and needed a crutch, so he came by to make use of the woodworking tools in the garage.  The Actor had to stay behind to do some janitorial work, so he didn't come home until later in the evening.

I went back to the machines, making the cuffs and sleeves and attaching the flounces to the front of The Flute Player's shirt.

The Artist got his crutch assembled and put a layer of stain on it...then came into the house and pulled up the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie on the chromecast.

Arg, matey, it was hard to sew and listen to th' movie in the next room.  It'd been a few years since I last watched it.  I confess to making much less progress than I might've otherwise.

When The Actor got home, he told me he was using a shirt from the church costume wardrobe so he didn't need one for the next day.

I ditched his and began to work solely on the flounced shirt.  I finally got all the pieces ready and began assembly.

I was putting the collar on at, oh, eleven thirty?  Somehow I got confused and ended up putting the collar on with the wrong side out.  I didn't notice it until I'd trimmed the seam.  I used the one-piece collar...that meant the collar back had a seam on it.  Disgust...but, you know, it's in the back.  No one will know that it's not supposed to have a seam.  Costuming, not couture.  I kept going.
Finally finished it at one AM.  She was still up and good-naturedly put it on for a photo.  She was very pleased.  Oh, btw...I shortened it 4" before I cut it out.  It's a long shirt.


I was running registration for the event...which is rather complicated, as we had to track points the kids earned  all week for some big prizes at the end.  The Flute Player was helping with some of the registration tasks, as well as some of the technicalities of the production, so we were both in costume.  My Sweet Babboo just dressed to add to the ambiance.
The Princess was the only one in the family who didn't make it to the event.  She wanted to bring her nephew but couldn't get it to work.

But we did get another family photo...this one will make the Christmas letter!

 I sat down at the machines this morning and finished the Actor's shirt.  He's not as pleased with the shirt as his sister was with hers; he's worn my shirt in several different events and  he much preferred the lightweight rayon/acetate.  And he liked the lace up front.  I may yet have to add some eyelets to his shirt, if only to keep the kinda skimpy facings in place.

Should have a choir post tomorrow; we didn't have choir last week because of the pirate set and I was too congested to sing the week before.  But I'm gonna try it tomorrow!

(If you're curious, here's the picture of The Artist with his 'Peg Leg'...lol)

Arg, Matey!

My Sweet Baboo and his Senior Commander (just for the record: I did not make Sr. Commander's pants) are trying hard to look fierce; MSB later said he wished he'd quit shaving a week or so before the event but he didn't even think about it. He did get one picture of the back of Senior Commander's coat; he's talking to a gent from another church whose wife had made him a pirate suit from the same pattern, although his had been made for another purpose sometime earlier and has been used several times for different characters. MSB said it was really nice looking; he thought it was made out of something that looked like upholstery fabric. I saw the photos that he appeared in and wished I'd gone to the trouble/expense of putting some lace on the sleeves for the Senior Commander's shirt.


And, just for my sewing/traveling buddy Miss A, here's a photo of our other Deputy Senior Commander wearing the shirt that she made.

It was an interesting weekend, by all accounts. MSB told me that they did three skits w/the pirates; in the third one, the 'good guys' had given the 'treasure map' to one of the younger boys, and the pirates came off the stage to capture him. What they didn't figure on was ALL the other boys jumping to the rescue! I would have LOVED to have seen the resulting impromptu melee between the 'pirates' and the boys who were trying to fight them away from the map...it totally flummoxed the guys who were the pirates and they had a difficult time 'capturing' the youngster with the map (who was part of the skit and knew what was going on). I still chuckle thinking about the surprise they had....

Incidentally, Senior Commander's coat and vest are from Simplicity 4923; all three shirts are from Butterick 4486 and the ratty pants are a modification of the breeches in Butterick 3072 (I didn't review those; didn't really have appropriate comments to make since I messed around w/the pattern from its intention)

Looking for focus

I didn't want to start on the brown linen pirate costume pieces yesterday; I really, really want to sew Real Clothes. So I piddled and diddled around and did neither. I thought my Flying Needle Saturday would abate the urge for personal sewing, but I'm afraid it actually did the opposite. Geeminey, it was fun to write some reviews and hang some new things in the closet!

But I really, really don't want those pirate pieces to hang around indefinitely; and if My Sweet Baboo is going to use them at Pow-Wow, I have to have them done by bedtime tomorrow night.

C'mon, Lisa, deep breath...you can do it....

Arg, Matey!

Ranger Senior Commander was delighted with his costume pieces and tried them on after church last night. I'm not terribly happy w/the button placement on the vest; because I didn't put as many buttons on as specified, I didn't even pull out the placement guide. I overlapped the front so that *all* the buttonholes buttoned, and, when I was looking closely at the photographs when I wrote the review I realized the top two or three buttons were not *meant* to close...so the vest overlaps too much in the front (and is a bit snug, as you can see). I won't get a chance to fix them before the campout next week, as he's going down very early to help set up, but after it's over I'll ask him if he wants me to move the buttons over.

I'll get a photo of My Sweet Baboo's outfit before he heads to camp...

Buttoned Up

I sewed the last button on about a half hour ago... I finally watched the last four DVD sessions of John Bevere's Drawing Near curriculum (which I have been sporadically working through for an embarrassing length of time). I love doubling my time...watching the teaching whilst I'm doing something productive! I still have some knickers and a vest cut out for My Sweet Baboo, but he has a shirt and some raggy pants so the knickers and vest would be, like, extra pieces. I may go ahead and make them just so they don't turn into UFO's, but the pressing need for costumes has now been abated. The pieces for the other guys will be delivered tonight; My Sweet Baboo will not be packing until next Wednesday, so I've got time to finish those other out if I choose. ;)

I tried taking a photo of the coat on a hanger, but it is so heavy that it just sort of collapsed and doesn't look at all Nice. Hopefully I'll get a photo of it on a real (non-skin-damaged) person soon. I'll write a review when I do...

Gotta catch up on my housework, but I've promised myself to make SOMETHING for the wardrobe before the week is over ;)

Still buttoning...

I did get all the buttons on the coat yesterday; Part of the time I was sort of playing a video game with the kids (I could sew when it wasn't my turn to actually do something); I finished while we watched one of our newest DVD acquisitions, Enchanted. That was a HOOT! I hadn't seen it before....

I've got a bunch of errands to run outside the house today, I'm not sure how many buttons I'll get sewn on, but having the coat done is a big relief.

I wanted a photo of it on My Sweet Baboo, but he has contracted a bodacious case of poison ivy and so didn't want to put it on and I don't blame him. I'll get pictures as soon as I can.

15 buttons left...

Button, button, who's got the button?

I do.

A BUNCH of them

If I'm adding right, I have...(12 + 2 + 4 + 9)...27 buttons to sew on various piratey garments.

Looks like a day in front of the DVD player to me...

But that's all I *have* to do...everyone will have a wearable costume at that point. I bailed on the knickers I had cut out for My Sweet Baboo, and made a pair of raggey-bottom pull-on black linen pants instead. (he complained that there were no pockets; I apologized but didn't have time to draft pockets that weren't included on the pattern...) I also made a second pair of those pants for the other deputy senior commander...actually, I didn't have enough fabric for two pairs, so DH's pair is pieced about knee level in the back. Good enough for costuming... I will make the vest I cut out for him *if* I have time. It's not absolutely necessary....

I hope to get some photos of these things before they all go away, but I may have to settle for photos from camp.

Which would be kinda cool, anyway.

I'll let you know what movies we watch ;)

The Hazards of Late Night Sewing

The last time this happened I was sewing cloud pajamas for DD's senior year one-act competition play nearly 5 years ago...can I blame it on sewing at 11:15 PM?

It's the little slice that occurs when the curved upper sleeve pleats itself under the seam allowance of the armsceye seam whilst serge finishing that seam...and you don't spot it before it goes under the knife.

Arg!!!

At least it's on the back side of the sleeve. Perhaps we can, um, pass it off as a saber slice?

My first thought was 'Thank goodness this didn't happen on one of the lame' shirts...'

No Braces!

I had about an hour in the waiting room while the braces came off...I got 16 out of 28 buttons sewn on. They look really cool...

But I'm working on the shirts today; I've made these before and, if all goes well, I should get them close to done before bed tonight.

Hope, hope, hope...

Still Hand stitchin'

I have a regularly scheduled volunteer job on Monday mornings now; it's a good thing to do but it does cut a bit into the sewing time!

I managed Saturday to get the big cuffs on the sleeves tacked around at the bottom to make sure they stayed rolled at the right place, get the sleeve lining attached and about 1/3 of the body lining attached. Just a bit more and I'll have the coat ready for buttons (tomorrow!)

But I changed out the thread and got most of the self-interfacing cut out for the shirts; they'll go together quickly once I sit down at the machines to work on them.

But I still gotta get lining for the vests...I'll probably do that tomorrow after the orthodontist visit.

Trying to get them all done this week!!!

Lining the Coat

I finished the shell of the coat early yesterday and got the lining put together and ready to go in.

So...all I have to do is sew in the lining, then add the braid 'buttonhole' trim to the jacket front and I'll be finished w/the machine sewing. The rest will be needle-and-thread stuff.

But I can charge ahead with the machine into the shirts....

I'll try to post a photo later today when everything's done but the handstitching, if I can get My Sweet Baboo to be a model for me ;).


*later that same day...*
I had to pin the lining up in the sleeves while it was worn, so My Sweet Baboo got pressed into use as a fit model ("I don't know how fit I am" he commented when I asked him to provide that service...). It's all done to the handwork at this point; I need to stitch down the lining and add buttons.

So I'm off to sit on the lovely front porch swing and enjoy the afternoon whilst I stitch away...

Pirate Progress

Posted by Lisa Laree to Sew Random

I'm plugging along on that coat; once it's done to the buttons I can set it aside and start on the shirts, since DD #2 has an orthodontist appointment Tuesday morning to get her braces off, I think sewing buttons on the coat (it requires 28!) will be my 'sit in the waiting room' activity.

But the front facings are on; the sleeves are made...all I have to do to the shell of the coat is the side seams, side godets, and insert the sleeves. Then it will be ready for the lining.

I'm aiming to have the lining in by tomorrow night.

Arg, mateys!

Surcoats Down, Pirate Coat Up!

I finished off the surcoats yesterday afternoon, delivered them this morning, so now I've got to collect my sewing nerve and tackle that Simplicity 4923 jacket. The reviews on it are widely varied; everything from 'I enjoyed making the outfit, and even though the coat took time and effort, I was pleased with the results, my husband has fun wearing it, and we get lots of compliments.' to 'This is absolutey the WORST pattern I've EVER worked with.'. So I'm going to proceed slowly and with great caution!