Remember Pokémon Go? What a crazy phenomenon that took over last summer. It's so weird to think how it was so pervasive and so many people played it and now feels like it has quickly faded from our cultural memory. Normally, I would have downloaded the app to see what all the fuss was about, played for a couple days, gotten annoyed that my phone battery was always drained and given it up. Pokémon Go arrived at a unique time in my life. A time where I had to go on two to three walks a day with a sleeping baby attached to me. There are only so many times you can pick something up from the grocery store before there is nothing left to pick up. Pokémon Go gave those walks purpose. Admittedly a very silly purpose, but purpose nonetheless. So in honour of the service that this ridiculous free app provided to me, we dressed up as the classic trio from the original series for Hallowe'en.
This is the hood zip coverall from Brindille & Twig AKA the base of every costume I will make my daughter until she is six years old. This coverall is the perfect blank canvas for all sorts of costumes. It's also super cute as an overlayer for babies to wear in the winter. I see these made out of fleece all the time on chilly days.
As per my previous experience with B&T, the instructions were super thorough and easy to follow. The pattern was a little more complicated with the addition of the zipper but if you can insert a zipper you'll be fine. The only modifications I made were to draft a lightening bolt tail and add it at the back of the gusset seam and add ears to the sides of the hood seam.
As per my previous experience with B&T, the instructions were super thorough and easy to follow. The pattern was a little more complicated with the addition of the zipper but if you can insert a zipper you'll be fine. The only modifications I made were to draft a lightening bolt tail and add it at the back of the gusset seam and add ears to the sides of the hood seam.
The biggest challenge of this make was the fact that I chose to use minky fabric. I don't know if I will ever do that again. Or at least not when a zipper is involved. I was getting so frustrated until I realized that I had a pack of quilting feet that came with my sewing machine that I hadn't bothered to open. In it, I found a walking foot that saved this project from the garbage. It still wasn't easy but it helped a ton. My only advice for sewing minky is don't even try without a walking foot or don't do it. The black accents are some felt scraps and the cuffs are a yellow rib knit. No issues there.
I ran out of time when it came to our costumes, and let's be real, no one noticed because we were with a baby dressed as Pikachu. My partner's costume is basically a cheap hat ordered from EBay and a white polo shirt from the thrift store that I quickly overlaid some blue mesh on top of it. I quickly added a few yellow jersey details by doing a zig zag stitch to applique them on. The shirt doesn't look amazing up close but it worked and having a baby is all about letting things go.
I borrowed the suspenders from my sister and had the wig on hand from a previous April O'Neil costume. I couldn't find a yellow tank top easily and thought it would be no problem to sew one up myself. I used Patterns for Pirates Essential Tank. I had seen a few bloggers mention this company and rave about it so I thought I'd give it a try. It seems to be mostly casual women's knit clothing. They had more than one tank option. This looked closest to what I needed. To be honest I found that the overlap system they use to assemble PDFs a bit unexact for my liking and the resulting tank top was huge. I had more than 3 inches of ease. I took it in on the sides and the shoulders but this resulted in a mess as I did it after binding the neckline. I may give this pattern and company another try in the future when I have more time but it wasn't the best start. I ended up cutting this tank up afterwards to make my daughter a hoodie which is super cute so it worked out.
Well, that's all for now. It was a fun thing to do for Hallowe'en so a win!
Well, that's all for now. It was a fun thing to do for Hallowe'en so a win!