Last Weekend

Hello! Long time no posts, but I thought I would share a few photos from last weekend. I don't have that many because the camera was passed around and most of them are complete blurs, but here's a few to give you a taste...

#cringepose

And the giant Ellen-style Selfie...

I have very little money at the moment, and a lot of work to do, so I probably won't be posting a lot. However I'll be home in Easter so hopefully I'll have time to do a few different bits. Until then!

Cowboys & Indians

Hello!

Just a quick post about something I've just finished. As I mentioned last time, I'm going away next weekend and need two costumes for themes, and one of them is a cowboys and Indians night. So I thought I'd just share some photos of the headband and poncho I put together with materials I bought for under a fiver, and some other bits I had in my draws. 

The poncho is literally a piece of beige sheeting (why anyone would ever want beige sheets I do not know) and some scraps of fur and foam; and the headress is a band of card and foam with the same fabric, a few feathers, and again more foam pieces. I think I'm going to wear it with light denim shorts and a light t-shirt underneath. Oh, and please ignore the fact it will need an iron before I go!

Heyaaaa!

Wicked Witch of the West

So my most recent make might appear extremely random, but I promise you it makes sense. Basically, next weekend I'm going away with my friends for the weekend, which entails three days of us in two caravans getting extremely merry every night. But not only that, it's fancy dress with two themes. One of the nights is a cowboys and indians theme, whilst the other is a phobia theme. Now a cowboy is easy enough, but I don't really have any phobias that aren't quite abstract, like the fear of heights, the dark and things like that. So I thought back, what was I petrified of when I was a kid, and one particular thing stuck out....

...The Wicked Witch of the West, played by a terrifying Margaret Hamilton, who when I was younger was the epitome of all evil. And I still love this film now, and of course Wicked is my favourite musical! 

I realised though, I didn't particularly want to drag up, seeing as the last two times I've done fancy dress I've donned a nun's habit to become Sister George:

...and grabbed a blonde wig and become crazy Amanda Bynes:

So I decided I would sort of become a male version of her, wearing all black with the big pointy hat and green skin. The one thing I thought I would struggle to find a good version of was this hat, therefore I decided to make my own because looking back it was something I remembered very vividly and is a staple part of her sort of scariness. 

Now I know it's not exactly a seasonally appropriate make, I thought I'd share it anyway. I didn't take any photos as I went, but I mocked up the illustrations below to show each step, so here I go.

Step One

I started off with a piece of black sheeting fabric twice the size I wanted the rim of the hat to be.

Step Two

I then folded it exactly in half.

Step Three & Four

Taking some pins, I secured the entire thing quite solidly so there was no movement, and drew my shape filling one side. I then stitched around that line.

After cutting this out, I then measured my head with a piece of gardening wire and carefully drew around that in the centre. 

Step Four

I then drew lines from the centre point to that line, as below, cutting these carefully when done. That way I could turn it inside out: (left to right)

Step Six

I then took a piece of wadding the same size as the rim, but with that central hole cut out. As well as this, I took more gardening wire that would go inside round the circumference.

Step Seven

I then measured that central hole to correspond with the bottom of the 'cone' shaped top piece that would attach over the hole. Using mathematical precision (haha) I started drawing this onto some fabric. I cut that out and stitched it the side that wouldn't be showing:

Step Eight & Nine

I then carefully glued the tabs I had cut in the centre of the hat rim into the inside of the cone using a hot glue gun. After that had dried, I took some more wadding in the same shape as the cone and wrapped it around the top like so:

I decided to use wadding instead of something like card on the inside because, although it makes the hat slightly thicker, it will hopefully last longer, will be more malleable, and also it means I can roll it up to pack it in my case. 

Step Ten

Now I simply took another piece of black sheeting in the cone net shape in order to wrap around the wadding. It had to be slightly larger to account for the padding, and I just glued that to the base after sewing the joining seams. 

Step Eleven

The Wicked Witch from the original movie has this band wrapped round the base of the cone which joins at the back and flows over the rim and down her back. So I took a different type of black fabric and cut a long piece that had a width that was slightly larger at either end than in the middle. This was then wrapped neatly round the base and tucked at the back. I glued this too, but carefully underneath so you could not see it. 

And that's it, the finished hat:

Below is the hat, along with how I intend to wear it, and what with:

Fingers crossed this will be a good costume when all the bits come together. I do hope you've enjoyed this, and maybe keep it in mind for Halloween, because you know not long now...

Burgers anyone..?

If you're ever stuck for a tasty meal and feel like having a cheat day, or have just said to yourself that infamous line "the diet starts of Monday", then this might be for you. This recipe I have sort of honed down from different ones I've seen, but I've added a little surprise. 

First up, gather the ingredients. You will need:

• Beef mince (lean or otherwise), preferably a 500g pack or nearest to
• 1 red onion (or white depending on your preference)
• 1 egg
• cream crackers
• Nice crusty rolls
• Cheese, enough to top and a bit extra

Step One

Chop your onion to the size you like. I quite like them like a step up from finely chopped, but it's up to you. Pop a bit of oil into a pan and start to fry them until they start to brown. 

Step Two

Whilst doing this, grab about two dozen crackers and crush them until they're really small and crumbly. 

Step Three

Take your onions and put them, along withe the crushed crackers, mince and the egg in a mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until all mixed in. To add a little flavour I like to sprinkle some mixed seasoning and herbs, and a splash of tomato ketchup. The ketchup also makes it a little more moist if it seems dry (that whole sentence is vile, haha). Then with clean hands make as many burgers as you like out of the mixture. Four to six would be the usual amount, but if you like them smaller then make them so. 

Step Four

Flatten each ball into a circle about half an inch (again depending on your amount of mince), pressing in the centre slightly. 

Step Five

Now for the surprise (don't get your hopes up): Take a small amount of cheese and place it in the centre. I've used a pack of mozzarella cubes here, but obviously if there's a cheese you prefer then you may prefer to use that. Maybe some garlic and herb soft cheese might be really nice! After that, take the edges and bring them to the centre, like wrapping a present. 

Step Six

Take a little plain flour and spinkle the burgers until they're dusted all over, and place them in the fridge for an hour or so. In fact, I made these around midday and cooked them in the evening and they were a really nice texture. 

Step Seven

All that's left to do is cook them in the oven at around 200° until they're browned and cooked all the way through. I like to add cheese to the top too before I put them in because I'm obsessed with cheese and it bubbles and melts really nicely! Then once they're done, serve on a nice toasted crusty roll, with wedges or chips, and a nice green salad. These burgers with lashings of tomato sauce are just amazing!

And with the sun gradually showing it's face now and it's getting slightly warmer, this is a really nice thing to eat whilst sitting in the garden soaking up the rays whilst we can!

Puppet, part four

Whoo! The final part. Not a lot left to cover in this part, but I shall make a neck, elbows, arm rods, and hair!

Step Fifteen

Continuing from last time with the body, I needed to attach it to the head. However, I still wanted it to have a lot of mobility.

I measured the collar of the body and the neck and make a similar template to the tube from the centre of the body in the previous post.

Once sewed, I simply stitched carefully to the rim of the head.

And then to the rim of the collar.

Where it's quite long, it can then be moved quite a lot and turn round sufficiently. 

Step Sixteen

One little adjustment I wanted to make was to give the arms a little more movement, so I sewed a line of stitched either side of the arm roughly a third of the way up like a little elbow. 

Step Seventeen

The hideous butterfly garden decorations were an odd purchase, but I was so happy I found them. They were only 99p each and were perfect for what I wanted. I removed the creature from the top and found the line of the seam on the hand.

I then carefully pierced in between stitches and guided it through the foam palm inside.

Although not attached properly inside, they felt secure enough to not have to stitch them in, which also meant I could remove them carefully if needs be. 

I felt the need to make a little handle on each of the rods to first of all make it a lot neater, and secondly because it's a little dangerous otherwise, haha. 

I simply took some of the leftover felt from before, wrapped it around and glued. I then added a top and a bottom circle just to cover any loose bits. 

Step Eighteen

I was really toying with the idea of how to make the hair, because I didn't want to buy a wig. I found some nice fur from the local fabric shop so decided to challenge myself. 

I took a spare piece of felt in order to make a template and, other than making the puppet look like Mother Teresa, it worked quite well.

Once pinned, I could pull up pieces that would be cut out so I could make a good guide.

To make a symmetrical wig, I took half and traced it twice onto some card. Like so:

Step Nineteen

I started by placing the template onto the fur (above, cost me £2) and drawing round it.

I then cut it out carefully with a razor blade as to not ruin the hair.

I could then sew up the corresponding lines, similar to what I did with the original foam head.

Once the wig was done, I could then pin it in place and start to glue it round onto the head.

I didn't particularly want it long all over, so I took my scissors, carefully trimming the sides as I wanted them. There's a slight side parting and quiff, so I also used a little hairspray to keep it all in position.

And that's it really and I know it's really cringe, but I'm actually really proud of it! I don't know what to call him, but I think I'm going to go for something like Peter because of his pea head.

 I've really enjoyed making this, and would recommend it if you ever want a new project. I'm also going to think about making a couple of these for young ones in my family, perhaps at a smaller scale. 

So here are some photos for you to enjoy! 

  

See the previous step by step parts for this here:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three