Monthly Archives: November 2010

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What were we wearing in the early nineties?

30/11/2010 1:50 am \ 11 Comments \

I am wearing here an outfit I wore to death.  I mean the outfit’s death, not mine, obviously…
This photo is marked in my album “4 1/2 months”, which is the age of our eldest son who I am adoring here; isn’t he sweet?  Ah, the days when I measured the age of the children even down to the half month!!
I have no idea of the pattern I used… but it comprised a pair of very loose shorts with an elasticised waist, and a very oversized button up shirt with two large breast pockets.  In the very best early-nineties tradition.  I made this version in a cool light linen mix, in co-ordinating fabrics.  It was comfy and easy to wear, and being so super-sized I managed to wear it during the best part of two pregnancies as well as when not pregnant, and still looked quite fashionable, believe it or not.  Such were the days when the in-look was for HUGE clothing.  Funny times.  An elasticised waist is an anathema to me nowadays.  
I wonder what will characterise the styles of today, when we look back in ten or twenty years time?

(Oh, and if you would like to see what this cute little tike looks like now, go here)

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Green quilt

29/11/2010 1:45 am \ 7 Comments \

Sometimes I forget that I set out to document all my handmade stuff here.  Including the old stuff.
This is a quilt I made a few years ago.  The fabrics are all green based, and all “floral” in the sense they all are leafy, fruity, and/or vegetable-y  (I do like to make up words when I feel like it)  I collected fabrics over about six months until I had found enough to satisfy my criteria, in both the quantity and in the prints.  There was almost NO leftovers when I had finished, making the quilt “green” in a colloquial sense too…  That’s the beauty of quilts based upon basic square shapes, you can plan them to be very economical with fabric.
The patch arrangement is based upon a Kaffe Fasset design from his quilt book.  The edges are hand bound with bias binding, made using two of the fabrics.  The top is all machine pieced, and I started hand-quilting the three layers together before I lost enthusiasm and finished the quilting on the machine.
Purists will shudder, but… meh.
It measures approximately 210cmx240cm (7ftx8ft)  perhaps a little smaller, but not by much.

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Further from yesterday

28/11/2010 3:58 am \ 4 Comments \

Thankyou so much for your thoughts yesterday … and many of your comments resonated quite clearly with me and my own thinking on this subject; I also read a little bit more on Natalie’s findings and summary of her yearlong challenge here.  The bit about recognising the work of experts in their field (ie. shoemakers) and not trying to metaphorically reinvent the wheel, spoke to me.  I also had been feeling, like a lot of post-modernists, that I should be doing more for myself and making as much as I could… relying less on store-bought.  This is rooted in good intentions, but has limitations.  I can’t see myself attempting to make my own shoes or sunglasses, for example.  Is this a cop-out?  Well, no, because although I like to set myself challenges and rise to them, I do understand the findings of the makeshift project that some components of a project can be just so much wasted time for an amateur and that unnecessary self-imposed hardship could be viewed as just plain silly.  And just to clarify: I don’t view Natalie’s challenge as at all silly, on the contrary; I have enormous admiration for her achievement…
On the subject of challenges, well I have already committed myself to not buy any new clothing for myself, and I feel quite comfortable with that one, and actually not particularly challenged by this rule at all.  Thus my need to search for a new challenge?
I also feel that making new garments for myself, like basics such as Tshirts… when I have perfectly good ones already sitting in my drawers, is counterproductive.  So perhaps I’m just not ready for this particular challenge.  The notion of not allowing myself to wear certain items of clothing in my possession just because they happen to have been bought in a store, is not practical, and really doesn’t prove anything to anyone.
But I will continue to make my own clothes, and as the old store-boughts get to the stage of being consigned to the rag-bag, maybe I will be ready to do this challenge for myself.

But not the shoes!!

Details:
Skirt; my own design, based upon a basic three (six?) gore pattern Butterick 3134, printed polyester chiffon
Top; Tbox
Hat; Country Road
Tongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs
Sunnies; RayBan

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The makeshift project

27/11/2010 4:04 am \ 7 Comments \

Oh, I am in a much better mood today since my family turned up here last night… I swear I was getting a minor case of …something mental… here all by my lonesome and carrying on one-sided conversations with the dog; her contribution was just supportive tail-wagging and loyal loving looks… kinda like one of those weird psychological films.
So I apologise sincerely for any escalating grumpiness over the past few days.
Last evening while internetting by myself, I discovered an awesome blog, makeshift, where a clothing designer went for a year wearing only items of clothing made by herself, including shoes and underwear, oh and sunglasses too!!  I only wish I had discovered her at the beginning of her journey as her year is now over and she doesn’t seem to be making many entries in her blog since she finished a few months ago.  Such an impressive feat; and not only has her determination inspired me but I adore all her clothes and designs, she looks modern, comfortable and edgy in all her outfits.  I want to be edgier too now, my current clothes are boring me at the mo.  Practicality is winning out over style here…
The concept of going all self-made is something I’ve toyed with in my own head before, although not to the extreme of making my own shoes; this is beyond my capabilities.  Not to mention I love my current shoe collection too much…  Though, is there a shoe-making course to be found in Perth…?
I am going to give this some thought.  I do think I could go a year all self-made.  Bar shoes, oh and underwear … as I don’t see the point of making a new set of underwear when I have perfectly servicable set already.  Plus I’m not convinced making underwear is an interesting or worthwhile fashion statement.  I’ll only go to this extreme the day I can’t find underwear made in Australia anymore…
In my initial excitement I pondered doing this beginning the 1st January 2011, but realistically this will not work as we have an overseas skiing trip planned for January and I couldn’t possibly make my own snow-worthy gear… well, not in time.  I’m sure it is possible and some clever seamstresses out there have probably done it but for the climate where I live it just wouldn’t be worth my effort, honestly.  It has never snowed here in the history of time and probably isn’t going to any time soon.
Keep you posted.

Details:
Shorts; Burda 7723, white linen
Top; Country Road
Cardigan; my own design, jersey knit

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Thoughts on coat-hangers

26/11/2010 5:15 am \ 12 Comments \
A smocked dress for a coat-hanger…?
A friend was telling me recently about a local woman whose business is to come out and assesses one’s wardrobe.  Yes, apparently there are some women out there who do not do this simple and very personal task for themselves… but I digress… this lady visits you in your own home and helps you go through your wardrobe and decides for you what does and doesn’t suit you; sorts out what to keep and what to cull and “enables” you to fill gaps in your wardrobe (translation; goes shopping with you to spend even more of your money)
The particular lady we were discussing has a firm belief that one’s coat-hangers must be all matching, and definitely not the old wire variety either.  She recommends white and plastic.  She tosses out every single coat-hanger you own that doesn’t conform to this strict rule and makes you buy all new identical white plastic coat hangers … apparently one simply cannot be a well dressed woman if one’s coat-hangers do not match… I know, how ridiculous.  Some of my most treasured possessions are the coat-hangers that have crocheted, smocked, knitted (or whatever) covers; made by my great-aunties and great grandmothers who are now gone…
And not only are these a sentimental memento of my female role model relatives, but they make the best, bar none, hangers for delicate slippery tops and dresses…
I have covered only one coat-hanger to pass on to my daughter… this is it.  So while it makes me cringe a bit to look at it, hopefully she might feel some nostalgic attachment to it some day.
Disclaimer: as well as my inherited hand-crafted beauties, the rest of my coat-hanger collection is a veritable zoo of different varieties, including lots of old wire-ys…
Below; a daily outfit photo.  Looking back over my blog; the days over the past year that are clearest to me are the days in which I have a photo of myself.  Seeing me in that day’s outfit really helps jog my memory of the events of the day and my feelings…  So if I get the time to take a photo, I am going to put one in.
(On another note; I was surprised yesterday at the number of (albeit nicely worded) comments telling me I was just showing off.  I didn’t think I was showing off, just trying something different.  And seriously I’ve heard of ladies in their eighties who can still do hand-stands.  I really admire those ladies who don’t let age get in the way of their fitness routine, or anything else in their lives for that matter, and would like to hope I could be one of those ladies)
Details:
Skirt; Vogue 7303, cotton velveteen
Top; Aztec Rose, from an op shop
Cardigan; Country Road

Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Design

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Bored…

25/11/2010 12:37 am \ 13 Comments \

Yah, so I must be bored with the same old same old blogger poses… though I’m probably not going to be attempting this one too frequently…  could be the collective subconscious of all those teenage souls inhabiting the general environs hereabouts affecting me…   I swear I have not been imbibing!!  
I really needed a helping hand to re-arrange those shorts once I’m up there; but my sole housemate Sienna just sat helpfully on the sidelines looking on in quietly loyal doggie support.  Probably wondering, what on earth is she up to now??  and can’t we just go for a walk along the beach??
Yes, my sweet.  We will go for a looooong walkies now, and brekkie when we get back…
Speaking of which; Mum brought me some new apples to try out, a new variety called Golden Lady, a cross between Golden Delicious and Pink Lady, I presume; and they are YUM!  I’ve been having them with plain yoghurt for breakfast, and am hoping they turn up in the markets at home … soon!  Thankyou so much Mum!

Details:
Shorts; Burda 7723 with minor modifications, refashioned from an old skirt here
Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; bought secondhand and dyed yellow by me here, Country Road
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Design

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A difficult dress

24/11/2010 7:23 am \ 9 Comments \

Oh, so much for horrific leavers rowdy stories… so far I’ve only come across small bunches of delightfully friendly, polite and sweet teenagers who immediately want to pat Sienna and make friends with her.  Having a dog takes down a lot of barriers…  and seeing happy teenagers having fun on the beach has just made me miss my own kiddywinks and I really wish they were here with me…  sigh…
My dress; first time here although it does not qualify as new.  I’ve really struggled with this dress.  This is its third incarnation, nearly two years in the making and I’m still not desperately in love with it… I bought this embroidered silk from Tessuti’s in Melbourne a few years ago, with the intention of making a full-skirted number inspired by a Burberry dress.  Full-skirted, fitted bodice, boatneck and with elbow length fitted sleeves.  I finished my version and it was a perfectly OK dress.  But it didn’t actually look very “me”.  I felt like I was dressing up in someone else’s clothes…
So I decided the full-skirt was the problem; I unpicked this and recut a more fitted skirt.  This was a little better, but by this time the allover embroidery and sameness of the fabric was just screaming at me “TOO MUCH” and I had to put it aside for a few months.  Or a year.  You remember how the von Trapp children in the Sound of Music were all dressed in the curtain fabric so all their outfits were over-the-top matchy matchy??  The dress was like that.  Eventually I removed the bodice and sleeves, recut the skirt again and bought some goldy green silk for a plain bodice.  Sleeveless.
Better.
But still not…. quite…
I look at all my sewing and judge it by this criteria; would I buy this if I saw it in a shop?  And this dress; well I’m not so sure.
The fabric is so gorgeous; soft gold, apricot and muted mossy sagey green, nothing not to love there.  I’m forcing myself to wear it, hoping I will love it more with use.  But I’m not ready to reveal it without a cardigan yet.  I still look at it and can see all the angst in its inception…

Details:
Dress; partly my own design with components of Burda 8071, green silk, embroidered gold silk
Cardigan; Nine, from Labels boutique
Hat; Country Road
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Design

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The lull before the storm

23/11/2010 1:54 am \ 10 Comments \

My title is not referring to the weather, but the fact that I am down here in Dunsborough again, “minding” the beach-house during leavers week.  Yah, the town is expecting thousands of teenagers to rock up any minute now and start being extremely loud, boisterous and drunken.  In fact I have reliable intelligence that some had already started the partay-ing last weekend…  But this morning Sienna and I were up and on the beach bright and early (thanks, Mum for the wake-up phone call…) and all was quiet and beautiful and peaceful… hardly a soul in sight;  the only sound being the swoosh of the tide and the squawking of sea-birds.  So I’m wondering where all the teenagers are, so far.  Too early, maybe?  Sensibly sleeping?  Anyhoo, Mum will be coming to keep me company for today, we may catch a little morning tea and another stroll along the sand… discussing weighty worldly issues such as our sewing and wardrobe plans.

Details:
Shorts; Burda 7723 slightly modified here, greige corduroy
Camisole; Cotton On, tossed out by my daughter and rescued by me
Cardigan; Metalicus
Scarf; silk chiffon, made by me
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Design
Sunnies; RayBan

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