Tag Archives: Skirt

B is for beach

10/12/2010 4:41 am \ 6 Comments \

This is my newest project; top “b” from the Japanese pattern book “Unique Clothes Any Way You Like” by Natsuno Hiraiwa.  It is designed to be worn both ways front and back however desired and has a button band up the centre of the front… or back, take your pick.  All the internal seams are finished with flat felled seams and the armhole edges are bound with self-fabric bias binding.  I’ve had this crisp-ish white cotton in my stash for a while, probably at least a year ulp, thinking it would come in handy for something or other one of these days and it finally has.  Yay! for using up a bit more stash!  
I really like the boxy, undefined shape of this top; the unfittedness of course being the factor allowing one to wear it either which way… but also making for a delightfully cool and breezy shirt to wear during the hot hotter and hottest days of summer.  The Fremantle Doctor can just sail right on through these big loose armholes to refresh and revitalise me on a scorcher.
Hehe, I know what you’re thinking and you can just stop right there;  just to explain, the Fremantle Doctor is the name given here to the afternoon sea breeze…  
An added bonus here is that this shape is gloriously trendy at the mo’, see the big boxy white top in the photo below from Celine Spring 2011?  Nice to think my sewing efforts are resulting in something super fashionable every now and again…  well, I try.
Now perhaps I just need to make myself a pair of loose floppy wheat-coloured linen pants in order to really nail this look right down to the ground…?
This is the fourth white shirt in my Great White Shirt project.

Details:
Top; “b” from “Unique Clothes Any Way You Like” by Natsuno Hiraiwa, white cotton
Skirt; Vogue 7303, raw silk
Sandals; Perrini, had for many many many years

Below at left, worn the other way around; at right, from Celine Spring/Summer 2011

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , , ,

Pinky pink.

08/12/2010 6:19 am \ 15 Comments \

It took me a while to settle on this outfit today.  I had originally planned to wear my brand new top, from the pattern I was tracing out yesterday (yes, it’s finished!!) but it was lacking the right buttons to finish it off completely.  I had sewn on two complete  and different sets of buttons from my button bag, and ultimately just felt dissatisfied with each set…  so I had to trek out to the fabric shop to locate the perfect buttons today.  And I was very good and only bought one other piece of fabric whilst I was there.  And it was from the remnants table, so I am, you know, doing my bit, helping out the fabric store in getting rid of unwanted fabric.  I’m doing a good deed.  Practically a community service.  Not a self-indulgent or unnecessary purchase at all (cough cough)
Also while there I purchased two patterns I’m pretty excited about for my autumn sewing plans… lookee below.  The jacket pattern is one I’ve read about on other sewing blogs and am keen to give this a go.  Apparently it contains details on reproducing couture construction techniques, so I’ll be following these carefully.  The only problem I’ve discovered in my experience with Vogue top and jacket patterns is that they seem to be set on a default fitting for quite big-busted women.  On me, an only slightly blousy top ends up looking like a deflated balloon and kind of ridiculous.  I find Burda patterns to fit beautifully with no adjustments required.  I don’t know if this says anything at all about the relative shapes of the average American versus European woman or not.  Japanese patterns fit me well too.  But I am determined to work very properly and meticulously with this one and make it a rip-roaring success…  Promise I won’t get bored and try to whip through so I can just move on!! (a recurrent failing…)
The gloves are a no brainer.  Yah, always looking for a new challenge, hehe…  Keep you posted on how these go…!!

Details:
Dress; Simplicity 3745, significantly modified, pink lace
Camisole (under); Country Road
Skirt; “m”, from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, by Natsuno Hiraiwa, apricot/grey linen mix
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs
Necklace; a gift from my friend K

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

An unappreciated skirt

01/12/2010 2:58 am \ 8 Comments \

Rummaging around in my wardrobe I came out with this skirt which has only been worn a mere handful of times; poor thing.  I was so pleased with it when I had finished it, so I’m not sure why I haven’t been reaching for it more often.  I think, even though I’ve been trying to work my way through the wardrobe evenly, I still stubbornly and faithfully go for the same old favourites.  I think we fall in a habit of wearing certain items.  You know, you reach for the “safe” clothes time and time again, even though they may be looking a little shabby and past their best, and you fail to notice some of the new-ish clothes that you haven’t quite worked out how to work into your ensembles yet… exhibit A; this skirt.  I’m going to ease it into circulation more.
Also these shoes, which I bought probably seven or eight years ago.  They are really cute, but I haven’t worn them in about three years.  I’d been looking for a new pair of flattish black shoes to fit my very strict shoe criteria.  This is an annoyingly vague rule; shoes absolutely must excite me with some sort of “it” factor that I can only recognise when I see it.  Also, preferably, to be manufactured in a country with ethical employment practices…  but my search was failing dismally.  Then I came across these tucked away at the back of the wardrobe.
Jackpot!!

Details:
Dress, worn under as petticoat; Burda 8071in embroidered cheesecloth, to see this styled in 6 different ways, go here
Skirt; drafted by me, made from leftover linen scraps from my husband’s shirts, here
Cardigan; Country Road
Scarf; made out of an old tanktop, here
Shoes; Jocomomola

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , , ,

Further from yesterday

28/11/2010 3:58 am \ 4 Comments \

Thankyou so much for your thoughts yesterday … and many of your comments resonated quite clearly with me and my own thinking on this subject; I also read a little bit more on Natalie’s findings and summary of her yearlong challenge here.  The bit about recognising the work of experts in their field (ie. shoemakers) and not trying to metaphorically reinvent the wheel, spoke to me.  I also had been feeling, like a lot of post-modernists, that I should be doing more for myself and making as much as I could… relying less on store-bought.  This is rooted in good intentions, but has limitations.  I can’t see myself attempting to make my own shoes or sunglasses, for example.  Is this a cop-out?  Well, no, because although I like to set myself challenges and rise to them, I do understand the findings of the makeshift project that some components of a project can be just so much wasted time for an amateur and that unnecessary self-imposed hardship could be viewed as just plain silly.  And just to clarify: I don’t view Natalie’s challenge as at all silly, on the contrary; I have enormous admiration for her achievement…
On the subject of challenges, well I have already committed myself to not buy any new clothing for myself, and I feel quite comfortable with that one, and actually not particularly challenged by this rule at all.  Thus my need to search for a new challenge?
I also feel that making new garments for myself, like basics such as Tshirts… when I have perfectly good ones already sitting in my drawers, is counterproductive.  So perhaps I’m just not ready for this particular challenge.  The notion of not allowing myself to wear certain items of clothing in my possession just because they happen to have been bought in a store, is not practical, and really doesn’t prove anything to anyone.
But I will continue to make my own clothes, and as the old store-boughts get to the stage of being consigned to the rag-bag, maybe I will be ready to do this challenge for myself.

But not the shoes!!

Details:
Skirt; my own design, based upon a basic three (six?) gore pattern Butterick 3134, printed polyester chiffon
Top; Tbox
Hat; Country Road
Tongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs
Sunnies; RayBan

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , ,

Thoughts on coat-hangers

26/11/2010 5:15 am \ 12 Comments \
A smocked dress for a coat-hanger…?
A friend was telling me recently about a local woman whose business is to come out and assesses one’s wardrobe.  Yes, apparently there are some women out there who do not do this simple and very personal task for themselves… but I digress… this lady visits you in your own home and helps you go through your wardrobe and decides for you what does and doesn’t suit you; sorts out what to keep and what to cull and “enables” you to fill gaps in your wardrobe (translation; goes shopping with you to spend even more of your money)
The particular lady we were discussing has a firm belief that one’s coat-hangers must be all matching, and definitely not the old wire variety either.  She recommends white and plastic.  She tosses out every single coat-hanger you own that doesn’t conform to this strict rule and makes you buy all new identical white plastic coat hangers … apparently one simply cannot be a well dressed woman if one’s coat-hangers do not match… I know, how ridiculous.  Some of my most treasured possessions are the coat-hangers that have crocheted, smocked, knitted (or whatever) covers; made by my great-aunties and great grandmothers who are now gone…
And not only are these a sentimental memento of my female role model relatives, but they make the best, bar none, hangers for delicate slippery tops and dresses…
I have covered only one coat-hanger to pass on to my daughter… this is it.  So while it makes me cringe a bit to look at it, hopefully she might feel some nostalgic attachment to it some day.
Disclaimer: as well as my inherited hand-crafted beauties, the rest of my coat-hanger collection is a veritable zoo of different varieties, including lots of old wire-ys…
Below; a daily outfit photo.  Looking back over my blog; the days over the past year that are clearest to me are the days in which I have a photo of myself.  Seeing me in that day’s outfit really helps jog my memory of the events of the day and my feelings…  So if I get the time to take a photo, I am going to put one in.
(On another note; I was surprised yesterday at the number of (albeit nicely worded) comments telling me I was just showing off.  I didn’t think I was showing off, just trying something different.  And seriously I’ve heard of ladies in their eighties who can still do hand-stands.  I really admire those ladies who don’t let age get in the way of their fitness routine, or anything else in their lives for that matter, and would like to hope I could be one of those ladies)
Details:
Skirt; Vogue 7303, cotton velveteen
Top; Aztec Rose, from an op shop
Cardigan; Country Road

Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Design

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , ,

Eating humble pie…

22/11/2010 4:17 am \ 10 Comments \

Yah, OK, so I went to the vintage fair.  And it was pretty cool.
What can I say, the last post I wrote I was still feeling grumpy and unsociable, heat waves have that effect on me.  Sunday brought a breeze and a divinely cool change; refreshing and invigorating to mind, body and spirit, so we felt inclined to get off our butts and DO SOMETHING!!  yeah!  As our Canadian friends here say, get yerselves oot and aboot!
So I enjoyed it. 
One thing I found interesting on browsing and checking out the inside of garments is how a lot of “real” vintage evening wear  from the late 40’s and early 50’s was made of nylon, rayon, polyester etc, as at the time these were often considered superior to natural fibres.  An interestingly different view to the one we hold now… And how horrible the zips often are in these garments, big and clunky and obvious.  Ahhh, the blessings of the modern invisible zip.  We’ve come a long way in some areas, that’s for sure.
I got a Glomesh bag!  I do have one already that my parents gave me for a birthday present, sometime in my teen years when you could actually buy them new, hmmm, showing my age there!  My original one is beige, and in perfect condition, of course!  The one I picked up yesterday is a teensy bit tarnished, but in pretty good nick overall, and anyhow, I really wanted a gold one.  I also bought a set of cake forks, which we needed, for only a dollar more than an almost identical set I bought a few months ago in a real op shop; and this great Charles and Di Wedding commemorative mug.  My husband didn’t “get” this last purchase, cries of omg, Carolyn, how tacky can you get?!!, but hey, I think enough time has passed that this sort of memorabilia is no longer tacky tacky but an interesting relic and symbolic to all of us of… something indefinably 80’s…  anyway I can see the irony.  And I’m looking forward to people’s reaction when I serve them a cuppa in this…

Details:
Skirt; skirt “d”, from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, by Natsuno Hiraiwa, silver/grey crepe
Top; Aura
Belt; made by me, see here
Sandals; Anna, from MarieClaire shoes
Bag; Glomesh

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , ,

In which Sienna has a bad hair day…

18/11/2010 9:01 am \ 14 Comments \

We are having a mini heat-wave.  35C yesterday, 36C today and forecast 37C tomorrow…  (roughly 95F, 97F and 99F respectively)  I’m nervous about summer.  Yup, not even summer yet, and already we’re cookin’.  Not to mention the dog… all that fur… poor poppet.  So a few days ago, when the hot hot hot days starting appearing up ahead on the weather report I rang our neighbourhood dog groomer.
Oh, yes Sienna, one of my favourites!” she chirped.  “now let me see, when can I fit Sienna in… hmmm (sounds of multiple pages flicking… flicking…flicking) the earliest I have is the thirteenth of January.”
Stunned pause. 
“Oh.” Gulp.  “Oh, yes, please book us in”
Since when has it been harder to have one’s dog clipped than one’s own hair, for heaven’s sake?  Though I’m obviously a bit dense, because I now recall it was the same story last year and still I haven’t learnt about the importance of getting in way early…  I’m telling you, looking for extra summertime income? get some clippers and put yourself out there grooming dogs.  Around here at least, HUGE demand…  
But in the meantime, Sienna is already panting and falling back on our morning constitutionals so immediate action is required.  I’ve never clipped a dog before but am always up for a challenge and my overly-confident, can-do brain assured me seriously, how hard could this be?  Armed myself with a medium sized pair of scissors (a mistake… now have blisters) and set to work.  Like, hours later, simply smothered in dog fur (a daily outfit pic from yesterday would have been hilariously un-glamourous) and with a whole cushion sized bag of new blonde clippings in the bin, and below is pictured the newly coiffured Sienna.  (here is the before-Sienna) You know the old saying from schooldays when someone had a haircut “Lost a fight with the lawnmower?” well in all honesty the poor pet looks a bit this way.  Today my daughter’s boyfriend stopped in his tracks, staring incredulously before inquiring “what happened to the dog?”
But hey, I did the best I could do.  She was a very very good dog, lying so patiently while her inept mistress snipped snipped snipped away laboriously…  There are no nicks.  And there’s no doubt she is a heaps livelier and happier dog with a renewed spring in her step.

Details:
Top; my own design, refashioned old pair of 3/4 linen pants seen first here
Skirt; Vogue 7303, lime printed cotton
Sandals; Anna, from MarieClaire shoes
Hat; Country Road
Sunnies; RayBan

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , , ,

A burdensome expectation…

11/11/2010 7:03 am \ 16 Comments \

Since I stopped buying any new readymade clothes I am finding it easier and easier to dress completely self-stitched on a regular basis, as some of my older store-bought clothes are starting to bite the dust.  I’ve always found it difficult to throw out store-bought clothes.  Ironically, a garment I’ve made myself is far easier for me to toss out, because I can see all its faults and my inner perfectionist will judge it harshly for not exactly fitting my vision at the time of making it.  I look at some old thing I made years ago and see how tacky and “homemade” it looks (all seamstresses know the vast vast difference between the “handmade” and “homemade” look, I don’t need to go into that now, do I?) whereas a garment I’ve bought readymade I just accept happily for what it is.
Now on a similar train-of-thought, and I’d like to know if any other self-seamstresses ever get this too… since I’m known for making my own clothes I’m often queried by people as to whether or not I’ve made what I am wearing that day… and if on occasion I have to respond, “oh, not this, I actually bought this”; I’m not kidding, people will go, “oh”, all disappointed, and change the subject, moving right along, and seriously, I feel like I’m letting people down.  I feel like a failure, because I’m wearing something I didn’t make… oh dear, just not up to scratch today, hmmm? …  Is this ridiculous or what?!
Now tell me whether I’m alone here, or am I being too sensitive?  Does anyone else get this reaction from others when they wear store-bought clothes?

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767, first seen here (borrowed from my son, he’s OK with it) turquoise striped cotton
Skirt; Vogue 7303, ivory wool blend
Coat; my own adaption of Burda 7786, beige cotton
Belt; had since teenager years
Booties; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , , , ,
Switch to mobile version
↓