Robe Adaption

A few years ago Junior got a very nice fleece robe for Christmas.  He loves his camo robe but it is just too hard to get on him now.  With the high neck it doesn't work to just put it on backwards.  Recently I was doing our usual adaptions to his fleece jackets so they open in the back and thought why not try that with the robe.  It worked great.  I first stitched the front closed and removed the tie/belt.  In the picture below the front has been stitched closed.  I stitched up to a few inches below where the material meets at the neck.

I then laid it face down cut down the back of the robe.

 I zig stitched the cut edges and that was it.  Since it is for relaxing at home there is no need for velcro in the back we just tuck it.  Basically we turned a robe into a snuggie.  I do plan to add bias tape over the cut edge in the future.  I tried it this time on his fleece jackets and it makes it look so much more finished.

I will add a picture of Junior with it on the next time he wears it.  It has not been cold enough for it lately.
Updated:1/16/14
Junior trying out his robe.  In the bottom corner pic you can also see that I added bias tape to the edges of the back.

Adapted Nerf Gun revisited

A little over a year ago I posted about a nerf dart gun that we had adapted and I will be copying that post below.  I wanted to revisit this post after another mom posted a picture of a nerf gun they had adapted.  I was excited to see that Nerf now has a fully automatic nerf gun(the earlier gun was an off brand) which meant it could be adapted for the switch.  Also this gun loads darts from the front which takes away the issue we have had with the other one of occasional jamming.
The new gun has velcro on the dart tips and Junior loved being able to shoot at his felt board and have the darts "stick".  I am going to get out my scrap felt and make a bulls eye for him.  *beware that these darts do sting a little if you get hit close up(yeah experience here)*

Here are some pictures of Junior with the new gun.  No issues with jamming, very easy to adapt, and one very happy kid. 

 Felt board hung from an IV pole makes a great target

I took this pic last night(1/15/14)  and will go ahead and add it to this post.  I used some scraps along with some spiderman felt to make a bulls eye.  The darts stick to this great.

 

 
This new gun is called the Nerf Dart Tag Swarmfire gun.  Be sure it is the fully automatic nerf gun.

The new gun adapts in the same way as the gun from our earlier post so I am attaching that post here.  There are a few differences:

With the new gun you can load it with all the darts and do not need to adjust to avoid it jamming like in the earlier version.  With the new gun  you can just press and release the switch to fire.  In the earlier version the switch needed to be held down a couple seconds for the motor to have the power to fire effectively.

As Junior has gotten older it has become very hard to find appropriate switch adapted toys that he does not think are "baby".  His wonderful teacher gave him a gift card back at his birthday and we have been on the hunt for something "big kid" that is adaptable.
Today a box arrived with what we had picked out and hoped would turn out to be adaptable.

I messed with it and tried some different things to try and ensure it was adaptable before I actually did any changes to the gun. I didn't want to realize it couldn't be adapted at a point when I could also no longer return it.  Most nerf type guns require a trigger press each time you fire and in that case there is no way to switch adapt it(at least not that I have worked out).  This is the only gun I found that is "automatic" so will fire with the trigger continually pressed.  This is not as high quality as a real nerf gun but it could be adapted which is what mattered(Junior is not running around with it or dropping it so it should hold up for him just fine).

I started with a battery interrupter- the style for AA batteries, a screw driver, small knife, and velcro.  A switch to test it out as you go along is also needed.

Here is the foam dart gun we got.  The darts are soft with a suction cup tip so will stick to smooth surfaces(also will not hurt anyone or break things).  I am going to make a target for Junior out of foam board and they should stick easily to it.  

 Open the battery pack and slide in the disc attached to the battery interrupter.  With this gun I had to keep playing with it to get it working.  Which battery it was against made a difference and even the angle.  I just kept messing with it and testing it with the switch until it worked.  (remember you will need to press the trigger while hitting the switch to get the gun to activate at this point in the adapting).  I then cut a notch in the battery door for the battery interrupter cord. 

 I put a small piece of industrial strength velcro on the back of the handle behind the trigger. 

 I then used a piece of sew on velcro(so there is no adhesive on the back) to wrap aroud the trigger and hold it down.  This allows you to just open the velcro if you need to release the trigger for some reason. 

 When I was initially shooting the gun with the switch it kept jamming and then just stopping.  I messed with it and tried different things and was getting a bit frustrated.  I then discovered that if I put a foam dart in every other slot instead of every slot I no longer had the problem.  Also when playing with this with the switch the switch needs to be pressed for at least a couple seconds to get good shots.   If you just touch and release the internal motor doesn't get enough power to shoot the dart out very far if at all.  Not a problem for Junior since he loves to hold down the switch on his adapted squirt gun so he can really spray down his target.  

 I set it in this plastic shoe box to keep it from tipping but need to find a more secure way to hold it on Junior's tray.  Even in the box it tips to the side a bit when fired.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  I am considering a strap across the top with velcro but not sure if that will work very well. 

Now a short video of it in action, I was trying to film and operate it.  Junior hasn't seen it yet but I know he is going to be one excited kid. Not perfect but it works and thats what matters.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Things have been so busy and Junior has had some health struggles so this blog has fallen behind yet again. 
I hope you have all had a very merry Christmas and happy New Year.