Little Chief

     A few weeks ago, as I was looking through my scrap pile I suddenly realized that I'm always refashioning things for the girls, but I never really make anything for James.  Overcome with remorse, I asked "What would you like me to make for you, Little Man?"  His prompt answer was, "An Indian hat."
      Having no feathers handy, that project had to be postponed for awhile.  But every time I have used the machine since then, James has come running to ask "Are you making my Indian hat?"
     Well, last week I finally made it to the fabric store, and found, not only some feathers, but a perfect piece of material in the "remnants" bin.  So this weekend we turned Little Man into Little Chief.

It was a really simple project; it only took about 30 minutes, once I finally sat down to it.  James was intimately involved in the process while his sisters were napping.  Here's a few detail photos in case you want to try it...

Just cut 2 rectangles of knit or felt (so it won't fray) fabric, place them right sides together, hold them up to your own little Indian, tip your head to one side (helps with estimating) and sew up some shoulder seams and side seams, leaving holes for the head and arms.  I made mine come down to past his knees, planning to add some tucks for "growing room".  Cut a slit down the front, and keep cutting until it will fit over the head.

 wrong side

Once your model is wearing it, mark the base of their neck, and then cut a gentle curve from seam to seam, so it will lay nicely.  I would recommend taking it OFF the child before cutting.  It helps to fold the shirt in half too, to achieve symmetry.

Now, to finish the bottom - I decided to leave it extra long and add 3 tucks, which can be let out as he grows.  I simply drew 3 lines 3" from the bottom, and 3" apart, folded the fabric along those lines, and ran a line of stitching 3/4" from the fold.  Also, the fabric I found had this great fringe already cut along the bottom, but you can cut your own fringe if you don't have such cool fabric.


For the head band I just used another 1 1/2" strip of fabric, wrapped it around his head and added a little piece of elastic in the back so it would stay in place a little better.  After he put all the feathers where he wanted them, I ran them through the sewing machine to attach them securely.  Glue would probably work just fine too.

We originally cut another strip for the "belt", but if he tied it in a knot he couldn't get it off himself, and if he didn't, it wouldn't stay on.  So we found a belt in his drawer that works just fine.  It's now the official "Indian belt".

And there you go - one very happy little boy!

Just a side note on something I discovered while making this -  Is it really bad that my son's headband has to be bigger around than his belt?  Or is that normal for an almost-five-year-old?

Little Red Riding Hood

So, you may remember my asking for suggestions on Halloween costumes in this post, and commenting on how I planned to start much earlier this year? (Last year it was the day before, with a 4 day old baby!)
Well, we finally decided on a theme, but once again, I didn't start until the day before!  So here's what I came up with in one afternoon (and a bit of Monday morning) and for under $15 total.

~Little Red Riding Hood, Granny, the Woodcutter, and The Big Bad Wolf~

Aren't they too cute!

This sweet little red riding hood was done by my mother (she mailed it from Alaska and it got here Monday morning!).  Her little corset was made with scraps from the hood and some black ribbon.  Her little hair bow was another ribbon scrap, and her little shirt, skirt, and boots she already had.  To finish it off I just had to glue a little ribbon handle on a small basket, and she's ready to go!

 

 

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

Our adorable little Granny was created with 2 old pillowcases, a spool of lace from the dollar bin at the craft store, some scrap ribbon, white "doll hair" ($1 at the fabric store), elastic from an old fitted sheet, a pair of glasses from one of her baby dolls, and an old crochet purse from Mommy's closet.

This handsome and heroic woodcutter was easily done with some felt scraps and a feather (.50 at the craft store).  His fearsome axe was made from a large wooden rod, 2 pieces of cardboard, and tin foil. 

The Big Bad Wolf was actually the hardest, and most expensive.  That stuff made me sneeze like crazy! I bought a half yard of "fur" for $9, and covered one of Steve' baseball caps.  I used a piece of wire hanger to hold the "nose", and bit of floral wire to hold up the ears, and felt scraps for the eyes, nose, teeth, and claws.  Ailidh wasn't too sure about him at first, but she warmed up!

Wolf hugs!

The kids had so much fun dressing up and playing into their roles!  Even Joy was loving it.  They get it from their Daddy....

Halloween Costumes

I don't know how you feel about Halloween and trick-or-treating, but you have to admit that it's a lot of fun to dress up!  And when you have a family of 5 (7 if you count the dogs!) there's even more options.  We have had a lot of fun the last couple of years with our costumes.  Two years ago JL was a cowboy and our dog Piper was his "cow pony", complete with saddle and bridle.  A (at 2 months old!) was a pea pod, which didn't fit in the theme, but was the best I could do. (Sorry about the terrible photos, I forgot all about pictures until it was almost dark.  And raining.)

 

  Last year I wanted to do "Wizard of Oz".  I had a vague idea of what I wanted, but during the final part of my pregnancy (the last 5 months!) was too sick to care about anything other than basic necessities of life.  A couple of days after J was born I decided I did want to do something after all.  Which gave me 2 days to pull it together.  Fortunately my mother was staying with us, and I was able to explain what I wanted and she did a lot of it.  I made Dorothy's dress, but my midwife came by for my follow-up visit just as I was finishing, gave me a scolding, and sent me back to bed.  Where I finished Scarecrow's pants by hand, and cut out Lion's tail.
Here is what we came up with:

JL is our Scarecrow, 

A our Dorothy, 

 

and J, at 5 days old, was the littlest Lion ever. 

 

Wooster joined in the fun as Toto,

and Steve was a good natured Tin Man.  

So the questions is now:
What do we do this year?

I'd like to start something a little bit earlier this year, especially since I won't have Mom, but I'm drawing a blank on ideas!  Does anyone have any suggestions?