Uncategorized Archives - Page 160 of 177

Leda and the Swan

24/02/2010 3:09 am \ 6 Comments \ Carolyn

What to wear when the forecast is for 38C, and your daughter requests that you both ride your bikes into the city to take photos of buildings for an architectural assignment?
Precisely. After a hot exhausting bike ride you’re probably not going to look glamorous for your photo opportunity. See below exhibit A, and please excuse the crumpled and bedraggled state of the model.
I know, I know, white lace again, but I needed something cool, loose and comfortable and this fitted the bill perfectly.
I’ll keep this shirt until it falls apart, I think. Even then I’ll be inventing ways of patching it up so I can still wear it… It was just made out of quilting cotton, about 3 years ago, as a kind of experiment, and it has been such a winner. It’s so comfy, and I like to think it looks kinda nice, too… I used New Look 6483 as a basic T-shirt, but added plenty of my own design variations. I experimented with pintucking, puffy sleeves, and inserting panels of crotcheted lace for a Victorian-inspired look.
And my little white shorts, from Burda 7723, a great easy pattern. I’ve made up this pattern once more and flared and lengthened the legs a little and I preferred that look. These have been indispensable in my summer wardrobe.

Details:
Top; my own design, based on NewLook 6483, cream cotton and crotched lace inserts
Shorts; Burda 7723, white linen
Bag; made by my Mum

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7723, Fabulous fabrics, New Look 6483, shorts, Spotlight, top

Reptilia; a trend

23/02/2010 2:23 am \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

The last time I went into Spotlight my eye was caught by this:

Python print satin, well I got so excited and just had to buy some. This sort of fabric is pretty much not my usual cup of tea at all. Even my husband, on spotting it (ha ha) said, “That’s not like you”. (Amazing that he should even notice the fabric I’m buying, for one; impressive, no?)

I think I’m getting caught up in the zeitgeist of fashion.

Does anyone remember these beauties? Last year Prada sent these divine dresses down the catwalk, and if python print was available that season I would have definitely been buying some, for sure. Prada has always been ahead of her time, a barometer for a future trend. She’s a master at sending out looks that seem to catch up with the rest of us a few years later on, and it seems this collection was no exception.

Photos from Prada Spring/Summer 09

In my latest Vogue magazine imagine my excitement to see this, and this…

(from Bally)

Even Alexander McQueen, in what was sadly to be his last collection went all scaly-armoured. Get a load of this, written by Sarah Mower for www.style.com

“Then the models came out, dressed in short, reptile-patterned, digitally printed dresses, their gangly legs sunk in grotesque shoes that looked like the armored heads of a fantastical breed of antediluvian sea monster. McQueen, according to an internal logic detailed in a press release, was casting an apocalyptic forecast of the future ecological meltdown of the world: Humankind is made up of creatures that evolved from the sea, and we may be heading back to an underwater future as the ice cap dissolves.”

Wow. I wish I had that gift with words. Instead I just have to let the picture do the talking…

Photo at left from Alexander McQueen, Spring/Summer 10

So, is my wardrobe going to become futuristic, fantastical and reptilian? Well not completely, but I may be injecting into it just a little taste of this trend for autumn/winter…

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Spotlight, trends

Gunmetal blue trousers, 6 different ways

22/02/2010 1:57 am \ 10 Comments \ Carolyn

I thought it was time for another 6-way profile of an item of clothing in my wardrobe. These are fun for me to do, shopping in my wardrobe and stretching my imagination, blasting away any preconceived ideas I’ve got about how to wear a certain garment. This time I’ve chosen to showcase my gunmetal blue linen trousers, from Burda 7944. Of course there is only one way to wear trousers, you can only vary the tops you’re wearing with it. However linen is such a great fibre, cool and airy enough for summer, and these pants are loose enough that I can envisage wearing thermals underneath when the weather gets colder. So I think I’ll be able to stretch them out into my winter wardrobe also.
Burda 7944 is a great menswear inspired shape, something like the look Katharine Hepburn originally pioneered in the 40’s. It does use a lot of fabric, because the legs are so wide, and require extra length for the cuff at the bottom, but it results in such a great look. I’ve always loved the menswear look on women, and I’ve even borrowed my husband’s linen shirt I made him for one of these looks!
For today I’ve styled it first for a casual look, for both summer and winter:

And for a slightly more dressy look, say if one is going to meet friends in town for an outing, summer and winter:

And finally a little more formal, for an evening do, both for summer and for winter:

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, Burda 7944, Fabulous fabrics, pants, Sienna

Eco-friendly gift wrapping

21/02/2010 1:50 am \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

This isn’t a new idea, but is one I’m adopting from now on.

Recycle old cereal boxes into gift bags, by covering them with newspaper. So easy, and quite attractive, as long as you use nice-looking pages. I recommend you avoid ones with items dealing with tragedy and disaster… nobody want to look at their gift and be confronted with “Con man fleeces pensioners for millions” or an expose of a corrupt local policeman…etc
The above one, with car sales, would be good for a boy( er, apart from the flower, well I was just trying to pretty it up for the picture….) The comics pages and crossword pages would be good to use for this idea. too If you do have access to discarded foreign language newspapers, all the better as these add an exotic air to the gift box.
Gift wrap is so…extravagant, don’t you think? In terms of waste, as well as cost. And most cereals come in a plastic bag within the box, so it’s not as though the box is dirty when you’ve finished with it.
(Disclaimer; some “giftees” may find this a tacky concept. Yeah, seems crazy, but some people may not appreciate the planet-saving motives behind this idea …. You’ve been warned)

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: handcrafts

Carpet of flowers

20/02/2010 1:59 am \ 6 Comments \ Carolyn

Felt like going a bit flowery and feminine today. We have this beautiful long row of pink hibiscus near our house so for my photo I rushed over to advantage of the local colour, so to speak… I love hibiscus for their showy and yet elegant flowers, and their soft very feminine colours. I only wish one could cut their flowers; imagine a huge armful in an old-fashioned cut crystal vase on the sideboard. It would be so nice, but hibiscus are notorious for their bad behaviour once cut, they close up immediately and refuse to come out to play, one imagines they are sulking from being cut off from their bush…
I made this dress at the beginning of last spring, using Vogue 7748 as a basic wrap dress pattern but adding my own design details, for more technical information see here…
The flower pin in my hair I made myself; it is just one of those silk flowers on a stalk from Spotlight, with the stalk cut off and the flower superglued onto a bobby pin.
My husband is working all today so I’m off to morning tea with a friend, doing girly type stuff like window shopping and looking at nurseries, thus my frilly floral ensemble…. Its nice to feel like a real girl every once in a while.

Details:
Dress; my own variations on Vogue 7748, floral polyester chiffon
Shoes; Micam by Joanne Mercer, Hobbs
Hair pin; made from a silk flower
Nail varnish; own mix of BYS Mint Condition and French White

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: dress, Fabulous fabrics, own design, Spotlight, Vogue 7748

Turquoise pencil skirt

19/02/2010 6:07 am \ 8 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made this skirt for my autumn wardrobe, but thought dang it! I’m wearing it today. Well, with a temp of 30C it’s finally cool enough to wear something like this, and I thought, what the hey, I’m going to the beach! I was hoping the sand was cooler so there won’t be so much danger of burning one’s toes. And I was right. It was gorgeous at the beach, and I had a swim after taking my photos.
Instead of turning to my tried and true Vogue 7303 I plucked out a different pattern from my collection, a real oldie, this one dating back from my teenage years, I think. It’s Vogue 1023, no doubt out of print by now. I’m vaguely certain my mother made the long version of this for me to wear for my school concert band formal dress… Anyhoo, decided from the cover illustrations to make version C, took out all the pattern pieces and was quite disappointed to find the pocket piece and the waistband piece were missing… not devastating enough that I couldn’t work these out for myself, but a little sad to see it wasn’t intact any more…
I selected this fabric for its colour, I really wanted some punch for autumn. (Please note I’m trying to inject a little colour in my wardrobe!)
I love it. Not feeling quite brave enough to pair with other bright colours yet and playing it safe today with a white shirt, but I’m sure I’ll get over that…

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1023 view C, shortened, turquoise polycotton
Top; New Look 6252, white seersucker
Necklace; from the surf shop on Rottnest Island
Nail varnish; own mix of BYS Mint Condition and French White

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fabulous fabrics, New Look 6252, skirt, top, Vogue 1023

Fabric stores now off limits…

18/02/2010 4:13 am \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

OK. Yesterday I mentioned buying new fabric online and promised pictures today. Well. I took a picture of the linen I got from Fabrics-store (my husband’s shirt from yesterday is on the top):

I also got some Kaffe Fassett shot cotton from purlsoho, because I’ve seen this cotton in the flesh (cloth?) at Calico and Ivy so know for a fact how gorgeous it is, and it was so cheap compared to Calico and Ivy…!

Pretty excited about that fabric.
Then I remembered my fabrics bought at the post-Christmas sales at Fabulous fabrics. I’ve made up most of it in preparation for my autumn wardrobe, but I also made a few whimsical purchases with no definite projects in mind, this is what’s left…

Even since my post-Christmas shopping spree I’ve also made a few random fabric purchases from both Fabulous Fabrics and the Spotlight sale for winter…

I also have this monstrous looking bag of possible re-fashions. It’s presently coming in handy for propping open my laundry door and stopping it from slamming shut when the sea breeze makes its welcome appearance. So it’s er, useful, of sorts? oh I’m just kidding myself, just looking at it fills me with guilt…

All of this fabric is starting to weigh heavily on my mind. I think perhaps I should just admit defeat with some of the refashions bag and just donate it to the op-shop. And, new rule, I simply CANNOT buy any more fabric until I’ve used all of this up. Sure, I’m working through slowly but surely, but still… from now on I’m not to even enter a fabric store, except to buy zips, buttons and other essential haberdashery, but ONLY to finish off stuff, and must not get distracted by any gorgeous new fabrics that will catch my eye and send me into a planning, designing frenzy…
Oh, and to tempt and torture me, fabrics-store sent me this swatch card of their available linen colours:

How yummy is that? All but a few of these colours I think would look great in my wardrobe and would suit me…. sigh.
Oh, and something I’m very excited about getting in the mail a few days ago:

I ordered this a few weeks ago after reading about it on several of my favourite blogs. I’m planning to work my way systematically through the patterns. It’s mostly in Japanese, so will be quite a challenge, but the illustrations are quite clear so I think I’ll cope. Stay tuned…

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: fabrics-store.com, Fabulous fabrics, purlsoho, Spotlight

Menswear, linen shirt no. 2

17/02/2010 3:05 am \ 8 Comments \ Carolyn

I made my husband another shirt!
The fabric; well I got brave, and in a first for me bought some fabric online. I felt quite strange about this as I have never bought fabric without feeling the weight and thickness of it for myself, but I’m pretty happy about my purchases. In fact I’ve bought quite a bit, post pictures tomorrow…
I used Burda 7767, the same as for his last shirt here, with a few minor adjustments. For fitting considerations I curved the side seams a little for a better fit and increased the body and sleeve width at the underarm. For design considerations I curved the corners of the pocket and cuffs, added a pocket flap, and topstitched with narrow double stitching. I used black thread throughout for a contrasting look, and for the topstitching. What can I say, I really like contrasting topstitching! Maybe next time I’ll make him a shirt with matching topstitching … hmm, maybe not. I don’t think I could resist putting my own little spin on any of the stuff I make..
I was a bit more careful with the topstitching of the sleeve plackets this time and I think the finish is pretty good if I say so myself….;D! I bought little shiny black buttons to finish it off.
I really love this rich port-wine colour on him, I think it really suits him and it goes beautifully with his stone coloured linen pants, with a black belt.
(In case anyone’s curious, he requested that his head be cropped out of the photo! I thought he looked quite handsome and is too sensitive but I can sympathise as I very often contemplate doing same to my photos too…)