Saturday, October 23, 2010

Tigers and bears


Liam requested a tiger costume for Halloween.   He's been pretty interested in tigers this year and has seen baby tigers at the zoo.  About a month ago (I need lots of time for these things.) we went to the fabric store and he choose the fleece.  Please don't tell him it is leopard.   He has declared it tiger.   I had a pattern that was a sort of footed pajama approach. . .you know, I bet you had something like that your mother made you for Halloween, I know we did.  Well, footed pajamas went by the way in favor of pants form a home traced pattern, made a month ago and worn weekly since, and a tiger "coat" which is the top of the pj pattern cut long and finished.  I don't know why the ears look so rabbit-y.  They are the tiger ears from the pattern, maybe I was supposed to gather the base or something.  I may fuss with the ears a little tomorrow.  It still needs the zipper and the hem, but that's it: basically done a whole week early.  Thank God.  Fleece fake fur is horrible to sew. 

Like most things I have time to make these days, it's pretty cobbled together.  The hood did not work exactly right and was big enough for me to wear (Cute too!) before I attached it to the jacket.  I'm going to have to take in the center seam with safety pins or something because it falls into his eyes, which he doesn't like.  There is no way I am ripping a seam on a fleece fur Halloween hood.  It is not going to happen, life it too short.  Other than the hood in the eyes thing, he thinks it's great.  I think the pants and jacket approach is going to be versatile. . .this way in a week when he wants to wear his tiger costume to school next week I can say "Yes!" and he won't be stuck in pjs all day. 

Will is sick; his is having an infectious flare up; and his pulmonary failure, and probably lung rejection, is progressing.  He was in the hospital a few weeks ago, home now on iv abx and inhaled abx and even though he's almost two weeks into treatment he started running a fever again yesterday.  His lung function is way down -- he's short of breath with any activity (i.e., sitting or standing up makes him out of breath), and sometimes at rest.   He's keeping it together but tired of being sick.