UPDATED TO ADD: check out the
Aug/Sept/Oct 2012 issue of Altered Couture magazine, pages 119-123 where I show step-by-step how I created this, including all the tools & materials needed, complete instructions, as well as some helpful tips.
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As promised here is the tutorial on how I made
this Octopus Hoodie.
My 2nd son's favorite animal is the octopus, his favorite color is yellow, & his favorite piece of clothing is a yellow hoodie, so that's where I started. I took a photo of him wearing a hoodie, printed a couple of copies of that photo using a black & white printer, then took a pen & yellow & blue crayons and came up with these sketches... the hood is the head of the octopus, there are 8 legs coming down, one on each sleeve, 3 in the front & 3 in the back... the 3 in the front & the 3 in the back form letters with octopus leg font that spell out his name ! I picked blue for the undershirt for the water since an octopus lives in the ocean.
I grabbed 3 shirts: 2 yellow long sleeved t-shirts (one from the closet & one bought at Target for $6.99) & 1 blue long sleeved polo shirt (bought at a children's consignment shop for $8.50)
I got a piece of paper big enough to cover the shirt
by hand drew the design & cut it out to make my pattern
I tucked the blue polo shirt inside one of the yellow t-shirts & pinned them together
slid a large book inside to make a flat surface for writing
pinned the pattern to the front of the shirt
traced the pattern with a disappearing pen
checked to make sure it looked OK
I started sewing in the upper left hand corner & sewed one continuous line, following the line I drew
checked that it looked OK
I cut off the excess fabric by cutting close to the sewn line
Then I repeated the same steps for the back of the shirt
For the sleeves I continued the line from the front of the shirt
used this pattern for the octopus legs for the sleeves
sewed down the sleeve as far as I could with the sewing machine, then sewed the end of the octopus leg by hand
I took a hood that fits my son well & placed it on the 2nd yellow t-shirt as shown
traced it leaving 1/2 inch for seam allowances
cut it out
turned right sides together & sewed it
pressed the seam open
I removed the buttons, tags, & collar from the blue polo shirt
attached the hood to the shirt
sewed the hood onto the shirt
All done !
Total cost for making this? $15.49
Happy sewing !
