Parrot Costume Progress - Burda Style 01-2011-145

The lumpiness around her hips is caused by the sweater dress she was wearing underneath.

The jumpsuit is done! Now she just needs bird parts (wings, beak, tailfeathers, etc.). I used one of the costume patterns from the January 2011 Burda Style. You could probably use any jumpsuit pattern, but this one includes instruction for a lining. I don't know if the Big 4 patterns include that or not. I ended up removing a bit of length and a fair bit of the width from the sleeves and legs. I thought a parrot ought to be more streamlined than a teddy bear or rabbit would be.

Clara is going to be a red macaw, and last year we learned the hard way about costumes that were too cold, so this is made of polar fleece with a lining of knit pique (think golf shirts). It's cozy! I decided against putting elastic in the sleeve and leg hems, figuring that if they were narrower, elastic wouldn't be needed. I think I was right, but I can see now that I should go back and topstitch the sleeve hems so the lining doesn't peek out. You can probably just see the lining peeking out right above her hand in the photo below.

The zipper went in pretty well. The zipper called for is a couple of inches longer than the opening. I may rip out a few more stitches on that center seam to give Clara a bit more access with the zipper.

I chose cotton pique knit for the lining - which may prove to be a mistake - but it was inexpensive and not sticky or static-prone. I did change the way the lining is attached at the hood. The instructions call for sewing the body lining around the neck edge to the seam allowances of the the neck edge of the outer fabric, then attaching the hood lining to the neck edge by pressing the seam allowances under and hand-stitching. Instead, I attached the hood lining to the body lining and hand stitched through all of the layers along the neck seam. Then I used a bit of the lining cut on the bias and finished off the remaining raw edges of the hood.

Now it's time to do a little wing planning. I'm using felt for the "feathers". I'd like them to be easily removed so that the suit can be easily washed. Fun times!