Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties?

The kiddo currently has an unexpected affinity for older video games, and the absolute favorite is the Half Life series, and his favorite characters in that series are the scientists. ("They have the best memes," he says.)

So, when it was time to choose a Halloween costume, Half Life Scientist it was, no hesitation.  I had been prepared for it to be a HEV suit, which...I'm stubborn enough that I would have figured it out, but, in terms of knowing I can make it, scientist was a relief.  If you don't know how a Half Life scientist looks, here's the pertinent wiki page  http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Mesa_Science_Team (which has a note, as I type this, that it'll be migrating to another domain soon, so apologies if the link is bad.)

I'm sure all the pieces could be purchased commercially--there are places to order lab coats for kids, and the price is surprisingly low, but, y'know...I sew.


Earlier in the year, I thrifted this pattern

Simplicity 5250 from 1981.  Now, the reason I picked it up then was because we'd been watching Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and the kiddo was absolutely enamored of Togusa.  (We did read up about the episodes and skipped the really horribly violent stuff, and had conversations about the stuff he did see.)  So when I saw this, I thought it would be perfect for Togusa's suit in kid size.  I even managed to thrift enough medium-weight light brown cloth, but then we ran into the "Netflix does not have the next DVD in the series and it's really hard to find (legally) online" problem when we started watching the second season, so we stopped watching it, and the kiddo's interest faded.

When the idea of making a lab coat came up, though, I figured this unlined jacket, plus a bit of extra length, would work well.

And it did!  I left out the front darts, and am honestly still trying to decide if I want to put patch pockets on or not--I know it would be more authentic to the idea of a lab coat, but the character models in the old Half Life don't have that much detail.  Although, they don't have things like lapels or buttons, either, so that'e really not a valid excuse.  I just don't like applying patch pockets--I never feel like I'm getting them in the right place.

And of course I edge stitched

And I finished the edge of the facing with the rolled edge foot.  I didn't have the tension set quite right, so it's a bit...textural...in places

I didn't want to serge the raw edges, though, because I was lazy and didn't change my serger thread

I mean, yeah, I had no problem serging every other seam, but the idea of the contrasting thread being as close to the opening as the facing edged are just didn't seem right.

The serger thread is solid white on the other side, though.

The jacket pattern has a center back seam, so I took the opportunity and made a simple vent in the extended portion.

And I did a bit of ditch stitching to hold down the un-interfaced neck facing

The pants are good ol' KwikSew 2544.  To be screen accurate, there should be a belt, and I have belt loops cut, but the kiddo isn't fond of belts, so, much like the lab coat pockets...enh, we'll see.  If you look a few pictures above, you can see that the pants have lovely pockets, as well as the fake fly front and a solid waistband.  As always, that's not because I don't want to use a zipper (I am at peace with installing zippers), it's because this kid doesn't like dealing with snaps and buttons on pants waists.

So there is an elasticized section on the back

I initially thought I would make the shirt, too.  I thrifted a sheet (with a large subtle blue stain) to make the jacket and pants, and was prepared to look for a light blue sheet or maybe even hope to find a yard or two of appropriate yardage to use for the shirt, because I didn't think it would be very likely I could thrift a blue dress shirt in a preteen size.  And I didn't--but I did thrift an adult shirt for 99¢, meaning I was able to tailor it down to kid size very easily by using Burda 9419 to cut the sides and sleeves.

Or, at least, very easily if I hadn't measured off the wrong point and cut the sleeves too short.  Ha ha fun.

But!  I was able to sew the cut bits back together and re-cut the sleeves properly, which means this weirdness is now going on

that'll be hidden up inside the lab coat so no-one has to know, right?

I got the sheet and the shirt in the same thrift visit, and the tie as well!  Yes, yes, the stripes are at the wrong angle, but they're the right color of stripes, and I was able to purchase the materials all on one stop, so...good enough!