Secret Squirrel sew-along - September

Secret Squirrel has been hopping around the blogland after An from Straightgrain and Suz from Sewpony let it out in the wild three months ago. The person willing to accept a challenge is required to make an outfit for a child incorporating all five acorns of inspiration. Last month Secret Squirrel left the following acorns of inspiration:

While she was sleeping, I made a new outfit for my daughter. When I showed Little Monkey her new dress, she exclaimed, 'Whoo-haa! Look, a pocket!' I did not need to bribe her to try it on. Little Monkey grabbed the dress and started putting it on over her pyjamas!

I used Debbie's Birthday dress pattern by Sewpony. I just love the style of this dress. I have had so much fun sewing the first one, I had to make one more!

Please let me show you how I managed to incorporate the five acorns of inspiration.

One of the acorns was Back to school. In Russia, where I grew up, the school year always starts on the 1st of September. That makes it the beginning of Autumn. The days are still lovely and warm. The leaves on trees change colour and there are splashes of yellow, orange and red everywhere! I think the fabric I have chosen for this dress reflects this perfectly.

Fathers Day in Australia falls on the first Sunday in September. We went to a lovely park to play and celebrate as a family. Little Monkey had a blast!

Those things were cool but difficult to get on to... Daddy to the rescue!

The next acorn read Dr. Who. I am not a fan of the show, but since my sweetest husband is, I have seen a few episodes. In one episode the Doctor suggested that 'bow ties are cool'. I made a small bow and sewed it to the front of the dress.

Look at the back of the dress - 'Bow ties are cool!' (Dr. Who again - see Secret Squirrel, that was not too difficult after all).

See the loop on the back of the dress? I made it by hand to comply with another requirement. Which one? Dana Tanamachi! Dana creates beautiful chalk art. On the picture above it says, 'Live a quiet life and work with your hands'. The bow tie is also sewn and attached to the dress by hand. See?

It is getting warmer in my corner of the globe. Little Monkey needed a new pair of leggings. I Recycled a green singlet and made a pair of leggings using this tutorial by Make it and love it.

I over-estimated the size Little Monkey would need at the moment, so these leggings will have to wait for a year or two until she grows into them. Up until a year ago the white leggings in the photos were a top as well. Does this count?

I can hear a few people saying, 'But what about a Zipper? You should have used a zipper as well". Of course I used a zipper :) Secret Squirrel did not specify the zipper had to be functional. So...

My husband called it cheating, and I called it 'being creative'. I also believe this creative cheating counts as Recycling! What do you think? (Husband note: that sounds like double cheating)

We had so much fun playing Little Monkey got exhausted! Nothing beats mummy's hugs when little monkeys get tired :)

Happy sewing :)

Jenya