time for the next installment of film petit! this month, we were itching to do another wes anderson movie. they’re just full of inspiration! we considered a few, but decided that the month of september, with its golden light and cooler weather, was the perfect month for fantastic mr. fox. so that’s what we did!
fantastic mr. fox, based on a book by roald dahl, is about human (fox) nature, love, and family. mr. fox has promised his wife he will never steal from farmers again, but he simply can’t help himself…he decides to secretly do one last big job before he retires forever. he will steal from Boggis, Bunce and Bean – the meanest farmers in the land! the movie is done in stop-motion animation and is one that our whole family never tires of watching. my partners jessica and cherie both sum up the movie better than i do, so check them out if you haven’t already…i’ve got lots of sewing to talk about today!
since i have the oldest girl of the three sewing this month, i got to sew mrs. fox! and because of that, i also sewed mr. fox! i think it is only the second time i’ve ever sewed for both kids and photographed them together, can you believe it? i was worried the photoshoot would be a disaster, but they both played along! yay!
here are some movie stills showing my inspiration for both outfits.
as soon as i looked closely at her dress, i knew the oliver + s school photo dress would be the PERFECT pattern for it. for mr. fox, i sewed the melly sews basic blazer (affiliate link) along with oliver + s sailboat pants. there’s a hidden surprise in his jacket…keep reading!
they both got fox masks, totally overboard on my part but worth it. i made them out of felt and just sketched them out while looking at a photo from the movie. i layered the felt together and topstitched, sandwiching elastic in between.
okay let’s talk more about their actual sewn costumes. ladies first, shall we?
Em was so excited to be “mrs. fantastic mr. fox” and seemed to love this photoshoot more than any other! i used michael miller cotton couture in mango as the base of her dress. knowing there was no way i’d find the perfect apple print to match the movie, i stamped it myself!
i carved a wine cork with an x-acto knife to make the apple (a heart with a flat bottom), then a pencil eraser cut into a teardrop shape to do a green leaf, then a pencil tip to add a stem. i really love creating my own fabric, as time-consuming as it is. it’s totally theraputic and satisfying.
the pocket of the dress was perfect for her paintbrushes! mrs. fox is an avid painter.
she also has a tail (made out of minky and felt and pinned onto her dress).
for O, i sewed a mr. fox jacket and pants in a burnt orange thin whale corduroy (all fabrics are from fabric depot).
rather than welt pockets in the basic blazer pattern, i used jessica’s tutorial to add flap pockets. i used leather buttons and lengthened the 18-24 month size sailboat pants to 2T for a full-length pant. his shirt is store bought.
i decided to make mr. fox AFTER he lost his tail. a felt bandaid masks his injury.
the jacket also has a special surprise! mr. bean has a secret cider cellar full of apples he created himself. they look like this:
so the lining of O’s jacket naturally looks like this:
i painted the suns and dots onto kona poppy with metallic gold fabric paint! don’t you love a hidden surprise? i sure do!
while these costumes were so much work, they were so fun to make too! here’s the part where my little foxes say goodbye, but there’s LOADS more foxsperation for you to see!
head on over to a little gray to find out what a fox is doing in a grocery store, and to learn the rules of whack bat!
and skedaddle over to check out the adorable outfit our fantastic guest, you & mie, put together for her little gal. it’s truly inspired!!! it was also cherie’s idea (nevermind, it was jessica’s) for all of the kids to wear masks/fox ears – so fun to coordinate that little detail! thanks so much for playing along this month, cherie!!
we hope you’re enjoying film petit, because we’re sure having lots of fun!
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here are the guidelines for film petit:
- every month or so, Jessica and i (plus a guest blogger) will sew an outfit (or outfits) for our kid (or kids) inspired by a movie we love. jess from running with scissors is joining us in October!
- if you’d like to play along, please feel free to add any movie-inspired sewing to the film petit flickr group. if you sew along with our film petit choices, we’d love to see that too. we’ll do a round up soon!
- if we really like your stuff, we may ask you to join us for a future film!
- 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
skirt as top 
Looking at the photos on flickr, I was wondering how you found the perfect fabric for the dress…that’s fantastic that you stamped it! Great job, Kristin on both Mr. and Mrs. Fox’s outfits.:)
This is just (ahem) fantastic. Such a great film choice. Amazing details, I love it all.
You’re killing me! That little suit is the cutest thing ever! And your attention to detail is just amazing…the hand stamped fabric, the masks…gorgeous!
the hand stamped fabric is amazing and honestly everything about both of these looks are amazing! wow!
thanks, ladies!!! isn’t it fun to go a little overboard sometimes? 😉
holy freaking crow!! ridiulously fantastic indeed. you guys are all kinds of nutty fabulous. love!
thanks, rachael! three consecutive nights of sewing until 1:30am. i felt a little nutty but i had a vision and it needed to happen!!!!!
Perfect. I love the apple lining. The movie has such great design, and you did such a great job interpreting it.
I can’t begin with how great you did on the outfits because I am blown away by the fabulous pictures. That very first picture is so cool. The location is perfect and I love the way they are just looking at the camera with their fox masks. You should seriously blow up and frame that picture for a playroom or something!
Also everything else is perfect too.
thanks, girl!! location scouting was tough, not many fields with a solitary tree around here! husband finally thought of the perfect place. and yes, we do plan to frame that photo! it’s one of my favorites i think. 🙂
O’s felt band-aid?!?! 🙂 i looooove it!
OMG!!! you are so brilliant! I love it. That must have been so much fun to make.
I just about died when I saw the band aids on his bum! So cute Kristin! I love love love your version! I just may need to see this movie now! Love it!
thanks! you should – gotta love movies that both kids and parents actually LIKE to watch together.
LOVE her dress, I couldn’t believe that you hand printed those apples! Awesome. And the inside of little man’s jacket is just TDF!! Wonderful.
Oh Cuss – this is just amazing! Your attention to the little details just blows me away – the bandaids!!! The apple lining!!! And I just love a tiny little guy in a suit. Bravo!
The cuss you say! Are you cussin’ with me? Hehe, thanks Emily. 🙂
omg. this is #*cking amazing! I love! I love! Everything is perfect.
Haha, Emily – oh cuss, is right!!! Kristin, you’ve nailed it once again – EVERYTHING about this is so perfect, I love all the details. You truly are an artist. And these photos blow my mind! I love how well you’ve captured Anderson’s style and vibe here. Definitely one of MY favorite photo shoots ever! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of FP this month – I’ve had a ton of fun going back and forth with you and Jessica, bouncing ideas and sharing sneak peeks. You rock, girl!!
*HUG* You rock too!!! Thanks so much, I super love your Charlie Dress!!!
I love this book and this movie and YOUR CREATIONS!! LOVE it! IT is perfect and so right on!! wow!
Oh and I’m pretty sure that it was not my idea to have them wear ears and tails – that was Jessica’s brainchild. But thanks for the credit 😉 I was looking back at all the pictures again and I think the jacket lining stars are my FAVORITE.
Oh haha, I just looked back in our emails and you’re right. SORRY, JESSICA!!!!!
What the cuss!!! These are fantastic!!!
LOVE the fabrics(!!!) and the perfect execution of excellent patterns. 🙂 So I picked up the movie a few months ago as a bribe for Ansley but she still hasn’t earned it. ha. I really want to watch it now! Also I’m a little bit glad you didn’t post this yesterday b/c I’m working on a fox costume for my nephew and I may’ve thrown in the towel before trying b/c it’s definitely not as cool as yours.
So perfectly wonderful! You didn’t leave a single detail out, Kristin. I am so inspired by your work. You are such an artist!!!!!
This is brilliant, your pictures amazing!!!!!! Love Amelie’s dress before but this one is absolutely gorgeous. I ‘ll buy the oliver and s pattern right now, and the sailboat one too. Love all you do, but i think this is my favorite post. Congratulations!!!!!! And sorry for my english is not my first language.
all three of you are completely AMAZING!!!! this is beyond spectacular, kristin. i haven’t even seen the freakin’ movie, and i’m completely blown away anyway! i adore all the special details…this is precisely why sewing is so exciting and fun and all-consuming. i bow down to you!!!
Kristin!! Amazing job!!! I love it all!! the dress and the suit, goodness!! too stinking cute! And, the location and masks…, perfect 🙂
this is the best! you did a fantastic job, and yes, perfect choice on the film as well!
What a load of details from all the stamping/ painting to the extra masks/ tails! LOVE the burnt orange cord. This is my favorite petit film so far! Really great all around.
That is SO darling! I love it, especially the handpainted fabrics! Fabulous job!
Wow,that is amazing. I live your dedication to details. This is definitely heirloom worthy as I do live Fantastic Mr Fox. I’m currently reading it to my son and he just loves the box.
Sooooo amazing, Kristin! I especially love the hand-stamped fabric. I just can’t get enough of it!
OMG!!!!!!! Dying over this!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Awesomeness!!!! LOVE!
Amazing stuff….once again! You really have knack for this sewing thing. I’m pretty much in love with all of these photos!!!!
This is SO amazing!! You and Jessica are too much! I can’t believe how creative and detailed each thing is. It’s really inspiring!!
the bandaid! I did not see that coming. You complete me.
So *gorgeous*!! Everything about this is so perfect: models (they look adorable and like they really got into it!), photos, location, and, ohmygoodness the gorgeous clothes. Great job! Could you please tell me more about printing your fabric? Both the apples and stars are absolutely fantastic! What kind of fabric paint did you use? Love, love, love!
Thanks so much!! I used Tulip paint (the cheap stuff at Michael’s) for the apples, and just mixed my own colors. For the metallic gold, I used Jacquard lumiere fabric paint in Brass. I got it at a local fabric store, but it looks like it’s on Amazon! Spendy, but you get a LOT of it and it’s really nice quality. I mixed a little of the brass with my leaf fabric for some sparkle. I just painted the suns and dots on with a fine paintbrush, but stamped the apples as I mentioned in the post. 🙂
Kristin. SO. COOL. I love it all. But that little suit? Freaking rad! haha! I love you guys. Great series you and Jessica are doing.
I mean… These just keep getting better. You are amazing. Words cannot express. I couldn’t live this more! Yes! I love a surprise! Yes I love all the tiny details, perfect sewing, gorgeous photos, whimsical masks and your darling kiddos! Love.
One of my fave movies and your outfits are just awesome! Mrs Fox’s dress turned out great. 🙂
handstamped fabric, O & S patterns, felt masks . . . you completely rocked it all! So in awe over here.
I love this movie and your outfits are totally gorgeous!! I need to find something to add gold star lining to AND make fox masks right now!
Seriously…. I mean SERIOUSLY?! This is our favorite movie. It’s probably played once a day around here. I think you’ve just inspired some awesome Halloween costumes. This is SO CUSSING amazing!!!
Another movie that I love, another impeccable photo shoot and awesome handmades!! AAAAAAAH. I just love it!
DYING!! This is so stinking adorable.
Perfection in every way. Thanks for sharing.
My son would love this:)
You are such a great artist. This is one of your best creations and photoshoots to date, for sure. You should feel so proud of yourself!
Absolutely love this! that suit is amazing, and the lining- it’s just too incredibly clever. I love it!
Love that this is ongoing- looking forward to seeing more film petit! 🙂
Ok, so the jacket, everyone, is even more amazing in person (if you can believe it!) The color is so vibrant and just tiny and perfect! I can’t gush enough about it! Oh!
And Kristen, those painted apples rock my world… the multicolored leaves, the multitude of apples… I am in awe. The dress is such a great design. I need to try those panels and pockets… like soon… hmmm. (insert wheels in brain turning)… Can’t wait to see what’s next. I so heart this series!!
i love that movie! but i hardly remember it……
the costumes are so cute i think i just might be Mrs.Fox!
This is so creative Kristin.I love the apple atamps and the photo shoot is very artistic. Id love to join in on the next film. My 9 year liked it so much she left a comment too. She is Farmhouse lily Marie above. She has her second blog but hardly writes in it. Wes Andersons films have gotten pretty wierd lately.Just don’t do Will There Be Blood!
Thanks Justine! We’ve got a list of bloggers going and I’ll add you to it. There Will Be Blood would be a fun one to do, good idea (hahaha)!! That’s Paul Thomas Anderson, not Wes Anderson though… 😉
Ummm….
ADORABLE!
I really want to get into my own fabric printing. I’m thinking something Stormtroopery 😛
These are seriously some of the most beautifully sewn and photographed pieces I have seen all year. Thank you for sharing these!!!
thank you SO much!! it was a lot of fun.
I LOVE this! So inspiring to stamp your own fabric! I need to try that. I love the apple dress most of all…so cute!
Fantastic! Truly.
well, I have seen that first photo being featured on many lovely sewing blogs lately ~ what a fantastic feast for the eyes!! the thought, time, & love put into all of this was totally worth it!
I had a couple of questions for you about 2 of the sewing patterns that you used…
for the school photo dress, I used size 4 & the yoke & the front side panel didn’t line up together where it meets the sleeve, did you have this problem, too??
and for the basic blazer, I had difficulties with the set-in sleeves with everything lining up & coming together, how about you?
I’m not a huge fan of sewing those dreaded set-in sleeves 😦
thanks, rachel!
no, i don’t remember having trouble with the school photo pattern lineup, though i was sewing very fast to get this all put together, so i might’ve assumed it was my own error and just pushed through. i want to sew it again when i’ve got time to enjoy it.
i had trouble with setting in the sleeves too; next time i will set them in prior to joining the main and lining together. i don’t mind setting in sleeves usually, but i think it would’ve been easier to do before having to wrestle with the two layers of the jacket.
Wow! These are fantastic costumes! Love them.
wow, love these costumes! I just linked up to Project Run and Play and saw your link… love it!
I love this!!! You are amazing
That is the cutest thing I’ve seen in ages. I LOVE Fantastic Mr Fox.
So cute and fun!