"Sardines Costume"

Costume Instructions

Costume Materials
Materials: silvery fabric approx 4yards; pink felt for lining of costume for the girls approx 2yards; batting to stuff the pillows and to line the fabric for the girls costumes; lots of aluminum foil to cover wagon; paper and marker to draw the label "sardines"; scrap pieces of felt for the eyes of the sardine costumes and pillows

Costume Instructions
For the costume,make template of sardine/fish (not including the head) just to cover child's body and legs; then use template on the silvery fabric-make 2 because you will be sewing them together; also use the same template on the pink felt(make 2 sides) and on a layer of batting(make 2 sides) layer one piece of fish fabric on top of the other starting with the silver, felt, the batting; sew around the edges. Then do the same thing with the remaining pieces of fabric. Then place the 2 sides with the silver fabric facing eachother and sew together along the sides and bottom, but not along the top (this is where your child will be getting into the costume!) Pull the costume inside out so the silver fabric is on the outside. Sew straps on the top of the costume- 2 in front and 2 in back, so you can tie them together at the shoulder.
For the hat, make template on paper in shape of fish head (similar to the letter "M") You may have to measure your child's head circumference to get idea of how big to make your template. You'll be using the template to cut 2 pieces each of silver fabric, felt, and batting (similar to the body of the costume). Again, layer the fabric, one piece of silver, then felt, then batting and sew along the edges. Do the same with the remaining pieces. Then place them together with the silver fabric facing forward and sew along the sides and top. (not the flat bottom part as this is where your child's head will go!)
Pull it inside out so the silver fabric is on the outside. Glue on the scrap piece of felt to make the eyes.
For the sardine pillows, make a template in the shape of a fish and use it to cut out 2 pieces of silver fabric and 2 pieces of felt. Layer the fabric together starting with the felt, silver fabric, silver fabric, then felt again. Sew along the edges leaving a small opening to pull it inside out then stuff the fish pillow with batting and then sew small area closed. Glue on felt pieces for the eyes. Make 2-3 of these pillows.
For the sardine can: tape the entire body of the wagon with foil. Make a label using white paper (probably have to tape a few pieces together) Write with thick marker "SARDINES" (I did this free hand, but you could also use a stencil) and write anything else you want on the label (ie. "net weight"). For the rolled up lid of the can, I used large cardboard and rolled it up, then took a metal hanger and shaped it into a triangle for the handle and covered with lots of foil. I then taped it to the inside of the rolled cardboard.