Roots Sewing Series - Elegance & Elephants

Behind the scenes I've been excitedly working on my Roots sewing series outfit, and today I finally get to share it with you!  It has been so rewarding to put this outfit together for my little girl.  

First of all, let's talk about my inspiration.  My heritage is a very unique mixture of two very different cultures: Czech and Trinidadian.  My parents both immigrated to Canada when they were in their twenties, met, married, and here I am!  At first, I was really uncertain about how to combine these two cultures.  Originally I thought I would make two separate outfits, but then, I like a challenge!  In the end, it actually wasn't that big a challenge at all.  I knew I had to create something that was inspired by the Czech national folk costume.  I've always loved the look of them…so beautiful with so many gorgeous details!  As a little girl, I used to play with these little Czech dolls dressed in these stunning dresses, and I always wanted one.  So, I knew I would create a similar, yet simplified, look for my girl.  And as I browsed through examples, I noticed that many of them had the colour palette of red, black, and white.  Well, that was just perfect, since those are the colours of the Trinidadian flag.  What a simple way of combining my two cultures!  

The Czech traditional costumes (called kroje) are very distinctive to each region, and now, are only worn during certain celebrations or festivals.  They are known for vivid colours, intricate embroidery, and elaborate accessories (scarves, ribbons, headdresses, hats, and belts).  One interesting fact I learned, was that in the Plzen region, the women wore 24 underskirts!

Here are some photos I was inspired by:

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And here is the flag that became my colour palette.

Trinidad & Tobago flag

What I came up with is a versatile, three piece outfit.  Probably my favourite part is the collar of the white underdress.  It's kind of a delicate, flounced, overlapped peter pan collar, that through quite a bit of trial and error, came out just the way I wanted it (don't you just love it when that happens!).  I self-drafted the white dress and added lace to the bottom.  The pinafore is adapted from the pattern in the Five and Ten Designs Volume 1 eBook.  I lowered the front bodice piece, and added some width to the skirt to get more volume.  The little apron is also a self-drafted pattern, and one that I will make available to you in five sizes on Wednesday (and it will be free!)

Tomorrow, we head to Portugal when we are joined by Marta from Do Guincho.  I've seen a sneak peek, so I know you won't want to miss it!

You can join in the Sew-Along and get in on the fun!  

Every submission is entered into a draw to win some AMAZING prize packages!