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jennbot — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:05:08 +0000

Judah’s first real Halloween Costume 2009

The Evil Flying Monkey from The Wizard of Oz

Pasted from <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kjIQXVNfEx8/R_OV0MzPKXI/AAAAAAAACbs/ORflASs1_as/s400/oz06.jpg>

I love the Mohawk – I think I am the most excited about this part of the costume.

Pasted from <http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2423203310_24eef287a0_o.jpg>

Pasted from <http://www.wizardofozonline.com/images/monkeycostume.jpg>

I may rethink the felt and use cotton fabric for the vest/shirt. I didn’t notice the white outline at first. Although I could use a white satin stitch and applique the red felt to the blue.

Pasted from <http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M8938.htm?tab=costumes&page=7>

I am guessing that the colors of the wing feathers are black grey and red – I think I will have a hard time finding gray. I may make them solid black – although red tips would be cool.

9/29/09

I purchased grayish blue faux fur – for body

Grayish blue faux suede – for tummy and foot pads

Medium blue felt – vest

Red felt -vest

Black fuzzy felt – wings??

All from Fields Fabrics – $45

Craft fur in white for hair/mohawk from Joann’s $3.50

I had Timtex in my stash for the wings – would like to find gray feathers to cover them.

Since costume zips up the back, I think I will cut slits in the vest on the left and right of the zipper for access to velcro to secure the wings.

I am also concerned about the tail – I think I will need velcro at the shoulder for that – and hand sewing it to the back of the costume seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I need a more secure construction method. A stiff wire in the tail may help support it.

Pasted from <http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M8938.htm?tab=costumes&page=7>

Feathers

I want to cover the wings in real feathers. I had some difficulty finding gray feathers a local craft stores, or good feathers for that matter. I finally found some decent white feathers and Hobby Lobby and bought 2 packs of long quills 3-5″ http://www.craftsetc.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=33324&dep=50&cat=9&subcat=2&Search=Yand then 3 packs of the shorter fluffy feathers. http://www.craftsetc.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=33318&dep=50&cat=9&subcat=2&Search=Y

I found fabric dye in Gunmetal Gray at Joann’s.

Pasted from <http://www.jacquardproducts.com/products/dyes/idye/>

I put the dye in the 30 minute soak cycle on hot with 1/3 cup of white vinegar.

I put the feathers in lingerie bags.

They are now a lovely shade of medium to pale gray.

The feathers were $5 for all 5 bags (Hobby Lobby had 50% off sale) and the dye was $3.69 at Joann’s.

10/10/09 Pattern Review Notes so far:

I’ve almost completed the body – I think sewing the cuffs on the sleeves was irritatingly difficult. They are very small and will not fit over the free arm of the machine. Very hard to stretch, sew, and hold all at once. This is sewing at it’s most frustrating. However, despite my crooked and awful seams, the fur is so forgiving that it looks really good from the outside.

10/26/09 more pattern review notes:

I love the ruler markings on the pattern pieces for lengthening and shortening
Be cautious of seam allowance – they are different on different sections of the costume. Some 5/8, some 3/8, some 1/4.
The pattern pieces in illustration No. 1 are mis-numbered. Piece “1″ in the illustration is the pattern back (2) and piece “2″ is the pattern front (1). This is confusing if you are a visual person like I am.

10/26/09 Construction of different elements:

The body is easy and straightforward. It would actually be a nice pattern for a regular sleeper. I used knit binding on the neck to match the sleeves instead of the bias tape the pattern recommends. See my note on the sleeve cuffs above.

Head piece: I follow the instructions for the skunk costume – which has the lining and fur sewed wrong sides together and then turned to give you the finished edge. I used wonder tape (double sided basting tape)

Pasted from <http://www.createforless.com/Collins+Tape+Collins+Wash-Away+Wonder+Tape/pid7520.aspx?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=cse>

to hold the lining to the fur. Otherwise it was impossible to sew. The wonder tape worked wonders.

For the mohawk I just used fake costume fur sold in a package and cut it out in the shape of the middle head pattern piece. I machine basted it on.

The ears – don’t bother to sew these by hand. It will give you bloody bruised fingers if you use thick ultrasuede like I did. I simply edge stitched them in place and because the hat is curved they flip out really nicely.

The tail – this takes some effort to turn. My hand were very sore the next day. It definitely needs to be attached to the shoulder because it’s heavy and it drags the ground. I didn’t sew it to the shoulder because I needed to be able to get the vest and wings on, so I trimmed a square patch of the fur down (so the velcro would stick) on the shoulder and on the tail and used sticky velcro. Worked perfectly – no sewing required.

The vest – I used an existing Ottobre pattern and then made it larger and deepened the armscye to accommodate the thick fur. I used felt for the vest and applique so I didn’t have to worry about finishing edges or seams.j

I drew the applique design free hand and then used steam a seam

Pasted from <http://www.createforless.com/Steam-A-Seam+2+Fusible+Web+9x+12+5+pc/pid46421.aspx?SI=27fede78-d809-410b-bfb3-cf8858c89659>

to cut and fuse it. I topstitched it with white embroidery thread.

The Wings: I researched bird wing shapes and drew a pattern based on a bird of prey (obviously the right choice for an evil flying monkey). I cut two wing shapes from Timtex and then made a cover for them out of the grey ultrasuede. I cut the ultrasuede an inch bigger all around and then sewed it with a 1/2 inch seam allowance leaving the middle bottom open enough to turn it and get the timtex inserted. I topstitched the opening closed and it’s not visible under the feathers.

The feathers were glued and arranged by my husband who also studied wing formations in order to make them look as real as possible. I told him it actually sort of creeped me out they looked so real.

You can sort of see the “gorilla” like chest piece in this photo

Monkeys & Montessori

Evil Monkeys really really like suckers

Front of evil monkey vest

Back of evil monkey vest

Front view of wings (they looked better prior to being worn and rolled on).

Back view of wings to show ultrasuede covering

Velcro on tail and shoulder

Just machine stitch the ear on like so.

Gray Gables

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