Santa needs a new suit

SPOILER WARNING: this if you are reading this blog post of your own free will, I am not responsible for ruining any childhood memories or myths.

My friend Chris grew up with a family tradition of Santa visiting on Christmas Eve. For years, his father stepped into the role of Santa Claus. Now, Chris has a young daughter of his own and he plans to continue this family tradition. He called me after he was not able to find a pre-manufactured suit online or in-stores that met his expectations. How could I say “no” to Santa?

Costume: Santa
Pattern: Simplicity 2542, which includes pattern pieces for two types of Santa suits, Mrs. Claus, and a Will Ferrell-type Elf.
Time to complete: Approximately 30 hours over the weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Materials: Red velvet and faux fur

All things considered, this was a very easy project. The modern Santa suit includes a jacket, pants, and a hat. The Jacket and hat both have fur trim, but the pants are an easy elastic-waist construction. There were only 12 pattern pieces that I used and the majority of those for the fur trim.

Chris knew that he would be stuffing pillows under his Santa suit to simulate that “bowl full of jelly look”, so I was not overly concerned about the fit of this suit. Baggy was ok. It was quite freeing to complete a project without extensive pattern adjustments.

The pattern sewed up quickly and I was able to deliver the suit to Santa with plenty of time to spare before Christmas.

Final Thoughts: Both the McCall pattern and this Simplicity Pattern seemed very similar, but I think the day we visited Joann’s Fabrics the Simplicity pattern was slightly cheaper. I would recommend this pattern if you need to sew a Santa Suit. I would only caution that you take your Santa’s measurements ahead of time. Because this pattern has a Mrs. Clause costume, the small pattern set extends low enough for a women’s size 6.

I will never sew with velvet again (unless I absolutely have to). My new craft space was covered with tiny red fuzzies for weeks! Static cling causes them to stick to all kinds of surfaces even after vacuuming.