The Cuddly Lion is a Threads Costume Contest Semi-Finalist- Vote for Us!

We are totally honored to be chosen as one of the 5 Semi-Finalists in the Threads 2015 Costume Contest!

There is so much creativity and cleverness in the Threads Halloween Contest Gallery, and we are totally humbled to be chosen as one of the top 5 this year. What amazing company we are in! 

I do have to admit to going a bit crazy getting this Little Lion costume just-so. I know it is just Halloween, but I love beautiful materials and well-crafted garments, and I can't just let all that go even for a costume! You can read about the details in the blog post. 

And Leo is putting on such a fantastic performance, he's so into the cute lion act! I had that fear in the back of my head that my little 7 month old might not much care for being covered in fur, but he is was such a great sport, and genuinely happy to be part of that craziness that is Halloween.

Visit the Threads Finalists Page, and vote for us! 

And here's our little circus act! (I did make all our costumes, but Leo's is the pièce de résistance!)

Little Lion as a Lion- Simplicity 1767

Wow, if I knew what I was getting into when I decided to make Leo a lion costume...

... I'd do it anyway!

How difficult could it be, I thought? In searching for a pattern, I found Simplicity 1767 and noted the next pattern sale date at my local Joannes (fortunately, later that same week-- this was around the last week of September). But that's where the easy going ended! When I perused Joannes for an appropriate fake fur, I found NOTHING at all that looked even vaguely lion-like. A sympathetic Joanne's employee suggested that I try dying some fur... but then noted that there wasn't even any fur that was the right color and texture for dying. I figured if there wasn't a fur, there would at least be a nice fur-like minky or sherpa fleece type thing... but no, nothing of the sort. Really quite a sad selection for Halloween-time! I probably should have given up there.

Instead, I did what any crazed costume-focused mom would do-- I trawled the internet that very night, while the kids were asleep, and ordered some fake fur, sight unseen, from the internet! Thank fortune, the fur that I ordered from Fabric.com which seemed to be just the right shade of gold, did indeed turn out to be just the right shade of gold. That's the body fabric you see above.

The longer fur I ordered for the mane from Etsy turned out to be not quite so fortunate of a choice... what had appeared to be a lovely gold mongolian fur in the photograph turned out to be a sort of ugly shade of greenish-beige. My husband suggested dying it. I duly researched poly-dyes, and it did seem like it might be possible using iDye Poly, but I'd need two packets of the stuff and a dye-pot. I was not enthused- not only did it seem messy and risky, but seemed an expensive prospect since the original fur was only $10. Then it occurred to me that I might be able to pick up the dye on a planned trip to NYC, thereby bypassing shipping fees from Dharma. And then a totally wonderful idea occurred to me-- skip the dye and go buy a new piece of fur! As one might imagine, the selection of furs at Mood was fabulous, and I found one that fit my idea of a mane within minutes. Unfortunately the smallest cut was a yard (the fur was $30/yard!), but at this point, I was so committed to this costume and thrilled to have a fur of the right color that I just went with it. I guess I'll just have to make a fur trimmed coat in the future, such a sacrifice!

As for the Simplicity 1767, it worked well enough, with some degree of fussing. Having sewn a simplicity kids animal costume pattern previously (For Little Bug's Max/Wolf suit costume, Simplicity 2506), I suspected that the torso length might be short. I measured the pattern pieces before cutting, it seemed that this was the case, so I cut the Large, even though little Lion's measurements put him in the Medium. I sewed the micro fleece lining first, in lieu of a toile, and the torso length was perfect. The arms and the legs had to be dramatically shortened... I took about 4 inches off each leg, and about 3 inches off each arm, but this was pretty easy to do since it is a very simple pattern. The hood was also huge, I probably should have cut the Medium, but I ended up just pinching out the ease and thereby shaping it to his head.

I nearly had a disaster on my hands with the zipper-- the only thing that saved me was the fact that I added the bib in front in a scrap of white sherpa fleece left over from the Max costume. You see, the pattern called for fleece, and it totally didn't occur to me that putting a zipper in a costume made of fake fur was just asking for disaster! Not to mention the fact that I had gone with an invisible zipper... even worse. I would suppose that you would have to have some sort of baffle to keep the fur away from the zipper in a fur costume... but I haven't really researched this issue. You could probably also bypass this by putting the closure in the back and just using hooks or something-- but in a pattern designed for fake fur, I doubt that a center front zipper would be called for. I did manage to get it unzipped and zipped a couple of times down past the fake fur, but it was an effort to keep the fur out of the way of the zipper, and it was not really feasible when trying to put the costume on a squirming 7 month old. My solution was to stop the zipper at the end of the bib part of the front of the costume... I just sewed a couple of bars over the zipper to prevent accidental zipping into the fur. It turned out that this was plenty of room to get the costume on and off.

Before shearing...

After shearing...!

 The other big hurdle was the length of the fur. I got the suit sewn, and it looked more like a Yeti than a lion! In perusing lion pictures, they actually have pretty short fur, except for their manes. I tried cutting the fur with scissors to a better length and not only did it look terrible, but it took forever to do a tiny patch. Once again, I turned to the internet, and it turns out there is a whole industry of people who work with fake fur... making those Furries costumes. I'd seen those, but hadn't really considered the people who make them... anyhow, people were using hair clippers. I didn't own a hair clipper... but I had thought about it, since I'm pretty darn sure I'm going to get good at giving haircuts with two kids. So, I purchased a Wahl clipper on Amazon. It worked beautifully! So easy. I used the number 1 guard to do a first cut, then used the blade unguarded to get a bit closer. The change doesn't look so dramatic, but it totally changes the feel of the fur-- it is less shaggy, and more furry. It looked much more lion-like after I was done.

The mane was pure improvisation. I really wanted someone to tell me how to do it, and looked all over the internet and found lots of yarn manes and felt manes. The closest I found was an Instructable for making a lion costume for a dog, which wasn't quite the same thing, but did give me the idea of pleating the fur to get a bit more volume from it. I ended up cutting 4 inch strips of fur and hand sewing them to the hood with 1 inch pleats about every 8 inches. Initially I had three layers of overlapping fur, coming right to the edge of the hood, but when I tried it on Little Lion, he was lost in all that fur! So then I went with two layers, slightly overlapping, with some of the golden fur of the hood showing in front around his face, trimmed with the Wahl clipper so that it was pretty short. The fur is hand sewed on, there was pretty much no way that I was going to get all that thickness through my machine.

For the ears, I cut out the rounded ear from the pattern, then made it about 50% larger. I wanted it to be large enough that it wouldn't get lost in the mane, but not so large that it looked like a mouse ear! I made the center out of sherpa fleece, and the back out of the golden fur. I just a hole in the mane, then pushed the ear through and hand sewed it to the hood.

The paws are made to be little fold down mittens, with velcro to keep them out of the way. I made the pretty large, because I thought it would be cute... oversized paws seem kitten-ish to me. The pads on the paws are a brown fake-suede fabric (from at Joanne's). It is hand sewn onto the white sherpa-fleece, with a bit of poly-fill padding stuffed in to give dimension. The backs are golden fur, left long.

The tail is a strip of the lining, sewed into a tube and stuffed with poly-fill. The tip of the tail is a scrap of fur from the mane, hand sewed on.

Mom the Lion-tamer with my Little Lion! I made my costume too, but that's another story!

There isn't a lining in the Simplicity pattern, but it was pretty easy to do. I didn't want the scratchy fake fur backing against Little Lion's skin. I made the lining out of the thinnest fleece I could find. I used the same pattern pieces, then machine sewed around the hood and down both sides of the zipper. I left enough of a hole at the bottom of the zipper to turn the costume, then hand sewed the remainder. On the sleeves, I hand sewed the lining to the fur, and skipped the elastic and mitts that the pattern called for.  I tacked the lining to the seam allowances of the fur at the feet with a couple of hand stitches to keep the lining in place when taking the costume on and off.

This is definitely a costume for a pretty immobile baby. Little Lion is crawling, but is pretty new at it, so he's fairly content to sit around all cozy and watch the action. Halloween for a 7 month old is pretty much just that-- observing the action from a stroller or a lap, and he was totally happy doing that all covered in fur. It wasn't super cold this year in NY, but it was on the verge, especially when sitting outside on the porch for hours, admiring the costumes of the trick-or-treaters and handing out candy, which how we spent most of the evening. We counted about 550 trick-or-treaters! Little Lion got lots of compliments... mostly people got that he was a very cuddly lion, but there was one visitor who asked if she could pet the dog!

My Lion, big sister the Leopard, and mom the Lion Tamer.

Leopard in a Dress Costume

Little Bug wanted to be a kitty this Halloween, and when I showed her pictures, she immediately jumped on the leopard tutu costume, of which there are many variations out there in internet-land.

I decided to approach it by making several matching pieces that together would work as a costume, but separately could work for daily wear or imaginative play.

The facepaint sort of makes the costume... and fortunately, she was totally into it this year. I ended up using Natural Earth Paint, purchased locally but you can also get it here. I was skeptical at first, but it worked rather well, and I love the earthy tones-- they are perfect for a leopard-face.

The dress pattern is the MADE First Day Dress. I've raved about this pattern here. This time I sewed it up in leopard print dancewear fabric that I picked up at Joanne's. Since I was sewing in a very stretchy knit, I took 1/2 inch off of each of the side seams, skipped the back closure, and bound the edges with a strip of knit. Actually, I got only partway through binding the edge of the sleeve and ended up liking the way the strip acted like a little cap sleeve. I also left the skirt un-hemmed. I made matching tights in the same fabric, just traced off of a current pair of her leggings.

Rooooooar!!!

To keep my little Leopard warm, I made a little leopard shrug out of a furry leopard fleece. I traced one of her sweaters as a pattern, leaving it at a cropped length with no front closure. I did a simple hem on the fleece, turning it up once and topstitching it down.

For the ears, I made a fleece hat with ears. I thought it would be a fun hat to wear this winter, and would keep the ears more secure than a headband or clips, while also providing warmth. The pattern was traced from one of her favorite hats, and the ears were improvised. The hat is fully lined with micro-fleece.

Of course, there is also a matching tail. This one is made of the furry fleece, just a tube, closed on one end and turned out so the seaming is inside, stuffed with poly-fill and attached to elastic.

And then there is the tutu. I went with one of the no-sew tutu patterns floating around the internet. My local Joanne's had beige sparkle 6" tulle rolls, but no black or white, so I had to order those colors off of Amazon. The waistband is just 1 inch elastic. I thought it would be a fun project for us to make together, but it turns out it was a bit advanced for her, so I ended up doing it all myself, which was fine.  I'm not sure I'm sold on this kind of tutu...it was simple, but seems to not be very durable, the tulle strips get all tangled up and seem to be pulling down out of shape. But it certainly was easy, so there's that.

I think her girl-sense finds the hat to be a little un-cool-- sometimes she won't wear it. And on this particular day, she wanted to wear the tutu under the dress, like a petticoat. She is an interesting kid!

My Leopard and Lion!

After Trick-or-Treating!

Mom the Lion Tamer/Ringmaster with her two wild animals!

Prada sport top- TNT princess seam top

If I look tired in these pics, it is because I am! Poor little lion is waking up many, many times per night. Something is bothering him...maybe teeth coming in, or funniness in his insides from the new solid foods in his diet, or maybe stuffiness from the cold that he has. Which means mom is very sleep deprived. Sewing-wise, it means she wants quick, satisfying sews. Hence, my TNT top in luxurious designer ponte knit. I probably would not have even splurged on this fabric, but I had a crazy idea. 

Isn't that a cool idea? I was planning on using two Closet Case Files patterns: Ginger Jeans for the bottom, and the Bombshell swimsuit for the top (significantly altered!). I know that Closet Case Files also has a jumpsuit pattern, but I don't do gathered waists and I thought the halter would be super sexy. 

However, here is the thing... I'm a sewist, and I sew for my own body. And while I might have possibly convinced myself that I might wear this with my pretty drawings, when I basted together the bottoms and tried them on, I knew instantly that there was not a chance I would wear this in public. Quite honestly, I just don't have the proportions to pull this off right now, and I'm not sure I ever will. 

But, the fabric is gorgeous... a Prada Sport double knit from Emmaonesock. It is hard to show in pictures just how lovely this fabric is... the print is just the tiniest bit dimensional and it is drapey and feels luscious. And the two different scales of the print are just so cool. So I gathered up my scraps and sewed myself a top that I know I will wear, as often as I can pull off without looking repetitive.

I was thinking comfy and non-clingy this weekend, so I left the top fairly loose. I often sew this pattern with wovens, so I took in the side seams by 5/8 in on each side to make it a little closer fitting. I used strips of the smaller scale knit as a binding for the neck and sleeves, and left the binding visible. I just love ponte tops, they are so forgiving and a bit cozy, so easy to throw on over jeans. 

It really was not too much of a loss... I discovered in cutting and basting the Ginger Jeans pattern that the fit is pretty darn good. In a nice dark, thick ponte it would make some great comfy pants, and now that the pattern is printed and assembled, I'm that much closer to actually making a pair of jeans. In addition, I think the pants panels, when disassembled, would make a great paneled dress....

The bummer is that I didn't make one little thing for the Sew Indie Month contests. My ideas were all too ambitious or didn't work out-- and I just couldn't settle on anything in the time I had, which was not much time at all! But my heart is with those great indie designers, and many of my upcoming makes will be their fabulous patterns.

Replacing the Zipper on a Boot

I had another total sewing failure this weekend... the only good thing about it is that I abandoned ship early and launched into a backlog of desperate wardrobe needs and repairs. I'll save the story of the fail in another post, but I thought I would share a little sewing task that provided surprising gratification-- replacing the zipper on a beloved boot!

New zipper! The antique brass metal zipper feels like an upgrade over the plastic coil zipper that failed.

I know these boots don't look like much, and they are in need of a good polish job (in fact, I just ordered a jar of Meltonian creme polish this morning, after realizing the super-market variety wasn't going to do it for these sadly maintained boots). But they are hands down the most comfortable boot I've ever owned. I put miles and miles on these walking the streets of Rome, and for the 4 months we were there, they were the only shoes I wore. Nothing else handled the stress of walking on twisted cobblestone streets for my fragile, ache-prone feet. These were also the only real shoes I could wear when I was pregnant (I don't really count UGGs as real shoes-- I feel like they are cheating, sort of like wearing your slippers to work, and looking a bit like that too!). I don't love the vaguely 80s styling, but they are just perfect for wearing with jeans or tights.

The other boot-- the original zipper still works on this one, but you can see the point where it is going to fail. The other side failed in the same place. 

I thought about replacing them... but I would buy a very, very similar style and Dansko no longer makes any boots quite like these... the boots they have out now are all narrower with sleeker toe boxes. It is the clog-like toe-box with a more flexible sole that makes these so comfortable for me, and there is nothing else out there that I've seen that is quite like them.

Besides, why replace them when they are perfectly good in most areas that count? The soles are in remarkably good condition, no cracking and remarkably little wear for all of the miles that are on them. The leather is scuffed, but nothing a good polish job wouldn't fix--no holes and nice and supple, with great character! The insoles are in excellent condition-- again, remarkable considering the wear these have gotten. The lining only has one point of wear, and it isn't a problem as long as I wear socks.

Detail of the replaced zipper.

Alas, the zippers. They are plastic coil zippers, and one of them was completely shot. For the last year, I've just left it zipped and shoved my foot into the boot, which is not an ideal solution, but it does work. When I browsed the web seeking some tips and support, I came up with almost nothing other than how expensive it is to get zippers replaced at the cobbler's.

So I just went for it. I had some #5 pant zippers in antique brass that I had bought thinking I would use them for pants, but they are really so beefy that I can't quite imagine them as a zip fly on a women's garment. But they were the perfect length and weight for the boot.

I wish I had taken more pics of the process, but it was really quite straightforward. I unpicked the zipper on both sides. It was also glued in quite securely with leather adhesive... which did make me regret not having bought any of that on my last sewing supply order, but the glue didn't stop me from pulling the old zipper out, it was tacky rather than solid. I cut the new zipper from the bottom to match the length of the old zipper, and put in a pin as a temporary bottom stop. I used double-sided Wonder tape with abandon when fitting in the new zipper. I used a #18 needle with topstitching weight thread (Gutterman Mara 70) in both the needle and the bobbin. I used my zipper foot with a piece of tape on the bottom (to make it a bit more slick against the leather). To get the seam started, I used my jean-a-ma-jig with an extra piece of cardboard, and sewed very slowly-- first with the handwheel, then just slowly with the pedal, careful to catch both sides and stick with the established line of stitching. The machine performed admirably, but I was only able to machine sew the top half of both sides. The bottom half I had to hand sew, which also proved to be not as difficult as I had thought. It would have been nice to have a heavier needle and a thimble, but I made do with a regular needle and pushing it through with my finger nails or any handy hard surface.

A close up of the point that is close to failure on the working zipper. Is this repairable? I didn't think so. 

Overall, it took me a couple hours from start to finish. But the end result feels very secure, and I actually think it looks nicer than the original zipper. The other boot's zipper still works, but it has a weak spot so I'll probably be doing that one soon!

The zipper was less than $1 at Wawak, so financially, this is a win if it saves me having to buy boots this year, or pay a cobbler over $50 to do the same repair. And I sort of feel like I have a new pair of boots-- the antique brass metal zipper is so much more attractive than the featureless plastic coil zipper that failed.

Lunar Eclipse 'Blood Moon'

Did anyone else see this? It was pretty spectacular from where we are!

 

I would have liked the timing of the intervals to be more methodical, but the kiddos kept waking up and wanting me to cuddle them in bed, so I just did the best I could. Shot with a 200mm lens.

Of course in moments when I wasn't cuddling or admiring the view, I was pulling together my next sewing project! I had big ideas for Sew Indie Month, but not sure if anything is going to pan out-- nothing has really gone smoothly and time is short. Do you want to hear my woeful excuses? It might be entertaining to you...

For "Dressed to the Nines," I had planned to make a Snowball dress (Waffle Patterns) with a custom print at Spoonflower, but then I lost my Photoshop file after spending HOURS on the composite I was making. Not to mention the long turnaround time for getting fabric printed and shipped, and I can't justify sending the file until it is just PERFECT since the cost of the fabric is at the high end of the range I would even consider purchasing. So, that one is on the back burner for awhile, certainly not going to make an October 4th deadline. I still want to make it... it is going to be FANTASTIC when I finish it!

For some undetermined category, I was planning on making a body-con dress out of the Fehr Trade Surf to Summit top. It will have open shoulders and a band around the neck. It is sort of a crazy idea, and I think it will be fabulous, but after making a "wearable" test version, I think my adaptation still needs work. Making alterations to the pattern takes a bit of trial and error since it is rather unusual, a raglan sleeve and no side seam. My altered pattern looks crazy, and will look crazier before I'm done! To further add to the pressure, the fabric I would love to make it out of is a Missoni knit from my stash, and I don't want to rush when working with such a special and unique fabric. I could work with a less precious fabric-- I even selected one and have it washed and sitting next to my workstation-- but I'm not enthused about it.

But what I was working on last night was for the 'Pattern Hacking' category, and I don't want to spoil the surprise. It will either be fabulous our a complete fail. It involves the Ginger Jeans pattern, and I cut the pieces last night, can't wait to baste together and see how close or far I am from my goal...

That might take DAYS, btw. Sewing time is ridiculously short, and I do need to sleep sometime...!

Shirt refashion- Baby Vest (Oliver+S Art Museum Vest)

So Leo doesn't need another vest... but looking at the scraps I had left over from the BHL Peplum top made from a men's shirt, I just couldn't resist. I just love a boy who can wear pink and get away with it! The pattern is the Oliver+ S Art Museum vest, you can see the first one I made here.

The scrap situation was pretty dire-- I wasn't really sure I was going to be able to pull it off. Talk about just fitting...

And here, you can see how I had to piece together scraps in two places (there is a vertical join in the red portion).

I decided to do a flap pocket utilizing a bit of the collar. I didn't make the welt underneath, just a faux pocket this time! 

And for the belt on the back, I used the cuffs.  

I wanted a contrasting interior, so I had to break out another shirt... this one had silver and white stripes. 

This is a fantastic pattern... so cleverly designed, and it comes together quickly. Like the first time I made this, I underlined the front with cotton organdy to give it a bit more structure. There isn't much to say about it that I didn't already say when I blogged my first version... so I'll just share the cute pictures! In the pic below, Little lion is wearing the vest with a basic onesie top (gift from grandma) and natural linen Made by Rae big butt pants. 

And here everyone is dressed up, ready to go to a Milonga! In these pics, Lion is wearing his vest with jeans for a dressed down look ;). Nope, I didn't make the dress Little Bug is wearing, that was a used clothing store find.

I'm sort of on a roll with the shirt refashion thing. My usual places to fabric shop don't carry much in the way of men's shirtings, and I just love all of the subtle variations of stripes. Chambray and shirt-weight denim, too. Not to mention how awesome it is to have all of those readily interfaced pieces (collars, cuffs, button bands) to play with, and lots of buttons (I used every one from the red and pink striped shirt, and had to add a few from my stash). And you can't beat the cost, assuming you're willing to spend the time deconstructing and figuring out how to arrange your pattern pieces to take advantage of the material. I do have some other traditional fabric makes in the works, but expect to see more refashioning in the future!

Bias Peplum Top- Shirt Refashion and BHL Flora Hack

I know, this is a very unusual look for me... as well as an unusual process!

As I was sewing the By Hand London Flora dress this summer, it occurred to me that the pattern would probably make a great peplum top. Not that I know anything about peplum tops, since I don't own one and I am not sure I ever have.

More recently, I was thinking about possible refashion ideas, using a man's shirt. I had been inspired by Portia's blog at The Makery where she was hosting a shirt refashion challenge-- her guest refashionners did some totally amazing things with their shirts. To be honest, I've never refashioned much of anything before. I did go through a sweater felting stage a couple years ago and I considered making things out of sweaters, but the only wearable thing I ended up making was a baby hoodie out of a totally irresistable cashmere sweater. Now Little Lion is wearing it, so I guess that counts for something!

So here is the shirt I decided to use. It is sort of perfect for a refashion... it feels like linen and is 3XL. A total charity shop find! Oddly, the tag said it was 100% cotton, but as I was deconstructing it, I found another tag that said 100% linen. Go figure.

And, because I just KNEW it would be impossible to get the peplum that I wanted out of this one shirt, I bought a coordinating red shirt.

You might notice, the stripes are on grain. In order to get the chevrons I wanted, I cut the bodice on the bias, then reattached the front bodice to the button placket. I was able to cut the back bodice from the back of the shirt, the front bodice from the two sleeves, and some of the peplum from the front and the scraps. The rest of the peplum I had to make from the red shirt.

Since I hadn't made this view of the Flora, I did a quick muslin to check fit. It actually fit quite well, all I had to do was move the bust darts half an inch down and toward the center. I didn't notice it on the muslin, but I did have a bit of gaping at the back of the neck and I ended up pinching out a 1/2 inch wedge from the top of the center back seam. 

Sewing it together was pretty straightforward. I handled the bias pieces very carefully to avoid stretching, and I used a lot of pins. For the back seam, I basted before I sewed to make sure the stripes matched. The don't match exactly, but I was able to at least get the wide and narrow stripes to match.

When I tried it on, there was massive gaping around the buttonholes in the front. I should have guessed... I'm making a fitted top so even in the best of situations it would be hard to avoid gaping around buttonholes, nevermind the wide spacing of a men's shirt. I ended up sewing up the button placket, except for the top two buttons, and adding an invisible side zip. This makes a pretty good compromise... I don't have to worry about how much skin I'm showing, and I still have nursing access.

The inside of the bodice is lined-- the fabric was pretty transparent. I usually manage to "bag" the lining, but I screwed up the order of construction so my only option to get a clean finish was to hand sew the bodice lining at the waist.

Excuse the wrinkles, I took this after a day of wearing the top!

I actually brought a change of clothes to work, just in case I wasn't comfortable wearing this top all day, but actually I liked it much more than I thought I would. It was cool and comfortable, and I felt like the high waist and peplum was flattering on my post-baby body. I thought it looked pretty snazzy with a plain black blazer. My husband said he wasn't a fan though-- he says the colors and flared skirt are too much together. It definitely is far more flamboyant than my usual daily fashion choices, which are pretty much understated shapes and black, gray and white. What do you think?