Saturday, August 18, 2012

polar panda

It's all about the birthday parties in Clem-land at the moment. His friends are starting to turn five. Today's party, at the zoo, came with the option of animal dressups and Clem wished to be a panda. I was pretty happy to oblige, given that I can see my kids' cute dressup days dwindling before my eyes.

(Excuse me while I have a "boo-hoo my baby's growing up" moment. On Thursday we received a letter saying his first school transition visit is next Friday. His face simply lit up with excitement. I'm excited for him and I know it's a new and positive phase for our whole family. But still... blink-sniffle, you know?)
I made yet another version of the Farbenmix Yorik hoodie pattern, this time Franken-patterning the hood with the Cozy Winter Hood (which has ears) from Oliver & S 'Little Things to Sew'.
The fabric is polar fleece from the 30% off sale at the shop around the corner. I know polar fleece can be made from recycled plastic bottles (I don't know if these ones were) and therefore could be an eco-friendly choice but even so... I just find it a bit... yucky. However this was inexpensive, appropriately fluffy and warm and best of all, right around the corner. If he wants to wear this as a regular hoodie, I think the cute-factor can overcome my ugh it's polar fleece thing.

He had a great time at the party. In fact, it was his second party today, with the first being a fairy party for a dear sweet girlfriend at a place called The Butterfly Room. He said "It was good but it wasn't as pretty as it should have been. I wanted it prettier." I guess 'The Butterfly Room' conjures up some vivid images in the four year old mind.

I don't really want to think about it but we'd better start planning his own October birthday party soon, I suppose.

- Jane x



14 comments:

  1. Cute and Cuddly - love it Jane.
    Yep - the growing older thing is scary - I will be like you this time next year - contemplating the last moving on.
    I'll be here to console you come the start of term one next year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is awesome! I love you took a regular hoodie pattern and made it so whimsical (and I have a special affinity to ears on items for kids)!
    And I can't believe that he'll be heading off to school soon! I would imagine that it would be particularly hard to watch your youngest head off to school...it's like the end of an era!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is adorable, my son caught a glimpse and requested his own! His daddy let him watch Kung Fu Panda last week and it has been air karate and panda love ever since! The fairy party comment really made my day, I love that he was focused on the decor ( or lack of it).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You could totally make Jude a panda hoodie! And if you're not running a day before a deadline like I was you could have time to source some far nicer fabric :) Pandas are quite neatly designed with their black and white sections... makes for fun and not too difficult sewing!

      Delete
  4. I agree with you about the fleece thing. My daughter persuaded me to back her quilt with fleece because it's soft. I obliged but after a few years it was just horrible and not soft at all so I managed to sneak it away and put on a cotton backing.
    The panda hoodie does look good though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes we shall see how this hoodie 'bears up' (ha) under washing... I hope it doesn't go all horrible and pilled.

      Delete
  5. Great hoodie. What a great idea to turn a costume into a wearable garment. I must remember that one. My baby is growing up to (sniff)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bittersweet, isn't it? They become easier to handle and lovely in different ways but I will miss the early years....

      Delete
  6. Very cute! I don't know if your school does it but ours has 'Book Week' each year and the kids dress up as a book character and do a parade. Ours is next week and I can't wait!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes we have book week coming up too and next year I will be looking for a panda book to shoehorn Clem's hoodie into, ha! I think this week I will be working on capes for a Legolas and Gandalf the White for the big boys. So I guess I will be making dressups for a few years yet. I hope you blog your efforts!

      Delete
  7. Just love it Jane. It took me a full year to stop missing Maya when she went off to school. At that stage I had worked from home half time with the kids for 11 years and was never really alone. I'm working on a size 9 white mouse costume for book week at the moment

    ReplyDelete
  8. The hoodie (& Clem!) is adorable (although I'm with you on the polar fleece)
    So bittersweet to have the babies growing up,isn't it? Not looking forward to Lucy starting school (still have another year up my sleeve, although she starts preschool next year....)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love hoods with ears! So cute! Joe is kind of anti-hood, but maybe, just maybe, if it had ears? Hm.

    I generally dislike sewing with polar fleece too. It dulls your scissors, leaves a mess when you sew, snags every rough fingernail, and doesn't hold up well in the wash. That said, nothing feels nicer on a really cold day, so sometimes, it's just the thing. However, you could do this in velour, too ...

    ReplyDelete

Hey, I would really love to know what you think. Go on!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...