Christmas prep progress

Santa is nearly ready for this season, back in September I was able to finish the editing to my suit. The end results were amazing.

Now that it's November the jobs keep lining up. Santa in Japan is becoming more of a thing and I am so excited to be a part of it. This year I will be having the chance to visit the hospital to visit the stay in children. I am looking forward to bringing them joy. 

My New Project

So this is my big year of change. I've started my very own English school in a part of my prefecture (state or province) that doesn't have many schools around, during the last two weeks I've had thirty nine trial students come in and more then a dozen sign up and prepare for February lessons. I've decided to dedicate one section of my office to Santa Claus and set up my Santa Claus operation from there.
Since I discovered that I would have a bit of free time during the evening times and the occasional day time breaks between jobs, I've decided to start my suit project.
I want to turn this

 into a proper suit. At the moment it's just a pull over costume. The real nice part about this suit is that it's embroidered. The pullover is Velvet with no lining, my plan is to add a lining and to also turn this into a proper Santa Claus jacket. Today I was able to find new Faux Fur here in Japan. I was so happy to have found it and at a reasonable cost. I bought 5m x 1m (I think I may have bought more then I need) Time to get out the stitch rippers.

What I'm Hoping For

I'm hoping to take the half cape off, and put a peter pan collar on the suit, I am also planning on removing all the fur and replacing it with thicker and better looking fur. Lastly I will be turning this into a jacket. I am still working out the type of fastener I will use. I am also thinking to use the material from the cape to fashion myself a new hat. The hat that came with the suit is too short.

How This Is Going To Be Done
I am planning to do all the removal and hem stitching. Once I'm satisfied with what I've got I'll pass it over to a seamstress to do the machine sewing of the hems and to add the lining.


Thank You Too
Thank you too everyone at ClausNet for having such a great place to hang out in and get wonderful ideas for a project like this. I want to say a special thank you to Eileen Strom, for taking the time to send photos, links and a lot of useful information my way in regards to this suit surgery.

More updates and pictures on this as the project unfolds.

Thank you to ClausNet and thoughts on 2014

My first entry into this blog is to first say thank you to the members of ClausNet for accepting me into the forum and family of Santa's. I've been trying to find another Santa to talk to for the last two seasons and to have been able to find and get accepted into this community, is just an honor. This last season was my best ever in Japan, with visits to children's clinics, kindergartens, community centers, high schools, special needs schools and private parties. I started thinking about years past and remembered that one time I visited an orphanage. I remember the sparkle of magic in those kids eyes when I came out and talked with them and brought them gifts. I want to do that again, so I've decided to try and find as many of the orphanages as I can in the prefecture that I live in and try to organize a visit. I will also get my schools to start up a toy drive for the children of the orphanages.

I'll update as this plan progresses.