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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kcw fall 2013: day 7:: parsley green parsley pants

October 28, 2013October 27, 201310 Comments

KCW BONUS PROJECT!

once those costumes were finished i just felt like i wanted to sew something for everyday. and since my little guy needs pants and i knew i could sew some up pretty quickly, i did just that.

meet straight-up-from-his-nap mr. mcgrouchypants and his parsley green parsley pants.

as the post title suggests, i used the parsley pants pattern by Rae in a 2T. love this pattern – i helped test it in April, and back when i did that, they were pretty huge on him. for some reason i thought they might still be big, but now the fit is PERFECT. huh. i guess kids must grow or something.

i chose the pintuck option for the first time and love how it takes the pants up a notch and makes them look a bit retro too. also went for the front patch pockets, they’re fun.

the fabric is a soft medium weight green twill from Hancock Fabrics that i got when i visited Jess. twill is one of my favorite fabrics to sew little guy pants with – sturdy but still soft.

i was super inspired by Laura’s green banyan pants and also stumbled on Sabra’s green jeans post from last fall, and styled my guy to match those two dapper little fellas. gray cardigan and a white shirt with green pants, check!

now i REALLY feel like i participated in KCW – i usually sew basics that end up getting worn a lot and this project fulfills that.

although, based on his reaction to his spiderman costume and utter refusal to take it off whenever he tries it on, i might have just made a “basic” there too, eh?

thanks for following along!

kcw fall 2013: day 3&4:: spiderman start

October 24, 2013October 25, 201311 Comments

got some photos early this morning of O in his work-in-progress spiderman costume…

so early i was surprised my camera focused at all!

this is how i typically work, when i’m doing sort of “off pattern” sewing for my kids: i sew late at night, but leave key parts unfinished. i try the clothes on them the next day to assess fit and note the adjustments i need to make. for this suit, the hood is not yet attached (i’m using the bimaa pattern, hacked quite a bit), and the leggings (go to leggings pattern) are a bit too long.

i’ll shorten the blue parts of the leggings and sleeves, sew and attach the hood, and i think it’ll fit great!

i color blocked the shoulders (somehow giving myself a difficult V seam to sew), and sides, piecing in the blue knit and ending up pretty pleased with the result. the blue fabric is heavier than the red, which actually turned out okay! the spider is a hand-drawn freezer paper stencil, and the webbing is also hand-drawn with a ruler and fabric marker. i googled spiderman tons of times as i figured out how to put it all together.

it was pretty labor intensive, actually. i still haven’t “webbed” the hood yet.

but you guys. he LOVES this costume. i was worried because the spider actually scared him when i first showed it to him, but when he tried this outfit on he WOULD NOT TAKE IT OFF. i tried reason, i tried bribes, i tried everything i could. but without the hood attached, the neckline was stretching out the longer he had it on, so finally i just had to take it off of him. poor guy. he really wanted to be spiderman all day.

it’s fun that he’s old enough to get excited about his costume this year. he’s SO pumped for me to finish it up so he can wear it nonstop…too bad Halloween is still a week away!

tomorrow i want to wrap this one up and see how far i can get on a tutu for Em’s costume. wish me luck!

kcw fall 2013: day 2:: skeleton suit

October 22, 2013October 22, 201316 Comments

here’s my KCW progress for today – and hey, you even get some modeled shots! spooky.

to start off Em’s skeleton fairy costume, i made a simple shirt and leggings combo out of black jersey knit with freezer paper stenciled bones (see Dana’s tutorial here – i use a foam brush and blot it on rather than brushing). as i mentioned in my last post, i’d recently gotten Em some skeleton pajamas but she wanted BLACK ones for her costume, hence the making.

i traced the pajamas, added a couple more vertebrae just to cover a bit more of the shirt, lengthened the femurs a bit so the joint hits at her knee, and added a split in the forearm bones, because i’m anal enough to need the costume to be slightly more anatomically correct than the pajamas.

ULNA AND RADIUS, YO!

i painted the bones first with white, then with two coats of glow fabric paint (affiliate link). it does really glow, but not as brightly as the pajamas. the freezer paper didn’t come off as cleanly as usual either – i think the glow paint sort of shellacked it on there. oh well.

the shirt is Rae’s flashback skinny tee in 4T. it’s unhemmed because a) i wanted her to try it on 2) i’m kinda lazy and D) i like the way the raw edges look.

the leggings were originally sunki leggings, but i long ago modified my pattern tracing to be just one piece rather than a front and back. i also added length and sewed them up like Go To Leggings (affiliate link), because the Go To waistband attachment method is totally genius and pro.

her batman mask was made by CINO and isn’t part of the costume. more on that later (i know i keep saying that!). i don’t want to spoil the entire costume reveal though, so you just get bits at a time (and with random accessories).

an unexpected sewing emergency (commission project deadline i thought was next week but got moved to NOW) popped up on me, so this is all i got done today, KCW-wise. we’ll see what tomorrow holds…

kcw fall 2013: day 1:: prep & plan

October 21, 2013October 21, 201319 Comments

fall kid’s clothes week started today!

i’ve participated in every KCW since spring 2011…some sessions more productively than others, but i always jump in the best i can. KCW is just too motivational, too inspirational, and too much fun to pass up. this time, i’m going to try something i’ve never really done, but something i’ve seen others do – i’m going to post in progress photos, and i’m going to work most of the week on a couple time-sensitive larger projects rather than churning out as many basics as i can.

this week, i’m sewing halloween costumes!

if i get them done early on, i’ll try to sew some much-needed wardrobe builders, but as long as i get these done, i’ll be happy. and actually, the prep on these costumes seems to be more work than the actual sewing will be.

O wants to be spiderman…

and Em wants to be a “skeleton fairy.”

i’m using tried-and-true patterns and hacking them where necessary. i’ll talk more about the patterns as i finish them, ‘kay? for now, i’m just freezer paper stenciling and fabric markering my little heart out.

my halloween costume making philosophy comes from early childhood – i don’t remember ever wearing a store-bought costume. my mom sewed them, we thrifted components, we used what we had, and i even sewed a basic one as i got older. i just don’t even think about buying one from Target. one of my earliest self-drafted sewing projects for Em was a Dorothy costume, and they’ve been either sewn (or borrowed) since. it’s just fun for me to make them, even if they could be much more easily (and cheaply) purchased.

that being said, Spiderman is gonna be a LOT of work! all that color blocking and webbing, phew! and yes, i totally could’ve gotten skeleton pajamas for Em’s costume – in fact, she HAS some. that was what sparked her idea to be a skeleton fairy, actually. but her pajamas are pink, and she wants her costume to be “spooky.” so there ya go.

anyone else sewing costumes this KCW? the timing is perfect!