Project Run and Play Week 3: Elephant Shoes

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*So this is going to be a shorter post (at least for me!).  I have a house full of sick; sick toddlers, sick baby, sick husband... luckily I am not sick, but I am exhausted from all the sickness surrounding me.

BOYS WEEK!!!!!!!!  Wohooo, I absolutely love anything that promotes sewing for boys, and I love that blog land seems to be in a time period of really raising up sewing for boys and showing how fun and gratifying it can be.
So let me explain the title of this outfit... no, let me sum up; this outfit is called Elephant Shoes because it is inspired by B's elephant shoes.  ;o)  Seriously though, he loves elephants!  The elephant sound was one of the first animal sounds he mastered (which is what he is doing in the opening picture - he is showing my mom what an elephant says).  He loves his outfit and didn't want to take it off after the photo shoot was done, how do you say no to a sick little boy, how do you say no to those eyes?  I compromised and let him wear it until lunch - I just could not let it get ravioli-ized on the day it was completed.

The Break Down

Top: Knit Henley T-shirt.  I love sewing knits for my boys... so comfy, so wearable, so easy to wash, so cute.  Ahhhhhhhh knits.  And yet, don't ever try to look for something specific in a knit - it doesn't exist.  There are some amazing knit fabric stores on-line, but I didn't really look soon enough and the only fabric I ever found that came close to my vision is out of stock.  But the great thing about knits is that they are fairly easy to find in solids and then transform.  I had solid black knit in my stash along with a teal womens T.  I was able to pick up a grey long sleeved T at Goodwill for 83cents, BooYaw!!! And that became my base for the elephant print fabric.
The Elephant print was created by using a wooden stamp and tulip soft fabric paint.  I love that the elephants have a level of variation among them.  I drew on the eyes and ears with a black fabric marker.
The finishing on the hem, sleeves, and collar are done with a twin needle.  At the collar this is a great finish because you get the even twin lines of stitching on the outside and the nice zig zag to catch your turned edge on the inside.

Pants: Teal Corduroy lined with black 'something' (I grabbed it from a skirt in my stash, it was the right weight to pair with the corduroy.)  The pants have front slash pockets, knee pockets with elephant lining, and back pockets with stitched on elephants.

The Hoodie is another of my own designs.  I knew it needed to have clean lines so as not to compete with the base elements of this outfit.  I also wanted it to be something that B could use A LOT, so versatility was key.  I went to Joann's hoping to find a really nice thin pleather with some distressing or texture.... ummmm I think I was asking too much of my poor little Joann's.  Instead, I discovered a polyester with this great elephant skin-ish print on it.  Perfect, the garment remains washable (if not dryable ;op).
I didn't want an attached kangaroo pocket to add any bulk, so I went with an inverted pocket (the front is cut as one piece) that is backed with the elephant print.  The pocket trim follows the same angle as the shoulder epaulets, and the front placket gives a nod back to the Henley while also facilitating ease of getting it on and off.  It also keeps him nice and toasty warm - it has been in the single digits this past week, brrrrrr. The hood is lined with elephants and hand-stitched on the inside for a clean finish.  The hem on both the bottom and sleeves are done with the twin needle to give a professional finish and that little bit of stretch.

Credits, Credits, Credits:
Henley~ My own T pattern adapted to develop the two fabric design and slash detail as well as the placket neckline (I did use Melissa's Henley tutorial as a starting point for sizing on the placket)
Hoodie~ My own basic hoodie pattern adapted to add the inverted kangaroo pocket, placket, and shoulder details.
Pants~ My own basic pant pattern (created using Dana, from MADE's,  pant pattern making tutorial) and adapted to add slash pockets, flat feld outer seams, lining, back pockets, and knee pockets.

A few more pictures of poor little sick B?... well if you really want ;o)

 oh, oh, almost the crack of a smile...

*'All done mama, all done'.... poor baby boy ;o(

If you like what you see, go and VOTE for me (or the one you like best!!!)

~ and remember, an Elephant never forgets