Kittys Drawings

Hi!!

Yay a new post! It’s been fairly quiet around these parts here. On the blog anyways – cos I’ve been all over the place at home! The two drawings I’ve got going on are pottering away very slowly. Doing 30mins here and there which isn’t a lot of progress really. I don’t want to rush to finish because every time I do a little bit I keep seeing how much is left to do and I don’t want to leave any sections behind.
Last night I also started trialling the new Corel Painter 12 which was released just the other day. It’s pretty flash so far – looks quite different and is quite a bit more intuitive to use. However I did notice a couple of glitchy bits and I’m not sure if it’s because I still have the older version on my computer or I just need some more RAM. I really should take advantage of the potential 16GB I could fit into it (GEEK ALERT! I should have forewarned you ) Moar Powah!!

*ahem*

Moving along.

Sewing…

I’ve finished this totally cool wrap dress using Mccall’s 5585 – from the 50′s or early 60′s I’d say.

… ta daa (why so serious?)

It was very easy to make, but also quite time consuming because there is a lot of hand-sewing to do. The construction is quite simple and awfully clever- it just fits over your head and there are two buttons each on the front and back where you can attach it at the waist. You only button one side and then the waist tie passes through the other set of buttonholes to tie it up. The buttonholes are simply gaps you leave in the waist seam. Very very clever! So since there are no side seams that attach, there’s 4 sets of facings down each side. Hence all the hand-sewing. Don’t forget the hem – which is almost a full circle but split in two.

It’s absolutely one of my favourites so far and there’s actually nothing I’m unhappy about for a change! It gapes a little under the arms and there’s plenty of room in the bust which isn’t all that necessary but it makes for a very comfortable dress. THESE are my “track pants” (from now on….yes I do actually wear trackies – but they never see the outside of my house). I made this from a bed sheet too by the way – if you remember my stash post from a little while ago.
So perfect for Fiji! I think I could make a couple of these!

Check out Puss going for a wander. She doesn’t like to sit still very long.

And the back – it’s meant to be reversible but I don’t really like high, square necks so I’ll just stick to wearing it with the V in front. Because of this I’m also considering putting the two buttons that are meant to be on the inside, on the front and outside so I can attach the skirt without the ties. At the moment it has a bit of a habit of sliding back – and two buttons would look cute at the waist don’t you think?

Please excuse the terrible quality of the photos – winter in Melbourne leaves only the most measly skerrick of light to work with at the end of the working day. And it may still technically be autumn but it sure as hell don’t feel like it – Winter’s blown in with full force.
Also – my posing really sucks! I still need some major practice. Boo.

Umm – what else….
I’m about to go finish the hem for a black cotton skirt that will go with my Miss L Fire shoes. I found a really heavy cotton and thought that gathering/pleating almost 2 metres of fabric into my 63cm waist would be a good idea. It works fine, but the result is a rather puffy skirt which is kind of cool but a bit different to what I’m used to. The outfit I imagined in my head has turned out like Where’s Wally meets Alice in Wonderland. Interesting! Photos soon I promise!

AND – A very busy few weeks coming up ahead. Actually, I think I’ll be pretty flat out right til Fiji (which is tail end of June) – I’ll be in Tassie next weekend visiting the folks and friends down that way. I’ll be stuffing my face with lots of food (what’s new!) and trying not to freeze my ass off.  Then the following week I will be partaking in the Love Vintage Fashion Fair as a model for the lovely Nicole at Circa. Tomorrow I have my fitting so I’ll find out what I get to wear! Yay! I really ought to save some dosh for any treasures I might find there.
Somewhere amongst all that I need to get a haircut (see how long it is! hehe). BUSY! Argh!

I think that’s it for now! I better tidy up all these odds and ends because I’m feeling rather restless with all these half finished projects. Ciao!

Hi

So like, Happy New Year and stuff. Hope you all had a good one! I spent it down at the Yarra River for the most of the evening chilling with friends and some cool new peeps. Then came back home before 11pm cos the Mr was knocking off work. We watched the fireworks from just around the corner while eating icecream. Then home to movies and beer. Heh. Not much of a big do but I never place high expectations on NYE – that way, its always guaranteed to be good. This plan has worked nicely for some years now

I had high hopes of wearing my new dress – that I made all by myself but alas, it was not to be – due to dodgy cheap zipper and me being a bit too generous sewing my French seams, thus reducing the waistline of my dress by a good inch…which made things a bit tight…so the zipper broke when I tried it on…
I went through the whole rigmarole of picking apart the bodice and letting out the seams. THEN fixing the stupid busted zipper. But of course, it was beyond repair…tried it on a couple more times and then it went up and then it didn’t and the teeth kept popping out of alignment. GRR.
So now – I just need to get a new zip and then it’s all ready to go.
I couldn’t babble on about this without actually showing you my handiwork…so here it is – not looking that good on a hanger…I blame the print. There’s those nice glass buttons I got from my Vogue KK on there too. And it does fit great now I let the seams out a fraction.
All for $20 worth of fabric and thread. They had a sale on at Lincraft….not the best quality but hey this is still a “test” dress – So I don’t fuck up my pretty Tanya Whelan cotton that’s still making it’s way from the States (hoping my postie isn’t being dodgy AGAIN and not leaving a parcel collection slip in my letterbox).

Also…before the Xmas holidays I managed to score a pack of 10 macarons by Duncan (via Syrup & Tang). I can’t remember all the flavours – I know the purple was a violet one. And there was an extreme passionfruit with poprocks in it. Killer
They were all awesome

Oh and I did some drawing. Heh.
Same chick, different pose. Better execution. Shitty dodgy flowers though *ahem*. Probably about 8 hours total. No WIPS because I did most of it in the first session of about 5 hours. I really should save more progress shots of the initial stages so you can see how I start. No lines. Seriously!

Well – I best be off. Only tomorrow left before I have to go back to work. Blah. Seeyas!

Hi!

I’ve been busy again. Drawing. And sewing. And baking. Took just a few days off work for the Xmas to NYE break…and I’m determined to spend my time being productive. Last year I got myself into a bit of a funk with drawing over the holidays. Not this time! I’ve got a heap of school work to do too.

So here’s the first of my portrait studies. Aiming to get better at drawing faces. This took me about 8 hours in three sessions. Looking at some painting vids online, it looks like I need to streamline my process a bit. Find a more economical way of laying down colour instead of the “blob and blend” method I’m using now.
Then again, I’m pretty happy with the results.

What do you think?

And my two WIP pics – the first one is pretty out there – she looks all alien. I had to leave it for a day and when I came back I could see all that was wrong with it – then it was just a matter of tidying up all those wonky angles to get rid of that underbite! Ha.

Hair is still a tricky one. I should experiment with some different brushes or something. I’m currently using two variations of a pastel brush – one is tapered and the other round extra-soft, with the tapered one used for hair.

Anyways – I’m off to go eat some cheesecake (dark choc & morello cherry) – hope it’s set already. Mmm

Bye!
Oh and Happy Xmas for those that get into that sorta thing

Excuse the lack of many photos – I am pretty pathetic when it comes to posing. The urge to pull a stupid face is too strong! It’s very windy today too so that’s why my hair is all over the place.

Me and Jonny were out taking photos of graffiti in Collingwood. Saw a lovely car with it’s windows smashed in. Charming. I told Jonny if we move into the area eventually (Collingwood or Fitzroy will be possibilites), our house will have to be very secure. Eep.

Think I shall have to take more pics soon. Do you know long this took to get the colour right? I got to the hairdresser at 3pm and didn’t leave til 9:30pm!!! OMG! They did what is called a ‘back to back’ in hairdresser’s language which just means a full head of foils. Every. Single. Strand. In foils.
I am so so very grateful for the dedication the team at Biba Academy showed to getting my colour right! The founder of Biba, Paul Divitaris took over the completion of the colour cos all the students left around 7:30pm. I’m going back again in a couple of weeks to bring the red up some more…I had a permanent colour in from before that is why it took so long. But the next time I go it will not take anywhere near that time.
And I’m really really happy with the result! Its wonderfully bright and the exact shade I wanted. It’s brighter than the picture which is why I need more pics! Awesomeness.

I really recommend the peeps at Biba – Great prices and they wont let you leave until you’re happy with your cut or colour.

Well I better go. I have a Nintendo DS game review to write! Ciao!!

EDIT: I had to show you all what I put on layby this weekend! Despite not having ridden a bike in well over ten years, I bought this little baby yesterday. It really is true that you never forget how to ride cos I managed just fine cruising around on this in my HEELS and vintage 50′s dress. Teehehe! How retro and cool is it? Jonny also bought a bike and now we’re set for summer cruising. Can’t wait!!

Awesome!!

Hi All!

This week I will be getting my hair done. Red. The idea has been floating in the back of my mind for quite some time now…and I’ve made a few attempts to do the colouring myself. But after a few unsuccessful attempts, I’m going to the pros.
What finally cemented the idea was stumbling across this wonderful photo on wedding blog, Snippet and Ink (no….there are no pending marriages around here, I just like the dresses teehehe). What an awesome bride! How cool to have hair like that! It’s the perfect colour. I loved this pose so much that I had to draw it straight away. Of course my rendition is quite different. But you get the idea.

This:

Became this:

I’m really liking ‘eyes shut’ kind of poses right now. I like the serenity and calm in general. Something that can be hard to draw!

SO…Thursday my hair will be red. Hopefully just this colour. Or maybe a shade darker. I can’t wait! I promise you will have photos!
Ciao!