On the mannequin

The other little project from the weekend.

Some of you may be horrified that I pulled this poor dress apart and re-cut it, but honestly, it was in a sorry state when I picked up from The Costume Cave about 4 years ago when they had a massive sale of their collection. The lining and some sort of over skirt had been hacked off (bits of it remained), it had been dyed black (originally lemony yellow, judging by the stitching) and frankly, it was shapeless and ugly.

Doesn’t it look so much happier? And I received many compliments when I wore it.

I was going to make my own frogs closures, then saw the ones I’ve used in Wellington Sewing Services so decided to save myself the trouble.

Weekend project

Here it is. Imitation bone buttons from Wellington Sewing Services in Kilbirnie. In my opinion they have the best range of haberdashery in Wellington, and the ladies are lovely and helpful.

Now all I need is for it to rain. Apart from the odd minute of drizzle here and there, it hasn’t rained in Wellington for more than 3 months. My yard is straw-coloured, with patches of bare earth, but I've had a bumper crop of tomatoes!

A walk in the park

Today it’s was finally warm enough to lose the cardigan during my lunchtime walk through the park.

Roll on summer - its been a long time coming this year.

And I’m looking forward to being able to wear this again - a true summer frock, made at the beginning of the year but sadly only worn once or twice before summer end.

WOW!

www.worldofwearableart.com

Congratulations to my friend, Hayley May who together with Fiona Christie won the Gen - i Creative Excellence Section at the World of Wearable Arts 2009 with this little number entitled "Second Skin". They were also runner up to the Supreme Award.

Whip it up

A top I whipped up out of some merino scraps in the weekend. Needed something to wear under the jacket.

On the mannequin

Remember the blue lace inset I was stitching together? Check out the back of the top.

It took a while to finish. I made the pattern too large, got feed-up after trying it on for the first time and didn’t look at it again until the big wet. But it was worth finishing - it’s a gorgeous blue and drapes beautifully.

Another remake

The jacket was made as a 14 year old in high school. I recovered it from a suitcase, let all the seams out and following the advice of a tutor from design school “made a feature of a mistake”. Originally I hadn’t placed the buttonholes close enough to the centre front, so I’ve re-cut them and covered them with decorative looped piping.

Couldn’t help myself - had to make another kanzashi flower.


SunnyJim bought a couple of pairs of trousers in the Marvel menswear sale, so I have some hemming to do in the next few days.

On the mannequin this week...

... well, not quite.
Piecing together lace I dyed to make an inset for a merino wool tunic.
Watch this space.

On the mannequin

Blaming it on the recession, but I’ve definitely noticed there is less disposable income this year in my purse. So I’ve been getting creative. This week on the mannequin is a dress I’m making from an old wool suit of my mothers. I found this great online tutorial to make the kanzashi flowers.