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.