Simplicity 8276 The Dalek Onesie

Four yards of Spoonflower printed cotton knit, three yards of cheap poly knit lining, zipper by the yard and two days later

Yes, I made one. A Dalek onesie. 

The huggable, lovable exterminatin' Doctor Who villain!

I do love a mashup. It's true. I can't do anything straight out; it has to have a twist to it, or I just can't pay attention.

I made no weapons for this one. Because my weapon is LOOOOOOOVE.

(ew)

The cotton spandex jersey shrank three inches in the wash/dry (this is the one yard piece. No idea about the shrinkage in the three yard piece in the other print. Same fabric so I assume roughly the same ratio).

I needed to shorten the whole garment anyway by four inches, not just two, so it worked out just barely

Attaching the center panel to the sides in a knit would be tricky.

Wonder tape sticks to this knit (it doesn't like texture) so WonderTape! to attach, then stitch.

My initial thought was that a minky fabric would be too heavy, so go with a cotton knit. Which is too lightweight (perhaps if it were a darker print in a slicker fabric this would work) so it needs lining.

This is the cheapest poly knit I can find. Thanks Pacific Fabrics for keeping the lights on for my emergencies.

I sewed a center zipper instead of the button overlap in the pattern. I sewed the lining to the fabric for the front and the back at the seams.

I added a crotch zipper for convienience. Sewed the crotch together to sew that. Then shoulders. Then sleeves. Then pockets to sides, adding seam tape to prevent total stretchout for pockets (woven pockets, larger than ones indicated).

I was going too fast to take a lot of photos. I thought I took more.

I changed out the hood to a two piece model, cribbed from this model

Two side pieces and a center panel make a hood that is easier to wear and see out of. 

The directional nature of the print made the layout more exciting than usual (yes, I flubbed a sleeve and recut). It's about a 6" repeat print. I did print a fat quarter of matching cream colored knit for the hood.

You can't see the ears. They are there.

Lined the hood with the 'vent' fabric, also used it for cuffs at wrists and ankles.

Now for the pattern review.

It goes together well enough, the instructions are clear enough, I did not use their ear patterns but they are similar enough. The tails on the photographed models are being held by the models because they will need more support than the seams will give them - they will be dragging badly.

You can hang them with a string from further up the seam 

The legs are in the wrong places, but the process is valid enough. Strings!

. The center section is over a yard tall straight from the envelope, and the other pieces eat up a lot of length, so alter first and buy yardage second.

My biggest issue is the width between the legs.

To get the design to read properly, I'm standing with my feet about two feet apart in this photo. I don't do that very often; I had hip replacement surgery about ten years ago, and it's just not a natural stance.

Probably not for you either.

I just don't think so. And pardon my lack of Converse high tops; they don't fit my wide feet anymore

Yes, I look silly. I also have my feet closer together and the center is pretty baggy and foldy. Doesn't read really well. 

All the poses are ...awkward to hold for any amount of time.

There's a lot of fabric in this pattern. I knew how ridiculous this was going to be, and I am happy with it for that. If I were looking at this for a lounging pajama, I'd.....change that up.

So, in the field, how'd I do?

Whenever I stood with my feet apart, people recognized what I was.

When I didn't, I got the usual "I see that you are dressed specially for this event, but what you are is beyond me" glance. "That's a Doctor Who thing, right? You always do Dr Who, right?"

I got a few 'oh...wait...I know you're....oh yeah!' and one "OH MY GOD YOU'RE SO CUTE!" bear hug. I did get more smiles from little kids, because clearly I was in my pajamas as well as they were.  Which is about what I thought.

This is going to get more wear next winter at the Anglicon weekend in December, and will be perfect for the hotel sleepover breakfast lounging. Dalek casual.

As for convention floor wear, it gets pretty warm pretty fast. Not as awful as a suit of EVA foam armor or a Chewbacca fur suit (they faint, but luckily the padding helps the landing), but not as comfortable as it would appear.

As for the restroom issue: a zip crotch would need to run from ankle to ankle to pull up the bottom and be fully functional. My zipper was not long enough. Dropping the top in a stall involved managing a lot of fabric you'd like to keep off the floor. It was really tricky.

Frankly, a robe would be easier.

And I met a customer in the field!

I did not get her name or permission to post online, so I have removed the face of this fine human being (with some super Doctor Who tattoos) but that fabric on her dress is another of my Spoonflower prints. 

As ever, I had a wonderful time talking with other cosplayers, comic book artists and more comic book artists. I bought art from great people. A wonderful time was had.

And did I go to SewExpo?
Unless I go tomorrow morning and blow off my familial obligations: 
Nope. There just aren't enough hours in the week anymore.