Turquoise, chocolate and cream

02/11/2009 6:23 am \ 1 Comment \

I went out for breakfast with the Monday morning gals in Bicton at a lovely new cafe this morning so wanted to go for something smartish in my apparel. 
 I started planning this outfit with my beautiful Italian sandals bought on super special from Zomp last year. The sandals are bright turquoise with a gorgeous crackled effect on the (chunky!) heels in chocolate and cream, thus determining the colour scheme for the day. 
I made this dress at the beginning of the year to be a useful little basic dress but I ended up rarely wearing it as it felt a bit boring.  However I tried it on with this ruffle hemmed petticoat during my wardrobe clean-out and it suddenly looked quite stylish I thought!  The pattern is Burda 8071, view B, a good basic sundress pattern that uses very little fabric.  I’ve made probably four or five dresses out of it over the past few years.  The fabric I used for this one is cream broderie anglaise cheesecloth.  Having worn it today quite successfully and comfortably I’ll definitely put it to better use than its had up til now and just learn to add to it so its not so plain!
Today I flew totally out of my comfort zone and changed my earrings (gasp!)  I do this very rarely!  Decided that I really need to accessorize a bit more, as when you look at the pictures in fashion mags its often the jewellery and other little details that can make or break an outfit.  I also needed to pick up the turquoise colour of the sandals somewhere else in my ensemble.  Hence, out came this lovely silver and turquoise jewellery I bought from Navajo jewellers in New Mexico.
Other details:
Cardigan; Alannah Hill
Petticoat; Metalicus
Sandals; lasoffittadi Gilde, from Zomp
Jewellery; made by Navajo jewellers, New Mexico

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Denim with a white top

01/11/2009 3:59 am \ 2 Comments \
I read somewhere that denim jeans and a white top is a fashion look that is worn more commonly by the general population than any other look.  If this is true, then today I am merely conforming to the norm.
Just a plain top today for a plain sort of Sunday; cooking, gardening and a bit of dying.  That’s the colouring of fabric kind, not the having a heart attack kind.  I hope.  The results of the former activity to be featured in a future post, with luck.  
This top, Butterick 4985, is rapidly becoming my favourite blouse pattern, with adjustments.  Because I have a narrow torso I take in the side seams by about 3cm each side.  This can only be achieved by altering the order in which the pieces are sewn together; I construct the two fronts, and the back section, before sewing the side seams, unlike the pattern instructions.  This way I can achieve a perfect fit.
This fabric was entirely leftover from another project, this dress, that’s how little fabric this pattern uses.  I also used some old buttons from my collection, that I had removed from a previous top I was throwing out.  These are a pretty bluey-grey, made from shells.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who keeps lovely old buttons, just in case.  I’ve inherited some really beautiful buttons from my grandmother and great aunt that I will never ever throw out, but re-use, re-use and re-use again.  Hopefully my daughter will too.
As a result this top cost nothing to make but my time, a bonus for a useful little top.

Other details:
Denim shorts; previously owned by my son
Necklace; self-made

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Which witch

31/10/2009 9:08 am \ 1 Comment \
Today being Halloween and all, even though we don’t celebrate it here in Australia, I decided to embrace the Halloween spirit in my daily ensemble.  Hence the witch-y colour scheme, and the appearance of my familiar in the photo at right.  However I was the only one in the family that got the reference.  Neither did I see anybody else out and about today who looked remotely Halloweenish.  Oh, apart from a photo of my 4yr old nephew who went to a party last night dressed as a skeleton.  So cute!
I love this dress.  This has to be the easiest pattern in the Vogue repertoire; it has, ooh, three pieces and one of these is a mere stay.  I ask you.  Foolproof.
In this incarnation it is my “little black dress”.  I chose high quality silk jersey mix as I wanted it to look really good and to last.  The look of the dress is unique I think.  The unusual folds and interesting draping effects take it a step above your average run-of-the-mill LBD.  The pattern is an Issey Miyake design, who is a genius at realising simple, very sculptural shapes that manage to celebrate the female form while appearing quite unlike most of the dresses you’re used to seeing around.
Today was very windy so I wore a cardigan for most of the day; shopping and spending time with my mother, my daughter and my sister-in-law; a girl’s morning out.  To show off the details of the fabric manipulation I also included a photo of the dress sans cardi.

So.  It’s a very comfortable dress to wear, obviously as its all stretch fabric.  Its also SO easy to make; oh, did I mention that there is absolutely NO hemming or finishing of the raw edges?  How great is that?!  The perfect beginners project, and a designer look into the bargain!!
Other details:
Cardigan; Scope, bought at some shop in Melbourne
Sandals; Micam by Joanne Mercer, bought in Hobbs
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Post with no name

30/10/2009 2:31 am \ Leave a Comment \

Please don’t yawn, but this skirt is … wait for it … Vogue 7303.  Again.  I know, sorry.
I really made this one for winter, out of a lovely winter-white wool mix, with a cream bemsilk lining, but it works just as well for spring.  I centred the (invisible) zip in the back this time.   Just a simple plain stylish skirt out of beautiful fabric, that can be dressed up or down.

I tried to get Sienna to pose in the picture, but she got camera shy this time and hid bashfully behind me!  I think she’s embarrassed about her naughty barking during the night…

Please excuse my unattractive feet but I wanted to show my Revlon Blackest Black toenails.  Aren’t they cool?

 

Other details:

Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; Diesel, bought in Rome
Necklace; Charmed I’m Sure, gift from my husband
Sandals; Vicenza, from Soletta shoes

 

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International Wear a Dress Day

29/10/2009 9:20 am \ 5 Comments \

Today I went to the cinema with a friend so decided to wear my NEW dress for the occasion.  Also, Dress-a-Day has decreed today “International Wear a Dress Day”, so how could I not?  Any excuse…

I’m quite proud of this dress.  I made it specifically to go with this very expensive cardigan I bought several years ago.  I’ve worn this cardigan with other things that have now gone the way of the Good Samaritan’s bin, and I needed to have something else for it to go with.  I thought this polyester chiffon fabric was a pretty good match for the (silk) chiffon pockets on the cardigan (see detail picture below), and envisaged a floaty, dreamy, pretty summer dress.
The pattern, Vogue 7748, is one I bought years ago but not yet used, so I decided to give it a whirl.  It seemed a good base for a wrap dress, with no frills.  However I thought it was a bit too basic and I wanted just a few frills!  I also wanted the final effect of the dress to be a kind of jumble of flowery colours, without a discernible pattern repeat.  The addition of a few ruffles could help achieve this.
I cut each of the skirt pieces to half their supposed length.  The right front, which ends up crossed over the left front in the finished garment, was further shaped in a curve up to the waistline.  For each skirt piece, I joined together three large part doughnut shapes, and added these to the bottom of each of the skirt pieces.
I also added a double ruffle around the neckline, although only slightly ruffled as I’m not a very frilly person!  
I didn’t make the belt in the pattern; but added long sashes to the waist edge of each dress front, and left a small gap in the right side seam for the left sash to pass through, so I can tie it at the back of the dress.  I also added a sleeve detail (see below picture) to look more feminine and interesting than the plain hem indicated in the pattern.
The skirt hem and the neck ruffles were finished with a black rolled hem edge, done on the overlocker.
Because the fabric is see-through, I made a separate petticoat out of lightweight jersey (see below, modelled by Bessie).  This is simply a tanktop bodice, copied from a tanktop I already had, and a quarter-circle each for the skirt front and back.  This was just run up on the overlocker, and the edges left raw.  Its just a petticoat after all, and the jersey won’t unravel or fray.

I felt good and comfortable in this dress today, so it’ll probably get a lot of use this summer.

Other details:
Cardigan; Alannah Hill
Shoes; Micam by Joanne Mercer, bought in Hobbs

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Rediscovering the full-length skirt

28/10/2009 4:04 am \ 1 Comment \
This skirt was made last summer when I felt in the mood for something long and swishy; inspired by a skirt I had seen in a parade at Ricarda.  I can’t remember who the designer was.  This polyester chiffon was on super special at Fabulous Fabrics and I bought the rest of the roll, about 3m.  This skirt used every last cm! My starting point was Butterick 3134, a great basic pattern to have as it contains a pattern for each of two, three and four gore A-line skirts.  I used the three gore version, without the waistband.  Customising proceeded as follows:  each piece was lengthened and tapered down the left side to a “shark-tooth”point.  To the bottom of each piece was added a huge gathered part-doughnut shaped piece of fabric, skewed with a thicker doughnut width to the high side, narrowing to a lesser width on the low side, to create the ruffled swirly hemline.  The gores were then pieced together.  A silver bemsilk lining was cut using my old standby Vogue 7303, and the edge of the skirt was finished with a fine handkerchief hem. 
 I wore this a lot; it felt so elegant and feminine to wear as it flutters and kicks out with each step.  I tried to show this in the picture by getting an action shot as you can’t capture the breezy beauty of it when its just hanging flat.
Although grey is never my first choice when it comes to choosing colours for my wardrobe, and I really bought this fabric because it was a bargain, it proved to be right on trend as Australia had a love affair with grey that lasted all last summer.  Grey, grey, grey, or alternatively charcoal, stone, cement or putty (these colour descriptions from a friend that works in a very trendy boutique!)  
Why does a country so saturated with sunlight choose the drabbest of colours to garb itself?
Other details:
Camisole and cardigan; Country Road
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Top that doesn’t suit me?

27/10/2009 6:09 am \ 2 Comments \
Just a day working, running errands, doing chores, gardening and a bit of grocery shopping, so didn’t feel the need to dress to impress.  This top I made about two years ago, and dug it out from the top of the wardrobe just to put it in the blog.  I feel like I’m wearing some real golden oldies lately… need to move on to some new stuff tomorrow…
The top pattern is my own design, polyester net cut out and draped over Bessie (the dressmaking dummy) to fit my vision.  The front has a slightly draped, cowl-y effect, and the front piece was cut about 12cm longer in the side seams, then gathered and pleated to fit the back side seam in the bust region.  I feel this makes a nice soft pleating effect over the bust.  I was going for a slightly medieval sleeve feel with the extended bit on the end of the sleeve, with limited success as I find this flappy bit extremely annoying when I’m doing housework.  The fabric is see through, so I sewed in a soft jersey “vest” lining in the body seams.  This top was sewn entirely on the overlocker making for a very quick construction; I spent perhaps ten times as long cutting, draping and pinning onto Bessie to get just the right effect.  For an artistic effect, I have put all the seams on the outside of the garment.  Not surprisingly this makes for a very comfortable top!
Even though I feel this top has had its day and I’m ready to toss it out, its been a lovely flattering shape and design and one I plan to use again.   In different colours.
In the latest Australian Stitches was an article on finding the colours that suit you, and I spent some time studying it last night, and besieging my husband with inane questions like “is my skin ivory or beige?” and “are my eyes unusual green or are they just hazel?” before he glazed over.  Seems they are introducing a new system with new categories, with names involving Bright/Dusky, Warm/Cool and Dark/Light.  I’m still not sure what I am, but I know that this top is probably not in my colours!  I had my colours done years ago, and after a lot of pfaffing around with swathes of fabric I was pronounced to be an Autumn.  I’ve been quite happy to be an Autumn.

The jeans are favourite summer jeans, washed so often the care and fabric label is washed white!  I do remember however that they are New Zealand made, from tencel which is light and cool for summer.  The shape is so flattering I traced it out last year and made an identical pair out of white linen which has been just as good.  I might try this again this year out of a different fabric.

On right is a picture of the wounded modelling her stylish sock, which I might say she has done her darndest to strip off.  I think purple and pinky/beige are her colours, no?  Maybe a Spring?

Other details:
Jeans; Development
Thongs/flipflops; Mountain Design
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My Marni fix

26/10/2009 6:30 am \ 1 Comment \
Spring/Summer 07, Marni had a collection that struck me with lightning, fashion-wise.  I loved and could have worn simply everything in the parade.  On my budget, not to mention that Marni is unavailable in Perth, and also given that I love to sew, the only option was to try to recreate the looks myself.
The slimline black oversize sports parka over a crisp white skirt was my absolute favourite look, the one I just had to have, and one I wanted to reproduce as closely as possible.
So here is my effort, compared to the real deal.  Please excuse that the model on the right is far less attractive.
Photo above from Marni Spring/Summer 07
www.style.com, see here
On pulling it out I realised its no longer a look that I am wearing as I’ve moved on fashion-wise, but as previously expressed in this blog, Wear Everything in the Wardrobe is my new rule.  My Monday morning gals expressed surprise this morning that I was wearing black, as its not a colour I really wear much.
I remember at the time I was first wearing it I looked quite different from everyone out and about on the street, as it wasn’t a look that had hit Perth and wouldn’t yet for another 18 months when everyone was into this look all of a sudden.  We lag a bit behind the fashions here.
The skirt is Vogue 7303 view A, seen previously here, and the top is my own design.   Well, actually its really Marni’s design, slavishly copied by me, but by “my design” I meant that I didn’t use a pattern, but planned, cut and fitted the pieces to Bessie (the dressmaker’s dummy) to achieve the look I wanted.  I was particularly pleased with the high bunchy collar and felt (still do) that the finished result is easy and comfortable to wear.
I think its a very urban look, perhaps better suited to striding about the city.  A problem with the black parka, given my lifestyle, is its tendency to attract and display animal fur, with most unattractive results.
Speaking of which, a comment asked after Sienna, the furry beast lying half out of sight in my photo.  The silly-billy has cut open a pawpad on a sharp bit of fence in our yard and is hobbling about looking woebegone (poor love), so I’m walking alone for a while.  However I promise to include her again, as requested.  The camera loves her (yeah, baby! Austin Powers style), so I think she deserves a photo-shoot… yes?
Other details:
Shoes; Perrini, bought many years ago
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