Sunday, February 26, 2012

"Moritz" Costume / "Moritz"-Kostüm

It's me, again. The "Kamelle" are sorted (and half eaten) and DS has finished his costume wearing for this carnival season. Here it/he is:


He's personifying Moritz, a character from the story "Max and Moritz" by Wilhelm Busch, a (rather macabre) children's classic from 150 years ago. When wearing the costume he tried to stay in character, not necessarily murdering any hens (or worse), but sticking out his tongue a lot!

Construction details - is anyone really interested in these? Since I drafted/fudged a lot of this project, I'm going to include a bit of detail. Feel free to skip this part!

I had a look at the drawings which don't show much detail regarding the clothes. Moritz is wearing a tunic with a buttoned yoke and a billowy bottom part, and a pair of sometimes checked pants. The story is in black and white; some pictures can also be found colored in for a book cover or such; from these I took the top to be green and the pants red.

I drafted the tunic myself! And I'm quite happy with the result. The inside-out facings are a bit irregular, but that's what you get for cutting right into the fabric without making a pattern first! DS had got it into his head that the tunic should have leather lacings (not authentic), and I had a package of rivets I hadn't dared to use on a "serious" project, so I happily got out the big hammer and went to work. It worked quite nicely, so I may add rivets to my sewing arsenal now!

Here's how I drafted the tunic: I took a longsleeve t-shirt for measurements and used these to draft a one-piece yoke with cut-on kimono sleeves. The yoke was slashed in front and a facing cut and sewn on top of (not inside) the tunic. The outer edges of the facings were sewn together with interfacing and turned before applying the facings. I then stitched down the facings (and later the sleeve and bottom hems) with thick brown embroidery thread for a rustic/handmade look.

The bottom part of the tunic was drafted by adding a few inches in width to the yoke measurements for four small pleats , and a few inches in length (compared to the tee) to cover DS's bottom.

The pants are a very slapdash copy of a pair of DS's sweatpants; elastic waist, unelastic bound legs. (I like this finish for pants that are a bit too long but I don't want to cut down; the slightly tighter binding ensures the child doesn't step on them.).

I couldn't find a checked red fabric and went with solid red, thinking I could maybe sew on some black checkered lines. DS couldn't decide before sewing whether he really wanted checks, so in the end I had to draw them at the last minute in waterproof marker on the finished pants. Stunt sewing at its best!



I also made a rooster he could clip onto his pants to show what he's been up to. I drew a (hanging) rooster according to an image from the story onto two layers of base fabric, sandwiching a layer of fleece. I zigzagged around the outer shape and appliqued contrast colored fabric scraps on top to make up the rooster. Last, I cut out the finished bird. I also added a ribbon loop to the bird and a hook to the waistband of the pants.


I haven't had this much fun sewing in a long time. Maybe costumes is the way to go?!

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Auf das Ratespiel hat sich keiner eingelassen, aber am Hahn habt Ihr bestimmt erkannt, dass es einer von "Max und Moritz" sein sollte, oder? Die Kleidung ist in den Zeichnungen eher angedeutet, zu erkennen ist aber, dass Moritz eine grüne Tunika mit Schlitz und Knopf, Quernaht unter der Brust und blusiger Weite trägt sowie eine rote Hose mit schwarzen Karos.


Die Tunika habe ich anhand eines langärmeligen T-Shirts konstruiert; zunächst die Passe mit angeschnittenen Ärmeln, einem außen aufgenähten Beleg und - nicht original, aber Junior wollte es so - Ösen für eine Schnürung mit Lederband. Letztere hatte ich schon länger hier, habe mich aber nie getraut sie einzusetzen aus Sorge, ein schönes Stück zu ruinieren. Wie gut, dass es angstfreies Kostümnähen gibt! Beherzt den Stößel geschwungen, und... es hat geklappt, uff!

An die Passe habe ich ein weiteres, längeres Stück angesetzt, vier kleine Falten eingelegt, und die Säume sowie den Beleg mit dickem Stickgarn und groben Vorstichen genäht, für den handgemachten/rustikalen Look.

Den Hahn habe ich aus zwei Lagen Satin und einer Zwischenlage Vlies gemacht. Auf den weißen Satin habe ich mit Edding Konturen und ein paar Details aufgemalt, rundum mit Zickzack umrandet und darauf farbigen Satin für Kamm, Schnabel usw. appliziert. Zum Schluss alles ausgeschnitten, ein Band hatte ich zwischengefasst und einen kleinen Karabiner an die Hose genäht, damit der Schlingel seine Beute immer dabei haben konnte!


Die Hose ist eine grobe Kopie einer vorhandenen Jogginghose, mit Gummizug und (festen) Bündchen an den Beinen. Karierter Satin war nicht zu haben und mein Sohn konnte sich nicht entscheiden, ob er auf Karos bestand, bis die Hose schon fertig war, so dass ich letzten Endes die Karos mit Edding aufgemalt habe.

So viel Spaß habe ich beim Nähen lange nicht gehabt; vielleicht sollte ich mich auf Kostüme verlegen...

6 comments:

  1. The rooster is genius! Sometimes I resent costume making, but then again, it's fun to be able to fudge things and be a little slapdash when sewing. Good job on the drafting!

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  2. I always enjoyed sewing costumes for my boys when they were younger. He looks like he is enjoying his costume. I love the chicken. That was a clever way of making it

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  3. What a clever costume! You did great job on all the details.:)

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  4. How clever! Your hanging chicken is quite impressive, love the details on it.

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  5. So much fun! Nice work on drafting the tunic. I love the "checkered" fabric!

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  6. What a fantastic costume! Brilliant work, and I love the rooster too. Very clever!

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