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

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , ,

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

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , ,

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

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , ,

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

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , ,

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

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , ,

Eating humble pie…

22/11/2010 4:17 am \ 10 Comments \

Yah, OK, so I went to the vintage fair.  And it was pretty cool.
What can I say, the last post I wrote I was still feeling grumpy and unsociable, heat waves have that effect on me.  Sunday brought a breeze and a divinely cool change; refreshing and invigorating to mind, body and spirit, so we felt inclined to get off our butts and DO SOMETHING!!  yeah!  As our Canadian friends here say, get yerselves oot and aboot!
So I enjoyed it. 
One thing I found interesting on browsing and checking out the inside of garments is how a lot of “real” vintage evening wear  from the late 40’s and early 50’s was made of nylon, rayon, polyester etc, as at the time these were often considered superior to natural fibres.  An interestingly different view to the one we hold now… And how horrible the zips often are in these garments, big and clunky and obvious.  Ahhh, the blessings of the modern invisible zip.  We’ve come a long way in some areas, that’s for sure.
I got a Glomesh bag!  I do have one already that my parents gave me for a birthday present, sometime in my teen years when you could actually buy them new, hmmm, showing my age there!  My original one is beige, and in perfect condition, of course!  The one I picked up yesterday is a teensy bit tarnished, but in pretty good nick overall, and anyhow, I really wanted a gold one.  I also bought a set of cake forks, which we needed, for only a dollar more than an almost identical set I bought a few months ago in a real op shop; and this great Charles and Di Wedding commemorative mug.  My husband didn’t “get” this last purchase, cries of omg, Carolyn, how tacky can you get?!!, but hey, I think enough time has passed that this sort of memorabilia is no longer tacky tacky but an interesting relic and symbolic to all of us of… something indefinably 80’s…  anyway I can see the irony.  And I’m looking forward to people’s reaction when I serve them a cuppa in this…

Details:
Skirt; skirt “d”, from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, by Natsuno Hiraiwa, silver/grey crepe
Top; Aura
Belt; made by me, see here
Sandals; Anna, from MarieClaire shoes
Bag; Glomesh

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , ,

Thoughts on the “vintage” trend

20/11/2010 4:35 am \ 11 Comments \

A friend passed on to me tickets to a Vintage Market on this weekend, promising “Vintage and Retro Men’s and Women’s Clothing and Accessories”, and sorry, but I can’t help but feel a bit yawn-y about the whole thing.  And hate to sound cynical, but the current fad for “vintage” is just becoming a tad too commercial for my liking.  I’ve even heard stories of ladies who have been op-shopping like mad for this event, scooping up masses of clothing and up-marking it to put in their own “vintage” stalls in the market… well count me out.  
I’ve got nothing against op-shopping, per se.  Well, I have done it myself once in a while…  Op-shopping (if done when you can afford not to, I mean) is of course partly a political statement of one’s non-dependence on commercial and new products, and how better to make that first-impression “I rebel against the system” message than in your clothing?  As well as satisfying one’s artistic desire to dress uniquely, not to mention saving a few dollars at the same time; so it’s not surprising this is a long-term favourite occupation of real bohemian souls… 
But is one being truly thrifty or merely conformist when following the “vintage” trend?  Or worse, opportunist, as in the case of the Market sharks vendors.
So I think I’ll just be occupying myself with sewing and gardening this weekend.  Plus I’ve already got my own “vintage” (hahaha) treasures; this dress is very Jackie O, don’t you think?  I picked it up when she had her White House garage sale… of course I’m joking, I made this myself about five years ago, and no pseudo-retro or “vintage” pattern was used either, just an ordinary one.  Sorry to disappoint.  I’m merely wearing it to stay cool.
Funny thing when I was putting this on this morning; I put it over my head just as usual then struggled a little to pull it down, and I couldn’t understand why it felt tighter than usual.  Then went to pull up the zip.  The zip was already up.  Lol!

Details:
Dress; Burda 8511 slightly modified to fit, printed synthetic stuff (thus the “indestructible” dress)
Sandals; Franco Burrone, from MarieClaire shoes

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , ,

Russet socks

19/11/2010 8:54 am \ 7 Comments \

So, new sockies.
How warm and cosy they look here in this photo. This wool colour is called Russet, an evocative name, prompting an immediate image association thing in my head involving apples and open fires and toast and autumn leaves and blankets and mulled wine…  I’m sure as autumn and winter roll around I will be grateful for the suggestive connotations of this wonderful word, but today being 37C (99F) my feet complained petulantly about being stuffed into warm woolly socks for their photo shoot and threatened a walk-out strike.  They could only be co-erced into a short modelling session on promise of a good long soak in the pool afterwards.
Ha.  So I’m not feeling hugely eloquent today.  Brain a bit sapped and zapped by this heat.  It’s too early for this sort of heat.  I’m not ready for summer.  Not yet.  I need a bit more spring.  We need more spring.  More fresh breezes and more rain, please.  Especially lots of rain.  Not this stupefying heat and fierce hot winds.  Perfect bushfire weather, of course.
I hung out a few loads of washing this morning, early, and an hour later all was bone dry and crackly warm.  So I brought in the washing again at about 9am.  Folded all and put it away.  The latter normally an afternoon activity.

Details:
Socks; Adaption of the Ladies’ Sockettes from Patons Knitting Book C11, Morris 4ply Merino in Russet (col 411) and Beluga (col 430)

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , ,
Switch to mobile version
↓