film petit :: amélie |

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film petit :: amélie

August 16, 2012 by gail

I am so excited to be the very first guest to join Kristin and Jessica in their Film Petit series!

In case you missed their Film Petit kick-off, they both sewed outfits inspired by The Life Aquatic, and they were amazing. Check them out here and here. This month’s movie is Amélie, which happens to be the first movie my husband and I saw together while we were courting back in 2002. Having watched it so long ago, all I really remembered about the movie was loving it, and it was so much fun to see it again and get inspired to sew.

Amélie has a penchant for anonymous good deeds, and one of my favorites is when she kidnaps her father’s beloved garden gnome and asks a flight attendant friend to photograph the gnome visiting landmarks of the world, hoping to encourage her father to follow his own traveling dreams. That traveling gnome was my sewing inspiration.

I had some Heather Ross gnomes from a Munki Munki nightgown, so I decided to turn them into little gnome Polaroids.

Our little gnome wasn’t quite as ambitious in his travels as Amélie’s – but he did make it to couple of our finest local landmarks.

Trader Joe’s:

The neighborhood swimming pool:

A picnic at the park

with a visit to the swings:

And finally he ended up on the pockets of a little dress for Lila.

I used this A-line dress pattern from Etsy, which I found via Stitched Together (Rachel recently made two great versions). It’s a great simple dress that you can embellish any way you like. I added pockets from the Oliver + S Ice Cream dress and triple machine-stitched the stripey pocket yokes,

then added my gnome Polaroids to the pockets. I’ve seen Polaroid quilt blocks pop up in a few places and always thought they’d be so much fun to create. They were!

I added running stitches around the neck and armholes.

And a gnome covered button to finish it off.

Our little gnome even got a hold of some mysterious photos of Amélie herself!

Where will he pop up next, you ask? At the fabric store, of course 🙂

Don’t forget to check out how Kristin and Jessica were inspired by Amélie….and thanks to both of them for letting me get in on the fun of this terrific series! I can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves for next month!

18 Responses

on August 16, 2012 at 7:28 am | Reply Chelise Patterson

I love the details in your dress…. great job!
on August 16, 2012 at 8:19 am | Reply kristin

oh the details on this are just spectacular, gail! love the running stitches and pocket stitching too. you have the cutest gnome girl in the world! thanks so much for playing along with film petit this month!!
on August 16, 2012 at 8:38 am | Reply Jessica @ Running With Scissors

Love the detail stitching on the neckline and the gnome button! So cute!
on August 16, 2012 at 8:40 am | Reply rachel

The dress is awesome! I love how you added pockets and the large running stitches are a great detail.

amelie was the first movie my husband and i watched together, too.

hope your pregnancy is going well. wondering if there are any maternity clothes (sewing) in your future? maybe we’ll get a peek at the bump?
on August 16, 2012 at 9:10 am | Reply sewchibi

So cute Gail!! I’m so glad you went the “gnome” route with the movie and that you kept with one of the subtle themes of the movie: the colors red + green. The running stitches are a technique I’ve been wanting to try for a while now and this is probably the nail in the coffin moment for me to try it on one of my next projects! Thanks for the inspiration!!
on August 16, 2012 at 10:47 am | Reply Jane

I love this!! The details are amazing, what an adorable little dress!
on August 16, 2012 at 10:48 am | Reply Rachel

so sweet 🙂
on August 16, 2012 at 12:51 pm | Reply Whistlepea

So very cute!
on August 16, 2012 at 1:35 pm | Reply anna

so cute!! great details, beautiful!
on August 16, 2012 at 2:16 pm | Reply Cuckoo Chanel

So adorable. Lovely details.
on August 16, 2012 at 2:16 pm | Reply Jessica

Good golly Gail!!! I’m so stoked that you were our first guest for this, it’s the perfect idea! I love that you took photos of your gnome all around town. I would have been too excited to sew them on my dress, and then think of the idea later when it’s too late. And the hand stitching is a fantastic touch. Adorable, fantastic, snaps up, bravo all around!
on August 16, 2012 at 2:46 pm | Reply Nancy

Very clever idea and so adorable on your daughter!
on August 16, 2012 at 4:07 pm | Reply Devon

Oh I love it I love it!!
on August 16, 2012 at 7:13 pm | Reply Cherie

oh this is so so sweet! I love the idea and the execution is brilliant! Those gnome polaroids are precious – and now they’ll get to go everywhere with Lila. And I’m totally digging the running stitch. What can i work those onto now . . .
on August 17, 2012 at 5:59 am | Reply Kristie at OCD

Cute! I love Amelie, too 🙂
on August 17, 2012 at 2:23 pm | Reply carolyn

Oh, happy little gnome and adorable little dress!
on August 24, 2012 at 11:25 am | Reply Danielle

Oh how clever! I love gnomes. Such a fun and sweet little dress and I love your little photoshoot too! Great job. I bet your daughter just loves it!
on March 4, 2013 at 12:27 am | Reply nadine

hi from germany i had see the little man, in germany we say Gartenzwerg