Toddler Renfest Jacket: Finished

I've been so busy with life that I haven't had time to update here.  The pregnancy, then birth of my daughter, and my relocation for my job just ate up most of my time and energy.

Regardless, I did complete my son's Renfest "Elfling" Jacket.

Here are the pictures of the jacket when we made our trip to the Maryland Renaissance Festival in early Fall 2010.  It was mostly complete, though the leaves still needed to be attached.  I was also going to add a cluster of keys to the hood's point but decided against it.  But the couching embroidery was complete and added a really nice touch to the jacket.  (Click here to see the jacket before the couching was done.)  Unfortunately, the weather was too warm when we went to MDRF for him to wear the jacket, but playing in my oldest sister's back yard the next morning was chilly, so he got to wear it then.  He had tried it on prior to this, and loved it, but this was an even better test run of the jacket.  He was very obviously happy and comfortable in it.  Warm on it's own but also roomy enough to layer on top of a hoodie or jacket for extra warmth in needed.  The range of movement it allowed was also perfect for a very active toddler.

And below is a picture from Halloween with him wearing the completed jacket.  I hope to find (or get) more pictures where the leaves are more visable, but you can see that the texture they added to the jacket.  They were very easy to make (each hand cut) and stitch on.  All the embroidery and each leaf was were handstitched.

The jacket was a hit, both with my son and with others.  My friend who owns Artifacts Boutique said I ought to make them to sell (both for Halloween, Festivals, and Christmas) and recommended I talk to one of her friends who owns a children's clothing store.  Yet I'm in no hurry for such things.  I used to make the wandcases for Mom Crosewl's Magic Shop at MDRF every year for several years while also working on various custom costume orders for a number of LARPers, Rennies, and Ebayers... It's nice to make things for myself and my family, with no real time limits except my own, no real pressure, on a whim and just for fun.  Accepting orders because I want to.

Another friend of mine thought I actually bought the jacket at a renfest.  Now... I tend to have mixed feelings about garments you find at renfest.  A few are places I recomment (like Moresca) because of the quality of their pieces, but most are not near my level of standards.  I know this may make me sound like a snob when it comes to buying costuming especially at festivals, but it's hard not to be when I know what to look at (in design, fit, fabric... quality and durability... straight stitches, clean lines, and properly snipped thread ends... and so on).  So when I sew, I try to keep my work well above what you would find at festivals.  Most of their stuff would be below the quality of my rushed prototypes.  We all have to have our personal standards, and this is mine.  That's not to say I don't give a lot of credit to people who sew, especially beginners... I just have a problem when it seems people being overcharged at festivals for what they are getting simply because the vast majority of shoppers don't know better.  But I believe that the comment was meant as a compliment, because for most people it is.  And that's how I will take it.  :-)

Now I'm working on figuring out some designs for other projects I hope to start and working out details on ongoing projects as well.  I will write about those soon. 

Toddler Renfest Jacket: The Beginning

My husband, son and I will very likely be going to the Maryland Rensaissance Festival (MDRF) this Saturday. Most of our costumes are things we already own. My husband will be wearing his kilt and the shirt I made (and embroidered) for him with the rest of his Scottish inpired garb. I will be a fairie of some sort or just some random rennie. My son will be wearing his Disney special edition Peter Pan costume that we bought him years ago in preparation for when he became interested in dress up. This outfit is actually really nice and stylized. (Kinda like Disney took inspiration from Lord of the Rings.)

My concern for my son's costume is if the weather gets chilly. It will be the first weekend of October, so one never knows. As such, I am making him an elven style jacket using the Butterick pattern B4319 (as shown above).

In the past, I didn't really give this particular pattern much notice, but it is perfect for the jacket idea, with a few alterations. It looks easy and quick (since I wouldn't have much time to make it given the last minute nature of the trip). The main alterations would be leaving the front open with cloth closures (to tie), fitting it down to my toddler's size (since the pattern size starts at "age 4") and making a point on the hood. I would also be adding some embroidery and stitching on some leaf cut outs.

The colors would be a dark drab green and a dark brown. Very appropriate. The cloth would be fleece, which doesn't need hemming, would be warm enough, is nice and soft, and was also on sale for a decent price. I actually have enough to make my son a hat and a cloak (which my husband may make, hopefully having the hat mostly done before the trip).

On Tuesday, my mother had our son over at her house for a few hours for their weekly "Grammie Time", which gave me time to work on the jacket and rest my back when I needed to. There was no way I'd be able to do the measuring and cutting with my son there. He likes to climb all over me and is very inquisitive... which I honestly don't mind but makes certain things difficult.

Attached are pictures of the stitched jacket. (Sorry if they seem a little dark and don't mind the unclipped threads.)

I decided to leave the sleeves and bottom unhemmed so it will hang straight without the stiffness that a hem would have created. Obviously, I had not added the closures or the embroidery.

My son got home just after I finished the last stitch. This pattern was incredibly easy and quick! My boy took a look at it and immediately expressed interest. He let me put it on him to see how it fit and then promptly put it on backwards after so it looked like a snuggie. *laughs* He was very happy with it thus far. The fit is perfect (with a little growing room too!) and the little point on the hood is adorable.

Last night, I started the embroidery. I had to change my tactics because the yarn I bought would not easy stitch into the fleece and I didn't want to waste time trying to force it. So, instead, I decided to use a couching stitch to attach it. Actually, the specific technique is called a bunched couching stitch. (Click here for examples of couching stitches.) It takes a bit of time, so I'm getting a bit nervous, but that's what I get for choosing to add embroidery to the project! I'm not going to do too much intricate work on it, but I have a bit more embroidery I want to add to it... though probably not adding any to the back. We'll see. I still have the leaves to cut and attach, but I'm thinking that the jacket will be fine for MDRF without them as long as I get the embroidery done. I'll decide that tonight.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the embroidery yet.

Halloween 2009: Completed Harlequins!

Halloween is over, and the costumes were completed in time for Trick-or-Treating. Our son wore his costume in several stages of completion... once for our visit to Fright Fest at 6 Flags (an amusement park) and once for the Pre-Trick-or-Treat Party my mother and I held for the children in our family. He looked adorable each time, but the pom-poms that we added on Halloween morning was an absolutely adorable touch that really completed the outfit.

Anyways, my husband made his entire outfit, except the hat and the cummerbund.

I accepted help from him with the baby's and my outfits, mainly because I was running out of time. I made the body of the baby and mommy costumes and my hat. My husband made the neck ruffs and the baby's hat. The fabric pom poms were a joint effort. He measured, cut, and serged the edges. I gathered them, rolled them into "flowers", and then stitched them to the costumes.

As can be seen in the photos, my design changed slightly. I chose not to have pom poms down the front of my shirt. I felt they would get lost in the polkadots and might be awkward for carrying my son. Instead, I put a pom pom "flower" on my hat near where my ear would be. It really added a whimsical, feminine touch that balanced out the look perfectly.

Anyways, without further ado... pictures of the finished outfits. :-)

Halloween 2009: Baby Harlequin Jumper

I finished the Jumper part of my son's Harlequin costume. It's pretty much a perfect fit! I might make a few changes later, if I have time before Halloween.

My husband made the bias tape out of the original sleeves I cut (which were too short). I used that bias tape around the wrists and ankles as a casing for the elastic gathers. They are barely visible in some of the pictures below.

I part of the bottom inseam open so we can pull the outfit on over his head and to allow us easy diaper changes. The front has a short opening that closes with snaps, just for extra ease and comfort.

My mother has most of the pictures we took of him in the costume thus far. He was so cute, running round and squealing. Me thinks he likes the bright colors!

The jumper looks cuter and poofier (and longer) when he's walking around on his own. The pictures below don't really show that, but they do show how absolutely adorable the jumper is and how much fun my baby had in it.

So... I have his hat, neck ruffle, and pom-poms to finish to complete this outfit. I'm also thinking about making a quicky outfit for his monkey harness, which would be way too cute.

For now, I'm working on the base of my outfit, which I hope to finish cutting tonight and maybe even mostly stitch together by tomorrow night. My husband's outfit, on the other hand, is mostly done, though we don't have pics of it yet.

Anyways, off I go to finish cutting out my top and my pants. :-)

Halloween 2009: Baby Harlequin Update

My son's outfit is mostly cut out. All I have left to cut is his hat and the neck ruffle. I used an animal/devil/angel pattern that I altered to have the appropriate bagginess. We plan to have snap opennings along the inseam of the legs for easy diaper changes and the outfit should be baggy enough to allow him to wear warm clothing underneath.

I hope to have the body of the outfit done tonight (except maybe the snaps) and the rest done by tomorrow night. Then I can start my outfit, which I'm far less concerned about since I can through something appropriate together from the renfest costumes I've gathered over the years. I'd rather not, but I do feel that the costumes for my husband and my son are far more important.


On a side note: Joann's has a fairly nice sale going on until Monday. Simplicity patterns are $0.99, interfacing is 50% off, and so on. I fell into temptation and got some patterns, interfacing, and several rolls of 'salvage bin' cloth cuts (under 1 yard... but enough to make small things with... like a baby blanket, an apron, etc). My husband also got three of the four books he ordered from Amazon on Victorian and Edwardian fashions. I can't wait to look at them. :-)

Halloween 2009: Harlequin Clowns

My husband and I decided to put our Brimsteam steampunk character projects on hold temporarily in preparation for our son's second Halloween. Last year was a fairly laid back affair since our son was so young and we, as new parents, were... well... new parents. The costumes were fun, but very simple, inexpensive, and much enjoyed.

(The baby's outfit was a skeleton sweatsuit w/ hoodie on sale from Babies R Us, while my husband and I wore some of my old goth stuff, which included men's pants, and some skeleton-rib T-shirts I got for free from Old Navy.)

Well, we are fairly adjusted to being parents (which includes the constant need to be flexible, work around the baby/toddler's schedule, and being ever so worn out). This year, we are going to make our outfits.

I always adored old fashioned harlequin clowns. My mother made my a couple my older sister and my youngest brother this type of clown costume and I always think they were adorable whenever I see the pictures. I also always wanted to make myself an old fashioned, baggy harlequin outfit. So... We decided that we would do so this year! What better time than when my son is so small and running all over the place with huge giggles and smiles! :-)

We already have the materials. I bought them last year on a super After Halloween sale from Hancock Fabrics. I bought them because I knew I'd want to make something with them... either Halloween gift aprons, comedic victorian outfits, or so forth. But when I saw them sitting unused I knew that they were destined to become this year's Halloween outfits!

Below is my first concept drawing. I liked how the child outfit looked, but my costume wasn't quite right. I wanted something femme but flattering and old fashioned. Something like the swimwear from the Victorian era. This was far too fitted and not really pulling together well.

Next, I resketched my son's outfit-to-be, coloring it in to get an idea of how the striped material would look. I love how it looks. I found instructions on how to make the hat, the fabric ruffle pom-poms, and the neck ruff, all of which I can't wait to try. I'll put links to the instructions on here later, if ours turn out well. My costume, however was still not on par. I reworked the sketch a number of times, erasing and redrawing parts, but I just kept coming back to the thought that it was too complex and too shapely. I didn't like the idea of my costume being more difficult than my son's. That just seemed to defeat the purpose. I started steering away from the Victorian swimwear idea and was leaning more towards just bloomers and a baggy top with a sash, but it just didn't feel right to me.

Then, in a moment of clarity I drew the costume below. It's perfect. Baggy but femme. Old fashioned but flattering. Simple and cute. A proper French Clown but with harlequin leanings! I also have a pattern that should work pretty well for the base while I use the instructions I found for the ruffs and pom-poms.

Next time, I hope to post pictures of the cloth, but if not, at least pictures of the progress. I'm so excited by these projects and can't wait to start planning out how I'm going to cut my son's material... and my own. My husband is going to take care of his own outfit, which will be loosely based on the harlequin outfit Lord Peter Wimsey wore in "Murder Must Advertise". His progress will be able to be followed on the blog I set up for him: Sgt. Steampunk.