It's time for the last tutorial from our family Paw Patrol costume: Ryder! Of course the baby runs the show around here, so he got to dress as the human master of the Paw Patrol pups. While the steps below show you how to make this for a baby, it will easily translate to a larger size for an older child (or Dad!) simply by using more fabric, since you're going to make your own pattern using clothing that fits your Ryder. Of the four Paw Patrol costumes, this one involves the most sewing- and a zipper! But don't fret, I know you can do it- no job is too big, no pup is too small!
What you need:
-white fabric
-red fabric
-yellow ribbon
-blue ribbon
-a white separating zipper
-white long-sleeved onesie/shirt
-jeans
Here's a look at Ryder:
This little boy wears a variation on his Paw Patrol uniform depending on the weather and the type of rescue, but his standard look involves jeans, a long sleeved white shirt, and a puffer vest that is 2/3's red and 1/3 white with a yellow accent and blue trim, plus the paw logo on his chest.
1. You're going to make your own pattern for this vest, so choose a shirt that fits your Ryder a little loosely, if possible. I went with a rather boxy onesie; it may even be helpful to choose something one size too big because this style is not going to provide much stretch or give. Turn the onesie (or shirt) inside out, tuck in the sleeves, and tuck in the bottom snaps, so your left with what looks like a tank top. You're going to trace around this to create your pattern.
2. Fold the inside-out onesie in half, with the back portion on the outside, and lay it on top of a sheet of blank white paper. Trace around the outside, giving an extra quarter inch of seam allowance on the top, arm hole, and side; do not give any seam allowance on the fold (you're going to be cutting a piece of folded fabric to get a completely symmetrical piece). Now unfold the oneside and fold it in half again, this time with the front on the outside. Trace this one with the seam allowance all the way around, and take care to mimic the dip in the neckline. You're going to have two pieces for the front of the vest, so you'll need that seam allowance around all sides.
3. Now, remember this vest is color blocked, so before we cut our fabric we're actually going to cut this pattern in two pieces. Cut your paper pieces (both the front piece and the back piece) in two just beneath the bottom of the arm hole. For the yellow accent, I chose to use a bit of 1" ribbon. Now, follow my math here for a moment: you're going to use 1/4" seam allowance to attach the top to the ribbon, and then the ribbon to the bottom. So your ribbon will be 1/4" shorter on both the top and the bottom- meaning you'll have 1/2" yellow strip between your two pieces of fabric when it's finished. So, in order to keep the same overall height of your pattern piece, you would need to remove 1/2" of paper total, or 1/4" from each piece (since it's now been cut in half), right? But then you need to add a seam allowance to those pieces, too. And the seam allowance is...1/4". SO, all of this math means that all you have to do here is cut your paper as shown above, and that's it! (For both your front pattern piece and your back pattern piece.) Of course, this fancy math hinges on you using a 1" yellow ribbon as your accent piece- if you use a different size...you'll have to do the math yourself. To cut your fabric, fold a piece of white fabric in half. Lay the top portion of your back pattern piece right along the fold and cut around the pattern (remember when you unfold, you'll have a completely symmetrical piece). Lay the top portion of your front pattern piece away from the fold and cut around it (so that you end up with 2 pieces). Repeat with the red fabric and the bottom pattern pieces. Cut 3 pieces of yellow ribbon- one the total width of your back fabric (unfolded), and 2 the width of your front fabric pieces. (If you want to get fancy, you can line your vest by cutting the same pattern pieces out of a lining fabric, but without the color blocking, and sew it to your main fabric before attaching the zipper. I'm not fancy.)
4. To assemble, you're going to start by attaching the color blocks together so that you have full front and back pieces. Use that 1/4" seam allowance and sew the bottom of the white fabric to the top of the yellow ribbon, and the bottom of the yellow ribbon to the top of the red fabric, so you end up with a fully assembled back of your vest and two fully assembled front pieces.
5. Next, place one front piece on top of your back piece, right sides together, and sew together at the top of the shoulder. Repeat with the other front piece.
6. I used blue ribbon to trim the arm holes rather than a strip of fabric because it makes things easier (and it's possible when you're dealing with someone so tiny). Pin the blue ribbon around the arm hole, with the right side of the vest facing up. (Ribbons don't really have a right or wrong side, but if they did, you'd be pinning it with the right side facing the right side of the vest.) When the whole thing is done, you're going to fold the ribbon out (it'll almost be like a tiny little cap sleeve).
7. Now you're going to put the whole thing together, so you're going to turn the vest wrong side out, with the ribbon sandwiched in the middle. Sew a straight line right down the side, and your vest is mostly assembled! (of course you have to do steps 6 & 7 for both front pieces)
8. Rather than having to worry about hemming, you're going to attach another piece of blue ribbon all the way around the bottom of the vest. Do the same thing for the neckline.
9. Now you need to attach your separating zipper. I used the instructions that I found here at Professor Pin Cushion, but I'm going to come clean- I didn't really account for a zipper stop at the top of the vest (because yes, I had to cut my zipper down) so the zipper head would come clean off if you zipped it all the way up! Be smarter than me, dear reader.
10. Finally, the little paw badge. I cut out some paw print shapes from white fabric and a badge shape from the red fabric. I used fabric glue to attach the paw print to the badge, because the pieces were so small. Then stitch around the badge to attach it to the white portion of the left front of the vest (the wearer's left, that is); this is an applique technically, so use a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying.
11. Ryder needs to wear a white shirt and jeans, and then the vest on top, zipped about 3/4's of the way. You did it!
What's your baby going to be for Halloween?
Much love,
The Geeks
What you need:
-white fabric
-red fabric
-yellow ribbon
-blue ribbon
-a white separating zipper
-white long-sleeved onesie/shirt
-jeans
Here's a look at Ryder:
 |
| image via Paw Patrol |
1. You're going to make your own pattern for this vest, so choose a shirt that fits your Ryder a little loosely, if possible. I went with a rather boxy onesie; it may even be helpful to choose something one size too big because this style is not going to provide much stretch or give. Turn the onesie (or shirt) inside out, tuck in the sleeves, and tuck in the bottom snaps, so your left with what looks like a tank top. You're going to trace around this to create your pattern.
2. Fold the inside-out onesie in half, with the back portion on the outside, and lay it on top of a sheet of blank white paper. Trace around the outside, giving an extra quarter inch of seam allowance on the top, arm hole, and side; do not give any seam allowance on the fold (you're going to be cutting a piece of folded fabric to get a completely symmetrical piece). Now unfold the oneside and fold it in half again, this time with the front on the outside. Trace this one with the seam allowance all the way around, and take care to mimic the dip in the neckline. You're going to have two pieces for the front of the vest, so you'll need that seam allowance around all sides.
4. To assemble, you're going to start by attaching the color blocks together so that you have full front and back pieces. Use that 1/4" seam allowance and sew the bottom of the white fabric to the top of the yellow ribbon, and the bottom of the yellow ribbon to the top of the red fabric, so you end up with a fully assembled back of your vest and two fully assembled front pieces.
5. Next, place one front piece on top of your back piece, right sides together, and sew together at the top of the shoulder. Repeat with the other front piece.
6. I used blue ribbon to trim the arm holes rather than a strip of fabric because it makes things easier (and it's possible when you're dealing with someone so tiny). Pin the blue ribbon around the arm hole, with the right side of the vest facing up. (Ribbons don't really have a right or wrong side, but if they did, you'd be pinning it with the right side facing the right side of the vest.) When the whole thing is done, you're going to fold the ribbon out (it'll almost be like a tiny little cap sleeve).
8. Rather than having to worry about hemming, you're going to attach another piece of blue ribbon all the way around the bottom of the vest. Do the same thing for the neckline.
9. Now you need to attach your separating zipper. I used the instructions that I found here at Professor Pin Cushion, but I'm going to come clean- I didn't really account for a zipper stop at the top of the vest (because yes, I had to cut my zipper down) so the zipper head would come clean off if you zipped it all the way up! Be smarter than me, dear reader.
10. Finally, the little paw badge. I cut out some paw print shapes from white fabric and a badge shape from the red fabric. I used fabric glue to attach the paw print to the badge, because the pieces were so small. Then stitch around the badge to attach it to the white portion of the left front of the vest (the wearer's left, that is); this is an applique technically, so use a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying.
11. Ryder needs to wear a white shirt and jeans, and then the vest on top, zipped about 3/4's of the way. You did it!
What's your baby going to be for Halloween?
Much love,
The Geeks
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