Halloween Paper Piecing

My girls love Halloween, like LOVE it. They want a Halloween themed birthday (in February), and they've been talking about tick or treating and costumes non-stop. We've already been to the spirit Halloween store where they pretend to be scared but don't want to leave. Since I love paper piecing and I love old fashioned Halloween costumes, I decided to come up with some fun trick or treaters for the Halloween Season. These patterns can be made into pillows, wall hangings, tote bags, or a cute little throw quilt 

 I had so much fun making my Trick or Treaters, I decided to try a Jack & Sally

 Of Course I couldn't leave out the Sanderson Sisters!

 

All these patterns finish at 12x12  & can be found in my Etsy shop

The Little Mermaids (DIY Halloween Costumes)

 Cuteness overload. Seriously. We've got not one, but two little mermaids here. I can't even stand it. This costume wasn't too difficult to make. The fabric was bought from Joanns (using coupons, YEAH for coupons). The yarn was on hand (notice the two shades of red). The onesie was sort of a splurge (hard to find specific colors sometimes), but I only spent $25 per costume and they're way

 super cute!!!!

MATERIALS for 2 costumes sized at 12 months:
1 yard mermaid fabric
2 yards tulle
1/3 yard stretch fabric
1/2" elastic for waist measurement
thread
Onesie (I found the nude color on Amazon)

Haunting Hexie Halloween Quilt

So.. It's the end of August....That means all the Halloween decorations have been up in stores for the last few weeks... I'm not one to complain (unless I'm looking for a seasonal summer item that can no longer be found because apparently it's already Halloween!)because I LOVE Halloween. I mean I LOVE IT!!!! I vacillate between proclaiming it (or Christmas) as my favorite holiday. But let me be clear, I DO NOT like to be scared. I won't watch scary movies. I don't like dark and disturbing things. What I like are the fun, silly, and cute monsters of Halloween. Those cute pumpkins and monsters were the inspiration for this quilt.

Witch Hat Table Runner

I had lots of scraps left over from the bat and witch garland that I made last year, so I decided to use them to create this cute little Halloween Table Runner. I did purchase 1/3 yard of green that was used in between the framed hats. Ray did the quilting on this with her free motion foot....she did a great job! Very inexpensive and easy.

Reversible Fall Table Runner

Reversible Table Runner

After I made my cute pumpkin wall hanging (PUMPKIN) I realized something... I HATED wasting the fabric for the back of something that was only going to be used during Halloween. I decided that for my next Holiday project, I would make something that was reversible.That way I'm not buying extra fabric just to put on the back, the back that will never be seen! I had fabric that I wanted to use for a matching Halloween table runner, I just needed Thanksgiving prints to make the back. I had no problem going to the fabric store and finding! Here's what I did.

 Decide how long and how wide you want your runner. I cut out all different widths for my strips. varying between 4 1/2 inches wide and the smallest was 2 inches wide.

 After you cut out your strips, sew them together in the order you like. This will be the "back" of the quilt (which I will refer to as the Halloween side). You can also do this with a solid piece of fabric if you want a solid back.

Next, cut out your front fabric (Thanksgiving side) in strips. They can be the same width as the ones you used for the back or you can change it up. Just make sure it's going to be the same length and width as the back you just sewed together. For example, with my Halloween fabric I had 2 strips that were 2 1/2 inches, but for my Thanksgiving fabric I decided to cut one strip that was 4 inches (taking into account seam allowance) instead of two 2 1/2 inch strips.

After you have all your strips cut out, cut a piece of batting to fit your runner. Pin it to the back side of the Halloween fabric.

  IMPORTANT- Cut the batting off EXACT with the top piece of your first strip, you will line this up with your next strip and you want it to be as exact as you can get it. Don't leave any overhang (overhang is fine everywhere else)

You're ready to start sewing (again). Take your first strip of Thanksgiving and lay it right side up, on top of the batting, matching it up to the edge we just cut, and sew 1/4 inch seam.  Remember, your Halloween fabric will be right side up on the bottom, you are sewing this strip to the batting and to your bottom fabric.

Once you finish that, add another strip wrong side down on the orange and sew 1/4 inch seam

 OK now this gets tedious, but it is important. You MUST iron after every strip. Press the seam, then open the fabric and press again. You want the strips to be flat and straight before you continue adding to them. Don't skip this, even though it means you have to sew, get up, sew, get up, etc.. It's good exercise.

Woo-Hoo look at it coming together!

This is what we will have once it's complete. Trim the edges, and add the binding. 

 Now go put it on your table and show it off! 

I fell even more in love with the tree fabric after making this. It's SO adorable! 

 I'm so happy that I can flip this over for Thanksgiving! It's two projects in one sewing session! 

Pumpkin Wall Hanging (with movable eyes!)

Quilted Pumpkin Halloween Wall Hanging 

Start with 20 Halloween fabrics that are cut 4 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches. I used a lot of Halloween fabric I had been collecting. These will be for your borders. 

 You need 15 black pieces that are 4 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches. I cut 6 - 4 1/2 inch by 4 1/2 inch and one black piece that was 12 1/2 inches by 12 1/2 inches since I knew it would be covered by my pumpkin, I didn't want to do the extra work! You could cut one black piece that is 12 1/2 inches by  20 1/2 inches, if you want to do even less work. 

Sew your pieces together as shown. The black will be the center and all the fun Halloween prints will border the quilt

I drew my pumpkin on freezer paper, made sure he fit where I wanted him, and then I cut him out. I ironed my cut out onto my orange fabric for easy cutting (I used 1/2 yard of orange), and cut him out leaving 1/4 an inch around the boarder.

I'm not a professional appliquer so I'm not going to give detailed instructions. Basically for the eyes and nose, I left the edges raw and zigzag stitched them on. I cut out batting to add to the back of my pumpkin to make him extra soft. I turned the edges under and then zigzag stitched the pumpkin onto my background

After my pumpkin was on, I cut out the back of the quilt and the batting, basted them together with my spray, and hand quilted using my machine. I sewed some rick rack around the border, and bound it. 

So what about the eyes? I couldn't decide where to put them. The solution, I hot glued some heavy duty magnets to the back on my buttons, and now I can move the eyes wherever I want! I love that my pumpkin can have so many faces!  

DIY Halloween Onesies

I stumbled upon a youtube video of how to make your own prints on t-shirts. It looked like lots of fun, so I decided to give it a go. My last few creative ideas have been causing me grief, so I expected the same from this, but this was one of the EASIEST projects I've ever done! So much fun & the possibilities are endless!

What you will need:

-T-shirt/onesies/tote/pants/sweatshirt/etc.. anything you want to personalize. Prewashed & dried

-Fabric paint, DO NOT get the DIMENSIONAL or 3D ones!! I made this mistake & luckily caught it before I started. Michaels has fabric paint, so I'm assuming Joanns & Walmart would as well.

-Freezer paper, yes it costs $8 bucks.. but you get a lot & you can use it for other crafts

-Sponge brushes, which are not really brushes, you don't want to brush when you paint your onesies anyway

-Cardboard, I just cut up an old cookie box & used it

-Iron

-Exacto knife, don't try to use scissors unless you are cutting something that isn't very detailed 

OK first things first, what are you gonna put on your shirt?!?! Since it's the beginning of September, I knew that I was going for the Halloween fun onesies. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween, & all things fall. My first design was a onesies that said "Mommy's little" & then had a picture of a pumpkin. So cute right?!? I went onto WORD, chose a font, and wrote "Mommy's little", making sure it was small enough for a onesie since I was going to trace the letters onto freezer paper. Then I printed it out & drew my pumpkin. I taped the freezer paper on top of my finished drawing (shiny side down since that's the side you will iron onto the fabric), & cut the design out with my exacto knife. You need to be careful not to make unnecessary cuts, otherwise you will have paint where you don't want it. When cutting out the letters I used the exacto knife, & then the scissors to cut out the middle of the "o" & "e" (it was much easier than trying to exacto it out!). I used scissors to finish the pumpkin too since it was so big. I also wanted my pumpkin to have some white in it so it wasn't solid orange, so I cut out some white strips once the pumpkin was cut out. After you're done cutting (which takes the longest!) iron your design onto your fabric, don't forget to add the little "o" & "e", they're small, but once you have them ironed on they don't move.

 

Now for the fun part!!! Get your sponge brushes & paint cuz it's time to sponge! Put a piece of cardboard under your fabric so the paint doesn't bleed through. Do not forget this step!

I just put some paint on left over cookie box cardboard & sponged it onto the onesie. DO NOT BRUSH THE PAINT! Just dab it on, even though the paper is ironed down it could leak through. Once it's on, rinse your brushes out, put your onesie in a safe place & walk away. You need to let it dry for at least 4 hrs. I've read that you can blow dry it, but I didn't try. I just started making another onesie while I waited. After 4 hrs (OK I didn't wait that long either!! But I tried! I just had to see if it worked, I made it about 3 1/2 hrs), peel the freezer paper off, making sure you get the little pieces you've added & voila! Handmade stinking cute onesie! Grab some cotton fabric to put on top of your painted design & set your design with the iron (DO NOT IRON DIRECTLY ON THE FABRIC PAINT) & you are good to go!

 

I used some Halloween scrap booking paper for inspiration, I just drew the spider & monster the size I wanted & cut them out.

Halloween Bunting

I found this Halloween Bunting last year at one of my favorite fabric stores. It was a panel that they had but out and turned into bunting. I have a thing for bunting, and I love the way this turned out! I but on ribbons, rick-rack, buttons, and Halloween bells. 

Then I decided to make some paper bunting since I love it so much. I cut out a triangle and used it as a template. I have lots and lots of cute Halloween scrap book paper that I got to use (I don't scrapbook).












Lastly, I just have to show off my mom's super cute Halloween witch and bat kitties. She went a little crazy and made a whole bunch one year. I finally got mine last halloween (sometimes she's a slow finisher!) and I love it! SO cute, and it's homemade from Grandma, which is the best!