A Successful 2AM Dress

After Corey and I dragged ourselves home from a fire brigade 'do' at 2am this morning, (yes, we're complete nanas, that is very late for us...) I thought noooooo! I haven't taken photos of my dress in action! So here it is, in all it's 2am glory, (complete with plasters, hairbrush and cat's ass) and hence I'm not too concerned that you get a camera where my face should be, as it's probably not a pretty sight anyway. But you get the gist, I hope! Got quite a few lovely comments about it so successful outfit? Tick!

A Sewing Project

Today I've been working on a dress that I've had the fabric for, for nearly 12 months. You know those projects? Yeah, one of those. I'm hoping this is going to turn out a little more 'retro vintage' then 'Grandma's tablecloth', but either way, I'm excited to finally be making something that I feel will probably get worn, unlike so many of the other projects I undertake!

My problem with things like this is that there is no sewing pattern in the world (well, it would seem...) that I can make and not have to alter to my shape. Maybe I'm lucky with my curves or whatever, but I always have to take it in a mile at the smallest part of my waist, which usually makes the rest of it sit in a really odd way. It also then means constant trying on, pinning, taking in, trying on, pinning, taking in... which I get so sick of!

Things I'm Lovin' Lately...

Working on secret squirrel projects... more on those later!

Finally moving into our own place after 12 months (sorry Mum & Dad, I love you but space is good...!) which has the bonus of coming with a view like this! (That's Wellington harbour for those who might not know).

Getting all my stuff out of storage and surrounding myself with the things I love again!

Getting new dining chairs, woot!

This little jar of kaka feathers that my Dad collected just for me. Daawwww my Dad is the CUTEST!

Re-discovering drawings I did 2 years ago...

and drawings I did 20 years ago!

Feelin' proud as C trains and fundraises hard for the Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge in May, and having some fun coming up with t-shirt logos for the team. (Not that they got used, but still...!)

Getting my very own 'creating' room... there's my sewing machine, my computers, my printers, all my art supplies, my mannequin... yippeeeee! (That's all organised chaos people, don't judge!).

Lots of good vibes these last couple of weeks. What about you?

It's Time For A Joke

What do you get when you cross a ton of scraps of silk curtaining, polyester upholstery fabric, linen, cotton duck, flocked velvet, solution dyed acrylic, macrosuede, pocket woven satin, a forever tunelling, burrowing cat and a seamstress with zero patience and little tolerance for pinning, tacking or measuring?

A majorly twisted, crooked fabric delight for said cat to play in.

Aggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Quilt Ahoy!

Uh oh, I've well and truly turned a corner and fallen off the edge into the abyss that is madness. I'm going to attempt to make a quilt. Not a fan-dangled, fiddly, measured out, fat quarter thing - just some fabric scraps sewn together. But all this with my brain that jumps from project to project faster then I change my undies? Jeez. Sometimes I wonder why I set myself up for defeat. But honestly, blogging about it can only be the most likely way of giving me an incentive to see it through... holding myself accountable and all that stuff! Here goes...

Softie

With all the tragic events unfolding in Christchurch this week, I've felt so guilty about heading off to work each day and seemingly acting as if nothing has happened. I've been coming home each night and found myself fixated to the tv screen, watching horror after horror pass before me. It's the most awful feeling isn't it? Feeling helpless really sucks! So I decided that I would just attempt to do my part in a small way - and I've made a little softie for the 'Softies for Christchurch' appeal. She's a cute wee bunny, a nice and simple pattern that I got from here. I don't have the patience or skills like some of you talented crafters out there! But it's a little something anyway.

*Tee hee look at his massive fluffy tush! A little out of proportion but oh well!

A Tunic

   

I hate the word tunic, but I guess it kind of describes the loose fitting dress/top that I made last night.
I used the most basic of basic patterns to whip it up, and it's perfect for wearing over leggings which pretty much sums up my summer wardrobe mantra.

I love the subtle pattern on the fabric which you can see best when the light shines through it.
This piece of fabric came out of my 'stash' that was in storage - what a brilliant day that was when I rescued it from the garage!

Theirs & Mine

One of the upsides/downsides of being a poor, mega thrifty (stingy), creative type, is that I tend to look at everything I love and think, 'that's cool, but I don't want to pay fifty gajillion dollars for it, I bet I could make it for cheaper...'.

It's not that I don't appreciate other people's fantastic ideas, or the work that goes into producing them, but because I'm so used to not being able to afford any of the things I want, I seek to create my own version.

(Please note here, that I make sure I don't rip off and copy other people's designs only to swan around claiming them to be my own. 9 times out of 10 I'm talking about clothes I see in stores and quite generic items, all of which I keep for myself!)

So, here is my perfect example.

Theirs...

                            From Rocket St. George


Mine...

   

The Keeper of the Patterns

Still not a lot of creating going on around here, I'm just getting back into the groove of that thing called 'work'!
But I did go to have a scrounge through my mum's box of patterns this morning to find this. Look at that cute, fluffy face. My sister's cat should be 'the face' of 'My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes', she seriously tries to sleep in anything! So I left her to it - creating can wait a little longer.

Sewing Withdrawal

Everybody in blog land seems to be sewing up a storm lately - either whipping things up for competitions, or creating fabulous new pieces for their autumn or spring wardrobes.

I, have no sewing machine here, and I hate it.

I have a job interview on Monday so I am going to have to go and buy some new clothes to make it look like I haven't just spent the last 2 months dressed in my trackies, dragging logs in the bush, on my knees planting and landscaping, lugging timber planks round the yard, building fences, digging drainage holes... etc.

So usually most people would be stoked to have an excuse to buy new clothes, normally I am one, but all I really want is some fabric and a sewing machine to make my own creations. I'm in total, utter withdrawal. It's like an itch and I can't scratch it til I get my mits on a machine. Ugh!

Images from MissPrint via Designsponge.

Everything In Place

My parents are flying over from NZ next week to visit, so I thought I'd better make like a lady and whip up some placemats!

I used left over pieces of my IKEA fabric, (geez that turned out to be such a good buy), and I layered some tetron/dacron/wadding in between this and some semi-coordinating yellow cotton fabric for the backing. I topstitched around each edge, and then again 20mm in to make a neat border.

We used to make these all the time at esdesign many moons ago, not sure if they're still whipping them up, but I remember they sold well!

Got It Covered

Check out these cute notebook covers that I made from some of my IKEA fabric (see a few posts below). I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

I followed the tutorial on Craftblog.com.au, and tweaked it a little by putting iron on seam tape over the raw edges in the middle, top and bottom (pet peeve = raw finished edges). I've also been making wee animal silhouettes from some leather scraps that I have stashed away, so I made two deer and glued one on the front of the first cover, and one on the inside of the second, as the fabric is so busy on that one it really didn't need a poor deer lost in the forest!

The covers have pockets on the inside faces so are perfect for all those bits of paper you collect and need to hold on to. I made these to fit an A5 size diary, but you can make them to cover a book of absolutely any size. So sweet, and great pressie ideas!

What to do With You

New IKEA fabric for me... now let's see how long I leave this stowed somewhere until I think of the perfect use for it!

A Note to Kiwi Sewers and Stylists

Photo, fabrics and SQUAB from www.estherdiamond.com

A top tip for the day... Do NOT say the word 'squab' to an Australian. They will look at you as if you have just dropped in from another planet.

Amy Butler Patterns

Today became a magical day when I checked our mail box - inside was my recently ordered parcel of Amy Butler patterns. I have been so completely beside my self with excitement that I was finally getting around to ordering some, that I didn't stop to think that these are from America. Meaning they are in yards and inches- a thoroughly irritating and incomprehensive language. So, instead of acting surprised when I stash these in a corner and don't attempt to use them any time soon, I will pre empt it and suggest that it is super highly likely that this will happen. Until I muster up the time and patience to sit down with them and see if it's maybe not so bad after all. Watch this space, or... maybe not!

Rolled Hem Master on a Convertible Dress

Image from Runningwithheels.com

Yesterday I added a new string to my bow, by mastering the art of using a rolled hem foot on my sewing machine. OK, to some people this may not seem like such a great achievement but this is coming from the girl who basically sticks to regular straight stitch, and maybe if she's lucky the odd zig zag here and there. Button hole feet are a whole other game all together, so I am feeling quietly pleased with myself.

All this was in aid of helping my friend to make four bridesmaids dresses yesterday (yes four, in one day). They are actually really easy, and are based on the good old convertible dress/infinity dress that apparantly has been around since the 70's!? I was thinking I might put up a 'how to' for them on here... so let's see how I go with that!