(Topic: sewing, crafts, weighted bear)
Hi Friends!
Remember a few weeks ago, when I knitted a hat for Pookie? One of the things hubby noticed was that Pookie’s hat, when set on top of his head, looks like a tam. Hubby joked that Pookie would start borrowing daddy’s bagpipes! Well, you know me: this put a flea in my ear, and I started planning…
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| The beginnings. |
After much thought and tinkering, I came up with the beginnings of the pipes! A plaid bag (cut from an old flannel shirt) and some dowels from the craft store. They are stained using sharpie and then sprayed with an art sealant. I wrapped the base of each pipe with more fabric, glued on, so that it would not pull through the bag once inserted. I shaped the mouth piece and drew fingering dots on the chanter part. The holes were made using a large knitting needle, wielded as a sort of bodkin for creating a mostly not-cut hole for the pipe to exit through. And the whole thing is stuffed with polyfill, since Pookie can’t fill up a bag with breath, so it needed stability!
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| Finished pipes! |
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| Oh wait, where’s that tam that started it all? |
At this point I had started to think that he needed a full outfit. All of this was made in secret from the hubby, who I was intending to surprise, but I had several friends in on it, and they all concurred that he needed a kilt. So I went back to the old flannel shirt, and started cutting out as many rectangles as I could, given what was left of the shirt! I also salvaged the buttons (most of which are now in my button box) and one of the plackets that had been concealing the button holes – it might make a good waistband, with less work on my part.
I sewed the rectangles end to end, matching up the woven plaid. This gave me a long strip, that I sewed into a large (but short) tube. I hemmed one side of the tube, and then pleated the other side. I re-pleated 3 times to get it to fit the waistband length properly and to have the pleats line up with the plaid stripes the way I wanted!
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| On the ironing board.You can see the back opening on the other side of the board, and all the pins holding the pleats in place as I iron. I left them in place until I had the waistband attached, then also did a second line of stitching about a half inch lower to hold the pleats in place to look more tidy on Pookie. |
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| Front waistband and pleating detail. |
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| Back closure detail. |
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| Oh, and I threw a sash together, too. Why not? That’s one of mommy’s brooches, borrowed as a sash pin. He’s got his dance shoes on – they were meant to be formal wear but the fabric was too thin, so there will be another pair of black shoes coming at some point. |
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| Amazing grace, how sweet the sound… |
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| (side/back view: note the one taller pipe, like on real bagpipes) |
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| Ready to surprise daddy! |
The whole ensemble was a success, surprising and delighting daddy when he came home from a trip! Pookie is now ready for any Scottish celebrations, and can’t wait to find out if blueberry shortbread exists!
Yours,
Sarah
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