Kittys Drawings

Hi Guys!

We’re back from WA! What a whirlwind trip that was. Totally forgot how FAR everything is from everything else there. It’s a good 3.5 hour drive to Margaret River from Perth and we did the trip 4 times in as many days. Crazy! We didn’t actually spend that much time in Perth – mostly hanging around Freemantle and then off down to Marg River to sleep. The weather was beautiful and HOT the whole time we were there – so hot that it was perfectly reasonable to go swimming at the lovely and secluded Redgate beach at 8am.

The wedding of course was awesome. The bride wore the most amazing lace dress with little attached bolero thingamabob and elegant fishtail skirt. Dinner consisted of scallops for entree, steak for main and some sort of parfait thing for dessert. All was delicious as to be expected from the winery it was held at. And the wine was great – goes without saying really (even though I just said it) .

As for what I wore…You’ll see that soon enough….

Anyways – Onto what this post is supposed to be about….My “Summer Collection” (haha that’s intentionally wanky sounding)….Of which there is only a couple of pieces so far….Isn’t “piece” a wanky word too? Heh. Oh dear. Carry on. Um. So yeh – I whipped this up using my Butterick 2633 pattern and made view B this time round. I used a purple floral cotton I bought off Etsy (from the same seller as I got the pattern off). It’s “vintage” I suppose – I’ve no idea what era its actually from – it’s fairly thin and I’m vaguely guessing 70′s but I could be totally wrong.

These are the things I changed/added:

• Lined it with a white cotton sheet. It’s super soft and great to wear when it’s hot
• The side zipper I carried all the way up to the armpit cos I hate struggling into dresses and smooshing my shoulders through a narrow gap.
• Took a V shaped wedge vertically, out of the middle of the bodice since the last dress I made gaped a bit at the bust.
• Also narrowed it on the side seams.
• Somehow had to fit the extra skirt into the smaller bodice so added another ‘tuck’ or pleat or whatever.
• Drafted my own kick-pleat for the back as the original pattern has NO vent in the wiggle skirt. I don’t want to wiggle that much – just not practical for a day dress
• Brought the side seams of the skirt in quite a bit to account for smaller hips than the pattern.
• And shortened the skirt of course….

I’ve decided I don’t really like pleats and/or tucks instead of darts in a skirt. Why would I want to make my hips look bigger? They bunch up when you sit down too. I know they offer more freedom of movement but I like to keep things slimmer around that area to try and balance out my relatively narrow shoulders. Despite that little design flaw I’m rather happy with this dress. It’s proved excellent for the hot weather. AND it matches my peppermint lolly Miss L Fire wedges perfectly. I didn’t plan this but realised they would go well together about halfway through making the dress. Add the little white belt I made and my new green bag and YAY, new outfit!

The green bag by the way, is the same brand as the yellow hexagonal one – how’s that for vintage karma?? After my years of trawling the internet, it’s not often you find such things…For clothes yes, but accessories like this are harder to come by.

Other news: I should be able to get back on this blogging bandwagon a bit more regularly now. There’s quite a few things I’ve got in mind for the next few weeks. Including a giveaway – IF I reach 100 followers So when that happens I’ll host something. Not sure what yet. I don’t have the resources to get my art printed at the moment though I could supply something digitally. Even though that’s kind of lame. Is it? Or some sewing bits and bobs – or something else? Clearly I have to think about this a little more….

Also – I’ve decided to become mobile, and get my scooter license. Yup that’s right – I don’t have a license. Any license. At almost 28 years old I think it’s about time I got myself some wheels. The BF has had his bike for a few months now and has been encouraging me to get a scooter. What finally pushed me over the edge from procrastination into action was the news that our People’s Chariot (Trains, trams and buses) are increasing their fares by an average of 8.6% on New Years Day! The scoundrels! That’s more than double the current rate of inflation. In the 8 years I’ve lived in Melbourne, there has been no significant improvement in public transport services, certainly not enough to warrant the guaranteed price hikes every year. It has now become more economical for me to purchase a scooter and drive to work. So I’m off to do my license test at the very end of this year and by 2012 I’ll be joining the ranks of petrol guzzlers (albeit daintily sipping not guzzling – heh) on the roads every day.

Pictures of my new ride when it arrives from Adelaide…For those that aren’t Facebook friends, you can take a potshot at exactly the kind of scooter I will be getting and I’ll bet you’ll be right

(aaand – look it’s Puss)

Till soon!

Hi Everyone

I’m catching up on a bit of sewing posts. It’s been TWO WEEKS since I last wrote. Gosh the time is flying. I really do have less time to blog these days. And draw. Still not getting anywhere with the drawing. I actually have some paid work to do this weekend so right after this is written I’m gonna go and earn some money.

So here is a dress I made a looong time ago now. The one I polled everyone about whether I should go the bare midriff option. And so I did. I loved the dress when I made it but I kind of hate it now. It’s all my own fault though really – I made it with like, zero ease…so while it fits around the waist, the nature of the pattern and these damn side closures means it’s a struggle to get it over my shoulders without seriously stressing the seams. If I made it looser, I don’t think it would look so good since any gaping would be very noticeable.

It’s such a cute dress though and the fabric is so awesome (another Savers find, remember?).

Some notes that usually go with my sewing posts:

• Totally love the contrasting fabrics!
• I made my own bias tape for this. I botched it a bit – just don’t look too closely okay.
• The skirt is from another pattern because I wanted fullness and did not have a wide enough fabric for the semi-circle this pattern calls for.
• It’s 10 gores! Woah. I love them though. And they’re all French seamed. That’s a lot of thread!
• I used snaps again for the side closure. Still much neater than a zip.
• This dress is really falling apart
• Not many bras are suitable! Eep
• The fabric marker I was using stained it. Grrr – those are supposed to wash out.

*sigh* I have such mixed feelings about this. It gets a fair few looks when I wear it out…mostly cos  of the ‘hole’ in it. The Mr doesn’t like it because of this hole. Haha. I dont know if these pale pastels suit me? It’s a bit meh.

Anyways – it’s done now.

Things I’m working on at the mo…. A skirt and a dress. One is green – that really cool Advance pattern with the bustle and the buttons. The other is a purple floral wiggle dress made of cotton. Desperate need of a summer work wardrobe. It’s gonna be a scorcher this year I think.

WELL.

I better go and not faff around so much.

Seeyas!

AND I’m back online!!! YAY!!

Sorry to all those who came to visit over the weekend to find that lovely “BANDWIDTH EXCEEDED” page. Oo-er!! I have it all sorted now and upgraded my plan so more people can visit my blog. I don’t know how I clocked so much over the past month, it hasn’t been a record month or anything and all my pics are hosted on Flickr so I don’t know what’s going on there. Nothing seems particularly fishy either. Kitty is rather hesitant to believe she is getting popular ;-P

Though I am thinking of changing my header so it includes all the sewing I’ve been doing lately! Ha!

Anyways, I came to talk about something else on Friday before I discovered I had no blog to talk on

On Friday I received this in the mail:

Does that look much like SOAP to you?? Well it is! So cute! My friend Kesenya has just started  Alice Jean’s Soda Pop Shop – where you can get your hands on these cupcake soaps as well as other tasty treat themed body products. She also has cute baby gear AND you can hire her seriously awesome Pontiac 1951 Convertible. That car is CRAZY – such curves!

Now you know I’m not a spruiker, so it’s rare you see these features on my blog. But it’s different when it’s friends…and I’m all for supporting friends trying to make a living from their passion. It’s not too many people that get to do that, and it’s not an easy game to get into. Heck, it’s the story of my life – My parents have always been self employed. Yes I grew up with my mum and dad right there all the time – no babysitters or daycare for me – BUT, they worked their asses off for a pay-packet that was never regular. Some months we’d be rolling in it (figuratively!!) cos dad had just landed a big commission, but we never knew how long that cash was supposed to last. Banks want their mortgage payments on particular days – they don’t really care if you can’t make it one month. So yeh – tough game!

Ah I can ramble can’t I. What my point is – I want Alice Jean’s to thrive…and if I can help by posting on my blog about it, and buying soaps and all the other nice things, then I’m gonna do it ;-P

Cos buying soaps is such a chore

Teehee!

Of course I wanted to test out what I bought and I can confirm that these are great! My one smells like lavender and it has a great lather. It’s made from all natural products AND it’s local! Awesome. It’s almost good enough to eat. Seriously! I want to try every ‘flavour’ – and there’s plenty to choose from. Lucky there’s no kiddies in my house as I’m sure they’d want to nom them haha

Well I better stop rambling. I wish I was better at writing stuff I feel good about!

Other news: Since the blog was down I didn’t take any photos on the weekend. I’ve got SO much to show you! I finished the second pattern in THIS post. It was really easy and super quick to make. I’ve also got a skirt on the go – which used to be a dress but I kind of hate the bodice so I ditched that bit.
I haven’t started my drawing project yet – it’s been a bit of a weird week for motivation. AND it’s my last week at my current workplace. Minor panic setting in. Check back this time next week

On that note – seeyas!

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

Hiiii!

I’ve  been busy. As per usual.

These are the things I’ve been talking about in my last posts. I made a simple tank top and a gathered skirt.

(Boof is smiling too!)

The top I used a vintage pattern for. It’s made of very thin purple slub cotton. Not the best quality but this was my “test” go. The size was pretty small – so I ended up removing the darts from the front. It still only just fits in the front. The next time I make this I will give myself a bit more room around the bust and it doesn’t really need to be so fitted as I like my tops a bit looser.
The back of it is nice and I like how low it goes (you can’t see sorry – pics were taken in a hurry today!). I’m thinking I might want to add some kind of embellishments to not make it so boring. Maybe some embroidered daisies around the neckline.
Next time – I will also be lining it. Facings are annoying! I followed the instructions on attaching them which left some hand sewing a the shoulders which was kind of shitty. I’ll do it the other way I know how to line sleeveless garments when I make this next.

The skirt didn’t need a pattern. I just cut a long rectangle of fabric and gathered it into a waistband. Since this was a sheet it didn’t even need hemming. Yay! I only sort of like this – lesson learnt: gathers look better with more at the back then at the front.

So this is one outfit down for Fiji! And I even found a belt and shoes to match.

Also – Check out my new shoes! SO AWESOME! And mega comfy. I don’t have much to wear with them though (shhhh) – But I couldn’t resist the bargain – $50 from Asos for Miss L Fire – that’s pretty cheap!

I can make things to match though can’t I? I do need your help though – I’m not sure if I should make another skirt like this one but in white….or a pencil skirt in white? I have some white cotton drill similar to the khaki skirt fabric. I also have enough of the purple cotton from the top to make a skirt – then I could put the two together and it would be like a dress. All I’d need is some green accessories. Does anyone have any other ideas? I’m a bit thrown off by the white. Help!

Anyways – that’s all for now! Til later…

Hi Everyone!
Oo-er I’m a bit slack on the blog front at the moment aren’t I!

To be fair though, I’ve got an excuse. My bro is up visiting from Tassie. I did finish a dress just before he got here though…the “red” one – which I thought would turn purple when dying with blue – which it did – despite me saying in my last post that it was looking rather blue. That’s because I was looking at it while it was still wet in the washing machine. Ha! The purple is awesome though!

This is Butterick 6876 – A button front dress from the 50′s.

It does need a few fixes. The bottom buttons are a bit out of line – so I might snip those off and reattach. I also underestimated just how many buttons I’d need…and when I went back to Lincraft, I couldn’t find them anywhere. Even though it was only a few days later! BOO. So I’ve just safety pinned the bottom closed for now.

The pattern was very easy to follow. I did a bit of fitting – taking heaps off the side seams and shoulder seams. It fits really well in the bodice so I’m rather proud of myself for that. I also used bias binding on the sleeves which worked out nicely too. The collar was dead easy – a lot less trouble than I was expecting. The hip area needs to be smaller I think. I need to find a way to take excess fabric out from around the front of my hips. Any tips on this?

I got to use my “new” buttonholer. Wonderful little gadget that! Only took a few minutes to do all ten buttonholes. It CHEWS through bobbin thread so I had to change the bobbin halfway through and then I only had just enough to do the last few.

Lots of pics this time. Got a bit more experimental with the locations. I credit my bro for the photography – he did a really good job!! We went out to the street in the back of my house. Lots of cool walls and textures and colours that worked well with the rich purple of the dress. And I’ve found a new indoor location. Still accompanied by furry intruders of course hehee.

Now I know you’re all wondering where the drawings have gone. I have been working on them. I’m having a go at attempting more than one piece at a time. So the longer project is still in the works but I started something quick last night which I should be able to finish in a few more hours. So I’ll have TWO drawings ready soon. How bout that!

As for the giveaway…I’m about ready for that too – When I get my shit together I’ll organise things for that. Expect my giveaway post next week! Woohoo!

Till then, seeyas!