My Very Own Little Ponies

My children were Ponies for Halloween.
The boys settled on their characters of Doctor Whooves and Train Engineer a while back and I purchased the necessary fabric.
Daughter did not want to be rainbow dash but instead alternated between Kitty and Fluttershy. I told her that if she wanted to be a kity she could wear last years costume, but if she wanted me to make something new it would be Fluttershy.

So back to the fabric store I went to pick up her fabric.

I ended up altering the coat pattern I used last year, Simplicity 2745 and the hat pattern Simplicity 1953 became a hood.

For the boy's pattern I added on pocket, splitting the front into two sections as shown on my original drawing. I ended up liking how it looked when finished and they are pleased with the pockets. I also lengthened the coat by 2" from last year, so as to fully cover their little rears and give space for cutie marks. I made the boys coats the same size, 1 is skinny, the other a bit on the short side, they are wearing 1 size difference even though they are 2 years apart.

For my daughters I cut the next size larger from last year and left out the godets. There is still enough flare in the coat for it to look girly and work over skirts. I also added in pockets on the front princess lines.

For the ears I put the kitty ear hat on the table next to a pony figure and drew a new pattern. I placed a rubber band around the pony's head to mark where the hat would sit, in the last pic you can see the pins I used to denote where the ear would be sewn to.

Patterning the manes was my favorite part, I am very proud of how they turned out.
Train Engineer is mostly my own design, and fairly flat so as to fit under the hat.

Doctor Whooves is a three dimensional design to give that spiky look without using stuffing.  I have made spines for my dragons using a similar method. I loved the way these came out! Would work for doing a dragon or dinosaur as well. made putting the fez on a bit tricky though.

Fluttershy as fun seaming through use of darts to fit around the head, it is so sweet and stuffing free.

The cutie marks were done in a variety of ways.

Since the Train engineer is never seen outside of the train cab, we made our own cutie mark, taking the image of the train and letting my son pick the colors. I did change the order of the yellow and black on the wheels for visibility sake, and explained to him why. The Train was drawn on to plain cotton with fabric markers, stitched to a second piece of cotton and turned right side out, the machine appliqued on to the coat.

The hour glass was fleece machine appliqued on to the coat.

The butterflies were fleece hand appliqued on, the antennas and bodies were couched yarn.

I did not finish the pants, and was up till 1 am the morning of finishing the boy's coats. I made a small train hat from Aesthetic Nest (printed 2 to a page to reduce scale) and a small fez. I was punch at this point so I give you the following pictures.

Fluttershy's wings are made in two layers with laters of batting between the fleece to give the wings some structure. I decided to sew them on to the coat. This means she can't wear the coat in the car, but she shouldn't anyways for safety.

Now for some pictures ON the children

 And some pictures on the dress form (which is about 2 sizes too small and doesn't have a head.) Since children are so wiggly, and I am not keen on posting pictures of my children

Last, but definitely NOT least, here are the pattern pieces for Ears, Manes, Tails, Wings and the mini Fez. You will need the original Simplicity hat pattern 1953 for the hood, though you may be able to adapt this to another pattern.
The PDF is one 2.4mb file and includes all 8 patterns (Ears, 3 Manes, 2 tails, Wings and Fez) Feel free to share this link, but do not share the file. It took me quite a bit of time to format it all nicely.

My Little Brony: Costume Planing

After talking with my children, the boys have decided that they want to be Ponies. My eldest was insistent that if his brother was going to be a Pony that he be a boy pony, so suggested Doctor Whooves which he liked. Then eldest decided he want to be the train driver pony

http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/File:Conductor_pony_and_train_driver_S2E14.png

The Train Driver IN the train, not the Conductor outside the train.
We need to come up with a cutie mark for this pony, we think the engine will work well.

So I have already purchased fabric, left to right: Cotton knit, that I should try to dye for their shirts, Polar fleece for their hoodies, and twill for their pants. I believe I have brown fleece in the stash for the mane and tails. I also got an assortment of buttons for the pants and hoodies, I may need more but this was all my store had, will have to check other stores in area.

The sketched designs have already passed child approval.

PANTS and SHIRT
Shirt is knit and I hope will feature a design that coresponds to the whole costume but can be worn on it's own. Thinking of the Train engine for one and a cute Doctor quote for the other.
Pants, I don't need to buy zippers as I have been saving them from pants that my children and husband grow out of. I reuse a lot of old clothes, though they rarely become more than mock up material.
Eldest is a skinny boy who has trouble keeping his pants up, the ONLY pants he can wear sucessfully are the ones with the buttonhole elastic in them to adjust the size, and overalls. I intend to use this in the pants, so that IF they survive to be grown out of, the next child can wear them. My children rarely use back pockets, so those have been omitted, but they do have to have pockets. I will be doing a double layer at the knee of the pants, as that is where they wear out the most.
On the sides there will be the Cutie Marks, yet another reason why the back pockets have been omitted. I am not sure if these will be temporary or permanent, so I think I will hand sew them on. They will NOT be made of felt, but cotton.

HOODIES

The hoodies, and I am going with attached hoods this year, will have the Ears and Mane permanently attached, they will button up in front and I will be altering the pattern from last year, adding in pockets in the front. The Hat, Scarf and Tail will be temporary basted on. The Tail may stay on, or it may come off, depends on how the children deal with them.

The Docto's Fez and Bowtie will be basted or pined on, and since I knew what cutie mark he has, I have shown in on the side. Cutie Mark will be a permanent fixture of the hoodie.
I will be making a felt sonic screwdriver too, probably more than one so each my children can have one, but there are enough variations for that!


So that is my plan, I have most of the Materials, next up is Pattern Alteration!

Hallows Thoughts

It is September and the Children have started school.

I am still not used to the idea of NOT having my boys for 6 hours, my daughter seems bored, and I don't know what to do with my time. I know that with time I will get a good routine down, but right now it just feels odd.

September, so close to October. October = Halloween. Halloween = COSTUMES!!!!

So I find myself asking the children ever so briefly what they would like to be for Halloween. The boys will need some sort costume that they can put on at school for the festivities. (They can't wear the costume all day.) and it wouldn't be fair to leave the girl out so she will need something as well.

I am thinking of finishing up the Rainbow Dash dress I started for her birthday and still haven't finished.

 It is a 3-piece ensemble, dress, jacket with wings, hat. Oh and I made matching shorts as well. It isn't finished because some child mucked with the settings of my serger and I couldn't get it back in synch in time for her B-day.

So I have a plan for one child, even though she keeps saying she wants to be a kitty, and I remind her that she was one last year.

I so far have not gotten an idea out of the boys, and am thinking that once they see their sister is going to be a Pony, they may want to be one too. I think I could convince one to be Doctor Whooves, seeing we are Doctor Who fans of many years (3 is my fave) but I don't really have another male pony that they would want to be and am concerned about sending them dressed as a female character. I will if it is what they want though, and I think they would be cute. Out of all the Mane Six, Rainbow Dash would be the easiest for a little boy to dress up as, but that is already taken in our family. AppleJack would be a good choice too an happens to be one of my boy's favorite Pony.

http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._Hooves

Then *I* want something new and shiny to wear. All this thought of costumes is so much fun I start to feel left out.

But then the cynic in me asks "What is the point?" We will not be trick-or-treating, the children cant eat anything they would get, and I only some of it, my husband less. We are not likely to be invited to any parties, so why should I bother dressing up?

Last year's costumes worked out well, the children have used them as clothing and enjoy their hats very much, it was a win. a bit of a cop-out for a costumer, but a win. I had them finished ahead of when they were needed, they were loved and USED more than once. In fact my daughter is now sporting the shortest hair of my children since she found scissors, so I expect her to be wearing hats quite a bit in the upcoming months as it gets cooler.

Then I think of those UFOs I have. I am especially thinking of the Codex I started when my daugher was a baby (it was nursing friendly no less) but I ran out of time and ended up whipping up a gnome hat and being a gnome with my daughter and husband.

You can see the Codex staff my husband made me is quite shiny! That is my default ren dress by the way, LOVE it!

So Codex has sat in a box for almost 3 years, I should finish it. (Take out the nursing access if I can.) Then I will have something to wear to the local comic and Sci-Fi conventions! Yes that's it.

It is @&$# Halloween, I SHOULD dress up, it is part of the costumer's creed is it not?

Now to get that sewing space back in order.....