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Vintage Cocktail – Between the Sheets
It sounds risqué, but does it live up to it’s name? I’ll let you decide! I think it’s quite refreshing and zesty. Yet another vintage cocktail from The Art of Vintage Cocktails, by Stephanie Rosenbaum.
Between the Sheets:
2 ounces Ruby Port
2 ounces Brandy
1/2 ounce orange curacao
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice, pour into a chilled wine or cocktail glass.
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Blake on ‘OnDo’, by Seung Yul Oh
If you’re around the central suburbs in Auckland you might have happened upon this sculpture. Perhaps while you are sitting in traffic on Dominion Road you have gazed around and spotted it, maybe you have walked by a couple of times and taken a closer look?
We have, and we think it’s pretty cool. It’s called OnDo, by Seung Yul Oh. You can read more about it here on Eye Contact. We find it interesting to speculate about…. are they noodles? or wires? or pipes? Given the constant road works, the barrier just blends in, but it’s ‘giant noodles being pulled out of the pavement by giant chopsticks’ this sentence is usually shouted by my kids in delight.
So it’s not that surprising that Blake was inspired to make some drawings of it. The kind of ‘art’ that Luna and Blake make is much less drawings and paintings, more installation, painting on objects playing with space.
I would describe Blake’s style as gestural and uninhibited, often dramatic and noisy, going off the pages, that sort of thing. He’ll do about four drawings and then, he’s done! No more. That’s it. That’s enough. “These are for you mum,” he said, “that sculpture you love”. Sweetness.
OnDo is a short term public sculpture so go take a look!
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Cape in green wool crepe
I little project that I finished a while back, now another wardrobe staple…A little green cape.
I made a cape last year, using Butterick 6039, which was fun and easy, and is now worn by my daughter because I am not The Pope ! And that’s all I could think about when I saw it. These photos are rather burnt out, but hopefully you can see that lovely cotton silk lining.
The outer fabric is a lovely, dark green wool crepe that was an op shop steal, the lining is a cotton silk remnant from the Fabric Store, which I noticed and couldn’t stop thinking about, so of course I had to go back, did a bit of a bargain, and took it home as a remnant.
Here it is, ready for me to cut the lining. Below, there’s the lining, it’s greens and chocolate brown, I love the print!
For the pattern itself I referred to Butterick 6039, as I loved the drape and fit, which is easy anyway. I wanted a collar and a bit more height at the neckline, so I pulled out my favourite bolero, Simplicity 2269 (which you might remember from here) which has a nice high neckline, (two versions) did a bit of redrawing to make this variation, and drafted a collar to match.
It was easy really, and the result is so wearable! And warm where I need it over winter.
Probably the hardest part was choosing a closure (oh which button..how big….and what colour….?) I went for a large shimmery green button from nana’s stash, rather than making a buttonhole I opted to attach a hook and loop behind the button. Basically I was not one hundred percent committed to a button closure !
I like the way it sits open, so I’m considering other ways of keeping this from blowing away while out and about.
I love the collar, and the wool crepe is so warm.
Here’s the back…
I’ll be making more of these!
So, who wants one? I love mine!
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iD Emerging Designer Awards 2015 – part two
Following my last post about the iD Emerging Designer Awards in Dunedin, here is (finally) part two… and some of my favourite collections from the show.
Monique Duggan, Optic.
Manikandan Vasudevan, The Gold Dust.
Shea Cameron, Re-seeing.
I love this coat, it is so like the wings of a giant beetle, and so very wearable.
Jessie Kiely, Fashion Baggage.
This collection was so stunning, the garments had a surreal elegance despite the volume of of the textile.
Felicity Gleeson, Trace.
Qi Ye, Moving Buildings.
This collection was so futuristic, I love it. Kind of like what I’d imagine a contemporary costume designer would create for Logan’s Run.
Jillian Boustred, Undercurrent.
Tara Gurisik, Leisure Seven.
Yi Ming, Fusion.
These too, were beautiful, that silver skirt was like liquid metal.
Erica Deluchi, Holonymy.
Kelsi Bennett, Jaws of Youth.
Emma Van De Merwe, [Im]mortal.
I loved this collection too, detail with mono chromatic textiles can easily be lost, but the textures here seem to give visual strength to the garments, even from a distance. I saw an element of fusing of human and other animal/organic creatures in other the collections, touching subtly on other worlds, genetic engineering and hybrid creatures.
Donald Chung, Resist + Exist.
What I really want to see in fashion events are avant garde designs, I want to see imagination and adventure. I also want to see beauty and skill in construction, and this is what I experienced at the iD Emerging Designer Awards. Catch them before commercial realities or desires take hold.
I’m hoping to make it again next year!
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McCall’s 3468
This pattern wooed me for not-very-long before I caved and whipped this dress up in what felt like no time. I had a more challenging project on the go, felt like I hit the wall with one part and needed a quick success to give myself a boost. I had this lovely/weird length of fabric (since identified as moss crepe) that was passed on to me in a lucky dip of a suitcase, and that coupled with a piece of fabric from nana’s stash I had dress fabric and lining sorted. Both synthetic, the dark dress fabric has this wonderful depth of colour and a luminosity all at the same time. It also seems to be fairly hard-wearing, a bit of a must given life with small ones can get a bit messy – and I don’t have the time for fussing with laundry tasks…
I picked up this pattern with a number of others, some rather fabulous more challenging ones, this, as you can see is ‘Easy to Sew’. It had been used before, and I love it when a pattern comes with these sorts of ‘extras’, McCall’s Easy Rule.
I don’t love it so much when a pattern has been cut and cellotaped – gah! So I spent some time restoring it before I could use it for the garment I planned. By ‘restoring’ I should say, using the dreaded cellotape to put it right, I know, I know, not ideal.
It was super fast to cut out – except the fabrics, both were like some kind of liquid in the form of a textile, not my favourite to work with. It was a case of laying both fabrics down, pinning to the floor (horray for carpeted floors !) then cutting ever so carefully. I zig-zaged the pieces together, then assembled the dress, easy (bar having to unpick and resew caught fabric in the underarm gusset) – no fit issues, it pretty much went just, well, perfect!
Action shot, joining the bodcie and skirt.
Perfect….until it came to hemming the skirt!! I let it hang for a few days, and as you can see the hem was out about 100mm at some points, this was even with me obsessively pinning and measuring to define the skirt length and keeping the fabric pinned together ! Sewing Nightmare.
So, when it came to actually hemming, I was all, “What would Claire Shaeffer do?” “She’d hand baste that sucker together and make it work!” So that’s what I did
I love hand basting, it’s speedy and now it’s my go-to technique, I use it to check fit, and it’s saving me time, especially with projects like this one.
It’s hard to see, but I used some vintage red thread from my stash, as it is thick and easy to use, hemmed it, tried it on, then let it hang again. This was ok because I was working out what I’d do with the neck line, the pattern illustration has a pretty detail at the neckline, and I was stepping out of my ‘non embelishing’ comfort zone by trying a bias strip in black. I know it’s not that adventurous really, but it felt like it at the time! Is it too much??
Here it is sans embellishment, just a nice slim belt and a petticoat.
The thin bias strip was great, I think it works really well, and I love this dress! I wore it on Fashion Revolution Day with happiness (it was that long ago since I have made it!)
Twirl that skirt!
Please excuse the pale face, life has been busy and stressful lately, so not much sewing and not much sunshine! But take a look at that neckline, I’m so glad I went for the subtle embellishment.
Oh and that pocket. I love pockets more with each new garment. I can’t live without them now.
And my favourite new-old shoes! Thanks David Elman for another stylish pair, 1980s I think, another good op shop find.
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A new cocktail – The Ostracod
The Ostracod is delicious!
Mango, tequila and touch of lime, this will warm up the wintery nights.
Here’s the recipe:
Recall that you have two chilled cocktail or low ball glasses in the freezer (if you have not, then this is your chance to chill them…)
Fill your chilled shaker with cracked ice, pour over the ice the following:
Two parts tequila.
One part triple sec.
Juice from one juicy lime, or to taste.
Six parts mango puree (I buy the large cans which also contain sugar).
Shake well, pour into chilled cocktail glasses or ice filled low ball glass, float a slice of lime or a twist of zest on top and enjoy! This drink improves with ice, and is nice served over more ice in a low or high ball glass, or let it rest in the shaker for a moment or two before pouring and serving, whichever takes your fancy.
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Finding Fossils…
Seeing as Luna and Blake are really keen on geology, archaeology and fossils, I have been looking for opportunities for them to have hands on experience exploring and making discoveries of their own. Auckland is rich in geological delights, the city is built on a volcanic field, so one only needs to look around, or even climb up one of the volcanic cones across Auckland and examine the view to start to see the dramatic events that have shaped this region.
Given all that volcanic activity, finding locations rich in fossils has been a bit more challenging. So far, our closest source of marine fossils to find is the seabed that is exposed in the rocks at Matheson’s Bay. We have been here before, and walked the northern end of the beach at low tide, and made some cool discoveries, and had a lovely time at the beach.
This visit we went south, and found the remains of that seabed!
Scouring the rocks for anything unusual…like this sort of thing:
Cool huh, lots to see and wonder about.
Here’s some of that seabed…
We moved beyond fossils = dinosaurs a while back, with lots of reading, exploring and watching docos with David Attenborough, so Luna and Blake seem to get that there is a lot more to rocks and fossils, and while Luna really wants to find a dinosaur, she is delighted with finding ancient seashells.
Going back through the ages…Luna was impressed by the layers we could see in the rockface. Such a great adventure, and such a pleasure to see Luna’s imagination run free with the idea of going back in time and finding remains of ancient animals from another world.
We also investigated the rockpools, and found a sea cucumber!
This strange little dude was just amazing to observe, and when we were confident and careful, we found he felt like a cross between rubber and leather.
We also made the requisite dam, experimenting to see how the ripples in the water changed as we narrowed or widened the course of the water.
The changes were quite dramatic.
All up, a great destination for a beach visit, and of course great to be able to discover fossils in the rocks, we’ll be back!
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iD Emerging Designer Awards 2015 – part one
It feels like it was a life time away, but I am recently back from a wonderful whirl wind weekend of fashion, art, textiles, and socialising in Dunedin. I attended and presented a paper at Materiality and the Body, the 2015 annual symposium for the Costime and Textile Association of New Zealand (CTANZ). While I was there I made the most of a rare opportunity to attend fashoin shows and genrally do whatever I fancied for a few days. Absolute bliss! And completely exhausting!
The CTANZ symposium team organised an excellent deal on a block of seats for the 2015 iD International Emerging Designer Awards, which was on for Fashion Week. What a fun night! You can look at video highlights here.
My stand outs were Petra Kubikova, Jorge Alfaro, and Laura Fanning.
I took a few snaps on the night, I really enjoyed this event, I hope you enjoy a refresher if you were there, and if you didn’t go, I would absolutely make a plan to get along one year. This event was my highlight for the iD Fahsion Week.
Here is part one…..
Emily Giles, Ride Away.
Petra Kubikova, La Garconne’21 and on Facebook Petra Kubikova.
Therese Yen, The Birds and The Bees.
Grace Averice, Trust Us.
Jessica Oldfield, K2TOG.
Wilson Ong, Ceramic.
Steve Hall, Abandon Man.
Caroline Stephen, Between Materiality.
Laura Fanning, Fronting.
Jorge Alfaro, Transhuman.
Vanessa Emirian, Circulate.
And then, it was time for interval, another glass of wine, and a chit chat.
Viva published a review of the event too, entitled, Androgynous Designs Win at iD Dunedin Emerging Designer Awards. Mindfood article about the show (plus more photos…).
I’ll write up the second part and share my favourites from the evening in a few days. In the meantime, enjoy and begin making plans for next year!
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Simplicity 3426 floral version
I have sewn a couple of other versions of this pattern, my nana gave me this lovely piece of fabric from her stash a while back, several meters – enough for two projects, maybe a blouse next…. The fabric is so soft and has a good drape, just lovely! I lined the bodice to give a bit more structure, leaving the skirt unlined, it has a great floating quality to it.
Here’s the original pattern, I went for version two with the slightly square back neckline. And here’s the finished dress!
And the back….
And the bodice, great belt huh? An op shop find.
Love this neckline.
For now, this baby is going into hibernation, as it’s getting chilly here. Onto some winter sewing projects!
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The New Kittens – a late night book making project
Luna went on a making spree the other night, she decided to make a book, based on one of her all time favourites, The New Kittens, a Little Golden Book, about a girl who’s cat has kittens. Quite sweet, and kittens joining the family is Luna’s dream, so it has been read many times!
She said she said, not worry, she would put the lights out as she was probably going to go to bed when I was asleep (where has she heard that before…) Love that she was so into it and able to stay up working on it.
We have had a lot of writing happening around here, Luna has been saying that she needs to “practice her writing to be a journalist”. That’s new! She explained that she is planning to put pictures of our family cat into the story too, so we can look at it when we are apart from him and missing him.
She likes to copy and read from a variety of sources, and I love the way she incorporates serifs and other whimsical forms into her letter shapes.
artist, writer, curator, mentor
Angela Rowe 