Tag Archives: Cardigan

Gelato colours

When wearing pastels, especially head-to-toe, one is in danger of looking sticky sickly sweet.  Additionally if the silhouette is too “safe” you may come across as grandmotherly or queen-motherish.  An outfit of this type needs some elements of hard-edge or rawness to save it; my ensemble here(worn yesterday) has a tweed skirt, a pink camisole and a little cardigan, all in safe pastel colours, so has all the sweet little old lady boxes ticked off right there.  Not my ideal look, obviously.  I think my normal style is aim for a little deconstruction, not too polished.  But I’m still liking this look here.
I think it’s the unfinished fringe on the edge of my skirt and the raw edges of my cardigan that save it from being too pretty and ordinary and give the outfit that little zing of deconstruction that is needed.  Although raw edges are seen everywhere now and hardly put you in the punk category anymore.  Perhaps it’s also my jade green pedicure that also adds that necessary unexpected note.  And my necklace, while composed of shades of pretty pink, has a kind of random twisty-ness quality to it.
So, “pretty in pink”?  Not what I’m aiming for, but chic enough to pass muster, hopefully.

Details;
Skirt; Vogue 7303, fabric handwoven by my Mum
Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; own design, coffee and white net
Necklace; own design
Sunnies; RayBan
Shoes; op shop
Nail polish; own mix of BYS French White and Mint Condition

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The grey light of day

The crispness that is in the air these last few mornings has been a very welcome respite, my senses seem fresher and sharper and I feel more awake and ready to face the expectations of the new day.  The light in our rear lane-way is almost lemon-yellow at this time of the day, and even the patches of moss and rust on the old fences seem to glow.  I love the shadow of my shoe, it looks like a sort of grotesque, deformed parody of a foot….
This little cardigan was made recently as part of my autumn sewing plan, but I feel its high time I starting wearing some new items to inject a little freshness into my wardrobe; I’m getting tired of some of my summer clothes, and no less the heat!  It feels like a long time to go still before autumn….

Details:
Pants; Burda 7944, gunmetal blue linen
Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; Mauve and white net, cream crotchet lace and grey velvet ribbon, own design
Necklace; Jorgen Jensen of Denmark, gift from my parents (in the 70’s)
Shoes; Sandler, op shop

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Happy New Year!

New Year’s Day is a time to reflect on your life over the past year and to dream up a few resolutions as to how to do it better next year…  Hmm, well apart from the usual suspects; get fit, keep in better contact with loved friends and family not in my immediate orbit, eat more healthily (not so much chocolate and more salad)… I’ve not got much to wish for, things are good and I feel very optimistic about the coming year.  
I suppose if I’m to hope for anything at all for 2010, it is for a calm, restful and peaceful year, and that is reflected in my dress today; calm, restful and peaceful colours, but with sparkly shoes for a tiny bit of pizazz…  I made my necklace during my beading fad a few years ago.  I’ve worn it only periodically as its kind of showy for my tastes… but I like how its mass of pearl beads are kind of like bubbles in a glass of champagne, sort of celebratory, which seems appropriate for New Year’s Day.
Today the boys of my family are going sailing together and I will walk on the beach, afterwards we are visiting friends for a BBQ.

Details:
Dress; Burda 8071, cream broderie anglaise cheesecloth
Petticoat; Metalicus
Cardi; coffee and white net, my own design
Shoes; Anna, from Marie Claire shoes
Necklace; my own design

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Casual shopping chic

Blah blah; shopping and Christmas preparations on the agenda today.  Came home yesterday to piles of mail and a to-do list a mile long, plus a few parties on the horizons, it’s back to happy chaos in our house!
In the wardrobe department I am now planning for autumn; and I have a few sewing projects waiting in the wings and plenty of ideas about what to do next.  My mother brought along a fantastic DVD for us to watch while away; a Threads magazine production with great sewing tips by Louise Cutting, a lady who is a full bottle on all things sewing.  She had a great new way of sewing collars that eliminates the front seam altogether that I plan to try, I’ll give details when I try it out…
Anyhoo, today being a day of errands and chores I’m just dressed for shopping and looking smart but functional.  I’m wearing my linen pants, drafted by me from my favourite jeans, and my light summer cardi made out of a double layer of net sewn together at the shoulder, side and armhole seams.  I’ve included a close-up of the front area to show how the front edges were finished with grosgrain ribbon simply zigzag stitched in one seam.  This is a wonderful little top for very hot days as it looks quite chic and funky and covers your shoulders while still being very light.

Other details:
Pants; white linen, self-drafted
Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; coffee and white net; self-drafted
Necklace; souvenir from Murano, Venice
Sandals; Vicenza, from Soletta shoes
Sunnies; RayBans

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Trying artistic photo shoot…

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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Day 2 of new blog

Sunday 11th October 2009

I know, I’ll get more creative with titles as time goes on, I’m sure.

Today will be a quiet Sunday, what with hubby working, oldest at Uni, middle studying for exams and youngest on camp. So I just took Sienna for a long walk and will be spending the rest of the day sewing, houseworking and trying to understand more about this blog thing.
My picture today is of my typical dogwalking gear, my blouse and cardi were made about a year ago. The blouse is Butterick 4985, view A sleeves and view B collar. Its been a favourite pattern, but even though I’m a size 10 by the envelope it swims on me, so I always take it in by about two inches each side tapering to normal measurements by the hip (I’m pear-shaped). I made it out of cream broderie anglaise cheesecloth, and randomly sewed on leftover bits of cotton lace from another project around the bodice for interest. I also added cotton crochet border lace around the front openings, and sewed on a waist tie of the same stuff to pull it in at the waist at front. The buttons were a rather lovely find; brassy type with like a blue jewel inset, rather like grandmother’s engagement ring. I didn’t hem at all, just topstitched the raw edges with pale blue stitching about 1cm in. I like this look more with each wash as it has frayed and rolled gently, sort of shabby bohemian.
The cardi was originally going to be something else clever out of crinkled polyester net. Ahem, unless you buy the stuff already crinkled no amount of boiling, scrunching or generally attacking is going to crinkle polyester net! There must be some special chemical process by which they achieve this! I eventually had to settle for an uncrinkled look, and finally traced out the pattern from a favourite Marilyn Seyb cardi I had bought in New Zealand and wore to DEATH (but can’t bring myself to ever part with). My version is two layered, the inner layer white net and the outer coffee, sewn together on the serger. The front opening is stabilised with white grosgrain ribbon, simply zigzagged stitched around up one front, around the back neck and down the other front. A single brass rimmed small white button forms closure. This cardi pattern I have used elsewhere and I love the simple open shape of it.
Other details:
Cargo pants: Ezibuy
Camisole: Country Road
Thongs(flipflops): Mountain Designs
Thanks to Tim for taking photo; note to self, must find out how to use camera auto timer…
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