Thursday, June 3, 2021

Little Red Elephant Shirt

We got an interesting bag of hand-me-downs for dress-up from another family when Genevieve and Ben were small. I pulled out a little appliqued skirt for real clothes because it was so charming. 

I am avoiding buying new fabric, even new-to-me, until I really use up some of what I have. So I poked around what I had and came up with this red-striped fabric. It also starred in the Swedish summer pillow. I used the same shirt pattern from Phoebe's anchor shirt (look how little she is!), and just as I was finishing up the facings, I recalled that I had some vintage elephant buttons that my mother-in-law gave me a while back. Oh, how I love matching up disparate things to make something I love! My brain shuts down at the thought of selecting all the notions and fabric and patterns from the universes available on the internet. Truly. Much easier for me and more fascinating creatively if I poke through my own collections to design a garment. 

So I came up with these two little red elephant buttons and sewed them on the front, and I just love them. It's a whole elephant ensemble, with the appliqued elephants on the skirt.


I forgot to take  a picture of the pretty zipper pull on the vintage zipper. It's a nifty little ring. 


The big sister has requested a dress. I am thrilled - she is not into mom-made clothes much anymore. Stay tuned!

12 comments:

Lisa said...

So cute! And the blue and red - just right for summer.

Celeste Bancos said...

I love it! Looks so cool and comfy :)

Becky said...

It's adorable! And I'm the same way - I'm much better at assembling something out of what I already have (which is quite the stash) than I am at shopping on the internet for new things. Also loving the new creative reuse place here, where I can go shop for things people donated out of their stash! It pushes far more creative buttons for me.

Margo said...

Oh wonderful - a creative reuse place is such an asset!

Nancy In Boise said...

What a great idea, so cute! How are your veggies coming along? Can you give a tour of your home sometime? Would love to see your cool vintage/thrifted style!!!

jenny_o said...

What a darling outfit (and sweet girl)! I'm glad you are blogging again, Margo. Your posts always make me think about how to be more creative in my life as well. I also wanted to say how much I loved your orange beach pants from awhile ago - they are so, SO elegant! I expect you will get a lot of comfortable wear from them.

e said...

What a wonderful summer outfit for Phoebe! I'm guessing she likes it.

I'm not a garment sewist but I make a lot of quilts. I have a huge stash but I am happy to say that I rarely buy new material from the fabric store. I purchased remnants for years and can dig through my bins and find just about any color I need. It's also amazing how much high quality, brand new fabric is donated to the thrift stores. Very satisfying!

BLD in MT said...

That looks like an outfit I'd rock myself! I love the elephants! Good job on coordinating all the bits and pieces. I agree. That is way more satisfying (and way more my style) than picking out stuff from the big wide world of craft suppliers.

I actually pilfered a few retro things from the dress-up box at my grandparents last year. Grandma was on lockdown at the retirement place and gave me the greenlight to go through a closet of retro garments (most of which I was too wide in the shoulders for) and the dress up box. There were some gems in there. Not quite as gemlike as these elephants, but... ;)

Margo said...

Hi Nancy - the veggies are growing well. I will think about a house tour - actually have a post coming up on some house changes, so there will be some photos there. . .

Margo said...

Thanks, Jenny-o! Nice to see you back here again, too :) Reminds me to go check your blog, too!

Margo said...

Yes, the things we find at the thrift store amaze me. I sometimes even make up a back story for why an item has been donated, haha.

Margo said...

Ooooh, Beth, going through your grandma's collection sounds amazing. I too have wide shoulders and am much taller than the vintage ladies, so I usually can't wear the vintage stuff.