Mouse King Shirt

Alastair’s Christmas outfit is almost finished.  The pattern is Ginger Snaps Hudson’s Sundy Suit,  with side vents. Few little guys can keep their shirts tucked in so this pattern offers a nice solution to that problem.

Paired with the shirt are black velveteen short pants with straps that should hold the ruthless Mouse King securely in place. But if the shirt still fits Alastair next year, it’s nice to give him the option of wearing it without tucking.  

Like Cousin Robert’s shirt  the fabric is Martha’s Favorite Linen.  This is not my favorite linen, but it is just right for the boys’ shirts. 

Black piping trims the collar, which is embellished with a Brother Duetta decorative stitch which I call barbed wire.  Aside from complimenting the masculine nature of the garment, the stitching hides the shadow of the black piping’s seam allowance.    The same stitch secures the mock cuff on the sleeves.

The Mouse King embroidery was part of the Nutcracker Motifs collection from A Bit of Stitch,  though the greenery below the king’s boots is from some other collection that I cannot recall.  The pine spray was added because, personally, I prefer standing figures to be standing on something, even a fallen branch.  No matter that the standing figure is a wicked magical mouse (certainly unrelated to Mickey).

The other two cousin outfits are embroidered with designs from this same set–Laurel’s pinafore bib with the Sugar Plum Fairy (see post Christmas Dress ’10    Robert’s shirt with The Nutcracker himself.  I’ve found that  coordinating outfits are more likely to look like a matched set if the designs are  from the same collection or at least done by the same designer.  And in this case, the black velveteen worn by each child will aid in tying them together.

I am really eager to finish the pants, which are all done except for the buttons and buttonholes.   I had to mail order from my favorite on-line shop, Farmhouse Fabrics to get the abalone buttons that I think will be perfect.  They should arrive in two or three days.  Farmhouse ships very promptly, usually the same day the order is placed.

As you can see from the pants pattern, buttons play a prominent roll in the unique, vintage look.  The pattern is from Martha Pullen’s book, Sewing for Jack and Jill.

As always, I learned a lot while making this shirt. One lesson was to limit my serger use to play clothes and knits.  For some time now, I have  felt guilty for my limited use of my serger.  So I decided to put it to work finishing the seams.

I was very dissatisfied and wish I had just used traditional French seams.  In my humble and certainly outdated opinion, using a serger on an heirloom garment is like using a broom to paint the Sistine Chapel.    It just doesn’t sit right with me.

Another lesson that was learned, not anew but reinforced, is to think through the entire project before putting scissors or needle to fabric.   My original plan was to make standard button-on pants.  But when these V-front pants in Jack and Jill  jumped out at me, I was enchanted and changed my plan.

However,  I had not altered my vision of the shirt and pants together.   I had had every intention of running black lace tape vertically on either side of the Mouse King embroidery, as I had done on Robert’s shirt.  But a moment before I  began stitching the lace tape down, a picture of the pants, with their diagonal straps running beside the lace tape made popped into my head and stopped me dead in my tracks.  Alastair would have looked like a disoriented jail bird with all those nonparallel black stripes running up his chest!

Of course, this same vision put the barbed wire stitching along the back facings on hold as well.  It just would be  too much stuff in too small a space.  Alastair is an average sized 20 month-old boy.  His little body simply could not have absorbed all that visual activity without repercussions of viewer astigmatism.  So now, the pants are put aside and I am moving on to the next project while awaiting delivery of the buttons.

I wish I had embroidered the Mouse King closer to the collar.  Of course, that was not a concern when I planned straight waisted button-on pants.  But now I worry that the figure was placed too low for the Plan B high rise pants and might be covered in velveteen, at least partially.  This fear remains either to be realized or put to rest until the suit is fitted to Alastair to determine just how long the straps will be. No one said sewing would be stress free.

I hope your holiday creations are coming right along.