The Making of an Ewok

It all started when Robert was watching Tyler one day, and Star Wars VI was on TV. Tyler had seen it previously, but the whole concept of an Ewok had not registered with him before that. Suddenly, Tyler needed to be an Ewok, and NOW!

I knew there had to be a pattern for this costume, but since Star Wars had its heyday many years ago, I knew whatever patterns there might be would be out of print. I was very lucky, however, that just when I wanted an Ewok pattern, a woman on e-Bay just happened to be selling one: McCall's 8731. She also happened to live in the same state, and shipped it immediately. Talk about instant gratification!

Next was a trip to the fabric store (or "The Ewok Fabric Store" as Tyler was calling it!). I was a little leery of using faux fur. I had never made anything with it before and found it a little intimidating. I originally settled on some nice, thick brown fleece, but lo and behold, there was not enough on either bolt for this costume layout. So I took a deep breath and bought this nice faux fur:

I also got some faux suede for the hood:

The pattern went together easily, and my faux fur fears (try saying that ten times fast!) were quickly put to rest. The mask was more challenging, so I made it last. I also did that so Tyler would at least be able to run around in the main part of the costume (the jumpsuit as the pattern calls it), and stop nagging me a bit. I love how creative this pattern is, forming a snout with tiny well-placed darts, and using felt and fabric glue to make the nose and eyes. Here is the mask and hood:

Finally, here are two views of Tyler playing in our "forest" in the backyard (in Star Wars terminology it is the Forest Moon of Endor). His weapon is a tree branch that Paul trimmed to resemble the weapons in the movie.