Bouchee dress

19/10/2009 5:49 am \ 3 Comments \
Monday, 19th October 2009
Meeting my Monday morning gals today, so I’m wearing the hot pink Metalicus cardi they gave me for my birthday to show it off. I’m not sure about my dress this morning. Not sure because I always feel I look like an elephant in it. Its from McCalls 4454 view D, which is actually a little top pattern. I used it because I really like the bodice arrangement, and just drastically elongated the whole thing to dress length. I also added some triangular inserts to splay out the skirt and hemline, and added (artistic touch!) two HUGE pockets diagonally and randomly to the front. The pockets were also to cover some discoloured areas; as the fabric was originally from the remnant bin at Fabulous Fabrics because it had partially faded in patches.
Its not been a bad dress as its very cool to wear in summer, but … all ladies like to avoid looking like an elephant. So this may be its last outing. If you are a pear shape, like me, then its probably best to avoid long A-line dresses with no waist definition. I think I need waist definition. The funny thing is I made this same dress (see here) before using patchwork fabric bought from Calico and Ivy, and it looked great (shrug).
The necklace was also made by me, during my beading phase. My ladies this morning admired it!!! Still, they’re always nice to me!
Other details:
Cardigan; Metalicus
Sandals; Micam by Joanne Mercer, from Hobbs
Bag; Gucci
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To sleep, perchance to dream

18/10/2009 8:16 am \ 2 Comments \

With the lovely warm summery weather here to stay, fingers crossed, its time to don summer jammies. My choice this year is sort of what a saucy fifties housewife might choose. The colours of mint green combined with red are kind of fifties, I think. The lace with red ribbon is very lingerie, and not pairing it with either black, red or white saves it from being tarty. A final touch was the three apple buttons, (Eve, gettit?) left over from a baby jumper I knitted many moons ago. The shorts have POCKETS! Well, I had enough fabric, so why not. The shorts were made using last year’s summer pyjama bottoms as a template, cut off short. The top is McCalls 4454 view C without the tie. I’ve used this pattern many times, and usually modify it by sewing it much narrower at the torso (about 4cm each side) and inserting a left side zip, but this time its as is and about 5cm longer.

My husband wanted to know why I’m not modelling it, well, ahem I think that’s obvious, no? But thanks for the suggestion…
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Golden glow

18/10/2009 2:51 am \ 3 Comments \

Sunday, 18th October 2009
Mum in a comment asked how I was planning to spice up my life….well, that’s a curly question! But a good starting point would be to spice up my wardrobe, as if I needed an excuse to do something to my wardrobe…
Our moods and emotions are determined and defined in terms of colours, red roses are given on Valentine’s Day, black is worn to funerals, brides wear white dresses, etc etc
So, here we have one cardigan, found in a secondhand shop. Oyster white. Sure its a useful colour which will go with lots of outfits, but isn’t going to turn any heads now, is it? I’ve been known to dye fabrics with ground turmeric with great success, but this time I went with a Dylon pack, from the chemist. (I’ve also got an old red T-shirt which has proven fantastic for adding blotchy pink swirls to a boring blouse, but that’s a story for another post….) One chemical bath later…

Other details:
Cardigan; Country Road, found in a secondhand shop
Camisole; Country Road
Skirt; Vogue 7303, olive corduroy
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Trying artistic photo shoot…

17/10/2009 4:24 am \ Leave a Comment \

Saturday, 17th October 2009

Tried to do something different with the photos today. Every day I discover something new about blogging, so… proof; that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!
This is my favourite skirt pattern again, Vogue 7303, view A with the skirt overlay. The cardi is one I posted about here.
Other details:
Camisole; Country Road
Art; Jane Flowers
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Summer, here I come!

16/10/2009 12:24 pm \ Leave a Comment \

Today while in town I purchased my new bathers for this summer and here they are. Tres beautiful, non? I can’t wait to try them out at the beach tomorrow; surf and sand, yeah! Its about time the weather gods smiled upon us! And, no, there is no way I would model these for the blog, (in answer to my husband) Elle McPherson I am not…unfortunately….
No, they’re not homemade, but I’m including them in the interests of full disclosure of my wardrobe. Plus, I love them… Bathers; Jessika Allen for Jets

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Morticia? Is that you?

16/10/2009 11:12 am \ 1 Comment \


Friday, 16th October 2009

This is one of my more recent creations, made in the last few months. I was inspired by Prada’s Autumn/Winter 2008 collection of black lace “suits” (see below). Yes, I realise its taken me quite a while to get around to it…
I had managed to get black lace from the remnants bin on a foray to my favourite fabric shop, Fabulous Fabrics. The top is Butterick 4985 again, view B (nipped in at the torso as always), but with sleeves hijacked from a dress pattern, Burda 7897. The bottom of the blouse, sleeves and the edge of the collar were edged with black border lace. The skirt was constructed by making the lining from my trusty ol’ favourite Vogue 7303 out of gunmetal blue bemsilk. I then used the same pattern to cut out a partial front and back skirt from the lace, then got creative and added random strips and pieces of the same lace around my dressmaking dummy (Bessie) to “fill in the gaps”. I oversewed the joining seams with a wider black border lace and left the long strips hanging down past the hem of the skirt. The final effect is of a slightly random raggedy handkerchief hemline. I didn’t bother hemming or finishing the lace, as it won’t unravel.
The blue lining was chosen because I liked the interesting contrast under the black(also because I had a perfect size length left over in my stash which needed using up!). I managed to find the perfect buttons to match this colour at Calico and Ivy; beautiful tiny heart-shaped, blue shell buttons; there are four down the front of the blouse. All in all, I’m very pleased with the final effect, and I felt quite dressy enough when I met some friends for lunch at the this month’s Globe Fashion Friday!
Other details;
Camisole; Country Road

Shoes; Micam by Joanne Mercer,
Hobbs
Photo below from Prada Autumn/Winter 2008 collection, www.style.com, see here
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Photo-bombed!

16/10/2009 11:03 am \ 2 Comments \

By the way, I didn’t realise it but this was happening in the background of one of my photo sessions last week! Thanks, Tim! I guess I’ve been photo-bombed…



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Rescued from the clothing graveyard

15/10/2009 4:03 am \ 3 Comments \


Thursday, 15th October 2009

I made this one about 4 or 5 years ago, and it was a favourite for a whole summer. Then the weather turned cold, I got tired of it, and it was relegated to a plastic bag on the top shelf of the wardrobe. There it sat for a few years, coming out on rare occasions. In the biannual clean-out it was contemplated but always managed to stay, given that it was the first really creative thing I had attempted. It was made freehand, by just throwing together a mishmash of matching fabrics in a wild and crazy pattern with no real planning or forethought, although I was inspired by a very expensive Didier Parakian design I saw in a boutique. A zip was inserted, and the top was darted to fit around the waist. I attached a long white cheesecloth underskirt, for stability at the waist.
I love its hippy-dippy feel and always get compliments about it. So I guess it is here to stay. A good casual skirt for a coolish summer day, “coolish” as the aforementioned underskirt makes it quite warm.
Other details:
T-shirt; Country Road
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