Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I Need Your Help

I may have mentioned my daughter started her permanent job a couple of months ago. Before that, she and another "baby" attorney were clerking under a judge for a year. It is the custom for outgoing clerks to buy the judge a gift, so she and her cohort bought him a wooden duck and ducklings. He was so tall, with such long legs, that DD and friend were always having to scurry to keep up, so they felt this was appropriate.

The thing is, she has way far more confidence in my abilities as a seamstress than I do. She asked if I would be willing to make a "judge's robe" for the duck. Here is a picture of the duck:

And here is what she said about his size:
"His neck is 5 inches around. He is 10 inches tall. And he is 24 inches around at his widest point (somewhere around the tip of his tail)."

She gave me the links to a couple of sites with photos of judicial robes:
http://www.academicapparel.com/choir/judges.html
http://saxonuniforms.com/regalia/judicialgown.html

I'm thinking velcro instead of a zipper, a round neckline, and skipping the yoke, just going for a general pleated sort of robe.

Trouble is, I'm just not sure how to start, and I've never done pleats, though I have an idea how those might go. I don't want to line this, and I'm thinking black poly/cotton blend, or maybe just the deep Amish black cotton fabric in the Keepsake Quilting catalog. Any suggestions? Or should I just shoot myself now?
Thanks in advance, everyone.

After quilt group this morning, I went hunting more Halloween stuff. I won't show what I have just yet, because there is more to be done, but yesterday I carved 18 apple heads.


These will sit out for the next couple of weeks to get nice and dried and then be displayed in a couple of different ways. Since the theme is Mad Scientist's Laboratory, some will be in the fishbowl, and I'm thinking I'll poke some on sticks to line the sidewalk.

While I was out, I picked up a bazillion bags of candy for the big night, and some candy corn for us. It's the only time of the year I really eat it, though I like it a heap of a lot. On the back of the bag, it reads:
"Did You Know...? Each year Americans consume enough Brach's Candy Corn that if laid end-to-end, would circle the earth 4.25 times...WOW!"

I certainly intend to do my part.



9 comments:

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I love candy corn too, and I don't dare have a bag of it around anytime except Halloween.

Lori in South Dakota said...

OK--the duck gown would be tough!! At least you don't have to make sleeves, but how to you get the "drape" right over his butt??

Anonymous said...

http://www.goosecloset.com/seasonal.htm

My parents used to have one of these and would decorate it for the season. Perhaps this site will give you some ideas. I see a few that I think would work.

Libby said...

No help here for the duck robe, it struggle sewing flat and square *s*
Love those apples. What a fun idea - you are a very clever and talented gal!

audreypawdrey said...

I have no idea how to make a duck gown, but find the whole idea very amusing. I love the apples;they are awesome!

SueR said...

A little experimentation will probably be necessary for the judge's robe. If you make the robe so it sits a little lower on the duck, you'll have more of a "neck" to work with. I think I'd just let his tail feathers stick out from a slit in the back of the robe. The apple heads are really, really cool. It'll be fun to see what they look like when they're all dried, maybe like shrunken heads like on Beetlejuice.

MightyMom said...

girl friend. too complicated!!

look here. just get black felt. cut it in a tall oval ish shape to cover the sides. then put it on the duck and sew from neck to belly

from afar it'll look like he's wearing a black robe and everyone'll get it.

if you really want to use taffeta or cotton and sew pleats then I'd make the same big oval with pleats sewn down almost all the way to the bottom..(simply fold your fabric and sew the fold down every so many inches....am I making sense??)..drape it over the duck's back and again sew it on the duck from neck to belly.

But, really, I'd use felt...it's what I did with the peas. you don't have to hem the edges and if it doesn't look right you can snip a bit here and there to get the shape you like. plus it has heft and that makes it look nice when draping

Pat at Bell Creek Quilts said...

I've done my part, too in eating the candy corn! We have already consumed one bag!

Maybe you could find a pattern for the judicial duck robe? Others have made clothes for the ducks, right? just a thought...

love the carved apple faces :)

Perry said...

Great knowledge about the candy corn. I love it to. I am sure if you look online you will find costumes for ducks somewhere.