Captain Kirk, Chibi edition!

I haven't sewn in quite a while. It seems to go in cycles that way- I get out the machine, work on a few projects, get tired of it, put it away. That actually seems to be how I work on a lot of things.

Anyway, this is a project I worked on a few months ago, but I think there are a few people out there who might find it useful. Our family was invited to be a part of a steampunk wedding in June. I was a bridesmaid, Guy was the officiant, and wee Kai was a bubble-boy. Like a flower girl, but with bubbles. And a boy. So, you know, exactly the same.

Oooooooh!

Of course, Kai has no concept of steampunk. His vague idea of geekery pretty much includes The Clone Wars and Star Trek. So he asked if he could go to the wedding as Captain Kirk. Our friends, being all accepting sorts of geeks, agreed, and I found myself in charge of making a miniature Star Fleet uniform.

This was a quick, cheap, and slap-dash project. I wanted to do more- find appropriate shoes, for example, and maybe a tricorder or something. In the end, time had the advantage of me, but I at least made the shirt.

I apologize for the terrible quality of this photo... but not for the adorable subject :)

The basic shirt was pretty simple- I took a basic pajama shirt pattern and just made it in the closest thing I could find to that charming Star Trek goldenrod. The thing I'm proudest of, and most surprised by, is the insignia. See, when I started, I didn't actually have a plan for it, and I ended up just looking at what I had around and flying by the seat of my pants. And it worked surprisingly well. So- if you happen to ever need a quick and dirty Star Trek insignia patch, I've got you covered!

You will need-
-A scrap of the fabric you used for the shirt
-Gold metallic paint (the brand I used was DecoArt- not fabric paint, just acrylic.)
-A Sharpie black marker

Go heavy on the paint. I mean, really let it soak in.

Paint a piece of fabric large enough to out cut your patch. Walk away for several hours.

Since I was re-doing this for the tutorial, I wasn't that neat or careful with the design. Guy did the first one, and he did a nicer job.

We free-handed the shape of the delta onto the fabric with the Sharpie. I'm sure you could find a template somewhere to trace if you're not into free-handing, or if you want to be screen-accurate, or if you're not enough of a Star Trek geek to have the shape memorized. Draw it slightly bigger than you need it, to leave room to trim off the outline. Guy drew on the elongated star command symbol- because he is enough of a Star Trek geek to have all these shapes memorized.

It kind of looks like the Eiffel tower.

Cut out your delta. The paint seals the fabric so it doesn't unravel, so you just need to attach it to the shirt. I used a zigzag stitch. It's mostly invisible from a distance, but if you matched the color it would be even better (I used white thread. It was easy. It was already loaded into the machine...)

What has surprised me most is that this has lasted through several washings now. It's not quite as bright and shiny as when I first made it, but Kai doesn't mind. It's one of his favorite things ever. Along with Legos, and blueberries, and the color orange.

Wear your Geek proudly!