film petit: the princess bride

January 27, 2014January 28, 201427 Comments

MAWWIAGE.

MAWWIAGE IS WHUT BWINGS US TOGEVAHH TODAAY.

well, mawwiage plus the epic 1987 film “The Princess Bride.” i can’t remember the first time i saw this movie, or how many times i’ve seen it, but it’s a lot, starting in childhood. it’s a fairy tale as told by a grandpa to his sick-in-bed grandson (Fred Savage), about the beautiful Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) and how she is about to marry an evil Prince Humperdinck, but is kidnapped and finds herself having quite an adventure. all the while, she tries to she keep the faith that her true love, Westley, will come back to her.

the movie has ACTION! ADVENTURE! ROMANCE! and a big dose of COMEDY! at Buttercup’s lowest point, when she is being forced to marry the prince against her will as her beloved Westley lays “mostly dead” in the Pit of Despair, the voice that comes out of the priest with his ridiculous speech impediment breaks all tension and you can’t help but just giggle. there are LOTS of those silly moments in The Princess Bride – more than I remembered – and it makes it such a fun movie to watch, even as an adult.

film petit: the princess bride

the wedding scene, with it’s high drama and equally high comedic factor, is the scene i chose to sew for film petit. Buttercup’s elaborately embellished wedding dress also seemed like something my little gal would love wearing.

film petit: the princess bride

with this outfit, i finally answered her pleas to make her a princess dress. and i made not just any princess dress, but a princess wedding dress!

i started with the Oliver + S Playtime Dress and stayed pretty true to the pattern for the most part. for the floor length skirt i just cut a long rectangle and gathered it selvedge to selvedge (it was very wide satin).

i made a few changes to the bodice, cutting the neckline a bit lower, splitting the front down the middle and modifying the facings to match, adding buttonholes for cording, a lace underlay, and cutting the bottom of the bodice to a curve.

Buttercup’s dress has an array of trim and beadwork to add texture, and i did the best i could to get that feel by adding this beautiful beaded lace flower trim and gold/white woven elastic trim to the neckline and bodice – all from the bridal section of Fabric Depot.

the dress is satin, also from the bridal section of the depot. it was on clearance and i’m glad i got “good stuff” for a lower price – this is the best satin i’ve ever sewed with! it didn’t shift on me much at all, didn’t snag easily, and it flows like water. she loves wearing this dress and actually hangs it on her closet door when she’s not wearing it!

i first cut a lace cape more like a half circle to billow out under her arms, but i made a mistake and cut it too short for Em – it was only knee-length and she insisted it reach the floor! i salvaged the rest to make the floor length version you see here. i wish it was wider but it works.

so even though The Princess Bride is PG-rated (same rating as Frozen, Em and every other girl between the ages of 3 and 7’s favorite movie right now), it has a LOT more questionable content that i don’t want her to see just yet (ya know, stuff like nightmare-inducing ROUSes and torture chambers…). the ‘80s were a wild and crazy time for movie ratings, i guess. so Em has seen parts of The Princess Bride with whole scenes skipped over until she’s older.

what she has seen, though, was enough to get her in character for these photos, melancholy bride acting and all.

she was cracking me up. she knew Buttercup didn’t want to get married to that awful Prince Humperdinck, and she did not crack a smile through most of this photoshoot – and when we were done, she had me pretend that the Prince’s men were after us and i was helping her escape!

so now it is time for you to escape, for you will surely crack a giant-sized smile when you see what Jess & Jess have in store for you today!

our guest Jess from Craftiness is not Optional had the brilliant idea to do The Princess Bride, and we said “as you wish!” Jess sewed Buttercup and Westley the Dread Pirate Roberts and found the PERFECT photoshoot setting, too, complete with rolling hill. really amazing work, and thanks SO much for joining us, Jess! check it out!

my partner Jess from A Little Gray sewed up two of the three bandits that kidnap poor Buttercup but later become Westley’s allies. it would be INCONCEIVABLE not to love Andre the Giant as Fezzik and Mandy Patinkin (or as my husband has taken to calling him, “Battleship Patinkin”) as Inigo Montoya! she also got photos at a CASTLE. off with you to see Jess’s post, and prepare to die (but only if you have six fingers on your right hand).

***

here are the guidelines for film petit:

every month or so, Jess and i (plus a guest) sew an outfit (or outfits) for our kid (or kids) inspired by a movie we love. not sure if we’ll get a February post in due to the imminent arrival of this baby in my belly, but we’ll be back as soon as we can.
please add any of your movie-inspired kid sewing to the film petit flickr group. if you sew along with our film petit choices, we’d love to see that too!
this is a pretty relaxed series, really the only rule is to make outfits for kids based on films you love. if you have any questions, please let either of us know.
film petit archives: the life aquatic with steve zissou, amélie, fantastic mr. fox, psycho, moonrise kingdom, ferris bueller’s day off, the big lebowski, back to the future, napoleon dynamite, zoolander

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film petit: zoolander

November 21, 2013November 27, 201338 Comments

and now, two really, really, really ridiculously good looking mini models duke it out on the catwalk as film petit returns with….ZOOLANDER!

OH YES. today we celebrate 2001’s Zoolander, directed by and starring Ben Stiller in the title role, in all its silliness. the plot is something about a very very dumb male model (Derek Zoolander) being brainwashed to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia to prevent him from enacting stricter child labor laws and destroying the fashion industry or something…(?). it’s totally random, it has crazy outfits, it reminds me of college for some reason…it’s just fun.

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film petit: napoleon dynamite

June 13, 2013June 13, 201349 Comments

it’s time to sit back, relax, and enjoy as…

Napoleon Dynamite, GOSH!

Napoleon Dynamite came out in 2004 and its mythical creature-obsessed title character and his funny speech patterns captured the imagination of America for a few years there (haha). really – i’d never met a kid like Napoleon…but a HS teacher friend of mine from a smaller town said yes, she’s taught kids just like him – they really exist. this movie is just a fun tale of social awkwardness, fitting in or not at all, getting standing ovations for crazy dances…and it’s a joy. it feels like real kids somewhere doing random stuff rather than “fake high school” like you normally see in movies. it celebrates being different and awkward and i love it.

film petit: napoleon dynamite

so the movie tells the story of a group of high schoolers and a few adults, and in true film petit fashion, we’ve largely split them up across the three blogs. i initially chose just Deb, but once i started sewing her outfit, i realized it wasn’t quite enough to “sell” the look. so i decided to sew Uncle Rico too, and recreate the super awkward yet hilarious “Glamour Shots by Deb” scene!

Deb, played by Tina Majorino, is a shy girl with a very strong sense of style and ambition – she’s always dressed in the height of 80s/90s fashion, she sells homemade handicrafts for college money, makes her own puffy sleeves for the school dance, runs a glamour shots studio out of her bedroom…she’s basically every sewing blogger’s former self. 😉

Just imagine you’re weightless. You’re in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny seahorses.

so Em is Deb. i designed the shawl collar shirt with french sleeves which i sewed out of a thrifted pillowcase (major score!), and made her leggings out of peachy interlock knit using my Go To Leggings pattern. i realized you very rarely see Deb’s legs in the movie so i just had to guess her pant selection…but i remember my little sister wore tons of leggings all through the ’90s, so i figured that was a good bet.

the shirt was pretty funny to sew in that awful polyester, and the hot pink fanny pack was a must. i just kind of made it up on the fly, and it goes around her waist with thick elastic. and of course she rocks the side pony and multiple bracelets. here she is ensuring that her photo backdrop is perfectly set.

and who is it set for…? why, uncle rico of course!

Rico (played by Jon Gries) is the crazy uncle that comes to stay with Napoleon and his brother, Kip, while their grandma recovers from a sand dune accident. he tries all sorts of “get rich quick” schemes during his stay, and decides that he needs an official photo to put on his official name badge. he goes to Deb.

i knew this outfit would be soooo fun to sew for O, and he was totally cracking me up with his mustache (which he loved, and totally cried when i wiped it off) and chambray outfit and big ol’ brown shirt underneath and daddy’s watch (again). i mean come on!

the vest was self-designed starting with the flashback skinny tee as a basic pattern block. i was proud of figuring out how to put a fully lined vest together cleanly with no bindings, and definitely see making more of these for this little guy. the shirt underneath is blank slate patterns’ perfect polo, with the collar extended 1/2″ to add to Rico’s “stuck in the 70s” look. my mom saw a photo of the polo and thought i bought it, which is a testament to Melissa’s design!

his pants are the parsley pants i blogged here, and in his full chambray and brown outfit, he coulda been state champ.

the kids loved pretending to have a photoshoot with my Holga (which they thought was digital, as you can see above) and then Rico even turned the photoshoot around on Deb!

okay! now that our photoshoot-within-a-photoshoot is over, you MUST go check out what my partners sewed!

our guest Delia from Delia Creates went way above and beyond, sewing TWO versions of Napoleon, one Pedro Sanchez, and a different Uncle Rico too! AAAAAND she took photos at actual filming locations! AAAAAAAAAAND she designed and photographed our food plate titles at the top of this post! she’s a rockstar. visit her blog and bring chapstick, ‘cuz her lips hurt real bad! thanks so much for joining us, Delia!

my partner Jessica from a little gray picked some hilarious inspiration when she chose to sew Rex Kwon Do dojo duds for her little guy, and make her little GAL a Napoleon shirt and shorts! friggin SWEET. go check it out!

>> > > >< < < <<

here are the guidelines for film petit:

every month or so, Jessica and i (plus a guest blogger) sew an outfit (or outfits) for our kid (or kids) inspired by a movie we love.
please add any of your movie-inspired kid sewing to the film petit flickr group. if you sew along with our film petit choices, we’d love to see that too!
this is a pretty relaxed series, really the only rule is to make outfits for kids based on films you love. if you have any questions, please let either of us know.
film petit archives: the life aquatic with steve zissou, amélie, fantastic mr. fox, psycho, moonrise kingdom, ferris bueller’s day off, the big lebowski, back to the future

P.S. This post contains affiliate links which means i receive a small commission if you click through to Amazon or Go To Patterns, and I received the Perfect Polo from my lovely sponsor Blank Slate Patterns for free.

P.P.S. EAT THE FOOD!

film petit: back to the future

April 18, 2013September 26, 201337 Comments

where we’re going for film petit this month, we don’t need roads…

and we’re back with more ’80s movie goodness for you today! it’s every 30-something’s introduction to the perils of time travel – 1985’s Back to the Future (affiliate link)!

written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, BTTF is the story of Marty McFly, played by a teenage Michael J. Fox, who is accidentally sent back in time to 1955 in his friend Doc Brown’s souped up DeLorean. he must find a way back home while also ensuring his parents (also teens at the time) get together. if he fails in his mission, they will never get married and have him, and he will cease to exist…! and then his mom decides she thinks he’s cute and wants to go to prom with him! also, biff! ohhhhh dear. it’s a super fun movie and a must-watch for an entire generation.

so as far as i’m concerned, there are three true “main characters” in BTTF: Marty, Doc, and The DeLorean.

i decided to go more conceptual than i have in film petits past…yep, I totally sewed an outfit inspired by a time traveling car.

Screen Shot 2013-04-18 at 1.37.30 AM

i actually put an insane amount of thought into trying to bring the vague idea i had in my mind to an outfit that would make sense to everyone, so let’s see if you’re with me, starting with the hair.

i actually just wanted to point out that i totally spiked up my 2 year old’s hair with pomade so he looked more 80s. okay moving on.

DeLorean jacket! i knew i wanted to make a jacket, i wanted it to look a bit ’80s, a bit driving jacket-esque, and be lightweight and in DeLorean gray. i thought i’d add more detail to it, but the sewing got tricky and so i added detail elsewhere. oh oh! funny side note i remembered while writing this post – when we were choosing a grout color for our bathroom tile, one of the options was actually called “DeLorean Gray.”

we chose it.

if he lifts his arms, it’s even got gull-wing doors!

i used Rae’s Flashback Skinny Tee as a base for the jacket, adding room to the neckline, armholes, and chopping off many inches to accommodate the rib knit band at the bottom and the length of the zipper. this is my first time sewing a separating zipper, and the first time sewing taffeta (!) which was the best color gray they had at JoAnn to give me the look I wanted (despite being really impractical for a 2 year old).

the final jacket reminds me of Jess’s Drive-inspired jacket, the creation that sparked this whole film petit idea in the first place, so i thought that was cool too!

under the jacket is another Flashback Skinny Tee in 3T, which I freezer paper stenciled to look like the OUTATIME license plate on the car! i had a heckuva time figuring out what to put on a shirt, but as soon as I watched the movie again and saw that plate, i pretty much ran to my sewing room to make it. i added stripes to look like the California plate at the top, and i get a feeling he’ll wear this one a lot.

on the bottom, another Rae pattern! this one is the fab new Parsley Pants pattern (I was a tester). i dyed a pair of my husband’s old khakis ORANGE to look like flame trails the DeLorean leaves behind as it rockets into the past in the parking lot of JCPenny (it was my husband’s idea to do that!). then with a stroke of late night inspiration, i drew tire treads onto the knee patches to nail home the car idea a little more.

oh and his neon green-tread shoes represent plutonium fuel. hehe.

now, you didn’t think i’d make a delorean outfit without a flux capacitor, did you?!

of course not. you would never.

and there you have it! my little guy says it’s time to go visit our two fellow time travelers and see some amazing and wonderful things.

off he goes! won’t you follow him?

first, i can’t believe that we lured the Queen of All Sewing Bloggers, Dana of MADE, into joining us for film petit! Jess and I were so excited to have her sew with us, and we realized she’s just as much of a procrastinator as we are (score!). Dana made a super awesome Mary McFly outfit for her son Owen, AND a bonus ’50s girl outfit for her little Clara – both are perfection. GO CHECK IT OUT! thanks for playing, Dana!!

aaaaaand my partner-in-crime Jess sewed Doc Brown’s white jumpsuit for her daughter Elsie. yes, daughter. it’s freakin’ hilarious, Jess always gets the silliness just right. GO SEE, GO SEE!

***

here are the guidelines for film petit:

every month or so, Jess and i (plus a guest blogger) sew an outfit (or outfits) for our kid (or kids) inspired by a movie we love. our next guest will be Delia from Delia Creates!
please add your movie-inspired kid sewing to the film petit flickr group. there’s some really amazing stuff in there – we love it when you play along!
this is a pretty relaxed series, really the only rule is to make outfits for kids based on films you love. if you have any questions, please let either of us know.
film petit archives: the life aquatic with steve zissou, amélie, fantastic mr. fox, psycho, moonrise kingdom, ferris bueller’s day off, the big lebowski. you can see all of Jessica’s film petit posts right here.

film petit: the big lebowski

February 27, 2013February 27, 201361 Comments

film petit february! as i re-watched our chosen film this month, i realized something – apparently my husband and i quote it constantly, maybe sometimes without even realizing it. it’s everyone’s favorite highly quotable quirky bowling movie – it’s….The Big Lebowski!

if my husband remembers to get something at the store that i forgot to put on the list? i tell him “he’s a good man, and thorough.” someone’s carrying a drink and a kid bumps into them? “there’s a beverage here, man!” something gets spilled on/damaged? it “really tied the room together.” and just at random times… “8 year olds, dude.”

am i wrong?

anyway, before i fall down the rabbit hole of movie quotes (in the parlance of our times – GAH), i suppose i should talk about the movie plot.

ummmmm wellllll it’s kind of hard to explain. let me give it my best shot. 1998’s The Big Lebowski was directed by the Coen Brothers. it tells the story of the mellow and lazy Jeffrey Lebowski (aka “The Dude,” or “Duder,” or “El Duderino, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing”) perfectly played by Jeff Bridges. The Dude is mistaken for a rich man also named Jeffrey Lebowski, and is suddenly drawn into a crazy kidnapping caper, when all he really wants to do is drink white russians and bowl with his buddies. it’s a pretty weird but beloved movie, and one i’ve seen about a million times.

typically we all pick different movie characters for film petit, but we felt that we should each make tiny Dudes this month to sort of swamp the internet with them – a mini Lebowskifest! mine is “pre-opening credit Dude,” the two scene intro that sets the stage for the rest of the movie. the Dude goes to the grocery store to grab some half and half for his white russian…

but comes home only to find himself getting dunked in his own toilet and his rug micturated upon by a couple hooligans attempting to shake him down for money he clearly doesn’t have.

film petit: the big lebowski

i sewed for O again, figuring the smaller the Dude was, the funnier it would be. and actually it was pretty hilarious – this is the MOST recognized character during one of my film petit photoshoots. people at the more-crowded-than-i-expected-it-to-be-at-that-hour grocery store were giggling and saying “haha, is that The Dude?” left and right. i started out a little self-conscious about it, but then ran with it. i think O liked the attention.

his bathrobe is made of wide wale corduroy from JoAnn, and the pattern is the Just Like Dad Flannel Robe from Sewing for Boys. i made it in a 2-3T for the length but chopped 3″ off the sleeves (and they’re still roll up-worthy!) so he’ll definitely wear it a while. the shorts are the Oliver + S Sketchbook Shorts made out of daddy’s old ones.

the undershirt, which i didn’t get a great photo of, is Made by Rae’s Flashback Skinny Tee, made out of daddy’s old t-shirt, short sleeved, with a v-neck!

i’m actually pretty excited about the non-overlapping v-neck and might share a mini tutorial for it a little later; i’ve always wanted to know how to do that and it wasn’t hard once i figured it out.

my little Dude got the munchies at the store and picked out a couple snacks. figured that was probably pretty true to character (the Dude likes to “smoke Js”).

while my little dude is snacking on chili cheese fritos and abiding, you can head over to see the other little lebowski urban achievers that my partners sewed up!

our guest this month, Sabra from sew a straight line, sewed both “bowling alley Dude” AND a mini walter sobchak! both are absolute perfection. she even gets us a toe – you don’t want to know how, but there are ways. thanks so much for joining us, Sabra!

and my partner Jessica, not to be outdone, sewed “playoff/funeral Dude” with some awesome details, AND took photos at a very special locale! go check it out!

proud we are of all of them!

***

here are the guidelines for film petit:

every month or so, Jessica and i (plus a guest blogger) sew an outfit (or outfits) for our kid (or kids) inspired by a movie we love. our next guest will be Dana from MADE!
please add any of your movie-inspired kid sewing to the film petit flickr group. if you sew along with our film petit choices, we’d love to see that too!
this is a pretty relaxed series, really the only rule is to make outfits for kids based on films you love. if you have any questions, please let either of us know.
film petit archives: the life aquatic with steve zissou, amélie, fantastic mr. fox, psycho, moonrise kingdom, ferris bueller’s day off