Who would have thought that something as simple (looking) as a monkey costume could have so many pieces? I spent the better art of the day (in between playing with Easton and making bierocks) cutting, cutting, cutting.... Finally, by the end of the night, I had this:

I did make a few changes to the pattern - and they all have to do with my fabric choices (I may be altering the leg and arm length to the body before I'm finished, but I'd like to wait on that a bit, just in case Easton goes through a growth spurt!):

1) The Body:

The pattern suggested synthetic fur for the body. Unfortunately, I searched all over for 'monkey fur' and never found what I wanted. The closest I could get to brown was something that resembled cat fur, so I opted for velveteen. It's nice and soft, but I forgot that the width would be smaller than the fur so I had to play with the pattern quite a bit to get it all to fit. WHEW!

The pattern also called for fleece for the tummy and ears. Up against the velveteen, the fleece just looked cheap, so I purchased some tan microsuede. Because of this, I had to make a few pattern changes - adding a finished edge to the tummy piece and fusing fleece to the ears to make them 'puffy'.

2) Vest & Hat:

I skipped the felt (which is what the instructions call for) for the vest and headed straight for the home decor section of the store instead. I found a great fabric that screamed "grinder monkey vest and hat" and am using that instead. This also means that I'll need to finish the raw edges - originally I was going to line the vest, but I may just turn under the raw edges and bind the arm holes instead. I'll wait to do these last, so I'll have plenty of time to mull it over.

With all the changes I've made to Easton's costume, I'm almost afraid to start cutting into Taylor's pattern!