Frockus interuptus - furnishingks

The furniture came out of storage today, hoorah! I am still waiting for the new sofa, and will have to make a decision on which rug - I've decided the pattern, but will it be the black or the grey, and how big? Luckily the nice man in the rug shop said I can take a couple home and see how they look.


















And, finally, the gargoyles are happily outside where they are meant to be - can't wait to get some foliage around them...

Housedress of Representatives

Here is is, my interpretation of the new gubbermint in the form of a frock (I wore it today for the fifth time, then realised it was time to blog her).

1. She is green, as this is the colour of the House of Representatives, the winning of which determines who governs (at least as far as I understand it).
2. She is bound in red, the colour representing Labor on election night.
3. Bunches of flowers represent the ecological / green vote, which helped Labor to power (Go, Go, Kyoto!)
4. The midriff band represents the Middle Classes, who apparently came to their senses at last.
5. 100% cotton and sleeveless, just in case global warming happens despite action taken by the New Gubbermint.

I was going to trim her with all manner of red rickrack. But like many a pre-election promise, it isn't going to happen.

Made from New Look 6699.

So nice I made it twice

I had a great Christmas in Melbourne. Lots of shopping; 4 pairs of shoes, many patterns, much fabric and some tracing fun in Moggy's new fab sewing stoodio! Woo hoo.





Moggy whipped up a potential tripfit skirt in about half an hour on Saturday, in the blasting heat, so I stole, I mean traced the pattern and have made two of these eeeeasy pull on knit skirts since I returned home.

I've been all about the saucy secretary wiggle skirt lately, so I thought I'd give the shorter skirt a bit of a go again. It's more 'jump straight on the boss's knee' than the longer 'I'm not that sort of girl, Mr Jones' one, but you've got to let your hair down sometimes.

And, new suede wedges!

My new sewing room, let me show you it

Sigh. I've sewn 3/4 of a dress and one small curtain so far, and it is ace! Now contemplating options for storage, and amazing myself at just how much fabric I have (it's been hiding in the front room for years, naughty fabric!).

Tripfits #2

I made a start on my tripfits already, and made the maggy london twist dress out of some cotton jersey. If it washes well, it may make it to the coveted status of tripfit. It is big enough to wear layers underneath if it gets cold. Not the most flattering photo of it, it looks kinda baggy and daggy. I think (hope) it looks better in person!?

Tripfits concepts

So, Kitty and I accidently booked a trip to Tokyo (whoops! how did that happen?) so y'all going to suffer tripfit concepts, muslins, failed muslin despair, the joy of the successful concept... prepare thyself!

My current thinking is:

*foldover waistband knit pencil skirt inspired by Mela Purdie (who rudely no longer have it on their site).
* doubleknit jacket from stretch & sew blazer 1025 or 1050 set in sleeve jacket
* maggie london twist dress
*shirtdress from some kinda thick knit

...and that's all at the moment.

Market vintage

Woo hoo, I love a vintage fabric find! I bought this piece today at Surry Hills Markets. It's polished cotton, just over 5 metres of it. Like a lot of vintage dress fabrics it's only 90cm wide, so I might need most of that yardage for a frock.

It shall stew in the stash until I think of the perfect frock for it to become. Any suggestions?

Leftovers

I had enough of the stretch cotton left over from the gubbermint frock (see yesterday's post) to make a very comfy A line skirt. I wore her Christmas shopping today, she is very festive.

Gubbermint frock

My frock inspired by the new Gubbermint! (I used this pattern, view 6 and added little sleeves)

Here's the story:

1. It's mostly red, which is the colour they use on election night for Labor

2. It has a small amount of blue in it, because that's the colour they use for the Liberals on election night. The blue is very pale though, as some of the Liberals were that night.

3. Some of the blossoms are green, to acknowledge the work the Greens' preferences did in changing the gubbermint, especially in the seat of Bennelong.

4. It is an Asian inspired design, in the hope the new gubbermint will re-engage with Asia, and because Kev signed the Kyoto treaty. Also, Kev's son-in-law is from Hong Kong originally. Oh, and of course, Kev can speak Chinese!

5. Um, that's it, but I like lists of 5 better than lists of 4.

...we interrupt this gubbermint transmission...

...with an unrelated fabric update. Thanks to Kitty EE (Evil Enabler) I picked this up from the post office this morning:

It's a sort of mid-weight canvassy fabric. How fab would it look on a wing chair? However I still love the leopard fur my wingish chair is covered in, so that won't happen.

An ottoman? A jacket? Cushions? I have 5 yards... Hand included for scale.

Here's a gratuitous shot of one of my new chandeliers:

Ladies, start your engines!

The start of the Livebird Gubbermint frock challenge! Updates over the weekend!

Fat Halter

Moggy will testify that I have been planning on making a 'fat halter' for quite some time. Today I finally did it, from this pattern. I had the Anne Adams sundress out and just about ready to place on the fabric, but I felt the need for something saucier. You can't fight the sauce. Go with the sauce.

I admit I debated with myself whether to add the rick rack. Then I came to my senses. There is no frock which is not enhanced by rick rack. Even wedding dresses. Just you wait, next year rick rack will be all over the bridal magazines.

(The rick rack also goes around the outside edge of the halter, however the halter's fatness makes it bunch up so it's not visible in the photo)