Introducing Film Petit- The Life Aquatic

So here's the story. Kristin and I have read each other's blogs and been friendly for a long time. But when I told her that I was about to compete in Season 4 of Project Run & Play, (she was in season 3) we really kicked our online friendship up a notch. Once my competition started, we must have emailed each other an average of 3 times every day. Finally we just started texting all the time and found out that we like all the same awesome things and should really just be BFF's that live in the same place. But alas, I live here in Ohio and she lives in Oregon. Sad face. 

During the sportswear week in PR&P, I couldn't decide what to embroider on Hendrix's shirt, (ended up being the wolf) and she just sent a picture of Ryan Gosling's scorpion jacket from Drive as a suggestion. We had never discussed our shared and strange love for that movie before, but it was my first sign of how awesome she is. Later, during the actual movie-inspired challenge, my husband suggested Drive again and I knew I had to make that jacket. But she was the first to plant the seed!

That was definitely one of the best challenge topics PR&P had ever done, and the sew-alongers had a lot of fun too. But my Drive jacket got crushed in the voting that week. Obviously, it did well enough to go on, but I knew it wouldn't win that week because most people don't know that movie. (Well, that and Kiki's amazing dresses really deserved the win that week.) 

Anyway, the point is, I made that outfit mostly for my own amusement. So Kristin and I decided we wanted to keep doing that with the weird movies that we love and get way too excited about. We are just gonna be total geeks about it all, and combine our movie and sewing geekery into powerful ass-kicking awesomeness. Ok, so we will be the only ones who think of it that way, but we don't care.

First on the list: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Of course. This took zero deliberating for us to decide on. It's our favorite. I could describe it to you, but that would be dumb and annoying, so just see it. Go ahead and see all of Wes Anderson's movies while you're at it, because this surely won't be the last one we do. 

I made the speedo version of Steve Zissou. Well, these aren't really speedos, they are made from the fantastic Euro Swim Trunks pattern by Jessica of Running with Scissors. I know some people at our local pool may think they are weird on a kid who is obviously not European. But when else in life can a boy pull this off if not at three? I think his tiny butt is about the cutest thing ever in these. Plus, they are actually really practical for swimming and playing. His old trunks were always sagging off of him and weighing him down. Really, every boy five and under should wear these.

The hat I didn't need to make, since his father already owned one from dressing up like SteveZ for a Halloween party years ago. It's a family tradish now.

Elsie's outfit is inspired by a couple things in the movie. Steve's wife Eleanor (the brains behind the Zissou team) is always wearing very relaxed breezy clothes, often in white linen. So that was the fabric I chose for this little bathing suit cover-up/ dress. I love white on a baby. This is the basic pattern, I shortened the sleeves and hem. 

The gorgeous Anjelica Huston as Eleanor Zissou. (She's always smoking a black cigarette in the movie, which I used to do in college every night after work at Ruby Tuesday's. Classy.) 

I also embroidered a "Crayon Ponyfish" on the dress. It's one of the many fictitious oceanic species from the movie. I drew my seahorse shape on some Wonder Under and fused it on using a print from the Velocity Line by Jessica Hogarth. Then I embroidered around it a couple times and added some doodle stitches. (Thanks for the floss donations Jacey and Maureen!)  This embroidery inspired me a lot.

My kid, as Bill Murray, as a depressed failure of a father hunting a jaguar shark. These kinds of things make me smile.




Now go see Kristin's amazing little Kingsley Zissou. She really got the more challenging sewing on this one, and nailed it. Hard.

So what else can you expect from this little ongoing series?

1. The two of us are going to pick a movie we like each month and make clothing for our kids inspired by the art or characters in that movie. 
2. Each month we are going to invite a new guest to join us in our Film Petit adventures. 
3. We probably won't have a set schedule for our posts, but we'll let you know when they are coming. It's a relaxed thing, not a blog series that we are putting a ton of work into to get page hits. We are mostly just entertaining ourselves and anyone else who enjoys this sort of thing.
4. But you can join in! We have opened up a Film Petit Flickr group and would LOVE to see your pictures of movie-inspired kid stuff you've made. Blockbusters, classics, indie stuff, foreign stuff- whatever!
5. Kristin and I will be doing regular round-ups of our favorites from the Flickr group, and we just might find our next special guest there. As long as it's movie inspired and handmade for a  small person, it's game. 
6. Next month we'll be joined by Gail of Probably Actually. This is an adventure. 

Alright, I'm off to listen to some David Bowie. Haven't decided if it will be regular or Portuguese version.