daily outfit Archives - Page 49 of 70

Cordelicious

28/03/2012 5:52 am \ 9 Comments \ Carolyn

O, hai, peops!
(drum roll) another pair of Burda 7723 shorts.
This is ma “greige” corduroy pair, that gets more appreciation as the cooler autumn weather rolls around. The pattern modified in that they are longer, and substantially flared.
Colours, or lack thereof; well, but monotonality pleases me. I like beige (what can I say, 80’s girl and all that) and I like that when one removes the obviousness of colour from the equation, then the textures and the flavour of the fabrics are allowed to shine.
The soft velvety furriness of the corduroy shorts, against the matte translucency of my net cardigan, and the crisp and simple cleanliness of the white cotton top with its self scarf. The subtlety of these textures and the individuality of the fabrics can really be appreciated in an outfit of just one shade of soft pale neutrals.
So.
This week is feeling remarkably like a me-made exercise, is it not? Except that it is much much shorter 🙂 and much much more restrictive 🙁
And I am finding it a very interesting experiment, just the same :))

Details:
Top; Top “a” from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, by Natsuno Hiraiwa, white cotton, details here
Shorts; Burda 7723 modified, grey/beige corduroy, details here
Cardigan; my own design, coffee and white net, tutorial to make a similar one here
Sandals; Misano, from MarieClaire shoes
Nail varnish; BYS Fool’s Paradise

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, OWOP, Sienna

Limoncello

27/03/2012 8:10 am \ 16 Comments \ Carolyn

Today I’m wearing (Surprise!) shorts! 😀
But great colour, yes? In a fresh and cool shade of acidic citrus yellow, like a shot glass of limoncello, that wickedly delicious stuff that is to my mind another synonym for “summer evening”.
So, OK. Playing one-week-one-pattern is fun, but I am feeling like there are no surprises here. Nothing new, only a small pool of Burda 7723’s from which to choose. So I apologise for the repetition and lack of suspense happening here, and can only offer a (hopefully) quite nice outfit in a photograph of a (hopefully) pleasing perspective, colour and composition. I have no idea whether or not that I am successful in this.
But I can only try.
Would you like to know the definition of a reeeeally funfun day? Doing two hours worth of mind-numbingly dull accounting, only to suddenly wake up and realise you have been entering the year 2011 into Every. Single. One.
Hola! (time to check out the actual limoncello situation, I reckon…)
In the meantime; the funny below gave me a big chuckle, so please enjoy…
Later peops!

Details:
Top; my own design, made from an old pair of chartreuse linen trousers, details here
Shorts; Burda 7723 with modifications, lemon yellow embroidered cotton, details here
Tassel and chain necklace; made by me, details here
Sandals; anna, from MarieClaire shoes
Nail varnish; BYS Fool’s Paradise

source

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, OWOP

Peachy keen

26/03/2012 9:33 am \ 15 Comments \ Carolyn

I knew I should attempt to work this jacket into at least one day of the one-week-one-pattern challenge. And today is the coolest day forecast for this week (27C) so I decided that today just had to be that day. But confession time; I was a bit on the toasty side in this thing…
But that one teensy gripe aside; my satisfaction with today’s ensemble is pretty darn high. Today I am feeling like the selection of Burda 7723 for my one pattern was real inspired; since on a day when I arbitrarily just fancied going a bit more dressy/pretty I could do so without breaking my own rules. A big Yay! for sportswear patterns!
Actually I do not wear this jacket enough, and I was glad of the excuse to pull it out again. It is quaite naice, is it not? and I love its pretty peachy pinky colours. Not to mention that it actually turned out to be a nicely-made jacket, if I say so myself; that I wouldn’t even break into a sweat over another seamster having a close-up squizz at… 🙂 It went together easily, with all the seams meeting up just where they should. And the sleeve caps are set in perfectly; my own personal barometer for judging how well a jacket or a shirt turned out. The innards look as neat as the outer, and it all fits me very comfortably.
This should all add up to the perfect little jacket; but for some reason I just do not wear it very much. Maybe because the long-sleeved, cropped and fitted style feels just a tad “classic”. Office-y. Am I the office-y sort…? er no.
But push up those sleeves, problemmo solved! Not only am I cooler temperature-wise, but Ah’m coooooler too.
You can tell I’m an 80’s girl 😉

Details:
Dress; Burda 8071, of ivory broderie anglais cheesecloth, see this dress style in 6 different ways here
Petticoat worn underneath (not seen); also Burda 8071, of champagne satin, details here
Jacket; Burda 7723, raw silk, details here
Shoes; Bronx, from Zomp shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, OWOP

White as white…

25/03/2012 8:09 am \ 18 Comments \ Carolyn

I’m pretty good with laundry. These shorts are a testament to that, since I made them over two years ago, the first pair of shorts using this week’s pattern Burda 7723; and despite being subjected to rock-climbing, hiking, camping (just so you know, the rural dust here is icing-sugar fine and red) and generally plenty of gettin’ down n’ dirty with whatever mother nature has to offer they are still as brilliantly white-as-white-can-be as the day I sewed that last stitch and snipped that last trailing thread…
(ahem)
Well. They’re not toooo horrifically off-white anyway…. 😀
so I hope you enjoy reading this care label. It certainly gave me a laugh!

source

Details:
Top; top “b” from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, white cotton, details here
Shorts; Burda 7723, white linen, details here
Shoes; ?? given to me by Mum, cast-offs from one of her friends
Ultramarine Scarf; new!… made by me, from the leftover pieces of jersey knit from this top, and using this method

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: accessories, daily outfit, own design, OWOP, scarf, Sienna

Get shorty

24/03/2012 4:38 am \ 7 Comments \ Carolyn

This week I am taking part in another cool online sewing community project; the One Week One Pattern project set up by Tilly… yay! I love join-in stuff like this!
So the idea is that we choose one pattern and wear our stuff from that pattern for a week. For someone like me who uses and re-uses their patterns to nigh on death (poor wee tattered things) then this a fabulous opportunity to assess my wardrobe and my pattern collection again to see which patterns are really working for me.
I did have more than a few choices 🙂
But after a bit of dillying and dallying I chose Burda 7723; for a few reasons.
Firstly; I have a good selection to choose from, since I have made myself five pairs of shorts and one jacket using this pattern. So I can mix it up with a different outfit for (nearly) each day of the week, which is great.
Also; we have another quite warm-ish week ahead. So shorts are weather appropriate. I would have loved to be showcasing say, Vogue 7303, an old skirt pattern which I have used tonnes of times, but half of my options there are winter-y and I would die if I wore them during the heat of the day. Seriously 😉
Plus, well, shorts fit into my life nicely this week. Yeah. Let’s just say my calendar is not full. It is the opposite of full. I think walking my dog and thinking about where to take a picture is going to be just about the highpoint of each day 😀
Well, OK, I do have one very nice soiree to look forward to, for which I will don my new red dress. But I will be wearing something Burda 7723 for most of that day.

Details:
Top; my own design, made from an old pair of charcoal, linen mix, three-quarter trousers, details here
Shorts; Burda 7723, made from an old charcoal gabardine skirt, details here
Sandals; Misano, from MarieClaire shoes
Nail varnish; BYS Mint Condition

random graffiti seen on our walk…

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, OWOP

A little bit of Sunshine…

18/03/2012 11:38 am \ 18 Comments \ Carolyn

Recently Donna gave me the Sunshine award, thank you so much Donna! I thought at first that I already had this one… but I noticed that this Sunshine award is a New-and-Improved Sunshine award that now comes with a cool little list of questions… yay! questions can be fun, can’t they?
Sooo, here we go…. and just for fun, some random sunshine-y photos too (unless otherwise stated all photos are taken by me)

Favourite Colour: ok, that’s easy! er… hang on, wait. Let me think now. Hmmm. OK, how’s about this, I saw a divine mustard scarf recently. Mustard. Done! Actually, wait; I’m lately also rather thrilled about that wonderful shade of ox-blood red I achieved here… And then of course there’s my best neutral, olive. And my perennial allegiance to ivory remains unabated. Oh, and then there is charcoal, and pinky-beige, and muddy chocolate, and pure white, and burnt orange, and duck-egg blue, and raspberry … and … and …

Favourite Animal: I am ridiculously soft and soppy about all animals. Except for mosquitoes. Mosquitoes, I squish. Mosquitoes bringeth no good to the world. Apart from being frog food. That one sole good deed on the part of mosquitoes.

Favourite Number: What…? Do other people really have favourite numbers? I don’t know if I could pick just one. The infinite others would feel left out 🙂

Favourite Non-Alcoholic Drink: Aha! at last, one for which I can give a straight answer… tea! English Breakfast. In a proper tea cup, please. Strong, and with a little bit of milk. No, no sugar, but thanks for offering.

Facebook or Twitter: I’ve recently discovered a whole host of old school friends on Facebook. It was so awesome!

(btw, this topless person is not me, but is the husband!)

My Passion: no prizes for guessing that one… 😀

Getting or Giving Presents: er… both?? Y’know what; I’ve been thinking about that one, and I’ve decided that it is one of those posers to which 99% of people will give exactly the same answer, the one I just gave. Think about it. Answering the former would be a no-no, except to garner laughs, and answering the latter is raaather priggish, so is equally a no-go… it’s a non question, really. What do you think?

Favourite Pattern: Well, it changes all the time. Virtually with each new project. Right now I am in raptures all over again with McCalls 5525, since I have just completed a new coat that I am insanely pleased with.

(Craig took this one. This is me, on a stand-up paddle board!)

Favourite Day of the Week: Well. Any day that the whole family’s schedules serendipitously dovetail so we all happen to be all home for dinner, together, at once. This happens rarely. But when it does, it is my favourite day of that week.

Favourite Flower: In first place; my daughter, the most beautiful blossom in my life. In second place; big old-fashioned roses in shades of pink, apricot and old-gold. The sort that get blousy and overblown and scatter their petals in gorgeous profusion. Which then dry into sweet-smelling colour-distilled scraps. Which then becomes divine pot-pourri.

Favourite celebrity role model: Now why would I idolise a stranger when I have such amazing women in my real life? Srsly 🙂

So now, to pass the sunshine-y love along….

Beth; of SunnyGal Sewing Studio
Liza Jane; of Liza Jane Sews
Karin; of Sew Here We Go Again!
ElleC; of ElleC Sews
Alexandra; of Alexandra Mason Crafts and Stuff
Lynne; of Sewing Cafe
Adithi’s Amma; of Adithi’s Amma Sews

Details:
Top; Vogue 1247, of orange cotton, details and my review of this pattern here
Shorts; Burda 7723 modified, of yellow embroidered cotton, details here, and my review of this pattern here
Nail varnish (above); BYS Bright Light, with daisy decal. I know, decals are so last year, yes? Well maybe I am a last year kind of a gal 🙂

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Blogger award, daily outfit, photography, random life stuff, Sienna

Grey stripes

15/03/2012 10:26 am \ 66 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made a new dress for autumn! (sneaky peeked in my Fashionary here) More accurately, I made this about a month ago and have been awaiting a day I can actually wear it without unladylike perspiration marring the photograph. (ew)
It is a Metalicus sort of a dress.
Oh, OK; it is pretty much an almost exact copy of one from their summer range. (pictured at right)
Well, I saw, and I was helpless to resist. I just had to have. (shrug)
I used a cotton knit jersey with a charcoal and black stripe from Fabulous Fabrics, and drafted my own pattern with the help of a tank top. The skirt is just a slightly shaped to-the-waist and then flared A-line design. I bought 2m of 150cm width fabric, but found that 1.2m was plenty to cut out this dress shape using the layout pictured below.

Don’t worry, the leftover 80cm has been put to good use already, undergoing a rapid transformation into a three-quarter sleeved, scoop-necked Tshirt. This using my now go-to Tshirt pattern, the one formerly known as Burdastyle 06/2011, 120 (altered completely until beyond recognition, but still one must give credit, non?)

I edged the neckline and armhole/sleeve edges of both the dress and the Tshirt with a folded band, the type that you see on just about all Metalicus pieces,which is why I have it stuck in my head as The Metalicus Finish, lol.

Please note; the Absolute Perfection in Stripe-Matching. I pinned the junction of each and every stripe to achieve this. No, I am not exaggerating.

The red pen below is pointing to a bodice side seam. Can you even see it? (said with an unseemly lack of humility)
This is the kind of thing not noticeable to a, er, normal person (read: someone who does not sew), but is the ultimate in self-satisfaction for those of us who have ever sewn stripes together. Stretchy jersey stripes, I might add. (insert deep and disgracefully un-humble sigh)

The lower hem is overlocked, folded under once, and finished with a straight stitch. I hemmed my dress exactly the right length to work perfectly over one of my favourite actual Metalicus pieces, this frill-edged white petticoat.

Details:

Dress; self-drafted, from charcoal and black striped cotton jersey

petticoat; Metalicus

Sandals; Misano, from Marie-Claire shoes

Now OK; do I feel bad about outright copying a dress like this? I do, a bit. You see while I like to make my own clothes nowadays, I have a lot of respect for Metalicus. I used to buy their clothes. And actually I will own up now that in a small transgression of my pledge I did indeed buy a few pairs of Metalicus winter tights at their New Year’s sale, eep! But they were such fantabulous colours!! (the colours made me do it, your Honour…) and anyhow, tights can be classed as underwear, right??
I am OK with supporting Metalicus, since it is an Australian company, with the clothing traditionally made here in Australia. I am of course a big supporter of ethical fashion which includes buying locally made stuff wherever possible. So I wish to see Metalicus successfully continuing on this path and not succumb to the evil lure of the profits that come with overseas manufacturing.
It was during this visit to Metalicus I noticed that a few “made in China” pieces were making an insidious and very unwelcome appearance in the range. I did feel sad about this and wondered briefly (and probably foolishly) if my boycotting of RTW had contributed in even some minuscule part. And copying a dress from the store, even just one, for me, is also part and parcel of taking away business from what is a legitimate Australian business. So I did feel a bit guilty. But if Metalicus is going to go to the dark side and send their manufacturing overseas, taking away Australian jobs, then while I am very sad about that it does at least make it a heck of a lot easier for me to stay away from RTW.
btw I did check my tights before I bought them, and they are indeedy of the Made in Australia variety.
So I’m resting easy on that purchase.
Sort of.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burdastyle magazine 06-2011-120, daily outfit, dress, own design, top

Peekaboo in blue

08/03/2012 3:51 pm \ 31 Comments \ Carolyn

New top, woot!
Its real name is a mystery to me, but the word peekaboo just pops irresistably into my head every single time I look at it so there it is! This is the project on p20 of Pattern Magic 3, by Tomoko Nakamichi. As far as wearability goes, this is probably one of the better projects in the book, and ditto for the ease of construction. Super easy!
In hood down mode this appears not unlike an ordinary little Tshirt, plain-ish but with a just-interesting-enough little variation to redeem it from being outright featureless and boring. The incorporated hoodie thingie (that’s a technical sartorial term there) looks a bit like a backward cowl neck when it is flipped down like above…. it’s actually quite cute, yes?
Hood up… well, okaaay. Quirky, yes. A bit noice, unusual, different. Definitely funky. Wearable? Hmmm, borderline, methinks… 🙂
But hood down? yes, I likey!
I used a length of jersey in a lovely shade of deep royal blue, part of the bundle of fabrics given to me by my friend C from her late mother’s stash. It is quite thick and sturdy stuff, so I am really looking forward to wearing this more as we head into the cooler days of autumn.
I attached a folded band to finish the armholes and the neckline, a technique I think of as the Metalicus finish since they use it extensively on all their pieces and is where I first noticed it. The lower hemline is turned up once and slip-stitched in place.
I’m very happy with this funky, slightly sporty addition to my wardrobe. The concept of the design is totally to my taste; unique and simple, but with a twist!
Oh, and I’ve updated things on the blog a bit; now all my projects from each the Pattern Magic books have been gathered into sets, and can be viewed by clicking on the picture of that book in my sidebar over there. They’re a bit jumbled up right now, as I am still working out how to order the pictures in those albums…. that’s a work in progress!
Later peops!