iSew, iGlue, iPaint

Hey, remember me? -waving- Yeah, probably not, since it has been almost a year since I last posted. Anyone still out there? -crickets- Anyway, looking back I see that it was almost exactly a year ago that I posted my sock monkey costume post. This year's costume for my friend's son Cheeks turned out so well that I wanted to share.

Ms. J is awesome at coming up with ideas. I think we make a great team. She has the ideas, and I have a sewing machine. We are a good pair. This year she suggested an iPod and since I received one for my birthday several months ago, I was all over it.

Since Cheeks is only 3, and all about comfort, we knew that the typical box costumes that people make for iPods was not going to work. So I had to come up with a soft costume that was easy to get out of for potty breaks and naps. And it had to be fun or Cheeks would just not wear it.

Here is a walk through of the steps I took to make the iPod costume. Please remember, iPod and the Apple logo are copyrighted and if you decide to use this tutorial, do not sell the costume. I gifted this to my dear friends and made no money off of it.

Measuring

I measured the span of Cheeks' shoulders and from the base of his neck to the backs of his knees. I added 4" to the shoulder measurement and used both measurements to come up with the width and height of the front and back panels. I used black felt by the yard for structure on both the front and back, with a silver satin overlay for the back. I used a zig zag stitch to attach the satin to the back felt piece. Satin is very slippery, so make sure you pin A LOT.

I used strips of 1" wide felt to edge the back, but in retrospect, I would use broadcloth if I did it again.

Painting the Back

For the back logos, I had Ms. J print out the silhouettes, which I cut out and used as patterns. I used a black micro pen used for scrapbooking to trace the pattern. I then used a stiff brush and metallic silver fabric paint to fill in. It needed two layers of paint, and I made sure that each layer dried overnight.

The Apps

We started with Cheeks' favorite iPod apps, and added a Facebook one for mom. I had Ms. J print off 4" square "patterns" that I would use to make the felt apps. You can adjust based on the size you are making. After cutting out each colored part of the pattern, I used either a fine line black pen (I like the micro ones for scrapbooking) or a white fabric paint pen to trace the patterns onto the felt. I need to test the white or silver scrapbooking pens, as the paint pen is really too wide. Plus you have to add on dry time.

Next I cut out each piece and stacked it for gluing later. I rounded the corner of each base square but tracing the edge of a medicine cap. Keep in mind that apps with more colors need some creative cutting, so you don't have too many layers. For instance, I cut out the HD letters from the red portion of the Angry Bird, so that it would fit like a puzzle piece. I did the same with the Fruit Ninja watermelon. For that I cut out the entire top and top and bottom in two different greens, stacked them, then cut out the "stripes." Stacking insures that the cuts are exact and they will fit snugly.

Adding details

For some of the apps, I added paint details before gluing. This was especially needed for Angry Birds, which has a thicker outline. I used a black fabric pen and carefully marked along the edge. For the line on the beak I used my black scrapbook pen again. The eyes didn't have all the detail I wanted, but I started with a dot of brown, followed by a smaller dot of black and and even smaller dot of white. You MUST wait for each dot to dry, or they will run together. Pac Man's detail comes from Scribbles paint. I love the fine line and and brightness that those paints offer.I glued him down first before adding the detail. Netflix also needed to be glued down before adding details.

Tacky glue is my favorite to use for felt. I like to cover the entire back of the piece to be glued. I just glob it on and use my finger to spread it. If you don't spread the glue, it will show through on lighter felt and I find that it does not hold as well. Make sure you use enough though, because the felt will absorb some. Depending on which side of the felt you glue, you may or may not need to trim strings before gluing down a piece. If you haven't noticed before, felt really has two different sides. One is more fuzzy than the other. The non fuzzy side takes the paint detail better, but the fuzzy side can be hard to work the glue in. I glue the fuzzy side only if I needed strong details on the other side.

Putting it together

Originally I was going to sew the shoulders together and then down the sides, leaving space for arm holes. At our fitting, when I had the seams safety pinned, I realized that Cheeks was not going to stand for this. It wold fit a little slim. Also, Cheeks' brother, Little Budda, might not be able to use it as a hand-me down. With homemade costumes I think it is very important to consider the sibling factor. So instead I used straps. I cut 1" x 4" straps and added Velcro to the ends that would attach to the front. I then attached the other end of the strap to the black binding on the back. The two shoulder straps were cut down to just the length of the velcro, so they fit more snug.


Happy Halloween!

Cheeks was a hit at the party his family went to. The other kids kept trying to tap the apps to make them work. And as you can see from the pictures above, he had no trouble moving around. My biggest regret is that we didn't have time to make a matching Nano costume for Little Budda.

I can't wait to see what ideas Ms. J comes up with next year. She also took all these pictures. Check out her own blog at: http://jamielynnephoto.blogspot.com/

A Monkey Tale

I LOVE making costumes. They are probably my favorite thing to sew. I bought my first sewing machine for the main purpose of sewing Halloween costumes. I have made a polar bear, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Little Bo Peep, a lamp to go with Bo Peep, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Snow White.  But when Cricket, my third child came along, I found very little time left to make them.

My friend, Ms. J, has an adorable 2yo, we will call him Cheeks, and she wanted to find a sock monkey costume for Halloween. She found one online but it was a little “odd” looking (and sold out). Yeah, it kind of looked like a sock monkey, but the hat had the face. I have always found costumes where the character’s face/mouth is on the hat portion of the outfit to be a little weird. I mean, am I the only one who thinks it looks like the child has been swallowed by the character and is now peaking out of it’s neck? No? That is just me?

Anyway, Ms. J found an online tutorial on how to make a sock monkey costume and wondered out loud on her Facebook wall if she would be able to put something like that together. Since Cricket is 4 now, and fairly self sufficient, (as in he can use the potty himself) I jumped at the chance to help her. I didn’t really have any other costumes to make this Halloween. Freckles is 10, so she is far too cool to go trick or treating anymore. Dimples wants to be Han Solo and already gathered clothes from his closet that will work. Cricket is more than happy to give Clifford his third Halloween go round.

The online tutorial looked easy enough. (you can find it here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Sock-Monkey-costume-for-toddler/) but it turned out to be a little trickier than I originally thought. I think the main problem was that I used “official” sock monkey socks, (which I found at Hobby Lobby) which were likely less stretchy and smaller than the work socks she used. But I think it still turned out OK.

Now I didn’t take pictures along the way, so if you want to make it yourself you will have to follow the other tutorial. I know… noob blogger mistake. :\  I promise to try to get better at that. But the tutorial is a really good starting point, and I recommend it. A change to the original design that I made was that it is a stand alone costume. Meaning that I did not attach it to a set of Pjs like the tutorial. I did however add snaps along the back, to make it easier to get into. The key is to find an outfit that doesn’t stretch too much when the child puts it on, and use that as a pattern when you are laying out the socks. I ended up using 4 pairs of socks for what would be about an 18-24 size outfit. I did not have the same amount of leftovers as the tutorial, so I needed another pair to make the hat.

Changes I would make if I did it again… I would try to add red to the bottom area, like a real sock monkey has, and I would have made the ears out of the heather brown portion of the sock, rather than from the heel and toe. I also would have shaped the bottom better, so it was tapered on the sides, again, so it looks more like a real sock monkey.

Cheeks was not too sure about the fitting process. In fact, he cried like we were sticking him with pins. : (  But Ms. J reports that after dressing for their costume party, Cheeks had a change of heart. He ended up chasing his own tail around. :D I can’t wait to be his personal seamstress next year!