Today I am making the bat costumes for my nephews, because I’m going down to see them on Tuesday. Being the dutiful aunt that I am, I can’t possibly arrive without the costumes, aye?
So, let’s have a go at some progress pics. Firstly, the bat-hat. I got a couple of cheap black winter hats, which are insulated and thus far too warm for indoor bats. So, I took the “Thinsulate” label off, then opened up the lower edge seam and snipped out the inside insulation. The hat is going to be a bit shorter, after all, it’s not for cold day purpose. Now to zig-zag the raw edge and neaten everything up. Oh, and do the same thing to the second hat. Twin nephews = doing everything twice. 🙂
For the costume top I measured the sleeve length and the body length of the black sweatshirt I got, and then drew a bat-wing onto paper to use as a pattern. You can see in the pic the steel boning length I got to insert into the wings at three points. The grey fur you can see on the table is for the furry bat-tummies, and I just put it through a 40 degrees wash. I wouldn’t wash fur like this in the washing machine, ever, and certainly not on 40 degrees, but let’s face it, this is for costumes for 4 and a half year olds, if I don’t pre-wash everything then disaster might strike later. The fur survived, albeit a bit felted – as expected – and is currently drying outside in the sun. That way it can’t get any worse when washed for the first time.
Oh, and my new sewing table in the sewing room is the perfect height! No more extra-sore shoulders.
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