The True Story of an Elephant

Like many little girls and boys Rosie loved to play dressing up. In the wild depths of her imagination she could be anything she wished. Sometimes she put on her wolf ears and tail to become Max from “Where the Wild Things Are” and at other times she was Little Red Riding Hood off to visit her granny.

“Red Riding Hood, Of Course” Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 cm, Gina Ferrari (aka Nanny G)

There were days when she was a king or a princess and others when she was a butterfly or a fairy. And on really good days she was all things at once. But what Rosie wanted more than anything was to be was an elephant. So knowing that her Nanny G was pretty handy with a sewing machine she asked for an elephant dressing up outfit for her fourth birthday… an occasion still several months away.

Of course, being a very obliging grandmother, Nanny G agreed and started to think about sustainably sourcing some suitable fabric in ‘elephant’ grey without a clue as to how she would make said elephant. As the weeks passed the project was pushed to the back burner and forgotten about because there was plenty of time. Then one day when Rosie and Nanny G were reading library books they picked up a picture book classic… Elmer.

Oh dear! Nanny G suddenly remembered elephants! But wouldn’t it be fun to surprise Rosie with an Elmer elephant dressing up costume rather than an elephant coloured one. By now there were not many weeks left until the birthday but whipping up a little outfit wouldn’t take long and how difficult could it be to buy ‘Elmer’ fabric? Quite difficult as it turns out.

Despite searching the country top to toe, (metaphorically not literally) printed Elmer patchwork fabric was not to be found anywhere in the UK. It could be ordered specially printed from Spoonflower in America, where with postage and taxes etc it was likely to cost about £80+ for a couple of metres. That was going to bust the birthday budget many times over so it was not an option. eBay was scoured for old children’s duvet covers because surely Elmer would feature on bedroom sets that could be cut up and repurposed but again none were to be found. Eventually an Elmer roller blind was sourced but although the owners of the small company supplying the blinds were extremely helpful, the fabric wasn’t suitable, and an alternative wasn’t available. Time was running out! Nanny G managed to find a ready made Elmer outfit from a major online supplier and was very tempted to make a purchase, but it had no information about the fabric or where it came from etc and at £30 it still seemed a bit steep for something that would live in the dressing up box. And anyway, where would be the fun in buying it ready made?

There was only one solution... the fabric would have to be made from scratch. But alas, Nanny G’s patchworking skills leave a lot to be desired and it would mean buying several lengths of different coloured fabrics. This was starting to get complicated, and it wasn’t really ticking the sustainability boxes. The clock was ticking, time was running out and there was now only one week left until Rosie turned four. Then Nanny G discovered a length of white jersey fabric in the bottom of a big bag and decided to print her own Elmer fabric. I’ll let you into a secret… she hadn’t really thought that one through.

Old boxes of fabric paints were dug out of storage and together with a few tubes of acrylic paint all the Elmer patchwork colours were gathered. The fabric was marked up into squares and using cardboard stencils each square of colour was sponged onto the white fabric.

Eight different colours in a totally random pattern over about 2m of fabric. It took Nanny G five days to print the fabric which left two days to assemble the outfit.

Nanny G started to question her sanity, but she was deep in by now, there was no turning back. It really is no wonder she has crazy grandchildren who consider it perfectly normal to want to dress up as elephants. Bonkers runs in the family!

The night before the birthday there were discussions on the best way to attach ears and a trunk to a multi-coloured balaclava helmet, followed by elephant fashion parades by a couple of elderly grandparents who really should know better. No, there are no photographs. But fortunately it all worked (there was no back up plan!) and the outfit was parcelled up ready for the party the following day.

On opening her parcel, Rosie was a very happy little four year old who insisted on wearing her new outfit over her pretty party dress despite it being a hot summer’s day and she continued to be Elmer for the rest of the afternoon much to the admiration and envy of all her little party going friends.

Nanny G politely declined requests from the other Mummies when they wondered if she would make more.