Give kids a reason to cheer

Whether you’re a Cougar, an Eagle, a Vandal, a Pirate, or you cheer for some other team, fall is a great time to show your school spirit.

We’re Cougars and (Linfield College) Wildcats at our house, and we have the Sallie Mae bill stubs to prove it.

At least once a year, we head to Pullman for a game, and the trip to campus isn’t complete without a visit to the college bookstore, where we usually buy an obligatory sweatshirt or two. I’m almost always disappointed by the selection of other school spirit apparel, though, especially what’s available for children. Frankly, it can be pretty cheesy looking, and I prefer my cheese shaped like a wheel in a tin with yellow and white stripes around it, thank you very much.

So lately I’ve been sewing clothes and accessories to wear to the games.

Show your colors

Here are some projects to help you cheer your team to victory. Alter the colors – be them crimson, cardinal (go ‘Cats!), plain old red or whatever – as you see fit.

School skirt

I sewed a fleece skirt for my 2-year-old daughter and plan for her to wear it with tights, (grey and crimson polka dots) if I can find any. It’s basically a peasant-style skirt in a warmer fabric than you’d otherwise expect.

I first attempted to sew the skirt without a pattern and using wool felt. Big mistake. Getting the colors to line up correctly at the seams wasn’t working, so I followed Simplicity pattern No. 4252.

The wool was collegiate looking, but I started having flashbacks to times when my mother made me wear wool as a kid. She’d feed me two Tylenol – her cure for itchy skin – and send me on my way, all in the name of fashion. So I substituted fleece.

The Simplicity pattern was a breeze to follow. The toughest part was creating gathering with such thick fabric.

Hair style

So what to do with all the extra fabric? Make some barrettes, of course.

Etsy ( www.etsy.com) is a great resource for crafters. It’s a sort of eBay for handmade goods, where creative types can sell and buy anything from purses to pottery.

There are several vendors on Etsy who sell felt-covered barrettes in different styles. I adapted the idea to fit the fan apparel theme.

First, purchase some basic hair clips – the kind that simply bend backwards into an open position then snap forward to a closed position.

Next, cut your desired shape out of two layers of wool, so you end up with two identical pieces. I made barrettes shaped like flowers, footballs, and apples (in preparation for the Apple Cup). The shape should be big enough to cover the entire hair clip, but not so big you’ll be blocking the view of the game for people seated behind you.

Now, cut a tiny slit near one end of one of the wool pieces. This is where you’ll slip the hair clip into place once you’re done stitching.

You’re basically creating a slipcover for your hair clip, so hand stitch around the perimeter of the shape using embroidery floss, joining the two pieces together. Finally, slip the barrette into its casing so only the small underside of the clip is exposed. You can either dab a small amount of glue, such as from a hot-glue gun, onto the top of the clip to keep the felt cover from falling off or sew it in place.

Keep little hands warm

If the quarterback gets to wear a hand muff during the game, the fans should, too. Especially since they’re so easy to make.

First, create a look for the front of your muff – the side the world will see. I cut an 18-inch by 16-inch piece from that crimson-colored wool, sewed a grey stripe down the middle, then cut out the letters W, S and U from more of the crimson wool and stitched them onto the stripe by hand.

Next, cut a piece of faux fur or fleece the same size as your cover piece. Sew the two together on all four sides, wrong sides of the fabric facing each other, and tucking the short sides of the fabrics under to create a hem where your hands will enter the muff.

Finally, fold your muff so the long sides line up together, furry or fleece side out. Sew those long ends together, then invert the muff so the cover is on the outside and the warm fabric is in the center, ready to warm your hands between touchdowns.

Now huddle up. Go Team Crafty!