Saturday, October 22, 2011

Ottobre 06/2009-7 & 03/2010-23

After the sewing of the Rapunzel dress, I was really looking forward to putting together this little man shirt made from easy to tame cotton.
This is Logan's Woody costume. He'll wear this with RTW jeans and a purchased cowboy hat. The  vest is from the 06/2009 issue of Ottobre. It's actually a baby pattern and not graded up to Logan's size, but I just added a couple of inches to the length and an inch to the width at center back, and it is perfect. I actually traced, altered, cut and sewed the entire vest at Sewing Summit in the BabyLock sewing room. It was so fun!
The outer fabric is quilting cotton and I lined the vest with flannel for warmth, and bound the front edges with bias strips. In the cartoon, it looks like Woody's vest has a rope-like trim, but I thought this striped fabric on the bias would approximate that look well and give me a nice clean and easy finish.
The shirt is from the 03/2010 issue of Ottobre. I've made it before here.This time I chose a flannel back homespun purchased at Cottonwood Fabrics in Sandy. (Thanks to Sewing Geek for recommending them!) The reason I chose this particular shirt pattern was two fold. I really like the slim fit that it has, particularly for wear under a vest. I also appreciate that it is a seriously simplified version of a man shirt.
The collar does not have a separate stand, rather is shaped to approximate one, and the button bands are cut on and folded over.  Even though this is a costume, I used Pam's shirt crisp interfacing for the collar and cuffs. It is so wonderful to work with, and particularly with this one piece collar, I needed the flexible stability it gives.
The cuffs are one piece fold-over, and the placket is a continuous lap. I did cut the lap binding on the bias, which the pattern didn't call for. I always like a little give in my continuous lap binding. I think it make for easier sewing.
So, true confessions time. When I cut out this shirt, I THOUGHT I had carefully aligned the dominant stripe in the plaid so that I could match it.
But I didn't. And it threw the whole shirt off grain. See how it looks like the back is sloping upwards? Yeah, off grain. So, one side seam is perfectly matched and the other is totally off. I'm so glad this is a subtle plaid, or I would be remaking this shirt. As it is, I'm just going to be unhappy with it. And naturally, he'll decide this is his favorite shirt and wear it every day. Sigh. Just a costume, right? At least the vest covers the back.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

that is fabulous! I made my son a Woody costume a few years back...and my MIL actually hand painted the red stripe on the yellow fabric! Your version is MUCH better and he could even wear that shirt later on...without it totally screaming out that its a costume shirt LOL

Cindy said...

Great costume! I think the striped fabric bias binding does a great job of mimicking a rope trim. Lining up plaids/stripes is my own personal nemesis. It doesn't look too far off to me.:)

Witch Hazel said...

The shirt looks great! i don't think anyone will notice the plaid not matching on the one side, like you say, the plaid is very subtle. It's actually perfect fabric for a Woody Shirt! Great job on the whole costume, very cute! :)

Renee said...

Fantastic costume! You did a great job.

auntninn said...

So adorable! I'm impressed by the great fabrics you found to really reproduce Woody. And if you feel bad about the back I'll privately email you a picture of the back of Rylee's Rapunzel dress and you can laugh at me and feel better.

Marjie said...

Even if it's his favorite shirt, he'll soon outgrow it. That's the good and bad about dressing little ones.

Karin said...

Fantastic costume! Just perfect.

kbenco said...

What a great Woody costume, your stripey vest trim is very clever.
I really like the shirt. It would be my favourite shirt for sure, such a happy colour. The plaid at the back is one of those things only you will notice - it would be completely normal in RTW! Maybe he will need a not-costume vest for later so that you don't have to look at the back ;), because he won't care.

Anonymous said...

That's a great Woody costume and I would not have noticed the foible if you hadn't pointed it out. I really like the striped binding. Myra looks great too though I don't envy you working with the organza. Is the little man dressing up too?

Kyle said...

wow, you are really cranking the garments out,I can hardly keep up just reading about it! I was doing a little plaid matching tonight and my eyese are crossed!

Beth said...

Wonderful job on the shirt & vest. I love the bias accents. I will have to check out that interfacing when I get serious about making a blouse.
Are you making the costume he suggested for you?

Pam said...

What a brilliant job on this costume! If you had not pointed out the grain issue on the back, I for one, would never have spotted it! As it is - it is lovely! Congratulations again!

greytone said...

What an extraordinary Woody costume! Absolutely perfect! And ahead of schedule! Mommy, you are to be commended!

Tawny said...

Awesome costume! It looks just like Woody. Your little Logan is gonna love wearing this on Halloween. :)

Andrea said...

Nice job. Love it.

Julia said...

Perfect Woody costume!!!

Sam Rose said...

I have costume jealousy. The one I made is more of a hot weather costume and looks ok for one day's work. This is so amazing and very professional looking. Great fabrics too!

Sascha said...

I have to get my kids obsessed with Toy Story by next Halloween. I looooove this Woody costume. I would love to have all three kids as Toy Story characters.

SEWN said...

Awww! My son would have just been in heaven wiht that costume. You did an amazing job.