Millie Mak the Maker Costume
As per usual my book worm Birdie had her Bookweek costume picked out far in advance this year. Her favourite book series is Millie Mak the Maker by Alice Pung, which is about a little girl who discovers the super power of sewing, and all three books are full of projects that kids can complete themselves along with being really fantastic stories. Birdie was so keen to be Millie Mak she even decided she need a new haircut – the obsession runs deep! This was her last Bookweek (cry!) so of course i had to make sure that she had all the details she wanted.
Let’s start with the top as that is the first item I made. Birdie was super keen that everything be exactly like the book, and the more i stared at Millie Mak’s top the more it started to look like a Sudley top. So of course you know what i did – i started developing a Mini Sudley pattern – i have no self control when it comes to sewing for my kids. My sample maker Krystal has been telling me for years I need to make a Mini Sudley pattern, and turns out she is 100% right and everyone should listen to Krystal all the time. I adore how this top turned out, and Birdie loves it too which is great because you know how much I love being able to make costumes that get used a lot.
The fabric is an antique wash linen from Potter & Co textiles, and i just managed to squeeze it out of the scraps of a pattern sample for my next pattern, which was honestly just super satisfying. Who doesn’t love getting a new garment out of scraps?!
The DIY chatelaine belt is Birdie’s favourite part of the whole costume. In Millie Mak Maker a chatelaine is introduced as a craft belt, so she followed the instructions for making one from an existing belt using paperclips and has loved hanging different sewing accessories off of it.
For the fabric we were so blessed that Spotlight had literally the exact fabric design that Millie uses for her DIY skirt in the book. I have never ordered fabric so quickly! Birdie made the skirt herself and is quite proud of it – and i’m so proud of her for making such an important piece in her final Bookweek costume. It’s a very simple rectangle with an elastic waist, and only used 1m of fabric. If you’d like to try something similar we have a tutorial here.
And of course no post with Birdie would be complete these days without some photobombs from her beloved chooks! Getting themselves in trouble trying to peck her favourite shoes haha.
I hope you enjoyed reading all about Birdie’s costume! We had so much fun making it together and I’m so glad that she could finish her last Bookweek on such a fun high note.
I’m going to miss Bookweek so much! It’s been an absolute joy to bring my kids favourite characters to life with them and celebrate all the books they love.
If you’d like to see any of her past Bookweek costumes i’m going to link them all below!
Birdie's past Book Week costumes
Meg
Meg is the Founder and Creative Director of Megan Nielsen Patterns, and is constantly dreaming up ideas for new sewing patterns and ways to make your sewing journey more enjoyable! She gets really excited about design details and is always trying to add way too many variations to our patterns.
4 comments
I would love to hear more about this Book Week – how it is formatted etc. As and educator I love it when children can get into their books and be motivated to read and a fun and rewarding way that also brings books alive for other students.
It’s a really great concept, we love it. Bookweek is run by the Children’s Book Council here in Australia https://cbca.org.au/ and each year there is a theme. Every school does it differently, but the concept is to celebrate books and reading. So at my daughters school for example they will have a book fair in the library one day where kids can buy books, they’ll have displays of new books they just got in, they have a day where everyone has a drawing contest where they redraw book covers of their favourite book, and the last day of the week everyone dresses up as a book character and brings the book to school that it comes from, and they have a parade around the assembly area celebrating each class and their costumes. It’s really fun and really sweet and my kids have looked forward to it every year. They usually come home with a long list of books they want to read purely based on the costumes they saw at school :)
Dear Meg,
This is Alice Pung! Sher Rill (illustrator of Millie Mak) and I can’t believe how you and Birdie have recreated Millie Mak’s ENTIRE outfit, down to the tiniest detail! We are just so touched and amazed how much dedication you’ve put into this Book Week costume: from the spot-on chatelaine to the exact fabric for Millie’s skirt (and we love the frugality of using just one square metre), to the commitment to Birdie cutting her hair like Millie.
It was magical to see Sher Rill’s Peter Pan collar Millie shirt brought to life, with the beautiful and clever detailing at the back. Both Sher Rill and I enjoy needlecraft and sewing so we can really appreciate the level of skill and ingenuity that went into creating this outfit. We feel so honored you chose our book for Birdie’s final Book Week costume. We feel like our Millie Mak has come to life in 3D!
Best wishes,
Alice and Sher Rill
Hi guys! This is Birdie. Me and my mum are so thrilled that the actual AUTHORS OF MILLIE MAK (Our fave books) have responded to my mums sewing blog! I absolutely love the Millie Mak books that you two have made! I love the character arcs, the interesting storylines, and Shanelle and Millie’s introvert/extrovert mix! You are my fave author, and me and my mum both agree that Sher Rill is the best illustrator of all time!
I really enjoyed going to school wearing the costume (and hair :) ) of my favourite book
character ever! At home when we took those photos you can see on the blog, in
one of them I realy tried to capture Millie’s personality. We are so honoured
that you two love our blog/costume! I hope you guys keep on creating the best
books ever to be read by humankind (love you guys)!!!
Love, Birdie.