Project Chad Day 5

Wed 3/4

Project day 5 went pretty fully into making the chaps I'd sketched the previous night. I had studied chaps online for a good hour before I decided to go with a bit of a batwing type inspired style. My boy's chaps of course needed to be suitable for his Yeti character, so I chose cream white faux suede for the fabric. It turned out to be really lovely to sew and even the belt part, which I was dreading initially, was a breeze to make. I'll want some more of this fabric in brown too!!

I drew up the pattern by using paper towels to wrap around the legs and hips of my Idol Gnaeus, like I'd seen some proper seamstresses do sometimes when drafting doll patterns. The method worked really quite well and I was confident, by the time I started sewing, that they would indeed turn into some kind of chaps. Hehe!

I used light brown thread to it give them a bit of accent and I decorate them with stitching. Now in hindside, I feel like I could have decorated them a bit more yet. This was the first pair chaps I've ever attempted, so I made some other mistakes too, like I should have probably rounded up the trouser legs at the bottom a bit, but all in all, I'm pretty satisfied. In fact, they turned out way better than I had hoped. They're big enough for my Idols to wear even jeans underneath if they want to go all proper cowboy on my.

I already cut out a vest to match the chaps last night, which I'll be working on today. I also intend to embellish the grey felt vest I made earlier with some metal plates and sew up a pair of grey pants for the human version Chad. I've started planning on a gunholster with another belt, harness for a bow and arrow, a shoulder protection thingy (don't know the proper name for it) and some other decorative straps and pieces to combine with the chaps. :)