March is Reading Costume Month Part 2

So Lincoln decided he wanted to portray Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar for Story Book dress up day.  He originally wanted to do all 4 stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa, butterfly.  I told him to pick 2, his teacher might tolerate one costume change, but not 3.  Of course he chose the Caterpillar and Butterfly.  I had to think for a few days about how to accomplish the very colorful butterfly.  I’ve already made monarch and dragon wings, so I used the same pattern and process.  Although, this time I used clear/white organza for my base.

I simply serged the edge in green (because that’s what my machine was already threaded with and I was too lazy to change it) and made a plan.

Half way done.

It’s a little bit messy.

Proper planning is key.

Just need to outline the right side.

I used Lincoln’s hand writing worksheets from school to lay out where I wanted the colors to go.  It’s not an exact match, but I think people will get the point.  Then I colored for 3 hours, got really messy and attached finger loops and shoulder loops.

I’m really happy with how they turned out.  And I think Lincoln loves them too!

Now I just need to finish his caterpillar costume!  That will be on the next post. 🙂

I can’t say no to a costume request!

It’s really no surprise if you’re reading this and know me, that I LOVE sewing.  Like in the same way some people like chocolate or their dogs.  I find it very relaxing and just the simple act of sitting down at my machine(s) calms me.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I get frustrated and there are sometimes swear words involved, but the hum of my sewing machine is like music to my ears.  Costumes are my favorite to make!  The details and creativity involved spark my interest every time.

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!

As anyone who has children in public elementary school probably knows, March is Reading Month in honor of the great Dr. Seuss.  I have a love-hate relationship with Dr. Suess’s books in general having used them to teach Deaf children.  There are so many nonsense words that are great for phonics based instruction, but really, what is a “ham-ikka-schnim-ika-schnam-ikka-schnopp?”  There’s an entire website dedicated to all the nonsense words he uses.  But I digress.  Today was “dress like your favorite Dr. Seuss character” at school.

Ellie wanted to be the Lorax, Lincoln wanted to be a humming fish from the Lorax and Calvin wanted to be Jake (from the Neverland Pirates).  We convinced him to be a Barbaloot Bear for the photos.  Mostly I bribed him with marshmallows.  He’s wearing his bear earmuffs and ate about 12 marshmallows while this picture was taken.

Both kids are wearing an orange t-shirt from JoAnn Fabrics.  Ellie’s I didn’t alter at all, just added the faux fur to some sunglasses I removed the lenses from.  Easy, cheap, done!

Lincoln’s shirt I cut the original sleeves off and then made some new ones from fleece, cut a “mermaid tail” shape, folded in half and top stitched to add some detail.  You can’t really tell from the picture, but he has a back-fin that’s pretty cool.  He couldn’t get his coat over the sleeves so he took the costume in his back pack.

The best part is that there are 4 or 5 more “dress up” type days left in the month for reading.  I’ll post more pictures soon!