Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Dress-up Vest for Small Boys


Well, specifically, for one young man who was our houseguest this week. He's 3 years old and loves dressing up. Sadly, our home is full of pink, princess and fairy outfits. So I made him and his 11-month old brother a dress-up vest to take home. It's a safety vest (good for construction, traffic control and fire-safety volunteer work)


that reverses to a cowboy/sheriff/county law-enforcement officer vest:


Not sure the bandana-print fabric is adequately masculine, but what do I know about boys' outfits, right?


I don't know how long he might wear it before he outgrows dress-up pretend play, so I made detachable nametags.


When his little brother inherits the vest, he can slap on his own name and make it his own.


No pattern - just chased the poor boy around our playroom with my measuring tape and a pencil. Then drew up the pattern quick and dug in my stash for what I could use to make it. I made it sneakily while while his family were out visiting friends and when they got home it was bedtime. So no photos of him actually modeling it. The next morning they left for the airport. For the same reason i.e. he wasn't around for a fitting, I left out the closures.


Moral of story: Always have neon yellow nylon packcloth in one's stash. Especially when little boys are visiting.


9 comments:

  1. That is soooo cool! And leave it to you to think of everything... i.e. the changeable name tags! Wonderful touch!!

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  2. OOOOMMMMGGG this is just great and georgous! you must know by now, but you are really talented!

    what a wonderful idea, this doublesided west.
    I just love it!

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  3. so, so cute. i'll have to remember this idea :)

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  4. Oh my goodness is this cute!!! I so love this!

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  5. This is adorable - lucky little boy!

    Johnny is in desperate need of dress-up clothes - he keeps resorting to calling princess dresses "prince clothes" Maybe something like this should be my September sewing project...

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  6. That is completely adorable. The nametags are a great touch, and really, I think having it sans closures is better -- easier for a little kid to put on and take off independently.

    But didn't the little boy LIKE dressing up in the glittery pink princess fairy outfits? Every preschool-age boy I've known does, or did. ;)

    Also, should you ever have reason to make more "boy" or unisex oriented dress-up stuff: Take the vest, lengthen it to the hip, and make it out of something non-pink but "fancy" (velvet, satin, brocade, or for a no-sew option, glitter felt; jeweltone or dark/rich colors work well), and you have the basis of a great prince or pirate outfit.

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  7. Totally Awesome as my kids would say! I bet your houseguest wants to come to your house everyday now. :) We were gifted a silky cape one year that is batman(ish) on oneside and spiderman(ish) on the other. It has gotten a lot of use. The people who make reversible dressup gear - are totally into the fact that no one wants a WHOLE closet full of dress up clothes, they are supposed to fit in a box *grin*.

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  8. wonderful!! I think that both my daughter and son would love this!

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  9. That is so great. I love the fact that it's reversible. And I am absolutely convinced that every little boy would love it. Nice!

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