Tag Archives: Fabulous Fabrics

The pared back menswear look

12/07/2010 4:07 am \ 10 Comments \

My ensemble today is inspired by the minimalist pared back look of this Chloe outfit (below)I spied and coveted in my Vogue magazine.  I assumed at first it was from the spring/summer Celine collection that I have raved about in a previous post; an uncluttered simple look that suits me to a T… but no, it is Chloe, Fall 2010.  Obviously the designer Hannah MacGibbon was just as “inspired” by Phoebe Philo’s collection as everyone else.  I won’t say “copied”, these are supposed to be paid creative professionals, after all…!, but you just head over to style.com and have a quick squiz at these two collections side by side and you might raise your eyebrows a little too…
These are the linen pants I made back last year, using Burda 7944.  I love their wide-legged comfortable Annie Hall appeal.  For winter I am wearing my tights underneath and a thick thermal under my top, and I’m warm as warm can be!  So nice the weather has warmed up a tad now the winter rains have come…  
On a different note; when I started this blog I was determined that I would be spicing up my boring wardrobe by trying to accessorise more but looking back I can see my natural look is to be minimally accessorised and I seem to be slipping back to that more and more…  should I fight this?

Details:
Pants; made by me, Burda 7944, gunmetal blue linen
Top; Metalicus
Belt; Country Road, had since a teenager
Boots; Mina Martini, from Marie Claire shoes

Photos below; at left Chloe Fall 2010 RTW, middle Celine spring/summer 2010 RTW, right a still from “Annie Hall” filmed in 1977

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Little charcoal skirt

09/07/2010 3:19 am \ 8 Comments \

Today is the most miserable of days Perth has to offer; we’ve had tons of rain in the last 24 hours and it’s windy and stormy to boot.  Good news for the farmers, though, this rain has finally broken another very long dry spell that has my friend J worrying over their crops…
On the plus side, today I am having my hair cut; one of my favourite self-indulgences where I get coiffured and pampered and swan out of the salon looking smart, sleek and suitable for public viewing once more… and tomorrow my sister-in-law is taking me to my first Burdastyle Club meeting!  I’m a bit excited, but also nervous about meeting new people and don’t really know what to take…  Maybe it would be safe to just take some fabric and a pattern for cutting out for this time.
Oh, what am I wearing, well after finishing this top from Pattern Magic I had a bit more of the charcoal stretch jersey left over and made this very simple basic little skirt to go with it.  It is the simplest of skirts; no darts or zips and a waistband of 3cm wide black elastic sewn around the top to hold it up, then hand-hemmed.  I think probably too simple to even bother putting up on Burdastyle…
In this outfit and with these lovely textured charcoal tights I feel appropriately sombre, rumply and skewiff, much like the stormy swirling storm clouds up above me in the sky… 

Details:
Top; made by me, drafted from Pattern Magic by Nakamichi Tomoko, charcoal stretch jersey knit
Skirt; my own design, charcoal stretch jersey knit
Tights; Spencer Lacy
Boots; Mina Martini, from Marie Claire

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Aviation chic

07/07/2010 4:16 am \ 10 Comments \

My outfit today has a sort of aviator/biker appeal about it.  I really love the Burberry fall 2010 collection like below, but I watered it down to suit my suburban not-very-high-fashion neighbourhood with its elderly population. 
I’m not sure why the current interest in aviation style clothing, probably a spin-off from the immense current popularity of military-inspired fashion.  Most people getting on a plane in these modern times opt for a comfortable loose get-up involving tracksuit pants, sneakers and fleeces but say “aviator fashion” and the old fashioned images of, say, Amelia Earhart are what immediately springs to mind…  an iconic woman who was adventurous and independent, feminine but dressing with a strong masculine style.   Perhaps a shocking look in her time but considered very sexy and relevant for women of today.  I guess little wonder fashion is aiming to emulate her style.

Details:
Jeans; made by me, Burda 7863, black denim
Tops (underneath); both Metalicus
Cardigan; my own design, snakeskin printed “rubber-y” black jersey knit
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies

Photos below;  at left, Amelia Earhart, found uncredited on the net; at right from Burberry Prorsum Fall 2010 collection

 

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Undersea-garden crocheted scarf

03/07/2010 5:17 am \ 4 Comments \

Now, I am no crochet-er.  I struggle with each and every stitch.
I think it comes down to this, when I learnt to knit, my mother taught me.  I was taught.  Mum took the time and effort, it was a bonding exercise and fun, I was little, with a thirst for knowledge…
In the crochet department, I was self-taught.  And an adult.  And we all know the old saying about the difficulties of reconciliation when it comes to an old dog and new tricks…
I made this about six years ago.  I saw this scarf pattern in a friend’s knitting magazine (can’t remember any details, sorry) and instantly decided I had to have one.  Armed with a book from the library with the different crochet stitches illustrated in all their scary hand-contortionist detail, some lovely mohair wool (I know I know, mohair, huh?) and a copy of the intermediate level pattern, I set out on my first crochet project with determination but no idea of what I was doing.  Pretty stupid, yes?  It’s one of my failings, to just throw myself into a possibly difficult new project with not a clue of technique and no pre-conception of failure.  I say “failing”, but I guess it is a trait that has got me this far, so shouldn’t rail on myself… 
I did not enjoy making this scarf, mohair is a tricky enough yarn to play with, without trying to manipulate intricate stitches in it with a crochet hook.  I solemnly vowed it would be my last crochet project, but I do still love the look of this thing and I admit it, it would be impossible to achieve this lacy, oldfashioned look, which has an air vaguely reminiscent of “granny” squares about it, while still managing to look coolly distinct from the usual run-of-the-mill scarves around.
A hard earned success.

Details:
Scarf; crocheted by me, mohair yarn
Top; Metalicus
Jeans; made by me, Burda 7863, khaki stretch gabardine
on feet; cropped out, but I’m wearing my daggy old slippers and put on my biker boots to go out later!

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Charcoal baggy beret

01/07/2010 2:49 am \ 6 Comments \

So I had a discussion with a few friends about the washing your-hair-on-every-third-day-instead-of-every-second experiment; and the general consensus is that you have to persist for at least six weeks in order for results to show (you can tell I’m a scientist, can’t you? yes I am always this analytical about my life…), so I’m going to keep it up.  In the meantime I wanted something to cover my slightly yucky day 3 hair in this awkward transition phase, so I’ve been knitting up a couple of slouchy berets…
This one is knitted using one ball of Patons Wilderness, knitted up to a tension of 14 stitches/10cm.

Cast on 70 stitches, rib 2K 2P for 10cm, increasing 1 st in the middle of the last rib row, then stocking stitch without shaping for a further 16cm, ending on a purl row.  Shape the crown as follows:
(on a knit row), K2 together, K4; repeat until end of row; P 1 row,
K2 together, K3; repeat this until end of row; P 1 row,
K2 together, K2; repeat this until end of row; P 1 row,
K2 together, K1; repeat this until end of row; P 1 row,
K2 together until end of row
Thread the remaining yarn through a wool needle, pass through the remaining stitches and pull up nice and tight.  Now sew the sides of the beret together down to the rim, and you’re finished!
A very simple project that took about two evenings in front of the World Cup…

Details:
Beret; made by me, Patons Wilderness, colour 0507
Jeans; Burda 7863, khaki stretch gabardine
Top(under); Ezibuy
Top; Metalicus
Cardigan; Country Road
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies in Dunsborough

 

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Evening outfit, inspired by Christian Lacroix

30/06/2010 2:05 am \ 10 Comments \

This is an outfit I made for evening wear a couple of years ago.  It’s been a wonderful one for when we have some winter function and the weather is really cold as I can pop on a thermal underneath if necessary, and my shoulders are covered.  I was completely inspired by the outfit at right from the Christian Lacroix Fall 2007 Couture collection.
The top is a bodysuit made out of thick stretch black jersey, and for a tiny dressy touch the shoulders were cut high and gathered tightly at the top for a little puff.  The decoration around the neckline is a tube of heavy ivory/cream raw silk that I folded randomly and artistically and hand-stitched down (see detail picture below).
While for the top I was aiming for slimline and body-hugging, I wanted for the skirt to be dramatically flared and with lots of “bits”, like the Lacroix design.  I eventually achieved this by making two skirts.  For the underskirt I started off with New Look 6509 as a basic 8-gore skirt but altered by tapering the gores to be much wider at the hemline.  I also added wide triangular inserts in between some of the gores for added volume.  The overskirt is pretty much a circle skirt, plus some extra at the front opening.  The inserts and the overskirt I hemmed in straight lines, forming points, for a gothicky, witchy look.
Oh, (afterthought!) I’m not sure what the composition of the skirt fabric actually is, but it is like a heavy and very stiff satin; with a slight sheen on one side and matte on the other.  Perfect for the look I wanted.

Details:
Bodysuit; drafted my own design, black stretch jersey knit with ivory silk decoration
Skirt; drafted my own design, starting with New Look 6509, black stiff fabric
Tights; Kolotex
Shoes; Nina, from David Jones

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Caramel “loopy” scarf

28/06/2010 5:34 am \ 6 Comments \

I made this scarf a few years ago, not really sure now how many.  Originally I had done a class at Ivy and Maude, and was so inspired I went on to make dozens of these.  Well, maybe a few more than a dozen, anyhow!  I gave nearly all of them away as gifts.
The stitch is a very clever stitch where you wrap the wool around your thumb as you are knitting and then cast the wool over to “lock” the loop in, creating permanent loops.  A friend once told me she had seen the stitch in a very old knitting book, so it’s been around…  I thought for about a split second of trying to describe/draw how to do the stitch on this blog but abandoned that thought; its just too complex for my limited descriptive/illustrative skills…!
The beauty in these scarves is always in the wool you choose.  All the ones I made were out of Colinette Fandango; just bought one ball of this divine all-cotton yarn and knitted up the whole ball in this fashion; bingo, instant beautiful scarf.  The colour ranges available of this stuff are what “make” the scarf, imo.
This one has a mix of caramel, cream, fawn and grey and has long been a favourite (it’s got so thin!!)  I have also made ones for myself in red/pink and one in pastel blue/green/pink.  The other ones I made for friends were all of other colours, I never doubled up on shades.  Didn’t have to! every time I went into the shop there seemed to be so many new fabulous shades to choose from, my enthusiasm would be re-ignited all over again!

Details:
Scarf; made by me, Colinette Fandango yarn
Jeans; Burda 7863, black denim
Top; Ezibuy
Cardigan; Country Road
Handwarmers; Sportsgirl
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies in Dunsborough
Bag; Gucci
(New!!) Sunglasses; Ray Ban

News; I decided to join up to Wardrobe Refashion again, for another 4 months.  I may not do heaps of refashioning this time but I’ll be sewing my own (as usual), and staying away from shopping for readymade clothes…
Also I signed up for this: 

‘I, Carolyn (Handmade by Carolyn), sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-September. I endeavour to wear handmade and refashioned items of clothing and/or accessories and jewellery every day for the duration of September 2010’.

Should be fun!

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Going to the game

26/06/2010 5:29 am \ 2 Comments \

Once again, soccer Mum mode… today I lucked out, got myself a nice sheltered spot sitting in the sun and managed to knit continuously throughout the game; bonus!!  Yeah, I can finally knit without having to watch what my hands are doing and it’s wunderbar…
Our game was a draw so, m-yeah (shrug) better than a loss, no?  Now the weather is absolutely freeeezing I’m well into the knitting swing once again.  When I got dressed this morning we had just hit our minimum of 1C so I just threw on this blue-hued mishmash of garments and was out the door with a minimum of hemming and hawing half-dressed in front of the wardrobe…  Oh, I did at first have on some little black knitted handwarmers too, but I’ve taken them off here after warming up in the sun.
Can you believe it?  1C!!!!!  I can’t remember Perth ever being this cold before!  I have clear memories of when I was a teenager and hearing on the radio the minimum one morning was 5C and my friends and I thought we were dying…!  I’m kind of over winter already, my least favourite season; it’s too cold to sew much, or at least my way of sewing which involves lots of fitting to myself during construction, which necessarily involves undressing… brrrr! just can’t do it!
I’d much rather be curled up on a couch or in the sun with a pile of wool and a pussycat on my lap and a dog at my feet.
Can you tell I washed my hair today?  For many years I’ve washed my hair religiously every second day, and for the past month or so I’ve been experimenting with leaving it until the third day because I felt it was looking a little frizzy.  Later last night I took another look at yesterday’s blog photo (it was day 3 hair)  and felt mildly revolted at the sight of my hair.  If I hadn’t been so rushed yesterday I would have washed my hair and re-taken those damn photos!  Too late!  So I’ve made a decision; my hair is definitely two-day wash hair.

Details: 
Jacket; Simplicity 4698, navy blue raw silk
Top; Metalicus
Jeans; Soon
Scarf; souvenir from Paris
Boots; Mina Martini, from Marie Claire shoes

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