DIY Construction Vest

This boy take after his Dad and loves anything construction. He has his own toolbox, tools, tool belt, tool bench, and hard hat. The only thing he was missing was the construction vest. Can I tell you how much he loves wearing it? He wears it everywhere which I don't mind because it is also very easy to spot him anywhere!

Because of the attention and comments this vest receives when we do go out, I wanted to share the pattern I created for others to enjoy. The pattern for this construction vest was designed to fit children ages 3 - 7.  I would recommend adjusting the length of the vest for children ages 3 - 4.

 So, what will you need to make this construction vest?

- 1 yard of fabric. The fabric I used is called orange utility safety fabric.

- 2 1/2  yards of neon lime reflective grosgrain ribbon.

- 3 yards of  black double fold bias tape 1/2".

- 3 inches of sew on Velcro.

You can download the construction vest pattern here and a picture tutorial on how to make this construction vest can be download here.

I hope your little construction worker will enjoy this vest as much as mine does!

Simple DIY Superhero Costumes

My boys love superheros and they like to dress up and play pretend but I just cannot afford to buy every single dress up they want. I found this superhero costume tutorial from Twin Dragonfly Designs years ago and glad I did because this pattern is one of the simplest to make. Both of my boys got to chose one superhero.

                                                              

For my fabric I used a heavy cotton fabric instead of felt and also used snaps instead of ribbon on the sides of the costume so below are additional instructions for these changes.

I searched for a Baymax template I could use but there are not many options so I ended up creating my own. It is very simple template and worked perfectly with the superhero costume pattern.

Click here for the Baymax template and the Baymax mask template can be found here. 

The Incredible template can be found here and click here for Incredible mask template

Click here for the Superhero costume pattern and instructions.

Additional Instructions

1. After cutting out the pattern and template, use ultra hold heat and bond to attach the either the Baymax template or Incredible template to the costume. Follow the directions on the back of the package. 

2. Next if you used a different fabric other then felt, you can either sew on double fold biased binding tape or fold and sew over all the edges of the fabric to avoid fraying. 

3. Last step is adding snaps. There are snap tools you can buy from craft stores and they are not difficult to use. If you choose to not to add snaps and use ribbon then you can follow the instructions in the original superhero tutorial. 

Now your kids are ready to save the world!