Zakka Style Sew Along – An Elephant Never Forgets

Hey all! It’s finally my day in the blog hop for the Zakka Style Sew Along. I hope you have been playing along or at least admiring the projects of those who are. It’s been a lot of fun to see what people are making.

I’m going to share with you the next project in the book, the Elephant Bookmark, aptly titled “An Elephant Never Forgets”. I was feeling particularly whimsical on the day when I picked this out as my project. I think it was around the time I was working on that owl backpack 😉

Zakka Style Sew Along - An Elephant Never Forgets

The original design was made in a floral printed Linen. But I wanted to see what the bookmark looked like with a simpler fabric. So I used Robert Kaufman’s Essex Linen in Dusty Blue (a fabulous fabric by the way!). It’s a lovely blue grey color that just reminded me a bit of elephants. I’m literal that way. 😉

Zakka Style Sew Along - An Elephant Never Forgets

I also had the pleasure of using Cosmo Embroidery Floss for the first time on this project. I’m pretty new to the world of embroidery floss and I’ll admit that I was not expecting anything too different when I got the floss. But I’m not kidding when I say that I LOVE it. It gives such a beautiful finish. I weirdly just wanted to cover the elephants in a bunch of floss! lol Aren’t you glad I resisted the urge? Actually I did try, but it looked pretty bad so I pulled it out right away. It kind of looked like the elephants had the chickenpox. Not pretty.

Zakka Style Sew Along - An Elephant Never Forgets

I made this sweet gal first. I think my favorite part is her pretty bow. You can’t add too much to these guys to decorate them because they are bookmarks aka they need to stay pretty flat. So you only decorate one side and that cute head.

Zakka Style Sew Along - An Elephant Never Forgets

I got all fancy on the next one 😉 and decided to add some extra fabric and ribbon to dress him up. I like how this guy turned out. The orange is a nice contrast to the linen and scale of the print works well. I just added the fabric before I sewed the pieces together. Worked like a charm.

Zakka Style Sew Along - An Elephant Never Forgets

Tips and Tricks:

Well one of the things I loved about the design of this pattern is that you trace the image onto the fabric but you don’t cut it out until after you have sewn the two pieces together. That seemed genius to me. I fully expected to trace the elephant template onto two pieces of fabric, cut them out and then try to carefully piece them together. Her method is sooo much more forgiving. Just sew on the traced lines on one piece of fabric and then trim the fabric away afterwards!

Also, you have noticed that this bookmark is fairly tiny and has some fiddly bits like the feet and the trunk. They are as annoying to turn right side out as you might imagine. Oh and that tiny ear. I had all of pieces lined with interfacing and that was just NOT helping me turn the pieces right side out. My point turning tool kept getting caught in the interfacing and had fusible adhesive on it. I ended up using some small scissors to push my points out and that seemed to work better for whatever reason.

Zakka Style Sew Along - An Elephant Never Forgets

All in all, it’s a cute little design that would be a sweet gift for a younger person in your life. Who doesn’t need a bookmark?!

245 thoughts on “Zakka Style Sew Along – An Elephant Never Forgets”

  1. I look for great projects that I'd actually want to make for myself or for someone else. Great photos of the finished projects and well-written instructions are also a must. Step-by-step photos for complicated techniques are always nice, too. Instructions that don't make sense or that are incomplete make me put the book back on the shelf. And poor photos make me not want to buy the book either.

  2. Hi Angela

    It has to have great pictures I really not that big on following directions so I have to be able to figure it out by the pictures LOl
    I am however learning to read directions by doing the projects in the Zakka Style book.
    You can teach an old dog new tricks
    Thanks for the giveaway.

  3. The elephants are adorable!! I look for clear instructions, lots of pictures and original designs. I also like books that have simple projects as well as more complicated ones so it grows with skill!

  4. I look for books with unique patterns and details that I haven't seen before. Some simple patterns are nice, but since you can find so many blogs with free ideas, I like to find more detailed sewing projects to test my skills on.

  5. I look for projects or techniques that are new to me and that appeal to me, but are not so simple that I couldn't just as easily figure them out myself with very little effort.

  6. I'm drawn to books that have beautifully styled photographs with lots of colour inspirations and unique projects. I don't make everything in my books, but I love to peruse them for ideas and techniques. I do appreciate well written directions, but I enough japanese craft books to say that imagery trumps instructions. And yes, sometimes I do pick up a book because of it's cover… 🙂

  7. Usually it's the cover that attracts me to a book in the first place. The reason I would put it back is the cost of the book, and how much I have in wallet or bank account to spend on books. Thanks for the giveaway. Am a follower.

  8. Colorful photographs showing crisp fabrics with neat and tidy stitching are sure to win me over. Thanks for the chance to win some thread for making neat and tidy stitching!

  9. What makes a craft book interesting for me are many good and detailed photos and diagrams. I'm a visual person and I often choose books because of their colour scheme and photos :))) might be
    I don't buy a book because the projects' colours are not what I love…

  10. Well when I'm first looking to buy a new sewing book I always always look around blog land for a review or 2 no reviews = no buy. I try to buy what I know will help me enhance my newbie Skillz! Thanks for the chance to win this amazing giveaway! I've been Dying to try out aurifil thread!

  11. I'm very picture-oriented. If there are photos of beautiful projects, I'll probably buy it. Also, I love a mixture of small and bigger projects. There's nothing like a quick gift idea for me!

  12. So cute, I might need to make one of these for a swap partner this week :o)

    For me, I like good photos and diagrams if there's a lot of techniques, and I like bright, new, fresh looking projects, I'm afraid those in civil war type prints are put firmly back on the shelf!

  13. I leaf through a book, and if one project catches my eye, I look even closer at the directions. If it seems like I can do the project I already like, I look at a few more and hope the directions are clear. If I believe I can do it, I'm that much more likely to buy the book!

  14. Kristen Sanderson

    When looking for books I flip through them and make sure there are a couple of projects that I like and would like to make. And pretty pictures are always good to look at too! Thanks for the giveaway! I have never tried Aurifil thread but I want to after reading loads of great things about it. ksanderson@hotmail.ca

  15. When looking at sewing/project books, I look for projects that catch my eye. They have to be simple enough that I don't have to go looking in Timbuktu for the materials to make it, yet still be a small challenge for me. I have to be able to see it in my head using my colors/fabrics/etc just by looking at the pictures in the book
    lisa(at)vetteklisa(dot)com

  16. I enjoy following your blog…you are very talented in your selection of fabrics. I purchase quilt craft books if there are several great gift ideas that are reasonably easy and inexpensive to make. detailed and accurate instructions that guarantee success if followed are a must! Thanks for the giveaway chance!

  17. I look for projects that are unique, that I won't be able to find in every other book, or find a free tutorial for online! The elephant totally makes it (I'm especially loving your non-frilly version).

  18. I follow you by email, Angela ! I look at how 'clean' the pages are in a craft book: not cluttered with instructions, pictures and everything on one page. The projects should be made from material easily available in my sewing/craft room or in any craft store AND of course I should want to make at least two or more things in that book !

  19. Your bookmarks are so gorgeous! In a craft/sewing book I like to see patterns with clear instructions & lots of supporting photos & diagrams. Thanks for the chance to win some Aurifil!

  20. I like seeing colour and different designs. Its definitely the look and presentation that catches my eye. Something a little different with easy to follow instructions but I'm very visual so need good pictures to follow. But I am a sucker for a good book!

  21. Isn't buying a book always about the photos? And of course, the sewing has to be well executed. A book of really good designs and ideas can be ruined by poor sewing. Thanks for the chance to win. I love Aurifil thread.

  22. For me, I only buy a craft/sewing book if I see that I would POSSIBLY make more than one of the projects inside. If I only see one that feels like "me," then it just doesn't seem to be worth it. But if there are several that I could see myself potentially making/creating, then it seems like a worthy investment. Also, if the patterns call for a bunch of stuff that I don't have (i.e., specialty notions, dies for cutting fabric, that sort of thing), then I won't buy it. I feel like I invest enough money into sewing and creating already and it's just not worth it to me if it's going to be next to impossible to recreate someone else's vision if they're asking me to go out and buy a bunch of other stuff, too. 🙂

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