of superheroes

Kiernen has been really into costumes lately - first he got this Robin (as in Batman's sidekick) costume from the garage sale we had in our community. It was one of those cheap costumes that really is meant to be work only for Halloween, but he wore it every day and night for a few weeks. He'd let me take it only to wash, and then he'd get himself right back into it - he;d wear his Darth Vader costume while I washed it.

Well, it has long sleeves and a black cape and is polyester, so is warm. Then summer finally arrived and he said to me, "Mama, I want you to sew me a short-sleeved Robin costume for summer."

The original Robin costume IS short-sleeved, and I said, "Sure."

One day Kiernen and his Daddy went to the beach together without me, because I was way too sunburned from our previous trip to the beach to go sit in the sun all day. And when they got back, the costume was done. And Kiernen has been wearing it ever since. (Except when we're washing it). He insists I am going to make him a Batman costume for his birthday, and a Buzz Lightyear one for...I don't know when, ASAP I suppose.The latter I am tempted to buy, because making it will definitely take me more than a day (especially if I make these awesome wings).....we'll see. I do love making these costumes, they just take a lot of time.

The great fun about the Robin costume was discovering that there is an entire online Forum of folks just dedicated to all things 1966 Batman and Robin, including studies of the original 1966 costumes. So of course I had to make Kiernen's Robin costume as close as I could to those. The only thing not quite right is the belt, and I am determined to make it right. And of course I used old t-shirts (because summer), whereas the original costume was all polyester and a satin cape. Also the original costume has 10 "lines" across the shirt, and I could only fit 6 on Kiernen's. But still. It rocks, and people get a huge kick out of it, and I am hugely proud of myself for it.