Cowboy Costume

October 1st, my favorite month. Aside from being on baby watch I whipped up a quick cowboy costume for Jackson for cowboy day at his preschool. He already had a base, a plaid shirt and jeans. All he needed was to cowboy it up a bit. So I made a vest using a shirt as a pattern. All you need is two front panels and 1 back panel. I used suede so I didn't even finish off the edges. I added a yellow felt star to the front. Then he needed some boots. This is a little more tricky.

Here is what I did:

 I started with brown suede and cut a pattern based on his calf width and the length of his lower leg.

 Then I cut a "u" shape for the bottom of the boot (the foot section).

 Next I used wonder under and ironed on some batting to both the leg and foot sections.

 I finished off the top of the boot with some bias tap, enclosing the batting and suede together. This also gets rid of a raw edge on the top of the boot.

 Then I attached the foot flap to the bottom of the leg piece with RST. Then fold the boot in half with RST and sew up the sides making a tube shape.

The boots fit over his shoes and the batting keeps them stiff and upright. We finished the look off with a foam hat from Joann's.

He loved it. He was so cute trying it on, telling me that "it looks great mom, thanks." And he wore it for 3 days straight. Pretty good for an hour project and no pattern. Maybe he will wear it for Halloween, probably not because the kid loves costumes and changes his mind daily.