Recently K learned how to play MarioKart on our Wii. He quickly grew very fond of being Mario and having me play Princess Peach. A few days ago, I asked him if he remembered that he was Mario for Halloween when he was just one year old. He said he did, but also asked to see photos. He then really politely asked if he could wear his Mario costume.
I dug it out of the closet, but of course it was way too tiny. The hat sat on top of his head like a little bowl. The overalls were not even close. He was bummed. He asked to wear the hat anyway, but of course it just kept falling off. He eventually got a bit frustrated and told me that he wants a new Mario hat. I told him that maybe we could go looking for a new one someday, and he replied with, "No mama. Just make it." I love him.
For K's first birthday, one of my best friends here made him a little casket hat and luckily it still fits! She loaned me the pattern pieces and I got to cutting. The hat is reversible, so I chose a blue and white thinly striped, almost seersucker-like fabric for the opposite side.
My friend didn't have the pattern instructions at her house, so I just kind of looked at the hat that she made for K and started sewing. The first step was to sew two of the "petal" pieces together and then add a third to one of the ends. The I did the same with the next three "petals" and finally I sewed the sets of three together down the middle to make the crown of the hat.
I tried really hard to get the center pieces to line up well. I did a good job on this side of the hat. The Mario side, however, was a disaster. While I had plenty of fabric, I decided that I didn't care enough to fix it.
Then I sewed the band together to form a loop and then sewed it to the base of the crown.
Yay! It was looking good so far!
Once both of the crown pieces were finished, I got to work on the "M". I started by ironing on some Heat and Bond to the white fabric, then tracing the top of a cup and drawing a straight line across, cutting off the very bottom. Finally I drew the "M" and cut the little guy out.
It looked pretty good once it was cut out.
Next I ironed it to the hat and then stitched around it to make sure it would stay in place. A Mario hat without the "M" is, afterall, just a boring, red hat.
Finally I got started on the bill. I just sewed the two pieces together and then flipped them right side out and topstitched.
I used a red thread on the top and a white thread in the bobbin, so it would be all matchy-matchy.
Next I basted the bill to the red side of the hat and finally top stitched around the whole band. Yay! All done!
K started preschool today and my plan was to give him the hat when he got home as sort of a "Good job, big boy!" gift. I was pretty confident that the actual preschool bit would be great for him. I was a tad worried, however, about him actually getting on the bus sans tears. We had been building it up for a few weeks - reading books (thanks Lees!!), listening to bus songs and just general talk about what a big boy he is going to be once he starts school. He woke up this morning and was so stoked!
We waited for the bus and when it came, he jumped right on, waved goodbye to me and blew me kisses. Then he was off. Four hours later (as it was the first day, today was just a half day), I met him at the bus stop and he got off with the biggest smile on his face. The teacher said he didn't cry at all. I'm so proud of him!! What a big, little 2-year old my K is!!
After school we had some lunch and then had to jump on the train to go get my visa sorted. Before leaving, however, I gave K the hat and told him that I am so proud of him. He was super stoked on the hat and wore it to get the visa situation taken care of.
After dinner, K played some MarioKart - he's allowed eight races a day. Of course, he was Mario and of course he wore his Mario hat.
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