Project Post: Payton's Pretty Purple Dragon

This is a project from last year but I thought it might make a fun Valentine's Day gift for a special kid in your life... or, I feel like there's a million springtime babies with birthdays coming up, so maybe grab a bunch of fleece going on sale after winter and whip up a few of these.

I was trying to do something special for my Goddaughter's third birthday last summer... she's a bright, sweet girl and although she probably would've been happy with any Disney Princess item I picked up at Toys R Us, I was hoping to make something a bit more personal.

Inspired by reading about another 3-year old whose favorite book sounded super fun; I went with a dragon theme. To go with the book Dragons Love Tacos (I read great reviews from parents before pulling the trigger on the order and I enjoyed it as soon as it arrived) I decided to embark on making a dragon cape.

Of course it had to be pink and purple. I chose fleece so that I wouldn't have to hem it (and it happened to be on sale since it was, you know, June), but I ended up liking the look of blanket stiching so I did a blanket stitch on every edge. I more or less used this tutorial as my guide, which really helped -- even though I wasn't interested in adding eyes or wings. Speaking of wings, I more or less "winged it" on the spike-thingies... I folded several layers of fleece together so that they had some bulk, and even though they flopped from side to side a bit, they had enough weight to stay standing. I thought the rick rack had a sweet "scales" look to it and added long pieces that could swing around. Finally, with my minimal embroidery skills I finished it with a little "P" for Payton in the corner.

Don't you love my model? :)
(obviously on a 3-year old it hangs down to about waist-length and the hood is nice and roomy)

I finished off the gift with adorbs mini tortillas and fresh tomato and avocado from the market so she could make her own tacos. Those were actually what excited the birthday girl most when she first opened it (the kid eats super-healthy which is awesome).

I don't think she understood the little cape right away, but I got a text from her mom a day or two later with her wearing it, and apparently she went through a phase where she liked to sleep in it after reading the book. :)

This is a totally do-able project! If you can do a blanket stitch or a basic line on a sewing machine, you can do this. I did the different sections (the body, the hood, the tail, the spikes) seperately to break things up, so altogether it took an hour or so a night for about a week. I'm sure it could be done in less time.

What kind of fun projects are you working on for kiddos in your life? I kinda' want a dragon cape of my own now... dress up was always a favorite of mine!