Secret Squirrel sew-along - October

I cannot believe how excited I get about the 1st of each months since Suz of Sewpony and An of Straightgrain introduced Secret Squirrel to the blogworld! The host of the month and their creation are revealed on the 1st of every month. This is such a fun challenge. I enjoy seeing how every participant interprets the acorns of inspiration and all the wonderful outfits created by my fellow sewaholics. If you have never heard of the Secret Squirrel challenge before, please read about it and jump on board. I promise you will get hooked! I sure did. You can see my previous Secret Squirrel creations here and here. You are also welcome to visit Secret Squirrel Flickr group to see what other participants made.

The five acorns of inspiration for October were:

Green.   The Little Prince.   Bias.   Zooey Deschanel.   Shark.

While she was sleeping, I made a new dress for my daughter that incorporated all five acorns of inspiration.




 

When I saw the acorns for the first time I thought it would be very difficult to incorporate them all in one outfit. To start with, I had no idea who Zooey Deschanel was. After putting her name in Google search I realised she was a singer. I thought I would get some inspiration from her songs, so I spent some time on YouTube. I loved her voice but did not become a fan of the band (sorry Zooey). I checked a few images, and then it happened. Inspiration came. Zooey looks stunning in feminine vintage inspired and yet modern outfits. I knew I had to use the Sabrina dress pattern designed by Puperita for this month's challenge.

I went into my sewing room to see what fabric I had. How lucky! I had green fabric with roses and birds printed on them. Why lucky you wonder? Because this fabric was green, and the Little Prince had a very special rose, remember? I also had a little star shaped button the same shade of green as the fabric (the Little Prince again). My daughter loves birds, which is bonus.

Lovely lace on the bodice of the dress represents sharp teeth of a shark.


I had an idea of how to embellish the bodice using lace and bias tape, but when I actually put them together it looked wrong. Bias tape looked too thick, boring and did not compliment lace at all. I spent some time playing with lace and bias tape trying to find a solution. When I folded bias tape in half it actually looked good. I got to play with fancy stitches on my machine for the first time and I think the final result is pretty.


The curved skirt is my favourite feature of this pattern. Puperita gives very good instructions on how to hem a curved skirt. I could have easily followed her instructions, but my sewing machine has a rolled hem foot, and I never had an excuse to play with it before! What a brilliant opportunity to try a new technique! I had a practice go using a scrap of fabric. I expected it to be very difficult, however it was surprisingly easy! I went slow while hemming the skirt using a rolled hem foot. I had to use a usual zig zag foot to hem the skirt over the side seams as fabric got too thick and did not feed through the rolled hem foot. A rookie mistake? Anyway, I thought changing machine feet was worth it in the end. I was very proud of my first rolled hem.


Five acorns of inspiration, one new outfit for my Little Monkey. What do you think about it?

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24 comments

  1. Great job!!! I love this dress and what is this? LIttle Monkey is wearing a dress without a pocket??!! By the way Zooey Deschanel is much more famous as an actress than a singer ;) You did an excellent job incorporating all the acorns.

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    1. Thank you Alisa. Yes, LM is wearing a dress without pockets. To be honest I am not too sure just how much she likes it. When I showed it to her when it was only half finished she said she liked it. However on the day of a photo-shoot she said she didn't. Maybe refusing a daytime sleep had soemthing to do with her level of grumpiness :) She just wanted to stay in her pyjamas haha I told her I would let her change back after I take a few pics and she agreed :)

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  2. Thank you Amy :) This was actually the first time I got to use crocheted lace myself. I love lace and I will try and use it more often :)

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  3. How clever you are!! I love the shape of the skirt on this dress. Well done on the rolled hem, both my sewing machine and my overlocker have rolled hem functions but i've been too nervous to try either of them.....

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    1. Thanks Renee :) I considered using a rolled hen function on my overlocker for this dress, but then changed my mind. I seriously was surprised at how easy it was to do on my machine!

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    2. oh not rolled hen, rolled hem of course hehe

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  4. This is beautiful Jenya, well done on the rolled hem too - my machine didn't come with the foot but I'm considering getting one! I love The Little Prince, you got so many sweet references in!

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    1. Thank you MIchelle. Believe it or not, I got my sewing machine from an op shop! It came with a lot of feet and a manual! $40 - can anyone beat that?? I had it serviced and have been having a lot of fun since. I enjoy it more than my original cheap basic sewing machine.

      I don't think you will regret getting a rolled hem foot. The finish is so neat and delicate - I am in love :) Just need to work out how to do rolled hem over seams... if it is possible at all :)

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  5. Very sweet Jenya!! So glad you love sewing along!!

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    1. Thank you Suz :) SS is such a fun challenge. I am loving it :)

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  6. I love seeing your squirrel posts! Great job on this one. It is interesting having a mix of people contributing ideas- you don't always know what something/someone is at the start!

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  7. I love the combination of the bias and that gorgeous lace, Jenya!!! Looks fabulous with the floral fabric. Well done on incorporating all the acorns.

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    1. Thank you Pam :) I should use lace more often, I really love it!

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  8. That's really pretty Jenya. I thought about incorporating the Little Prince's rose in my sewalong version (over at http://as-it-seams.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/secret-squirrel-beware-those-pretty.html) but couldn't think how to do it without it being twee. But that fabric is gorgeous. And the lace is lovely. Everything you make looks so well-finished as well. Great technical sewing as well as creative! Rolled hems? Something I need to discover next I think!

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    1. Thank you Victoria. I was lucky to have fabric that fit for two acorns so well :)

      A couple of days after I made this dress I bought a jar of buttons from an op shop, and there was a small pink rose made out of ribbons in the jar. It would have been perfect, but it was too late :)

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  9. It's beautiful! I love all the little bits of inspiration that made up this dress!

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    1. Thank you Heather :) I find this challenge a lot of fun. It is amazing how we all end up creating something completely different based on the same 5 things!

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  10. The dress is stunning! You are very clever to put all the acorns together and this floral printed fabric of choice is so lovely. Well done indeed.

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  11. Love the lace. This is a sweet dress. Well done!

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