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The red gingham dress
“I’ll just take the bodice from one pattern and the skirt from another, and just make a new dress!”
Oh if only it was so easy. A valuable exercise in understanding patterns better, and a challenge to customize a garment – to attain the all important perfect fit. I first blogged this project over here, almost a year ago.
I have made both of the dresses, I would take the bodice from Simplicity 3426 and the skirt from Simplicity 3461, however, one dress has a side zipper closure, the other a center back zipper, and therein lies the problem… So, I cut it out, interlined the gingham, set to… then it became apparent that even with adding some extra fabric at the closure side rather the back seam, it still wouldn’t line up. Darn it!
I had to step away, for almost a year, which worked out fine, in time with the seasons etc. So I unpicked the waist band and started again (I had lined the pattern up perfectly first time…) and it seems like this is the season for finishing off projects.
But now, it’s done, I faced the fear and did it anyway… improvising the fit, and glad for the pattern – which conceals the misalignment of the bodice darts and skirt pleat – phew!
And I know I say this about almost all the dresses I make, but I love it.
Just in time for summer fun! “Oh is that a thread hanging off?!” That’s what happens when you whip it on fresh off the machine for some photos.
So, I love it, even though I feel like if it could talk it would give me a stern look, followed with “I hope you learned your lesson!”
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Time to part-ay! New Vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls
Look! Just check out all those Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Party Pleasers. I splurged on some of these little dolls and it’s still exciting, especially when I see that they are all mint. Everyone, as in probably never played with.
Plum Puddin’ and Elderberry Owl, looking all sweet and smelling pretty close to brand new.
Cafe Ole, and Burrito, looking cute as. Orange Blossom and Mint Tulip below.
This lot came with furniture for the Berry Happy Home – which I don’t own or intend to collect, so these may go to a new home – again, mint condition!
Here are all the dolls, happily completing some dolls I had who were missing hats or shoes, most of these girls still have their hats attached.
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The New Look
[source]
This is Dior’s New Look, his glorious Bar Suit. Isn’t it a dream?
Cast your eyes over my blog, and let me know what you think of my New Look.
Exciting changes, you get a preview of more posts, and you get a little insight into some of the conversation that has been happening with other visitors, and you can more easily comment on posts too!
I love to hear from my readers, so please do get in touch if you feel inspired and let me know what you think.
Angela x
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Op shop show off, glassware, vintage sheets, and puzzles
I know, I know, do I need more John Wydham books? Do I? Yes! I also picked up The Caves of Steal, by Issac Asimov. The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter (of course, it so happens she is one of my favourite authors) and a Doris Lessing novel. Choice!
These are a couple of different op shop finds… the red wine glass on the left, is one of four I picked up at ‘New 2 You’ one of those more time consuming-sometimes-rewarding op shops. I have a champange saucer with the same leaf print design, which I picked up for my first Mad Men theme cocktail party last year (I love the print!)
As I was leaving the shop with my New 2 Me wine glasses, I had this realisation that my favourite tea cup and saucer set has the same print! Hah! The tea cup and saucer were a surprise random find in a box of old crockery at my mums, I loved it, so it came home with me. Looks like I’ll be spending my life collecting the rest of the set. I think it is a Crown Lynn set, but I can’t make out the base stamp… off to the library for some research.
I was excited to find these vintage puzzles at a church fete, horray! Luna and Blake love them, and for 50 cents, what a treat!
Last but by no means least…. a pair of pretty vintage sheets, double, so plenty of fabric for a dress and more. Horray, I already have a plan…
This is part of the Op Shop Show Off over at Blackbird has Spoken… Go take a look and see what everyone else has been showing off about!
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Luna’s side table.
Luna spends quite a bit of time setting things up just the way she likes them, like her bedside table. All the current interests or favourite items are featured.
New treasures are given pride of place. It is interesting – to me – to see what she loves enough to include, and how on earth she edits.
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The Secret World of Huate Couture
I know, I know, it’s not like you needed more documentaries of fabulous fashion and Huate Couture. But, you just might like this one….
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Cult Couture 2013 – Hyrda wins Recycled Revolution!
What a fabulous evening! Here is Coralline.
It was wondeful seeing these garments take the stage.
And Hyrda, so lovely. I was so nervous and excited, especially after all that insane amount of work. Hydra won the Recycled Revoloution Catergory, wonderful, wonderful, what a surprise!
And the model was dancing around backstage loving the dress.
So that makes it even better!
Huge thank yous to the event organisers and team that does all the work backstage, the models were great, the wardrobe team took care of my garments and were so supportive when little Blake needed to be with me after I went on stage. Thank you Barbara for coming and enjoying all the excitement, and for taking some photos!
Huge thank yous to all my wonderful friends and family who don’t think I’m mad (or at least don’t say I’m mad) for taking on these creative projects… especially when I don’t know the outcome.
Love you all x
3News have some coverage of the show here.
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McQueen and I
It’s no secret that I’m a bit mad on Alexander or Lee McQueen. The more I see of his work, the more I love it, and the sadder it is that he is no longer making amazing couture fashion. Love this documentary, great if you haven’t seen much of his work, but it’s about much more than his art – his friends, and his family were very important to him.
And such a wild time for fashion !
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My two Cult Couture garments in the news…
Almost ready to race out the door to see the big event… But a quick catch up on a media story about my Cult Couture garments, I was interviewed for a local paper, (here’s a pdf… Cult Couture 2013 Angela Carter article), and featured in Stuff.co.nz, very excited !
You can also find a media release over on The Big Idea…
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Hydra emerges
Hydra is created out of a fabric I made out of red plastic bags, from The Warehouse. Well before the storm of the environmental damage caused by such plastics had really hit the shores of Aotearoa. I spent some months collecting and reworking this piece, thankfully I had plenty of space at art school.
This may give some idea of the size of the plastic fabric, I laid it out on a hot sunny day to wash and dry it. It started life as a ‘painting’, 3 meters by 5 meters. That filled a wall in my art studio while I was at art school.
Of course, it then needs to be dried too!
It shimmered and shone even on the washing line. And how did it sound? Great, light and crinkly in the breeze. Exciting.
Now, to try some draping ideas, will it work? Will it stand up to wear? Will it just be too… plastic?
Then I saw it in the sunlight in my sewing room…. actually stunning!
Strapless or no? I’d need to make another fitted bodice with this baby. I was able to play around quite a lot to find the right shape and there were some technical issues that arose, particularly to do with the inflexibility of the plastic as a fabric, which of course would have to fit a moving breathing body.
I assembled the skirt to reflect hyperbolic planes that I have observed and studied in some marine organisms and plant life. The fabric itself is a kind of plastic patchwork, that is fragile, in that you could tear it with a stiletto, yet rigid and firm, with no give for movement.
At this point, I was prepared to attempt to illuminate Hydra, wouldn’t that be amazing? with the sunlight behind the fabric it looked really beautiful. But, I thought it might just be going too far, and it had been some time since I had soldered LED’s and batteries…
I experimented with how the skirt would fall, with lots of pinning and shaping, and I created a structured bodice to hold it all together. This was intended to be firm enough to give a slim waist from which the full flowing skirt would fall. Hydra also requires a layered full length petticoat to create the depth I wanted from the skirt. I re-enforced the petticoat with curtain wire to give it more of a sweeping, swinging movement.
Initially I gave Hydra a high collar, but decided it would have to go for the final garment, I enjoyed re-working Hydra and so I went to work! How much fun was that?
Here are a few words about this garment…
Emerging from a hydrothermal vent, Hydra explores her domain… Formed by my exploration of hyperbolic undersea organisms, Hydrais a hybrid of deadly plastic and organic motion.
Hydra is also the result of my experiments with plastic Warehouse bags, beginning in 2004. Her structure, both ridged, fragile and free flowing, reflects the varied polyps and coralline organisms that inhabit the hidden undersea world. A world of deadly predators on a microscopic scale, a world that is being infected by human waste, nano particles and degraded plastics.
You will be able to see Hydra and Coralline at Cult Couture 2013, here are the details:
Here are the details Cult Couture, and where to buy tickets:
General Admission event (theatre tiered seating)
All tickets $25 per ticket
Pre-schoolers may sit on ticket buyer’s lap at no charge
Service and Box Office fees will apply.
Venue Box Office Hours: Monday to Friday 10am to 2pm.Start: 8pm
End: 10.30pmFor wheelchair bookings and enquiries please contact the Box office on (09) 966 1743.
Vodafone Events Centre
770 Great South Road
Manukau City
09 976 7777
ticketing@pacific.org.nzEntrance: Gate 1 & 2
Parking: Northern Carpark. Pay and Display $4.50. Liquor Ban Zone in all external areas.
artist, writer, curator, mentor
Angela Rowe 