I'm a sucker for vintage fabric and was won over by the sweet dress - and Venus' fun photography and styling.  Venus is a super friendly, funny and very creative lady - she is an accomplished artist, sewer and vegie gardener!  She has three daughters, and sews mostly for her youngest - Lala. 

Venus has very generously drafted and digitalised a free pattern for us all - her 'You call it pants'...these babies look so comfy and I will definitely be making a pair soon...

Anyway...I am sure you are going to love the outfit Venus has put together for the series - I love that she has distinct memories of the photo being taken of herself when she was a little girl (who, by the way, was a spitting image of Lala)....And here is a little interview with Venus about when she was young...
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Where were you born/where did you spend your childhood?

I was born in San Diego, California and lived here ever since.

Who did you grow up with?

I grew up with my parents, an older sister and two older brothers (yup.. I was the youngest).

Did you have a childhood ambition?

I wanted to have my own advertising agency and design futuristic homes that can change shape at push of a button.

What did you like doing when you were little?

Drawing. I could sit for hours and draw. I'd even set up the TV table in front of the TV and draw during episodes of Scooby Doo and I Dream of Genie.

Do you see any similarities between yourself and your child/children?

OH YEAH. Good and bad, but mostly good.

Do you live far from where you grew up?

No. I've driven by a few times with my girls.

Where do you live now and who with?

We still live San Diego and it's just us chickens (Mr., Sophia, Lily Moon, Lala and myself).

 My mother has been sewing since she was in high school. Living on a farm and not having the luxury to just hop in a car and head down to the local department store, she had to be resourceful and make her own clothes. When she married my dad, had four kids and moved to the United States, money was tight and her skills were well used. I remember hearing the hum of the sewing machine and my mom tickling me whenever she would take my measurements. She had ONE rule when sewing:
NEVER SEW BLACK AT NIGHT.
A good rule.

After reviewing the photo, I had to make a few revisions. Knowing that we're getting into warmer weather, I shortened the sleeves, ditched the pants and extended the top into a dress. I was worried that with these changes, it would change the whole feel.
Yes? No?
Man... I wished I had those red shoes.
When I initially finished the dress, I looked at it and thought, "wow... it looks like a Raggedy Ann dress" and I really didn't care for it. I even contemplated sewing another dress, but then what is the fun in that?! It was only when Lala wore it, did it speak to me...
It melted my heart.
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FABRIC: Kona cotton (red and white), Color Basics from Lecien in blue.
PATTERN: Girls' Clothing (Japanese sewing book) pattern C,*hacked.
*I shortened the top length and added a rectangle skirt.
And there you have it, folks! A snippet of my past and a gift for my youngest daughter. I think the photo above sums it up.
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Thank you, Suz for having me!!!
Feelin' nostalgic? Join in the fun and check out what other folks are sewin' for their wee ones HERE.
Bye for now!
***

SewFineFabrics is a fabric store on Etsy which has a great selection of organic cottons (Birch, Monaluna) but also of other prominent brands like Windham (Lotta Jansdotter!), Michael Miller, Riley Blake, Moda, and the like. Owner Jodi selects only the prettiest prints and best quality cottons, and ships them all over the world at stunning rates! SewFineFabrics is donating a $50 gift voucher to the Secret Squirrel host who sews up the best outfit. Thank you, Jodi!  

SewFreshFabrics is started as an Etsy shop, but quickly grew into an independent fabric store with an amazing range of fabrics. Designer cottons (Lotta! Amy! Anna Maria!), organic fabrics (Birch! Cloud 9!), Japanese import (Kokka!), solids (Essex linen, Kona cotton!) and more. If you cannot find it in Peg's store, it probably does not exist. The winner of the sew-along competition will be able to go on a $25 shopping spree at SewFreshFabrics. Thank you, Peg!  

LimaSews is owned by Linh and Mark, and sells some of the top brands and designers in organic and regular quilting fabric. Lotta Jansdotter, Cloud 9, Birch, Art Gallery, Free Spirit, Rowan, ... they're all there! And their prices shipping rates are simply amazing (check out those for shipping outside the US!). The creator of the best sew-along outfit wins $25 worth of delicious fabrics at LimaSews. Thanks, Linh and Mark!

Elegance & Elephants probably needs no introduction: designer Heidi's Bubble Shorts pattern was one of the sewing hits of the past few months! But the winner can also select one of her two other patterns (the gorgeous Ruffle Top/Dress, and the super cute Bubble Pocket Top & Spin Skirt), or pick one of her upcoming fall patterns, perhaps? Thanks for giving away two patterns, Heidi!

Scientific Seamstress is the alter ego of Carla, a molecular biologist who went from laboratory experiments to sewing experiments. She sells loads of great physical and digital patterns, for children's, women's, men's, and doll's outfits. And a few bags too! Over the past years, Carla has sold thousands of copies of her wonderful designs. Thank you for sponsoring our little squirrel, Carla!

Sewpony Vintage is run by Suz (co-organiser of Secret Squirrel) who has just released her first vintage style pattern - Debbie's birthday dress (with blog tour starting next week!). She has another vintage dress pattern in the works and will be adding to her etsy shop over the coming months with more vintage inspired patterns.

StraightGrain sells patterns designed by Secret Squirrel co-organizer An, who has a soft spot for simple, clean designs with many different options. After the Bubble dress and Tinny dress patterns, a third pattern (Hanami top and dress) is currently being tested, and a fourth one is in the works.

We hope these wonderful prizes will spark your inspiration and enthusiasm for Secret Squirrel... Will you be sewing along? Be sure to add your creations to our Secret Squirrel flickr group!!!

 

Thank you SO much to Carla, Heidi, Jodi, Linh and Marc, and Peg! And good luck to everyone who is participating! 

For the second week of When we were young, I am excited to introduce the lovely Sanae from Sanae Ishida.  I discovered Sanae's blog earlier this year and was very impressed to find that Sanae has only been blogging for eleven months but she is already very well known for her unique style and styling.  Her creations for her daughter, K, are always beautifully made and photographed.  Sanae often sews from Japanese patterns as well as drafting her own lovely designs.  Her blog is a mix of sewing, art and yummy food - three of my favourite things.  You can read more about Sanae here.

A mini interview with Sanae about when she was young...

Where were you born/where did you spend your childhood?

I was born and raised in the heart of Los Angeles, but we moved around a lot for some reason so I went to five different elementary schools, all in L.A.

Who did you grow up with?

There are five in my family: my father, mother, me, younger brother #1, younger brother #2.

Did you have a childhood ambition?

I was dead set on becoming a fashion designer. In the off-chance that wasn't going to work out, I was willing to settle for a children's book illustrator.

What did you like doing when you were little?

Do you remember that game called fashion plates? Like these. Obsessed. I also doodled and read books all the time.

Do you see any similarities between yourself and your child/children?

I have one daughter, K, who is almost seven-years-old. I always joke that she's 90% my husband and 10% me. K and I both love to read, and she does like artsy things, and like me, she's a routine-girl. I think the main difference between us is that she's an extrovert through and through, and I'm definitely an introvert. It's fascinating to see how much energy she derives from being with other people, and she's just a social butterfly.

Do you live far from where you grew up?

My parents and brothers still live in Los Angeles and I live in the Pacific Northwest. It's about a three hour plane ride away, so not too bad.

Where do you live now and who with?

In our little household in Seattle, it's just M, K and me. We love the PNW!

Sanae has been excited to share her creation for this series and has even got her Mum on board watching along!

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I sew all the time for my daughter K (almost 7! Her birthday is in a little over a month). Well, the reason I even started sewing is because I remembered how my own mother single-handedly created the wardrobes for me and my two brothers. My mom is a prolific creator and pretty much handmade everything in my childhood. Above is a photo of me in one of my mom's favorite items to sew: a yukata. She made me so many! A yukata is a summer kimono and is typically made from cotton. And yes, she made those giant flowers and that rug and I believe those are floor cushions by my foot that is most likely handmade as well.

Now, my version is probably not completely traditional since I made up the pattern:

I also couldn't find the all-red obi (sash) in the mess we call our home, so I had to make do with a much fancier obi that is not meant for summer kimonos. And although the print of this yukata isn't exactly the same as the original, it's actually authentic yukata fabric that comes in 14-inch wide rolls.

I didn't have quite enough of the fabric so I shortened the yukata (normally they are at least ankle length), but it actually looks more like the one that my mom made for me that way, so I'm pleased. I'm probably about three-years-old in that photo above, so K is a lot older and her pigtails are crazy long.

The bow in the back is inserted via metal hooks, and is not technically part of this obi. I love the way it looks and again, I was happy it made the whole outfit mimic the original because I tell you, my model absolutely refused to pose the way I did in that very first image. I was even going to draw in the background to make it look exactly the same, but oh well.

In terms of making up the pattern, I consulted a few online resources, but they were all too detailed and text-heavy which made my eyes glaze over, and I figured the pieces were all rectangles, so how hard could it be to figure out? I cut out 7 rectangles: the back panel, two front panels, two sleeves, two collar pieces on the bias. Then I just attached them in a way that made sense to me, and voila, a yukata! There are side arm vents (I don't know why - for air circulation? To make it easier to raise the arms?), and that was the trickiest part. Overall, these are really easy to make. I'll have to do a tutorial one day...

A Karate Kid moment.

K loves it. She wore it to the end-of-first-grade picnic and also brought it with her to camping. And actually wore it during camping, which was hilarious. She decided that her white bathrobe sash was much more comfortable than the obi.

This was actually my second "When We Were Young" outfit that I made. I'm quite clumsy and forgetful, and accidentally and prematurely published the original post on my own blog. I felt bad that I wasn't providing Suz fresh content, so I frantically made this yukata, and now I'm so glad I did. Yukatas make me think of Japanese street festivals and sparkly fireworks and dancing for hours with my mom as a kid. The best memories. To check out the original When We Were Young outfit I made, see my blog post here.

This was such a fun project! Thank you so much for including me in your fabulous series, Suz! 

I made these little nurse outfits for Isabella and Juliette this weekend.  They were inspired by their Little Golden Book, Nurse Nancy.  I had been wanting to make them for a while when I read my friend Ros' (from Sew Delicious) post in facebook saying she was planning to make nurse outfits for her girls inspired by their Little Golden Book, Pepper Plays Nurse.  That and the rainy weather we have had this week in Melbourne got me moving to make the aprons, hats and kit out a fresh new case for some rainy day play.

Nurse Nancy was first published in 1952 and features gorgeous illustrations by Corinne Malvern.  I have googled her illustrations in the past and they are all gorgeous and wonderfully vintage!  In fact, I used a print out of her illustrations to cover two of these wooden letters.
 

Isabella was totally engrossed in tending to her patients after I set them up in their beds.  She loves writing and drawing at the moment and was loving taking very important notes...
 

I wanted to have a go at making an exposed (metal) zipper dress after seeing this beautiful one on Pinterest...

Since it is the beginning of winter here in Australia, I did not want to make mine as fitted as this one so that Isabella could wear it with tights and a long sleeved top.  I just took a few measurements of Isabella's chest and winged it.  I ended up adding a narrow panel beneath the zip as I wanted a right angle underneath the bottom of the zip.

 

I used navy fine corduroy for the bodice and a pretty Denyse Schmidt print (#DS16 Miss Eleanor) for the skirt.  The aqua zipper was thrifted for 20c.  Like it.

 

I made this last weekend and Isabella has already worn it twice to kinder.  She likes the fact that she can zip and unzip the dress herself - a bit of a novelty to have a zip at the front of her dress.

Isabella likes to try out her own poses for my photos!

 

Thank you to everyone who entered my Belgian style giveaway.  There were 48 comments, 45 of which were entries in the giveaway.  The computer says....comment number 3 is the winner!

Welcome to the first guest post as part of sewpony's series: When we were young.  A nostalgic sewing series where guests recreate outfits from their childhood.

Our first guest is the super creative and prolific sewer - Jess from Craftiness is not Optional.  If you love sewing and read or have a blog, I'm sure you know Jess' awesome blog very well already.  Jess sews the most beautiful and stylish clothes for her three gorgeous daughters - Sadie, Charlotte and Ava.  I discovered Jess' blog a few weeks after I started mine after finding her gorgeous feedsack dress on flickr.  At that stage, Jess had about 1000 followers and I was inspired by all her free tutorials and how she could draft the most awesome dresses starting from a basic t-shirt!  I emailed Jess back then and asked her about how she started her blog and asked her for any handy blogging tips.  Jess wrote back with some friendly advice and became one of my first 'non-friend' followers - thanks Jess! 

Two years on and Craftiness is not Optional is bigger and better than ever.  With around 27,000 followers and subscribers (can you believe that?!!) and a clean new look, Jess' blog is sure to inspire you to sew.  Her Junebug dress is one of her best known and she has recently released it as a pattern for purchase from her blog.

Where were you born/did you grow up?

I was born and grew up in California.

Who did you grow up with?

My family of 10! I was the oldest of eight kids.

What did  you like doing when you were young?

I loved to read when I was a kid, and was involved in gymnastics, too.

Did you have any childhood ambitions?

I wanted to be all sorts of things...a ballerina, gymnast, equestrian rider, teacher...you name it!

Do you see similarities between yourself and your children?

I do see similarities between my kids and me-I get exasperated with them sometimes but then I realize I do that too!

Where do you live now and who with? 

I live in my hometown with my husband and three daughters. 

So right after I decided on this outfit, I got an email from my friend Adrianna about her new Edelweiss dress pattern. I opened it up to take a look, and by golly if it didn't look just like the dress I was planning to recreate! It's like the planets/fates aligned for this guest post, guys. Thanks, A.

So after finding the perfect (vintage!) fabric online, I proceeded to do my best to recreate this look that I wore when I was...probably 2?  I cut out a size 2 from Adrianna's pattern, and used her directions to cut the front so the stripes created a chevron look. (I'm telling you...the fates! I swear she added those directions just for me...hehe) I added some eyelet trim instead of the ruffle-love how that turned out! My top stitching on the straps was not my best....that vintage fabric was really squirrely. I'm pretty sure it had some polyester in it.

I didn't get a good shot of the back but it closes with a little button and is really sweet. The Edelweiss dress pattern is really great! Fantastic instructions, very thorough, and the fit was great, although I think my almost 3 year old is getting closer to moving up to a 3T size. Finally!

I also chopped off a bit of length from the pattern and added (per the original picture) a ruffled portion at the bottom, cut on the bias (but not pointing the same way as the original...gorsh! the control freak in me did not like that!) and trimmed the bottom in bias tape. It's actually got white crocheted trim on the original, but the little photo I took with my phone for reference wasn't the greatest so I couldn't tell. haha, oh well!

Oh! here's a little bit better of a look at the back. I love all the stripes, though they are a bit dizzying. :D

On the front bodice, I added some clear buttons and a little satin ribbon to tie in a bow. I assume that's what the ribbon on the original was for, a bow. I know how kids can destroy bows...power to you mom, for trying.