60s Dress Update - Ivy's Sunshiney Yellow Number

Our challenge with Ivy's dress was:
a) make a summer dress that is big enough to fit her next summer but doesnt swim on her.
b) make something she will look adorable in.

Well (b) wasnt a challenge at all I really dont think it would matter what she wore, she always looks adorable.
I used a gorgeous sunshine yellow linen and lined it with a yellow voile, and used the cute 60s daisy trim that I've had for ages. So here is her dress mid construction, from the fabulous window at Studio 22 (ie what used to be our dining room):



And here she is looking exquisite:

60s Dresses Update - Nicole's Dress

Snizz found a gorgeous Alexander Henry fabric online but could only get 1m. So our first challenge was to make a dress with limited fabric. Bring in the denim! I jotted down a few ideas while on the train to Sydney (great time to jot things down by the way) and this is what I came up with:



Our choice was unanimous and it was time to GET BUSY:



My first experiment using silver metallic thread that I picked up at spotlight proved successful. This little detail really made the dress I reckon. But I am a huge textile nerd so others may not agree.

60s Dress Update - The Mondrian

It took a while to work out how to tackle this one, but eventually after many scribbles I got the courage to take a pair of scissors to the fabric:




Then I thought I'd be really clever stitching on the last black stripe to hide any bits where things didnt line up properly. Great plan, until, while ironing inside out, I saw what I thought were leftover basting stitches and UNPICKED them. I was infact unpicking my delicate hand stitching, and didnt realise until I put my dress on before the party. OOPS.

Easter Project

Well I have to hand it to myself I know how to give myself a huge amount of work to do in a short time! Its all good though, I could think of nothing lovelier than burying myself in sewing for four consecutive days! Next weekend is my folk's 40th wedding anniversary and we are throwing a 60s themed partay. Project No. 1 is an attempt to recreate Yves Saint Laurent's Mondrian Dress from the 60s....I just love this! But because my body is not exactly the same as TWIGGY's I might have to modify where a few of the seams go. Anyway I think I have my head around how to tackle it. Time to get busy! Then I can tackle two more dresses: one for my spunky little niece Ivy and my sweet sista-in-law, Snizza. Ready? I am!!

Wilma and Daisy

I really need to find a better way to photograph these little friends. And a faster way to make them. This was my first wonky experiment using Amy Butler fabric. I love the Lotus design (ie cream and red floral)....perfect wonky legs. And ears!

Wonky Production Underway Again

These little furry friends seem to sell like hotcakes in Peta's shop. Before I know it stocks are low and its time to get busy again. They are one of my favourite things to design, and I have some ideas percolating of how to utilize Spoonflower's custom fabric service to print fun things on Wonky limbs. For now though, I'll have to focus on using fabric from my gigantic existing stash...

Blue Rooms Complete

Nothing crafty happened this weekend. Highly unusual for me. But there was a good reason: deciding to not sell my house caused a flurry of inspiration to finish painting my living room. The walls were a nasty hangover from the previous owners, covered in a paint colour that I can only describe as "hint of nicotine". It didnt take too much effort to decide what colour to paint the wall. I only had about 42 swatches of the same blue, guess every time I went to Bunnings I picked out an inspirational colour, and 9 times out of 10 I picked out this shade. I love it.