Jake and the Neverland Pirates costume

A lady called me back in September and asked if I could make a Jake and the Neverland Pirates costume for her grandson, who is turning three years old, and is rather batty about this television show.  I had no idea what Jake and the Pirates was or what the Jake character looked like, but I agreed to make the costume.  Hey, I like to research and create an accurate, complete "look," so even though I knew I would have to squeeze sewing into a busy schedule, I also knew that it would be fun.

Source

So that's what the character looks like.  And here is Harriet modeling the finished costume:

 The birthday boy is a little taller than Harriet, so the costume is slightly big on her.  But I think she makes a pretty adorable pirate.  (Even if she refused to make a pirate-y face, the silly girl.)

As you can see, I just took a purchased white shirt, and cut the sleeves and neckline to make them look all raggedy.  Then I added a cross-stitched tie out of black yarn.  I made the blue elastic waist pants from this super-duper snazzy tutorial*.

The belt is tube made from grey knit fabric and made adjustable with a D-ring closure.

Bandanna?  Easy peasy.   I cut a strip of red knit about 7"x30" and serged the edges.

The vest was also really simple and loads of fun to make, thanks to this loverly tutorial.  I made a slight modification to the pattern in that I extended the front straight out from the neckline to create the collar. I made the vest out of blue felt and finished the edges with gold metallic bias binding.  (Putting on the binding was not as easy as I anticipated, since the thickness of the felt caused the binding to pull unevenly.  Just a warning.)  The huge gold buttons definitely make it look all pirate-y.

I was shocked at how quickly the costume came together and how cute the finished project turned out to be.  I hope my client's grandson is happy!

*I seriously can't say enough happy things about this pants tutorial.  They work every time, people.  Every time!  Not only do they come together in about thirty minutes, but they are so versatile.  Love!

What I Managed to Create Over Christmas Break

I start classes again on Monday.  Instead of taking five classes at once, I'm only taking two: The Literature of C.S. Lewis and Conflict Resolution.  This semester is going to be a breeze - a much desired breeze since the advent of Baby Edmund will undoubtedly increase my responsibility levels.  But what better way to reduce stress than by reading Lewis?  I can't think of many.

In any case, I wanted to do something purposefully craft-y before the blessed break came to an end.  I wanted to get the supplies for a project and actually finish it - something that rarely happens as evidenced by the chest of drawers and 3-4 Rubbermaid tubs stuffed with fabric and unfinished projects.  Steve remains gracious and encouraging and said that I could buy the yarn to make the H a sweater.  I found this pattern on Pinterest and bought brown yarn with a hint of a gold sparkle.  And after crocheting off and on for nearly a week, I have the final results:

Let me just say that I LOVE this crochet pattern.  The stitch pattern created a tight but flexible design which is perfect for a toddler's sweater.  It doesn't oooze and lose its shape like so many other crocheted sweaters.  The sizing was also super accurate.  I compared the measurement of the 12-month size to teeny-tiny Harriet and it was perfect.  

The obligatory Cousin Hug.  We are trying to convince Harriet that she will never remember a time when she did not have matchy-matchy pictures with Jemima.  Clara and I feel that this is only fair after all of the matchy-matchy pictures we had to endure.

Anyways, I'm really pleased with how the sweater turned out.  It feels great to have a completed project on my super cute stinker of a kid.