Uncle Sam Costume

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

• Simplicity 8899 Tuxedo Jacket Pattern
• McCalls 7335 Hat Pattern
• Navy Suiting Fabric
• White Satin Fabric
• White Flannel Fabric
• Interfacing - medium weight
• Wonder Under
• Sewing Scissors
• Sewing Machine with Matching Threads
• Pencil
• Iron
• Press Cloths

DIRECTIONS:

For the jacket:

1. Cut out pattern pieces and follow instructions for Simplicity 8899 Tuxedo Jacket Pattern - View C. Use the Navy Suiting Fabric and the White Satin for Collar Trim.
2. Create 2 inch star appliques: an easy way to create a 2 inch star stencil is to go into your computer's Word Processing software (Word, Pages, etc.) and use the shape tool to make a star and print it out.
3. Cut 2 1/2" wide strips of white satin and 2 1/2" wide strips of Wonder Under and fuse together following Wonder Under instructions. Should be: place rough side of Wonder Under against the wrong side of fabric Press for 5-8 seconds with hot, dry iron (use a press cloth between the iron and the white satin - can be just a clean scrap piece of cotton or muslin fabric.)
4. Make many strips to create lots of stars and when you're ready, take your printed 2 inch star and trace onto the paper backing of the Wonder Under and cut them all out with sharp sewing scissors.
5. Fuse the stars onto the jacket following the Wonder Under instructions. Again, that should be: gently peel off the paper backing. Position fusible fabric web side down on the jacket. Cover with a damp press cloth and, with iron at Wool setting, press firmly for 10-15 seconds. Repeat, lifting and overlapping iron until all fabric is fused. Remove press cloth and iron fabric (with dry press cloth in between) to eliminate excess moisture.


6. Continue this process, placing stars all over the jacket.

For the hat:

1. Cut out pattern pieces for McCalls 7335 Hat Pattern - View D. Omit the lace- up panels. Use White Flannel for the hat material.
2. Create a hat band using the navy suiting fabric: cut a strip of fabric that is 4" wide and roughly the length of the Hat Crown. Turn one of the long sides under ¼" and press with iron. Set this on top of the Crown pattern piece, along the bottom edge and adjust its placement so that the pressed fold is 3 1/4" from the bottom edge of the crown. Trim the excess navy strip material, following the curve of the bottom edge of the Crown.
3. Add the 2 inch satin stars to the hat band, spaced equally apart - about 2 inches. Position the stars so the star tops are 1/4" from the top of the band. (Keep in mind that 3/8" of the bottom of the band will be lost in the hat seam.) Fuse the stars onto the navy band following Wonder Under instructions, as with the jacket.
4. Sew the hat band onto the white flannel hat crown, 1/8" from the top of the band, all the way across. Baste the bottom raw edges together.
5. Create the rest of the hat by following the McCalls pattern instructions, omitting the lace-up panels.