Goldfish outfit for a baby

I mentioned that, in preparing for the Under the Sea birthday party my daughter Esme intended to dress her baby, Kit, as a goldfish. He’s only one, still in nappies, and pretty intolerant of dressing up. At his own Mexican-themed birthday party he didn’t much care for the stick on moustache. Or the hat. Although he did enjoy the maracas and pinata.

Now appearing in a supporting role to the leading four year old birthday man – OctoTed – he was a little goldfish, in a big pond.

Unlike the elaborate octopus costume, Esme decided to stick to something simple – a pair of cotton leggings and a T shirt. I contributed some scraps of lining silk, organza, organdie, and a small piece of stretch lace cut off from a bigger piece. The lace was given to me by my friend Linde Carr. All this went in a vat of orange dye.

The night before the party Esme brought round this pretty selection.  The orange dye is specifically for natural fabrics. You can see that the trimming on the T shirt, and the ground of the lace have not taken much dye, probably because they are made from synthetic fibres. The cotton and viscose (lace cording) have taken the colour really well. The leggings were white with a red stripe. I love how the fabrics have all taken the colour a bit differently.

Goldfish costume
Dyed garments and scraps

Unlike the Octopus outfit, which took some time, this was a quick job with a needle and thread. I just attached the scraps to the T shirt, and made the lace into a cap. I appliqued the padded eyes onto the cap – here Esme shows how it should be worn!

Esme modelling the cap
Esme modelling the cap

It was very difficult to get a clear shot of Kit in the outfit. He wouldn’t wear the hat, so Esme put gold dust on his face and he scuttled off.

Goldfish children's costume
Kit as a Goldfish

 

 

10 Responses

  1. Alli

    That’s such a cute costume! And it was so smart of Esme to put on gold powder when he didn’t want to wear a hat! When my kids were babies, they refused to wear hats, too. 😀

  2. Sew2pro

    I often prefer the unexpected outcome of dyes when the colour is not absorbed equally.

    I hope the very cute Kit wasn’t traumatized by his mum’s wearing of the hat!

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