Stuffed Sting Sword

As I was deciding how to dress Steven up as Bilbo Baggins for Halloween this year, I came across an interesting dilemma: How do you show that he is the hobbit, not just a hobbit?  Clearly the answer was that he needed to be carrying Bilbo's iconic sword, Sting.  I actually have a replica of Sting that I got when I was a teenager to use with my Frodo costume.  (We used to dress up as characters from Lord of the Rings and hike up mountains.  Yeah, we were pretty awesome.)  However, giving an energetic almost-two-year-old an actual metal sword to carry around seemed like a pretty bad idea.  So I wasn't sure what to do.

Then I came across this blog post that explained how to make a plush Sting.  That was my solution!  It seemed doubly fitting, since we still have a plush sonic screwdriver from Steven's 11th Doctor costume last year.  Naturally, I didn't follow the pattern I found on the internet - I wanted to make mine better!

The main trick was finding the supplies I needed at such short notice.  (I decided I wanted to make it only 3 days before Halloween!)  Thankfully, I found a silver fabric placemat at a local thrift store - that worked for me!  I got a dowel out of my craft box, and found some brown fabric in my box of random fabric in the attic.  And of course, I had my replica of Sting to use as my pattern.

The first thing to do was trace the pieces I would need to cut from the fabric.  I traced quite widely around the sword, since I knew a sword made out of fabric and stuffing would have to be quite a bit bulkier than the original.

I cut the blade and guard together out of the placemat (one for each side), cut the grip out of the brown fabric, and cut the pommel and decorations out of the placemat.

Then it was time to start sewing!  I excavated my sewing machine and table (I hadn't done any sewing projects in a really long time!) and decided to use off-white thread, since I didn't have any silver.  I also had to be really quiet about it, since it was right outside of Steven's room where he was sleeping!

I started by using a tight zigzag stitch to attach the silver pommel and decorations onto the grip.

Then I used the same stitch to make a line between the blade and the guard and to trace the blade's design.

Then I pinned the two pieces together (right sides in!) and sewed them to make each side of the sword.

The two halves of the sword!

Next I pinned and sewed the two sides of the sword together, right sides in, and sewed it, making sure to leave a gap so I could turn it right-side-out.

Evidently I did not leave a large enough hole for turning the sword right-side-out, because that was the hardest part of the whole process!  But finally I managed it after a lot of effort and some definitely-not-swearing.  Then I used a dowel to poke out all of the corners and edges.

Then it was time to stuff the sword!  I put a dowel in the middle so that it wouldn't be floppy, and I packed stuffing around it.  I used some of the stuffing from an old pillow that I use for projects like this.

And finally, I hand sewed the final gap closed.  I am so pleased with how my "Stuffed Sting" turned out!  And I love that I can pass my love of crafts and Lord of the Rings on to the next generation.

No Sew Hobbit Costume

Last year's Doctor Who costumes were so much fun that I really wanted to have themed costumes again this year for Halloween.  I thought that dressing up as characters from The Hobbit would be great - Jesse could be Gandalf, I could be Galadriel, Steven could be Bilbo, and Kenneth could be baby Smaug.  However, good intentions only get you so far, especially when you have two little kids to keep you busy!  Sadly I wasn't able to make costumes for Jesse and myself, but I did manage to dress up the kids!  I found a discounted little dragon costume for Kenneth, and then made a Bilbo costume for Steven.

Here is what I did to make a cheap and easy no-sew hobbit costume!

The nice thing about hobbit costumes is that you can find the clothes you need at thrift stores and then modify them.  For the Bilbo costume I needed a white button-up shirt, a green vest, brown pants, and a red jacket.

I couldn't find a green vest, but I did find a green shirt for fifty cents.  I didn't want to pull out the sewing machine, so to turn the shirt into a vest I cut the sleeves and collar off, cut it open in the front, and then used masking tape to make the "seams".

I sewed on some buttons from my button jar.

And then because I didn't want to make button holes I just used hot glue to attach some velcro to hold the vest closed.

When you attach the velcro together you can't even tell the buttons are just for decoration!  I guess sewing the buttons on means that this isn't completely "no-sew"... but if you really didn't want to sew the buttons on, you could probably hot glue those too.  I don't know how well the hot glue will hold up long-term, but I just wanted it to last for one day, so I didn't care.

I re-used the jacket from Steven's costume last year.  It was too big for him then, and I had to hem it.  It was still too big for him this year, but I didn't have to hem it as much.  Again because I was going for quick and easy, I used masking tape to hem the sleeves, and used safety pins to hem the sides and then covered the safety pins with masking tape to make sure they didn't come undone by accident.

Since we would be trick-or-treating at a local mall, our little hobbit clearly couldn't go barefoot, so I decided to make him furry hobbit feet to attach to his sandals.  I used some yarn that was left over from making this pony.

I cut several strands of similar lengths and then used another piece to tie them all together in the middle.

Then I brought the two sides together to make a pom-pom-like mass of yarn.  I also unraveled some of the yarn so it didn't look as tidy and yarn-like.

Hairy hobbit feet tied to the sandals.

One little hobbit, ready to go on an adventure!  Now all you need is a sleepy little baby Smaug.

A Happy Halloween

Halloween has always been a bit of an awkward holiday for me, as I think it is for a lot of Christians.  I never liked the idea of celebrating a day that glorifies evil and gross things.  But this isn't a post about that.  It's about how this year I really enjoyed Halloween.

Loving costumes, and having a very cute baby, of course I will take any excuse to dress him up!  For the past couple months I had been planning themed costumes for our family.  The theme?  Doctor Who.  Now I don't actually watch Doctor Who, it's too intense for me, but everyone else around here loves it and I enjoy hearing about the Doctor's latest adventures.  Plus I saw some fun ideas on pinterest.

Since we were all dressed up, we took Steven trick-or-treating downtown.  I was surprised by the fun, friendly environment.  People were smiling and having a good time, and you could just start up a conversation with anyone.  It's not very often that I find myself in that kind of environment in the city.  I was glad that we went.  Of course, Steven didn't need the candy, but we just used the candy that we collected to give out to trick-or-treaters who came to our door later in the evening!

Then back at home we ordered pizza, made apple pie, and watched musicals.  I love family time!

Here are some pictures of our TARDIS, 11th Doctor, mini 11th doctor (we were operating in a paradox, or as a friend said: a pair-o'-docs), and a friendly Mongolian we had picked up in our travels.

"Bowties are cool!"

The TARDIS and her thief.

"She’s a woman. And she’s the TARDIS!"

"Geronimo!"