Thursday 31 May 2012

Autumnal florals

The sneak peak dress is here! This is the fabric I picked up at the Love Vintage show a couple of weeks ago.


(I am not wearing flats. Lousy heels sinking into wet ground.)
 
  

The pattern is Vogue 8766, view F. Alterations: sleeves. The sleeves are simple 3/4 sleeves with 3 little darts at the shoulder. I didn't know why they would have darts instead of the usual gathering stitch/seam/thing when I noticed the suggested fabrics for this dress are very delicate, lace, eyelet cotton, etc. Even so, I don't see why you would put darts in such light fabrics. Surely a gathering stitch would be easier? Anyway, I did the stupid darts and they look fine. (You can see them in the sneak peak picture actually.)

  

I altered the length of the sleeve, and made them slightly less BORING by widening them, then gathering them into a little cuff. Cap or little puff sleeves suit me way more than any other sleeve type. And they show off tattoos very well too!


My favourite thing about this dress? The skirt. It's a full circle skirt, and longer than I usually make. It hangs beautifully, and of course, flares out even more beautifully.

  

  

My second favourite thing about this dress is that it needs no alteration around the body. I cut it out in size 12, put it together, and it fits perfectly. EXCELLENT.

  

I wore it with my green coat (forgot to get any pics of me wearing it today though, dammit!) and some appropriate baubles: a 70's pendant and little white flower ring that kind of matches.

Clearly interrupting madam's dinner time, how DARE I?? 
 
  

  

Insert witty sign-off here!
 

Molly's first encounter with balloons


She was very curious and kind of playing with them until I blew up FORTY FIVE of the frigging things & covered the hallway floor. That kind of freaked her out.
 


Yes, she's had a haircut. Now she is tiny with a round head, small boots and a large puff on the end of her tail. So cute!


Tuesday 29 May 2012

Day of the Dead decorations

On Friday my Beloved and I finally got around to decorating the one room of our house which had remained untouched for the past 18-odd months. Three suitcases of STUFF were finally hauled off the shelf and thrown open. Here is the resulting glory.

This is the first thing anyone will see when they walk in the front door. The Blood Cafe sign is a Spotlight Halloween decoration. The skulls thing is actually a chest of drawers, and the monster is a puppet/muppet made by my Other Half. You can put your hand in it and make it talk and everything! It's called Snout.


Our house is a big 1930's number with 2 living rooms. This room is the larger of the two.


 That blue glowy thing in the corner is this sign


 Here are some larger pics. We have a lot of Day of the Dead stuff because my Other Half has spent years collecting it bit by bit.


 

 




Another muppet, and some gorgeous paneled fabric actually from Mexico (thank you, Ebay). There is also one of those massive Mexican hats hiding just off to the left.


How cool are these lanterns? Also a Halloween decoration from Spotlight. 


So there you go. I won't be doing any more house/decorating posts, I just wanted to share all this cool stuff.

Sunday 27 May 2012

Sneak peak

I've been sewing this dress for about 7 hours today and I'm so square-eyed now, I don't have the brain power to pose for a photo shoot. I'll be wearing this some time during the week though, so stay tuned!


Also, I've noticed I've got over 30 followers now! I really didn't think I'd get so much interest! So I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's been following & reading my blog and been kind enough to leave me comments. My body confidence has really had a boost from all the compliments I've received here. I can't tell you how much they mean to me. 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! xx
 

Thursday 24 May 2012

Time to pretty up my feet

I was going to do some kind of post about these shoes I found in some op shops recently when I realised the most exciting thing about the photos are my tights.






The shoes are nice but they're all black. Boring. Double boring! So I've decided I need some colour on my feet. These are all from ModCloth (and cheap!)


I LOVE this colour.


Leopard! *gasps*
  


  

I don't have any green shoes. None! What a crime! A lime crime! 
  

And these are available on Ebay and everywhere else (images from Pleaser USA)


  

So which to choose?? Ok, so a couple of them are mainly black. Currently (as in the last five minutes) I'm leaning towards the massive teal heels and the leopard almost-flats. Or the last pair.

What do you think of my now-boring op-shopped shoes?

Sunday 20 May 2012

Foxy Lady

Yesterday I went to the Melbourne Love Vintage show. It was like Chapel St Bazaar on steroids. I would have taken photos, except of course when I got there, I discovered my camera battery was about to die. Clever. Anyway, I intended to go along and hopefully pick up a few reasonably priced items, which is precisely what happened.

This is my entire haul.

  

I've been looking for this book ever since HRF recommended it to me some time ago. Until yesterday I've only found it online, overseas, and rather expensive. It was way cheaper at the show. I really, really want to be able to do that style on the front cover. To myself. I have never been able to put even a semi-decent victory roll on my head. Until now, I hope.
 
  

The fabric was the first, and heaviest, thing I bought. The brown cotton is circa 70's and very light. The red stuff is era-unspecified and I think it's a wool blend of some kind. It's thick and warm and there's heaps of it so I can make pretty much whatever I want from it. I'm thinking 70's flares and/or a long sleeved dress for winter.


And then there's this.

My fox fur.

  

AKA my dream come true.

I really like fur. I really don't like inhumane treatment of animals and I think it's quite possible to kill them quickly and painlessly. Having said that (and that's all I'll say) I have nothing against vintage fur at all. And fox fur is my absolute favourite. It's soft. It's fluffy. It's divine. 

Gratuitous fur photos.


 


I've been after a fox coat for ages now. It's been hard to find one that fits, in good condition, for a good price. I'm glad I got this one because about 30 seconds after I bought it, I saw another one for waaaay more than I paid. Ha ha.

Hello gorgeous.
 
 

Oh, there you are.
  

Oh, wait! You're over there.
 


I hope everyone had a happy furry weekend xxx
 

Friday 18 May 2012

The go-to dress

This is the dress I wear when all else fails. When I have a serious fashion dilemma at night figuring out what to wear the next day, or when I put on a chosen outfit in the morning only to instantly hate it.


It's basically a long t-shirt, short sleeved, with a little ruffle around the bottom. It's comfy, it goes with pretty much anything, it always works.

 

It's super short, so I have to wear it with leggings. Tights do not cut it. I like the way the little ruffle sits around my bottom. I think it makes it look kind of perky!
 
 

 
 
 
 
  

Possibly I am doing some kind of jig here?

  

Dress - opshop
Cardi - Ezibuy
Leggings - Wyse
Boots - somewhere in Berlin
Gold ring & pendant - handed down from my mother.
Scarf - no idea/retail.