Cheshire Cat- done!

The super soft, fluffy, striped fabric I'd ordered on-line finally arrived in the middle of the week (it had been delayed because I'd accidentally put our old zip for the new address- whoops). I have been searching at the local fabric stores and on-line for pink and purple striped fabric that would make a good cat costume- all to no avail. So, I bought this white and blue fabric hoping that it would successfully dye to the colors I wanted. 

It worked! Kind of. The first "pink" dye we used didn't take, so we went for a brighter "fuchsia"- which was OK but not quite as bright as I wanted. Finally, we got these nice colors with "violet." I was definitely worried for a bit that it wouldn't work at all so the final product was all the more exciting. 

Here's our little kitty who's always very annoyed with the camera-it'd be nice if she'd sit still for just three seconds- but no. I didn't use a bought pattern for this costume (which is my usual style). It's two pieces- the hood is connected to the shirt and the bottoms with the tail attached are separate. I just used a pair of her pants and a long sleeved shirt to make a pattern from tissue paper, and then free handed the tail. The pants have an elastic waist so they're super easy to slip off and on and the top just pulls over her head. It fits her really well so I'm very pleased. Jon is thrilled with how much she reminds him of Max in Where the Wild Things Are :) The fabric is super soft and she was loving on it before I even started to make the costume. It's also a bit thick which made it more difficult to sew and the fuzz made a huge mess. It's also very warm and cozy- which isn't ideal for a hot Phoenix day so she didn't want to keep it on for too long. I'm crossing my fingers for some cool weather on Halloween.   

Practicing the Cheshire grin.

Lounging about like a real kitty. 

I love what I can get done while listening to Conference all weekend :) We actually ended up buying Shule's Mad Hatter costume (much to my relief) so that means I only have three more to do. Next up, "...the ace, the ace!"