Harley Quinn and the Joker got to their hideout, barely getting away from Batman

*Be sure to read to the end to find out about a sewing challenge starting on February 1, 2016. This challenge winner is chosen on February 7, 2016*

Welcome to my very first blog post. Well, ok, I think I tried starting a blog once and posted something about my new puppies. I mean my family’s baby canines, not…well never mind.  They are eight years old now, the dogs. Everything on me is original equipment.

I’m part of a group on Facebook called CraftingCon. It is a great group of crafters who love all things geeky. We have monthly sew/craft alongs where we all make something based on that months theme. If you are competing then the item should be a wearable item, not a costume (except in October). If you are not competing you are welcome to post any projects inspired by the months theme, or anything nerdy/geeky/fangirl/fanboy that you want to share with like minded crafters. The theme for November, 2016, was Justice league. I was supposed to be a guest poster for that month but this, that, and the other happened and I never ended up with a post. However the post and my projects are too great not to share, so here they are.

CraftingCon has inspired me to make some of my favorite creations. November was no exception. I did have a little trouble deciding what to do but I think everything came out *super* in the end.

I’ve made some clothes from fabrics with superhero prints from the Justice League but I have never made original Justice League inspired items. There are just so many great colorful superheroes to choose from. Any of my kids would have loved just about any of them so why was I having such a creative block? Then my oldest came into the room and said “Make Little Girl a Harley Quinn outfit”. Brilliant! Villains. Where would superheroes be without villains? Probably trying to make a few bucks as circus sideshow freaks showing off their great strength, telekinetic powers, and the ability to defy gravity. Maybe some would get by with ordinary jobs yearning for more. Superheroes need villains like the fields need rain. Like fire needs oxygen. Like I need a great big slice of pizza with a perfect hand tossed crust…sorry. Just gave up gluten. The struggle is real. *Note: I just had my oldest check my post for errors. Apparently I am wrong about superheroes without villains. Without villains superheroes apparently become villains themselves. I shall turn in my nerdy credentials.*

The Joker tried sneaking away in the night but was caught with the help of Batman.

But Harley managed to get away in the confusion. Loyal to a fault, she is sure to help the Joker escape again. (Note: I added a little nod to the Joker on the inside of the coat, which I have turned out a bit for you to see in the picture)

Not so happy now, are you Joker?

I made the Harley Quinn hoodie from the Tie Dye Diva pattern Hello Hoodie, formerly called the Cozy Coat. This is the second time I have used this pattern; it is seriously easy to sew up. And because it’s made with fleece it is very easy to customize into almost anything. (I did the below awesome Yoshi inspired Hello Hoodie in February for the sew along). I would really love to share pictures with you now showing my creative process of customizing the pattern to transform a basic coat into a villain extraordinaire, but alas I did not photograph my process.

Here is how I made Harley’s coat. I’m so sorry about not having pictures of the process but if you refer to the finished pictures in this post it should help clear up any confusion. For Harley’s coat I was able to simplify the process by color blocking the red and black fleece together before cutting it by simply sewing together a piece of red and piece of black large enough to fit the front and back pattern pieces on.

I added tassels made out of fleece instead of bells since I didn’t think jingle bells would wash very well. That, and I only had small, blue jingle bells.

I made a fold line across the middle of the front and back pattern pieces and laid that over the seam where the black and red came together. I cut one front piece out then flipped the cut piece over and upside down to get a mirrored piece with opposite colors. I then cut around that piece using it as my pattern. For the back I did pretty much the same thing except the back piece was meant to be cut on the fold so I added a half inch seam allowance to the “cut on fold” side and cut two pieces instead of one, just like the front. I carefully lined up my back pieces and sewed them together. I now had one back piece as called for in the pattern. Alternatively, after cutting the front pieces you can cut your remaining horizontal color blocked piece in half vertically, flip one side around so you have opposite colors touching like a checker board, sew them together, then cut it out the back piece on the fold at the seamline.

To make the hood into the iconic lilipres (yeah, I looked that up), I simply drafted horn like shapes and held them up to the hood while being worn to check the size. I added a seam allowance then just cut them out flat, sewed them up, and had my husband and the Joker stuff them while I worked on the T-shirt. To sew them on I just sewed the raw edge flat against the hood with the rest of the piece going towards the back, then I folded it back over the first seam and sewed down again with the pieces going to the front. They now sit going straight out.

The green-blue looks more green in person. I swear it does.

The Tie Dye Diva Zee’s Tee has many options so I didn’t have to do any fancy calculating to get the color blocking just right, it was already an option. The only thing I did off pattern was made a faux cuff on the sleeves, it really is the lazy way to finish the sleeve but looks like it takes extra work. With a serger, all you do for a faux cuff is fold the raw edge to the inside, just like you are going to hem it. So, now you have two layers, fold those two layers to the outside of the sleeve with the fold being just slightly above the raw edge. Now serge around, cutting off the fold and catching the raw edge. Now turn your cuff down, press, and voila! You have a little cuff. This method does shorten the sleeve a little bit, you will probably be taking off about half an inch, so keep that in mind.

I hope you liked my Justice League inspired projects and my very first (sort of), blog post!

Oh, I almost forgot. I am working with JillyAtlanta this week, starting February 1, 2016 . I’m going to be a guest poster for a special challenge based on a top I made my daughter using one of her patterns in January. Be sure to click the link and join the group to see what we are up to and have a chance at winning the prize!