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See? I'm alive!

I just realised it's been almost a week since I posted anything and I've been generally absent from commenting on all the blogs I follow... various reasons apply, which I won't waste time whinging about! Get on with it! (she said to herself)

I also haven't done any sewing but I do have some good news - I have a 4 DAY weekend coming up and I plan to spend much of it sleeping and sewing and celebrating my Beloved's birthday.

I will hopefully finish this coat I've had going foreverrrrrrrr now:

 

The pattern is Butterick 5569 and I'm making the mid-length version in (surprise!) furry leopard print. (Or it might be cheetah?)

  

I also have a new bag design to try out. I've had 3 handbags this year so far (all retail) and each has broken in a different way. So I must make one! I can't show the design here because it's still in my head, but I can show off the 1940's polished cotton I'll be using:

 

 

It's very soft and thin, so it needs some serious lining. I've only been wondering what to do with it for about 2 years now.

Finally - speaking of birthdays - The Countdown is ON. It's just one month til my own birthday, and it's worthy of a countdown because it's the big 3-0 this year. Yikes! It's like I'll be a Real Adult or something. So the next month will be peppered with posts about the dress, shoes, cake, theme, and suchlike (because there WILL be a theme! With costumes!)

For now, here are the shoes I plan on buying:

 

Full costume reveal still to come! (As well as actual sewing posts.)

Oh! And speaking of shoes! I finally made a decision about which pretty items to buy for my feet. I can't wait til they get here! And I have some awesome boots to show off tomorrow. Whew!

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!

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.

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

 

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?

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