Cowboy
(Or Western Sheriff) 
Supplies:
Paper for drawing your pattern (ask Hobby Lobby for some of the paper they use to wrap fragile stuff, they’ll give you a few sheets for free!)
Fabric or Leather in one or two colors
bling as desired (look at a Leather supply store!)
Belt kit and belt buckle OR a belt your child already owns.
Belt buckle (optional)
Sheriff badge (optional)
*A note on where to shop: Even if you’re not using leather to make the vest and chaps, I’d still take a quick peek inside a leather supply store for your “bling” (for lack of a better word... I’m sure cowboys have a manlier word for it!). After keeping an eye out for a cute sherif badge and only finding VERY overpriced ones (like $16-25) or totally cheesy cheap ones, I found a perfect, nice little metal star in a circle that works as a sheriff badge (though it doesn’t technically SAY “Sheriff”) for $4 at the leather store. I also found some conches for a couple dollars, and a nice cowboy & horse belt buckle for $5. All that is to say that I found much nicer stuff at much lower prices by going to the leather store than I would have had I just gone to the fabric or craft or party store. Also, bring your paper pattern pieces with you to the store so you know exactly how much you need to buy. (Complete the first few steps below to make your paper pattern pieces.)
*A note on pricing and sizing for this costume: If you’re wanting to make this as quick and cheap as possible, you don’t have to get two tones of fabric/leather. You also don’t have to have any bling. You can just attach your chap pieces to belt your child already has by attaching a couple loops on the top/back of the caps. I chose to use leather and make a real belt to put the chaps on b/c I have two little boys and I designed this costume in a way to be as non-restrictive on sizing as possible so it can be worn for many years as they grow. Some chaps designs are fully enclosed around the leg, but your child will grow out of them much faster. The “chinks” style I used is non-enclosed and is actually worn at a shorter length as well as a longer length, so even as your child grows taller, they won’t have outgrown them.
Directions:
Here are the pattern
pieces we’re going to be making in the main leather
color (mine's brown). Don’t get scared and go buy a
pattern, I’ll walk you through it! :)
Let’s start with the
chaps b/c you know that’s what you’re most excited
about! Take a pair of your child’s jeans as a guide for
sizing and roughly sketch the shape of the chaps, using
the left shape above as a guide. The length should be
from the waist to about shin (I made mine a bit longer
for room to grow), and the width should sit loosely
around about 2/3 of your child’s leg. Jeans are nice to
use as a guide rather than your child’s leg b/c these
are worn loose, on top of the jeans anyway. We’re going
to be adding fringe, so don’t make them go all the way
to the floor.
Optional Variation: If you’re
going the quickie route and are only using one color,
then after drawing out your pattern, extend it by
several inches on the left, bottom, and right sides.
That way you can just cut your fringe directly out of
the one fabric piece instead of having to sew it on
separately. For those of us using two colors, we’re
going to be attaching fringe in our second
color.
Now you need to draw
out your vest pieces. I’ll just tell you right now that
the absolute easiest way to do this is if your child
already owns a vest! Just lay it out, and trace the back
piece and one front piece. Then just add on 1/4-1/2” for
seam allowance down the side and across the top of your
front piece. If you don’t have access to a vest to
trace, you can wing it, but it may take you a couple
tries. Again, use the shapes above as a guide, and just
cut them out and hold them to your child to see how they
fit. Or, just bring your pattern paper to the store and
trace around a vest at the store. I won’t mention it to
the manager!
You’ll want to bring
these pattern pieces with you to the store when buying
your leather so you know how much to buy!
Now cut out your basic
leather pieces. Remember when placing the pattern for
your chinks and vest that you’ll want the same side of
the leather to face up on the finished pieces. They
should look like this:
Before you toss out
your paper pattern pieces, we’re going to use them
again. First, take your chaps pattern piece, and draw a
swoopty line across the top as a guide of where your
second color will be. Then cut it out.
Use that as a pattern
piece to cut out two swoopty pieces for your chaps in
your accent color of leather (mine’s red). Remember to
turn one piece of leather over so that when you’re done
both pieces will have been cut with the same side of the
leather facing up. Isn’t that cute?
Now we’ll do the same
thing to make a swishy pointy piece for the vest. Grab
your vest front pattern piece and draw a swooshy point
on it. To do this, I placed my actual vest piece over my
pattern piece and traced the bottom swoosh up higher on
the vest. Then cut it out.
Use that as a pattern
piece to cut out two swishy point pieces for your vest
in the accent/red leather. Remember to turn one piece of
leather over so that when you’re done both pieces will
have been cut with the same side of the leather facing
up. Are you getting excited yet?
Now we’re going to cut
out the fringe. If you’re using two colors, do this in
your accent color. First you’ll need to measure around
your chaps so you know how much fringe you need (measure
the three sides, excluding the top). Add an extra inch
b/c you don’t want to come up short and you can always
snip off the extra at the end. Now multiply that number
by two, since you’re needing fringe for both legs.
To make that length in
fringe, you’ll probably need to cut several pieces. (OR
you could buy a package of pre-made fringe at the
store). If that’s the case, simply cut as many pieces as
you need, and put an extra little tab sticking out at
the ends that you can use to attach one length of
leather to the next one, without overlapping the fringe
area. I made mine 2 1/2” wide, and cut my fringe 2”
deep, leaving 1/2 inch solid at the top for sewing the
fringe to the chaps.
Tip: When
cutting the fringe, I found it helpful to place my ruler
over the top edge to prevent me from cutting too deeply
into the fabric. Then I just used my rotary cutter and
cut up equal lengths until the cutter hit the ruler.
Now using some scrap
leather, make and sew on little loops on the back sides
of both chaps that are wide enough for the belt to go
through.
Now sew the red swoopty
pieces onto the fronts of your chaps. This will cover
the little sew lines you made sewing on the belt loops
to the back.
Sew the red swishy
point pieces in place on to your vest fronts.
Sew the sides of your
front vest pieces to the sides of your back vest pieces,
right sides together. Then sew the top shoulder portion
in place. Flip the vest around, right side out again,
and the vest is done-ish.
Sew the chaps tie
straps in place, sewing them to stick out from the back
side of the chaps. These will simply tie around the leg
to hold the chaps in place. If you want to get all fancy
you can put a buckle on them, but I didn’t.
Sew the red fringe onto
the sides of your chaps. Just hold the fringe in place
behind your chaps, and scoot along a little at a time.
Now your chaps are doneish or nearly doneish.
You may attach these
chaps to any belt, by placing the belt through the loops
on the back sides of the chaps. Or, you can make a
custom belt using a belt kit. Since I found a belt kit
for $4 and a fabulous buckle for $5, I decided to go
ahead and make my own. It involved following basic
cutting then assembling instructions that came in the
kit. OR you can make a belt using a stiff
leather or fabric. The length should equal 1 1/4- 1 1/2
times your child’s waist measurement. I did 1 1/2 b/c
I’m wanting to use this costume for years to come. If
you’re making it as a one-time costume, then 1 1/4 would
be sufficient. The width is your preference.
Optional:
Emboss the leather for a fun accent. I had a friend with
leather tools who let me wack in some stars and horse
shoes around the belt. You could also emboss the vest
and chaps, depending on your leather, but mine was too
soft.
Now, attach any
fabulous flare that you may have found. I attached a
star badge and a couple conchos.
Now go and make a
little boy’s day!!!
Last, if you decided to
do this project yourself, please send me a photo of it
with your name and what state you're from! I've recently
decided to start featuring my readers' finished results.
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