Secret Squirrel Mission #6 Sew Along

Have you been following the Secret Squirrel sewing series? It’s a really fun series where Secret Squirrel travels the world visiting sewing bloggers and giving ‘acorns’ of inspiration that are incorporated into a particular outfit. It’s being run by Sewpony and Straightgrain and you can read all about the series here. I finally got my act together to sew along for mission #6.

The inspiration for mission #6 came from Victoria of As It Seams, while Secret Squirrel visited her in the UK in November. The acorns of inspiration that Victoria has sent out are below:

1. Where the wild things are 2. Blue 3. David Bowie 4. Pocket 5. Great Britain

What a challenge!! Victoria then sent Secret Squirrel to Jenya of While She Was Sleeping and you can see the beautiful outfit that she made her daughter using these 5 acorns of inspiration here. I’ve taken the challenge to join the sew along using these same 5 acorns. Confused? Suz explains the series really well here.

My first thought when I saw these acorns was that they could possibly be used to make an outfit for a boy. So far all the Secret Squirrel contributions I’ve seen have been girl’s outfits . This little guy doesn’t feature on this blog a whole lot so I decided to dedicate this sewing adventure to making something for him. So, less chatting, lets get to the outfit…

Acorn 1 – Where the Wild Things Are. 

Hunting through my fabric stash, I found this striped knit and it immediately reminded me of a jumper that one of the Wild Things is wearing. It’s not a perfect colour match, but good enough I think. Just to make sure this symbolism was not too subtle, I freezer paper stenciled Max’s crown onto the t-shirt using gold fabric paint. I used Dana from MADE’s free Basic Tee pattern (it comes in one size only, 4-5).

The slim fit of the t-shirt leads me into Acorn 3 – David Bowie (Acorn 2 – Blue and Acorn 4 – pocket are self-explainatory if you look at the shorts!!). When I googled images of David Bowie I took inspiration from his late 70s and early 80s style. There were lots of pastel colours and boxy silhouettes in these images. I immediately thought of the Banyan shorts pattern from Figgys Patterns that I have owned for quite a while but had not sewn before. The short shorts style and the pleats give an 80s feel, which is complemented by the skinny tee, which together are hopefully channeling a David Bowie vibe!?. I sewed a size 4-5 in the shorts, however a smaller size would have given more of the short shorts look I was after.

Acorn 5 – Great Britain.

I had the outfit all planned out in my head, but I couldn’t figure how to add this acorn. I really wanted to do this acorn justice as I love the UK – I lived there for a while and might still be there if it wasn’t so damn far from my family. There was nearly a whole extra piece of clothing for this outfit, but in a last minute reprieve, I had an idea…..  I found a silk tie in Bruce tartan (my family’s tartan) which I had brought home from Scotland. It has languished in a box for a few years and I really can’t see who would ever wear it. So, I cut it up to make a pocket and I really like the contrast it gives.

Victoria, I really hope I haven’t offended Scottish people everywhere by cutting a tartan up?!?

So, here is my outfit for Secret Squirrel’s Mission #6. There are many other Secret Squirrel inspired outfits in the Flikr group if you’re interested. Of course, the Great Britain acorn lends itself perfectly to photos of O playing cricket. This is no set up – this boy is cricket obsessed.

Secret Squirrel’s Mission #7 acorns have already been set. I’m looking forward to seeing the great outfits that these new acorns will inspire.

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