Halloween Costume Ideas: Pirate Costume

Halloween is on the corner, do you have any ideas for your costume this year?

Pirate, Witch and Vampire are the top 3 most popular adult costumes last Halloween, I believe they will the same this Halloween.  Wanna to be a pirate, check out this website:  Pirate Hallween Costume Ideas

Actually, it is pretty easy to dress as Pirate, of course, if you don't have time, you can go to buy one, there are so many Cool Halloween Costumes out there.  But if you have craft like me, you probably want to make your own.  Simpicity and McCall's have few Pirate Costume Patterns, so if you love to sew, you can get the patterns when JoAnn on sales, you can get it for $0.99 or $1.99. 

But not everyone can sew, you can still make your own even you can't sew.  Just look at your closet or thrift stores, you can modify your own clothes into pirate outfit.

Here are some tips:  (from Pirate Halloween Costume Ideas)

Clothing and Accessories:

• Shirt: Button-up White Shirt, you can also wear Tan or Brown Shirt.

• Pants: Just simple black pants

• Vest: Solid Black or Brown vest are the best

 For girls or women:

• Mini Skirt: red or black are the most popular colors for Female Pirate Costume, if you want something different, try burgundy or dark brown.  Layered skirt with lace ruffles is preferred. Or skirt made of satin fabrics is good alternative.

• Corset or vest:  Some of you may not like wearing corset, if you prefer wearing a vest, you may want to add a thick belt with a large brass buckle, it will make you look sexier than just a vest.

• Boot: Every girls has a pair of boots, this is probably the one thing you don’t have to buy.  Knee High Boots are perfect for this costume, but ankle or mid calf boots will work too.  Black probably will look the best, but any dark color will work.  If you didn’t have a pair of boots, I suggest that you buy one pair that you will wear for daily basis, so you can wear it after Halloween.
• Tights: Any Black tights will work, but I think “Fishnet tights” are the best.  Great place to buy tights are Marshalls or TJ Maxx, they have a great selections at a really good price.
• Hat/ Long Scarf: I think the hat probably is the most difficult to find if you don’t buy from costume stores.  But I will definitely check out thrift stores or Craigslist.   Long scarf will be a good alternative.
• Sword: You can get a toy sword at any toy stores or costume stores.

I also find a 20% off coupon for Halloween Costume if you are interested:

Female Pirate Costume Ideas - How to make it from old clothes

Halloween is on the corner.  Female Pirate Costume is one of the most popular costumes for past several Halloween.  If you read my blog, you know me.  I don't like to buy stuff, I like to make stuff.  So here is some great ideas and tips for those want to make your own Female Pirate Costume.  You can find these items from your closet or thrift stores.  You don't have to buy everything brand new, it will save u tons of money. And more environmental friendly!

*I got the ideas from Pirate Halloween Costume Ideas, here is their website: http://www.piratehalloweencostumeideas.com/female-pirate-costume/
They have a great video to show you how to make a pirate costume from an old leather pants.

The Essential Clothing Items for Female Pirate Costume

• Blouse: white, red or black are perfect, wide and low neckline with ruffles.  Tunic style or button up blouse are great too.
•  Skirt: Prefer skirt above your knee, if you want to sexier, try mini skirt.  Red or black are the most popular colors for Female Pirate Costume, if you want something different, try pink or Red stripes.  Fabrics material: satin and suede.
• Corset or vest:  They both look great, it is your personal preference.  If you choose to wear a vest, you may want to add a thick belt with a large brass buckle, it will look more authentic.

The Essential Accessories Items For Female Pirate Costume

• Boot: Knee High Boots are perfect, but ankle or mid calf boots will work too.  Black and any dark colors are the most popular choices.  But if you want to look more stand out, try Red.

• Tights: Black tights or Fishnet tights are the best.  If you need to buy tights, I recommend to Marshalls or TJ Maxx, they have a great selections of colors and brands at a really good price.
• Hat/ Long Scarf: Long Scarf is good substitute for the hat if you can't find it.
• Sword (optional): You can get a toy sword at any toy stores, dollar stores or costume stores. 

Makeup

I am not a really makeup gal, so I don't have any tips.  But I found this great video for applying pirate makeup.

Crochet for Beginner: How to choose the right yarn for your crochet project

Are you a crochet beginner?  Are u ever wondering how to choose the right yarn for your project?  When I first learn to crochet, I was so confused with how to choose yarn and crochet hooks.  I thought all yarn are made of wool, even though I know yarn made of different materials like cotton, wool, acrylics etc, and I still had no idea what are the difference between them.  On the top of that there are yarn weight, fingering, sport ....  etc.

Yarn weight Chart.  You can see the different between different yarn weight.

Back then, I had no one to ask.  I didn't have any LYS near me, and I didn't know anyone crochet or knit.  And I couldn't find any books talk about yarn.  The crochet book I had which is the worst book ever.  Anyway, I know how overwhelming for crochet for beginner.  That's why I wrote a page about "how to choose a right yarn for your crochet projects" on my website.  You will learn what is yarn weight, and what are the difference between wool, cotton.... 

Also, I have written about how to choose right hooks for your projects, crochet hook size charts and crochet abbreviations.  Please check it out.   Right now, I am working on "Beginner Crochet Patterns", hopefully, I would be able to finish by next week.

After you visit my website, please leave me a comment or suggestion here.  So I know what I need to improve.

Happy Crocheting!

Crochet Motif from Japanese Crochet Motif Book

Bought the Japanese Crochet Motif 300 Book for a while, finally I have time to crochet one of the motifs, there are so many motifs I wanted to try, it was a hard decision to pick which one to crochet.  :)

I plan to use the motifs to crochet a bolero or cardigan, so I found this one, I think it will look to be a bolero or cardigan.  The yarn I used is Elann Baby Cashmere which is fingering yarn, it is so soft, I really enjoy crocheting with it.

The finished size (after block) is about 4.5" x 4.5".  It is a perfect size, I will need 4 motifs for the width and I am thinking 4 - 5 motifs for the length, not sure how long do I want my bolero or cardigan.

I don't think I would start the bolero until I finish my pineapple vest, my pineapple vest is about 2/3 done, hopefully, I would finish by the end of Sept.  I have been very busy with my website, crochet and taking a toddler.

Here is the pic of my motif:

It is #57 in the book.

The motif is from this pretty "Japanese motif and edging 300".

If you are interested in buying this book: Motif and Edging 300 Patterns, I still have one extra copy to sell.
Please visit my NameThatCandy Etsy Store.

My Crochet Website: www.Beyond-Crochet-Patterns.com

Screen shot of my website

I have been very busy to building my Crochet Website.  It calls www.beyond-crochet-patterns.com.  I build this website, because it is so hard to find stylish crochet patterns, therefore, I want to put all the stylish patterns together in one website, so it is easier for crocheters like me who are tired of old-fashioned patterns, and it saves us time that we don't need to look around online or in stores.  The website will include Free Crochet Patterns and Paid Crochet Patterns (which in books or Etsy). 

You will find a lot of Crochet info like "how to crochet" tutorials, Yarns and Hooks, book reviews esp Japanese Crochet books.

Please go to visit my website if you have time.  So far, there are only few pages, I try to build 1 to 2 pages each week.

If you need help with the Crochet Abbreviation, pls visit:

Crochet Abbreviations Chart

Also, you are confused with the Crochet Terms, please visit:
American vs British

Finally got my Crochet Top Down Pattern Book (行家教你領口往下鉤) from Taiwan!!!

I want this book 行家教你領口往下鉤 for a while, but I don't know anyone from Taiwan can get it for me, finally I found someone can get it for me, it takes a while to ship here, coz I tried to save $$ on postage, I asked my mom mailed it this the other Japanese Craft Books I ordered together.  BTW, I got an past issue of Rich More which I want it for LONG TIME, I am glad to find it at Hong Kong Yahoo Auction, it is an used book, but I only paid $4 for it, after ship to US, I think I paid around $9, it is still pretty cheap compare to buying in US.


Anyway, 行家教你領口往下鉤is a crochet pattern book from Taiwan, the whole book is all about top down patterns, I don't think US has one single book which all are top down patterns for crochet.  I know there are several for knitting.  So I was very excited to find this book.


The patterns in this book, some are very cute, but most of them are not my style.  It is ok, coz i just want to learn the techniques, so I can design my own patterns.  I read this book several times, it is the most confusing book ever!!  I did learn some new trick.  It doesn't explain clearly.  I read some of the reviews about this book, a lot of people complain the same thing about how confusing it is.  I guess I just need to crochet one of the patterns, I may understand better after I start to crochet.  Still, I think this book is worth to buy.  

The books I received!

This is my favorite!

I like this one also!

The Bolero is my favorite too!

My first Crochet Vest Design

I haven't posted any real crochet project for a while, it is because I have been very busy with my "Crochet Design Class" and my 1st own pattern "Pineapple Vest", I haven't had a name that.  It has been fun to design my own pattern, it is a lot of work.

I have finished the front pieces, now I am working on the back.  Hopefully, I would be able to finish in 2 weeks.  Cross my finger.

I haven't taken any pics of the vest, but I took pics of my swatch, so now is a preview of my vest.

The Swatch I did.

The yarn I used is Sublime Angora Merino, I really like this yarn, very soft, plus it doesn't shed.  One down side, it is hard to frog with this yarn.