The Davy Crockett Ensemble

 Back in July I stumbled upon an awesome vintage 1950's Davy Crockett pattern at my favorite yard sale. The pattern was cut but all the pieces were there, and in the right size! Guess how much I paid for it? Ten cents! Oh, yeah, I was one happy camper. I also got one from the same era that is a beautiful scalloped hem old-fashioned dress. Both patterns have no instructions, so I am thinking maybe that's how they used to come? I added length every where on the pattern: arms, legs, torso. My kid is tall and skinny so I knew that extra length would be needed. The fabric is this faux suede that I got from fabric.com. Suede is expensive, and I took a bet with this fake stuff. The price was good and it worked, but the fabric was annoying to work with. It has exactly NO stretch, so that made modifications necessary. Here is the nitty gritty, since I fool myself into thinking that people are interested in this stuff:

The Tunic: The original tunic is a pull over, with lace-up placket. It would not fit over his head, and the sleeves didn't give at all, so I just cut it all the way down and added snaps which I camouflaged with brown Sharpie. For the collar, I added a little bit of red running stitch to add a little something, and to tie in with the beading in the back yoke. 

The Yoke: The yoke is lined with some very period-inappropriate cartoon-ish horse fabric, but since Davy Crockett isn't here to see it, who cares? The bead work medallion is sewn to leather, and was purchased from Etsy. For the front, I used eyelets which were a new thing for me as far as I can remember. I need some practice.

The Pants: Very straightforward. They are pants, with fringe. But the fringe...oh, the fringe. I cut it all by hand. 

The Hat: Also known as a major PITA, pardon my French. The hat was the easiest thing to make. The first one took me 20 minutes. The problem was, and I should have followed my instinct on this, the band was too shallow. I thought it was, but then figured it was going to be fine. It wasn't. I took it apart and cut a wider band. I sewed up the hat using the suede as the lining. Another bad move. Although the faux fur does stretch, the suede doesn't and the hat squeezed his head. The third time I lined it with an old t-shirt and it was perfect. Stretchy and comfy! And the tail is a real coyote tail, by the way. Purchased on Etsy also.