Kittys Drawings

Hi All!

The Drawing Salon this week was all about legs and learning how to use paint markers – or whatever they’re called – those Copic pens.  I bought 5 off eBay which arrived just in time. A grey, a skin tone, a colourless blender and two more contrasting shades, a pink and a green.

Legs are really fun to draw because you can make them so shapely. We practiced first on some bleed-proof paper.

Then onto the main drawing – A fairly tricky pose, especially with the sneaky addition of those hands. And the way the leg twists is an awkward one to capture.

I really got into it though, and I’m loving using natural media again. The pens are interesting – they behaved very differently on the two papers. The blender will take a bit of learning too. I also used Derwent watercolour pencils, which when mixed with the pens can give a lot of flexibility with colour mixing and textures. Lots to explore there!
Some detail…

Annnnd thats all for now. On the weekend I will be heading to the Love Vintage fair – most likely on Sunday so if you see me – say Hi! Other plans are a secret for now but I may have some cool pics for you next week. And if I get a chance, I will photograph the latest dress I finished. The coat is being worked on – I’ve underlined it now with my silk organza. When I start putting some seams together, I might even be able to show you.

Anyways, time to go!
Ciao!

Hi Guys!
EEP – I am really behind on blog stuff! Lots of things I can’t even show you. And little time to take pics of what I can show.

Here’s another item from my wardrobe for the meantime….

I bought this dress from Small Earth Vintage quite a while ago now. It came from the estate of a lady who was a bit of a fashion fiend and she just so happened to be right about my size…at least, the same height and waist measurement. Her bust was bigger, so I’ve taken this in a bit to fit better there. I also have another dress from her collection as well as a shirt or two (I think). It’s from the 50′s by the way…..as if you can’t tell

(look at Boofy strut)

I’m almost certain this is hand made as there is no label and a lot of the stitching gives it away. It’s been well loved and I’ve had to mend it a couple of times but it’s just such a great dress. It’s 100% cotton so it’s light and airy for summer. Perfect for picnics!

In other news….Well there’s a lot of it right now:

I did some more testing for another blogger who has her own pattern line. I shan’t reveal what it was until testing is completed and the pattern is released. All I can say is the pattern is AMAZING….and I finished it in one single day. Wow.

Also, I’m signed up for The Dreamstress’ corset making class at Thread Den which happens next week. Super excited about that! I really can’t wait to learn how to make corsets – I’ve been obsessing over them so much lately.

And, this weekend I’m off to see the Grace Kelly exhibition in Bendigo.  Wow! I love country Victoria too. It’s going to be great fossicking around in little antique shops and checking out amazing dresses. Will be frocking up for that one and I’m hoping it will be cold enough to wear my Lilli Ann swing coat (even with the cat-clawed collar).

Hmm

There’s other news I think but I forget it all now. More later!

Ciao!

Hi All!
This week I don’t have any sewing projects for you. I’m just about finished with Suzy’s dress but also the camera I use for pics is on loan for now. Lucky that I took some backup pics a couple of weeks ago for such moments like these. Not that I was really in the mood at the time – these aren’t the best pics, I was feeling particularly meh that day.

So the story with this dress is…..I was reading Kondad-licious and saw that she had posted about a gorgeous dress that unfortunately didn’t fit. I offered to buy it off her if she was happy to sell it…..and she was YAY. The dress fits great and it’s pretty amazing. Love the print and the princess seaming. Plus all those cool folds around the bust line.

I do think I definitely need to get cracking and make a puffier petticoat. The one I have is just a bit sad and droopy now – it does nothing to puff out this skirt. I don’t really like those tiered ones either so I shall attempt to layer 3 circle skirt layers of tulle over one-another and secure with a ribbon for a waistband. With a layer of cotton voile underneath for comfort. That should be enough puff I think. This is all theoretical though – I’m hoping my idea works.

My hair is getting long again too. I’m at that point where I dont know if I should attempt to grow it longer and learn how to style it so it’s a bit vintage or just chop it.

A few other bits and bobs of news – I got some new RAM for my computer so it’s running a lot faster now. 8GB in total. Yeh! I was so excited about it I even started a new drawing. Yep, I’m slowly struggling over my annual new-year drawing slump. What’s with that? It’s like some sort of self fulfilling prophecy.

I get paid next week so my Lady Valet dress-form can be picked up from Clegs. Really excited about that one too! I can finally fit my sewing projects without the danger of having to pin myself into things. I’m sick of stabbing myself! I’m sure it won’t completely eliminate the excruciating pain that comes from jamming a pin under your fingernail but it will help. I’ll also be able to show you the insides and details of sewing projects as I’ll be able to get closer with the camera.

Well I best be off. Got an email to finish writing and then some sewing I think.

Have a good weekend peeps!

Hi Everyone!
No sewing or drawing today. Not that I haven’t been doing any. Actually I’ve even done some design work in the last week! Holy crap! Hahaa. And I’ve finished one dress, bar the buttons, and completed the bodice of another. So I’ve been a busy bee.

The only reason I can’t show you the almost completed dress is because I’m currently trying to get the STAINS out made by the “washable” fabric marking texta I used to draw my sewing marks on. So incredibly peeved. There’s pics and irritated posts over on my Facebook page where I post things you won’t see on my blog or on my personal Facebook page…

So instead, today I’m showing you another dress from my vintage collection. I’m wearing it out to High Tea today so I need to impress This is one of the first “investment” vintage pieces I bought. It was purchased on a whim off Etsy via PlanetClaire Vintage – possibly with a little red wine in my system affecting my decision making abilities, since it was certainly more expensive than anything I’d purchased to date. I have this habit of once in a while blowing a huge wad of cash on a dress/outfit I NEED to have with the excuse that it’s an “investment” and I’m preserving a slice of fashion history. Which in some sense is true…and the bills all get paid AND I donate to charity monthly so yes I’m justifying my purchases

It’s one of my favourite dresses still even though it doesn’t get worn that often – mostly because it’s quite memorable I love the embroidery on it and the little mother-of-pearl accents on the collar. It’s made of a nice heavy linen and is really comfortable and fits so nice.

It came with it’s own belt too but I’ve swapped it out with this pink one I made last week, to go with my shoes Since the shoes were such a score, I thought a belt would go well with them and what better than to make one. I just bought a piece of cotton chino fabric from Lincraft and used a vintage navy buckle from my stash (bought at L’uccello). New accessory in less than one hour! And I realise now that pink goes with a LOT of my clothes. Yay!

Oh and the kitties were hanging around today while I took pics…pics taken on the other side of the room from the usual since my dress is too much the same colour as our couch hehe

Well that’s about it for today. Next week you just might get a new creation. Or even some of the design work I’ve done.

Till soon…

Hi All

Oh dear christ it’s FINISHED!!!
(yes I blaspheme far too much for an atheist )

*phew*

So this drawing took me around 2 whole months to finish. I started mid-June and now it’s August and I’m finally done. That’s why I’ve been holding out on you guys for so long. I don’t think I have the capacity to work on more than one drawing at once otherwise one or more will get neglected. It’s quite possible I am the most inefficient ‘artist’ out there.

The ref was a fashion editorial I found via a blog…..NEXT TIME….I think I might try something original for a change….I have an idea, just need to execute it somehow. Yes – I am already thinking of the next thing.

Sooo….This took at least 20 hours. I lost count though. It’s been stared at for so long that I can’t tell if you can tell how long I spent on this.

Anyways…piccies….

Detail:

WIPs

What do you think? Should I put this on Etsy?

Other news: Lots of sewing is complete that I need to show you as per usual…..ummmm……that’s all for now really…ha exciting! Oh! It’s been quiet around here cos I was feeling pretty sick this week. Stupid colds. I’m meant to be bulletproof!! Hah! (I don’t get sick very often)…Thankfully I was over it in 2 days but still…it knocks you for six.
The boyfriend also bought himself a motorbike. Cool huh! It arrives this week. But he can’t take me for a ride yet cos he’s still on his Learners. I’ve been convinced that I need to get my scooter license…So I guess that will happen soon.

That’s all I guess!
Better run!

EDIT: Oh my GOD you won’t believe how relieved I am this is done. Geeez!

Mine Mine Mine MINE

Now I’m off to go try it on – hope it fits! And pics on the weekend

Hi All!

A bit of a jumbled post today to tell you about a few things I’ve bought and quite a few questions to ask!

Yesterday I popped in to Savers for the first time in a long time (at least two months!) and was overjoyed to find a piece of seersucker (on the far right in the pic) waiting with my name on it Yay! I love seersucker and I’m pretty sure others do too – I don’t know what’s so awesome about it, but I’m sure my eyes bulged out of my head on spying it on the rack. For only $4 too! There’s not a whole lot of it – just 2m and it’s 36″ wide. That’s 91cm by the way – Just so I can confuse you a bit more with my mixing of imperial and metric.

If I’m really clever, I may be able to squeeze out this dress from the amount I have. Absolutely perfect don’t you think? I may need to use a couple of contrast pieces for the waistband and pockets though.

Also – does anyone have any tips on helping me reduce the size of this pattern?

It’s a vintage 15 so I need to shave about 2 inches off the bust and waist. If I take a piece out of the back do you think that will work? I don’t know how the bust is shaped as yet (Still have to wait for pattern to arrive).

Do I dare make the variation with the open midriff?

And one last question – Can I iron seersucker or not??

The other two pieces seem to be almost from the same donation – very similar in style! They’re lightweight cottons in the cutest prints. There’s a bit more length in these but the width is narrower. Not sure what I’ll make of these as yet – they’re quite sheer. Ideas?

And finally – Check out my new sweater guard/clip/whatever you call it. So sparkly and red. If you’ve ever watched Glee you’ll know what these are – they hold together your cardigan so you can have it open without it flapping about. This purchase was required after I got myself a little faux fur shrug that didn’t have any clips to hold it together. And I have been wanting one for a while for my regular cardigans. So you may see this in future sewing posts!
Doesn’t the aqua linen contrast well with sparkly red of the clips? I’m so in love with the colour – it’s not even aqua – maybe azure.

Anyway that was quite the ramble. If any sewists can help with my silly questions it would be much appreciated! Next post will possibly be another sewing one. I doubt I will get my drawing done too soon – It still has a long way to go.

Till soon!