Wish Me Luck!

I have in my posession:

A 4-year-old who wants to be a leopard for Halloween (or possibly a jaguar depending on the day)

Invitations to three Halloween parties (beginning Thursday)

Two yards of brown and yellow spotted animal fleece (it's can be a leopard or a jaguar as the mood fits - though Brenna said it looked like a giraffe but the bolt specifically said "leopard" so I'm going with that)

Red thread and blue thread (refer to previous point that the fabric is brown and yellow)

A sewing machine

A pair of pajamas that fit said 4-year-old

A bizarre mother-brain thing that says I need to make Halloween costumes when that cheesy nylon leopard suit in Target would have been just fine.

What I do not have:

A pattern of any type (save the pajamas which are doing me little good at present)

Sharp Scissors *see Addendum

Any sewing ability whatsoever (witness Brenna's 2-yr-old poodle skirt costume. The entire thing was glue gunned together! and she still looked precious!)

Luckily, as I said, Molly is 4 and her expectations are minimal.

Do not be alarmed if photos next week show the poor child wearing two yards of leopard print fleece with a hole cut in the middle for her head and the whole thing simply tied around her waist. She does have a tail and ears so she's feeling good!

Brenna is going to be the first blonde, gap-toothed Asian princess to ever walk the face of the Earth. Don't think I'm making a kimono! She's already had her mommy-created costume moments in the sun! Target provided the heavy lifting for her cheesy nylon get-up and I've merely spray painted a pair of chopsticks to stick in her hair. Although that was 2 days ago and they're still wet. You might need to wish me luch on that too.

It's gonna be a long night . . .


Addendum: I found a 2" web picture of a pattern for doll pants which gave me a clue about how to cut the fabric (sharp scissors would have helped. I'll add those to my list for next time) and after some issues with the seams (which are very easy to pull out when the thread is blue against brown fabric - so see, it was a blessing in disguise!) not going right , I did manage to make a pair of pants sometime around 1 am. I even remembered to increase the size since Molly's slighter larger than an 18" doll! They are a bit too long (gotta love fleece though - just trim and go!) and they come halfway up to her armpits (I figure she'll be warm if nothing else) but they at least look like pants! I used some stretchy cording from a gift box as elastic. Improvisation is key. Now I need to go search for an idea for some kind of top. I don't know that I have it in me to do sleeves. Oh, and she wants leopard mittens with yellow paws on them. Ummmm, sure kid. Let me just whip them right up. I think I need to go buy real elastic!

Watch for photos later this week - this ought to be a hoot. I had better buy some makeup so I can do a cute face on her - it will draw attention to something other than her outfit!