Monday 22 June 2015

Birthday wishes: "Yoda, the green one, mum"

For a few weeks P's Darth Vader stencil T-shirt had been missing. Once we found it down the side of the wardrobe I realised it was getting a bit small now. With a birthday coming up I asked what he might like on a T-shirt for his birthday...

The short answer was "Yoda". The lengthy answer involved a detailed description of what Yoda looked like.

As if that I am not knowing.


I did an online search for Yoda images and found this How to Draw Yoda tutorial. I made it easy for myself and printed the finished black and white image then traced the image to get the shape and outline of each colour block area.

From that I cut a freezer paper stencil and then ironed the stencil onto the T-shirt, putting each piece back until the jigsaw was almost complete. I left off the areas that would be green, then painted the green. Then I peeled off the centre area and painted it brown. Then peeled off the beige areas and painted them, and finally the black walking stick.


When the colour paint was dry, I painted the black lines to give detail by referencing the image by my side and freehand painting it. I had a shocking head cold, was as grumpy as a bat, but found this to be really therapeutic!

I've used Setacolour paints, which, so long as you give them a very solid ironing on high heat once they're dry, wash and wear very well. I should photograph the Darth stencil now after 18 months of washing and wearing. It's faded but at about the same rate that the t-shirt is outgrown anyway.


The T-shirt is the Oliver + S Field Trip Raglan Tee in size 6 with 6cm length added to the body and 8cm (holy crap!) added to the sleeves. Perfect fit!

For another bit of birthday sewing I followed the much loved Tron pyjamas with a similar pair in knit fabric.


I found this spider web fabric at ClearIt and noticed that the markings on the spiders backs looked to me like a number 7 (French style). Perfect for my about to be 7 year old, so I snapped it up.


For the top I've used the Titchy Threads  Rowan Tee again. Of course I forgot to add sleeve length, so I cut the cuff piece 1" wider than the pattern calls for. I wanted straight leg seams for the pants, so I used the Oliver + S Bedtime Story Pyjama pants. They're size 5 ('cause that's what I had traced) with about an inch added to the bottom and then a knit cuff added as well. Turned out to be plenty of length.


The spider man poses were getting a bit elaborate by this stage...

His birthday was on a school day, so we had grandparents around on the weekend before, presents the morning of his birthday and then a party with friends the weekend after. Way to drag out a one day celebration!



While I technically sewed these all over a week ago, it's Kid's Clothes Week starting today, so I'm going with the what gets blogged during Kid's Clothes Week counts as time spent on making kid's clothes approach. Also, cause I've cut out some things I want to make for myself next, and I may have little else to show by the end of the week!

Happy birthday P, now clean your footprints off the wall please!

12 comments:

  1. Love that Yoda tee! Your painting looks fantastic. Great PJs, too. P must have a similar birthday to my son's, as we celebrated his during the week, too (and capped it off with a weekend party for the relatives). Happy birthday to P!

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    1. Thanks Marisa! Happy birthday to your boy too. It's a challenge working out what to do for a kid's party in winter isn't it. They're too big to run riot in the house now!

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  2. Awesome stuff here - if I showed this to my little star wars / spiderman fan i'm sure he'd hound me into making some for him too! Super impressed with your yoda painting.

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    1. Thanks Kristin. I love how easily impressed small children are. Do it. One stencilled t-shirt is the equivalent of half a dozen pretty dresses when it comes to gratitude at our house!

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  3. Very clever, your painting skills are seriously impressive

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    1. Aw, thanks Nicole. I've always been more awed by the imaginative artists and not rated copying as a talent. Still I guess there's a technical skill in reproduction and that's just the kind of thing I enjoy doing!

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  4. You are the best Mum, Yoda looks amazing and those PJ' are awesome.

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    1. Thank you Sharon. I always appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. Brightens up my day!

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  5. Aww, there is something extra sweet about boys in their mama-made clothes:) And a lucky little guy that he has a mama with the ability to pull of a custom Yoda shirt!

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    1. Thanks Angela! I really enjoy the boy sewing, easily as much as the pretty dresses. Lucky to have one of each I guess.
      I haven't caught up with my blog reading list but I've loved the sneak peeks I had of your KCW sewing

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