Welcome everyone coming here from Project Run + Play!  I am honored to be back for the second week (and a little shocked that I’m still in the running…hello fierce competition!)  You are about to witness one of my favorite single pieces I’ve made for Louis.  Are you ready?!

BUT FIRST!  Are you stopping here before heading to the PR+P site?  Before you read any more, head HERE to place your vote for your favorite “I’m an Autumn” look!  Go go go!!

If nothing else happens, I have at least captured this photo above here.  It is about to be printed onto canvas and hung on our living room wall.  I adore it so much!!  Eep!  Isn’t he just to die for in this photo?  Those eyes, that face….gah!

Okay, okay.  I’ll get to talking about what I made.
Allow you to introduce you to my Well Dressed Fox.

The theme this week was “I’m an Autumn”.  And the only instructions were to: create a children’s look using the warm colors of autumn for your primary color palette.  (Reds, Oranges, Yellows, and Browns.)  Sounds easy enough, right?  Well….it took a little bit of thinking it through.  Louis’ favorite color is blue.  Followed by red.  And then gold and green and basically not the most autumnal colors.  So I had to figure out how to make something he would want to wear, that would fit the theme.

I chose to work with orange, because I’m a pumpkin fanatic [freak] and nothing screams fall more to me than some oranges.  And come to find out, Lou’s favorite animal is a FOX!  Wooo!  Perfect!  I love, love, love making fall jackets for Louis.  Three years in a row now I’ve made him a Lumberjack shirt for his jacket and it’s been my favorite thing for him to wear as outerwear.

My first step into making a foxy outfit was to take the Lumberjack pattern and add some inseam pockets.  Okay, so that didn’t make him into a fox.  But pockets are necessary.  I also changed the pattern from the standard cuffs to come knit ones…because knit anything is always more comfortable.  Am I right?

I hacked open the hood piece and created some fox style ears, that fold down a little toward the front so they have standing-power.  And then gave him a face with some cute button eyes.  I love me some button eyes!

My second task was with a basic tee, but stepped up a notch.  I took the Jolly Roger Raglan pattern in a soft off-white and hand stitched a fox face onto it.  The fox pattern was borrowed from this insanely overpriced shirt at Anthropologie that retails for $168.  Um.  WHAT?  I think a soft cotton, handmade tee for under $5 trumps a weird, cutout, pleather one any day.  But who am I to judge fashion, really?

Louis is becoming more and more in control of his photoshoots.  We were trying to figure out where to take pictures and he insisted we go into the woods.  “Because that’s where foxes live.”  And he loved howling for photos.  Honestly, I loved watching him howl for photos so it was a win-win type situation.

The third, and final piece, I made was the Cpt Comfort Jeans in a darkwash denim, with some bright yellow topstitching.  I also added a cuff to the bottom of the jeans to tie the color scheme back into the entire look.

I hate making clothes for tests / contests / blog tours that will only be worn for promo photos and then never again.  So I’ve been approaching this contest as a way to stretch my creativity, but still create wearable clothes for Louis.  Like, clothes he can just pull out of his closet and wear whenever.  These pieces all fit into that requirement for me.

Louis has actually been wearing this jacket every day since I finished making it.  It’s been cool enough in the mornings that he can wear it to school, and he makes sure he does.  I love when his little face lights up when people compliment what he’s got on too.  Makes my heart warm into a mush knowing that he’s just as excited as I am that we made this.

Sewing isn’t about the necessity.  It’s about the process.  The final piece.  And the connection to what you’re wearing.  And the pride that you were capable of making it.  It’s a thrill ride to me!

Now that you’ve made it all the way to the bottom of my post, I need to ask again.  Have you gone and voted?!  PLEASE DO!  We can only advance if we are in the top four this week.  Fingers crossed I get to keep playing!

GO VOTE HERE!!

And now for the details:
Patterns (all Patterns for Pirates): Lumberjack Shirt | Jolly Roger Raglan | Cpt. Comfort Jeans
Fabric (all from JoAnns locally….no links again this week. Sorry!)

**As always, you’ll find some affiliate links scattered within my post, which means I receive a small amount of compensation if you end up purchasing something I’ve recommended.  Thanks for helping to feed my sewing habits!