Just a school project

Anyone living in North Carolina or rather the South knows that even a hint of a snowstorm can shut down a town, bring kids home early, keep them home indefinitely, and make bread escape from shelves of every grocery store. This February was no different and it turned a school project into something more.

My 8th grader was getting ready to participate in a wax museum at school as former Romania Olympic gymnast, Nadia Comaneci. She designed her tri-fold board and had two things left to do before the storm hit - a Romanian flag & an Olympic team jacket.  Call it cabin fever or just a challenge I couldn't refuse, either way I was all over it.  Naturally, I jumped at the idea of creating something from a picture. An idea that started out as a store bought sweatshirt with some colored stripes sewn or glued to the front was now something a little more. As the number of snow days increased, the jacket started to take on a life of its own,  I started finishing seams, fussing over stripes lining up, and fit being just right. I couldn't help myself. Over the top? Yes.  Do I know my daughter is wearing it for just one 40 minute class period? Of course.  Am I aware it'll never be worn again? Absolutely.

A simple flag glued to the middle of a tri-fold board became a flag hung from grommets and chain.


Thankful for the February storms, my 8th grader WILL be Nadia Comaneci for one 40 minute class period.   And we WILL have sweet memories of an over the top jacket with a one time use crafted over a series of snow days in February. The funny part, she's missed so many days of school they may not even have the wax museum.

"This is not a prom dress request"

That was a message I received one day with a description of a character from Game of Thrones and a simple question, "Can you make this for me?"  Deadline? The Game of Thrones premiere sometime in May.  Thankfully it was November, and I had plenty of time.

Knowing very little about Game of Thrones, I started watching it with my husband and found I was more interested in the characters' costumes than the storyline. The costumes are so unique and beautiful - the fabrics, the way they're sewn together, the embellishments.  If you were to ask me what was going on in the episode, I couldn't tell you but ask me about the costumes, I could go on and on.

Searching for inspiration, I found many variations of Robb Stark's costume.  There were details I knew would not be a part of my version - one in particular was the skinned animal fur (as in the entire fur coat including the tail, legs and head) used as the collar to his cloak - that was where I drew my line.  My goal was to create something as close to the original as I could get.


Looking in the home dec department of a local fabric store, I found exactly what I was hoping to find - faux leather with the look and feel of worn leather, easy to work with and affordable.   Without a 'Game of Thrones' pattern, each piece came with a lot of research and thought.  Using pieces from different costume patterns, I modified them to get the look I wanted.



Using suede for the cape and a modified vampire cape pattern, the cape turned out close to what I was hoping - lightweight, draping nicely at the floor.  Finding fur was a challenge - I had some very fuzzy fur leftover from another costume.  Not liking the fuzz, I trimmed it and found that underneath the fuzz, there was an 'wolf like' quality to it and thought this is as close to real as I was getting.

Finding the right material for straps and then figuring out how to attach them for easy wear was my next step.  I found a few instructional videos on making a "Game of Thrones" cloak - very detailed.  It was awesome.  So, the cape came together easily.  It is attached with D-rings for adjusting fit.  Using the same material from the straps, I made a belt and attached grommets and a buckle.  The front of the jacket is held together with grommets and suede lacing.

The college student's response was positive - he was thrilled - he said the fur collar gave him the versatility to be other characters besides Robb Stark. Needless to say, this guy really knows his Game of Thrones characters.  

This project was truly a journey for me, sewing with new materials and watching it come to life.