King Herod Costume

 I just finished up a King Herod costume for a certain 10 year old boy who will be performing as King Herod in the Christmas drama at our church this year.

Project details
Pattern: vintage pattern (1981) McCall's 7733

 Fabrics:
3 yards gold brocade fabric for the cape

2 yards royal blue crushed panne fabric for the robe

1/3 yard liquid gold metallic fabric for the belt

 Notions: 12 inches gold trim for the frog 'closure' on the cape

 I'm wondering if something like this can be bought in a store and if so how much it would cost. This definitely wasn't the most money saving project, costing almost $40 with $30 just for the cape. But he needed a costume quickly and I was appreciative to have the opportunity to sew up one. Also if it's anything like the king's cloak I made years ago, then it will be used a lot.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

PS Last year he played the role of Saint Joseph and wore his Saint Joseph costume that I sewed for him using the same pattern!

Art Museum Boy Look

 Today is my last day of the Oliver + S fall pattern preview...

Oliver + S just released the Art Museum Vest + Trousers (available in sizes 6M-12) as one of three of their fall 2013 sewing patterns and I'm so excited to share what I have made! Here is a sewing pattern for boys and girls. Last time was my girl's look, today I'm sharing my tween boy's look. Yay for handmade tween clothing!

Did you know that the vast majority of Oliver + S sewing patterns go all the way up to size 12? So they are not just for a little kid, they can be for a tween, too.

 You can read all about my thoughts on the Art Museum Vest + Trousers sewing pattern over here.

I do have to add: Thank you for the belt loops! With my son being so skinny he almost always has to wear a belt, so belt loops are a must. How nice that they are included so now I don't have to figure how to make then and add them myself. Speaking of skinny, one of the nice things about sewing clothes for your kids is that you can get a good fit if they don't fall into a specific size, by adjusting the sewing pattern accordingly before cutting out the fabric. For example, if I would have sewn this outfit in size 7 it would have been too short, but if I would have sewn it in size 10 it would have been too wide.

I was contemplating adding a zipper fly, but I felt I didn't have enough time (hoping to do a zipper fly next time). Would you like to sew a zipper fly with this one? If so, check out this Mock fly to zip fly tutorial from Cindy at Siestas and Sewing. It is my understanding that a mock fly to zipper fly tutorial on the Oliver + S blog will be coming soon.

 There could be so many different possibilities for boy looks with this sewing pattern, you could go more casual (like denim trousers) all the way up to very formal (all black and/or suiting fabric).

On a side note, do you buy digital patterns from Oliver + S? If so, I wanted to mention that there is some helpful information about printing out digital patterns at the printer by Nicole from the Nicole at home blog.

 Project Details
Pattern: Oliver + S Art Museum Vest + Trousers (difficulty level: 2 out of 4 scissors)
Size: 7 (with size 9/10 length)
Modifications: Like I mentioned above I added length on both the trousers and the vest, otherwise it was sewn by the pattern
Fabrics:
Trousers: Deep red cotton twill
Vest: Navy cotton twill
Vest lining: Free Spirit, Salt water - Octo Garden - Aqua
Notions:
Trousers: One, .75 inch red button from my stash
Vest: Seven, 5/8 inch navy buttons
Inspiration: The octopus is my son's favorite animal. Cindy from Siestas and Sewing whipped up this awesome O+S Sketchbook Shirt for her tween son. That inspired me to purchase some of that same octopus fabric so I could create something for my tween son. Another inspiration was that red is my son's 2nd favorite color and I just love deep red pants. Then it was just a matter of coordinating a vest with the deep red trouser fabric and aqua octopus vest lining fabric. After seeing the available fabrics at the store, in the end a navy it was.

 Here is what it looks like with the addition of the patchwork blazer I sewed him about a year ago. Yay, it still fits!

 (In case anyone was wondering, the white button shirt he's wearing is store bought).

My husband was very unsure of the combination of solid deep red, aqua octopus print and solid navy together. What you do think? Yay or nay?

Library Dress, Playtime Dress, Art Museum Girl Look

And that's a wrap! Many thanks to Oliver + S! I was honored to be a part of the fall pattern preview. I appreciated the invitation.