I have to turn my 3-year-old into a cheetah by Halloween. Agh! The problem is that time is marching right along, and I haven't made too much progress yet. And my time is limited. I can do this! After some searching, I found what I think is the perfect fabric.
Gorgeous, right? I forget what it is... faux fur, suede cloth? No, I dunno. Anyhow, it's perfect. So far. And I have this cool sewing book just for making Halloween costumes. Cool! But what does it say for this type of costume? Find your favorite one-piece pj pattern. Hm. Ok, except the book that I have with such things is playing hide-and-seek with me! Shoot!! So now I have to find the time to go buy another one, for who knows how much, that I'll likely use once. Frustrating. However, I said I would do this, and I will. (When I told darling son that I planned to make cheetah pants and a cheetah top, he clearly stated that this would not due, that it has to be a SUIT. Sighs...)
So here is the pattern I chose, thank-you Wal-mart.
My daughter begged me to let her trace for me. She's really good at it! Had I known....
Putting the zipper in. One area I was a little nervous about. No need, it wasn't hard. Though to get it flush with the collar, I had to leave a gap below the bottom of the zipper...
So I just made a little square of fabric and stitched it just below the bottom of the zipper. Just to firm that area up a bit.
Finished up the suit with bootie-style pj feet (also a part I was anxious about, but it was not hard) and a simple cuff on the arms. I created a tail and stuffed it with polyester fiberfil. I picked out a few stitches from the back seam of the suit, placed the tail so it would angle down a bit, and stitched it in securely. Done! I was so happy to finish this part, with plenty of time to spare. Now for the cheetah head.
For this I followed a pattern I found in an Oliver + S sewing book I bought recently. I love how they do patterns! Instead of having to copy all sorts of dots and lines onto the fabric pieces, which I tend to forget to do, these patterns put snips right into the fabric pieces as you go along. So much easier! This went together really easily. For the outside of the "hood" I used the same fabric as for the suit. For the lining and inside of the ears. I used a velveteen fabric. So soft and comfy! The pattern had suggested that new sewists steer away from using velveteen. I am not new at this and wasn't afraid, but for any new sewists reading this, I had no problem with it at all. Some fabrics can be slippery and difficult to work with, but this was not.
It fits perfectly, and he loves it! Success! =)
