50's dress! Yeow!

After a couple of days doing only that which could be done from bed (a suprising amount really), i'm out and charging with the 50's dress project, which I all but abandoned here.

I cut and pinned first, deciding to leave off the original collar. The fantastic buttons are off a coat I inherited last year. The coat got different buttons and these have now found their home:

The amount of fabric used in the skirt was a straight guess. To gather the skirt I used a technique found on www.patternreview.com and sewed dental floss into a zig zag stitch around the miles of skirting. You simply pull the floss to create the gathers and a nice side effect is the fresh minty smell.

I loves learning from the internet.

I decided to do button loops rather than bound buttonholes. It'll look good and its easier, so win/win.  So this is where I was at last night, with only zip, buttons and hem to go, and all on pause until i can buy a zip.

Front

Back

One small thing that infuriates/ delights me is how shops close at midday on Saturday to reopen on Monday afternoon. Thats a long time to be without a zip fix. Oh and then you can't buy fabric and buttons at the same shop, and the button shop probably doesn't sell thread or needles either. And there is actually a shop in Florence that sells only zips, and anyone else is likely to tell you that what you're looking for doesn't exist. Its kooky. And it's infuriating/ delightful.

I'm still me-made-marching, with at least one homemade piece each day, and I'm suprising myself. With computer troubles and a cold I haven't been taking daily photos, but I'll see if I can work up the enthusiasm for the rest of the month.

An amazing exhibition!

I'm sick in bed today, so I can't be modelling my newly completed green stretch skirt. Boo.

But I can tell you about a fantastic exhibition i visited in Australia when I was there.

A friend, Marg, recomended it, and with my dear Mum I made a 6 hour round trip to check it out. A six hour round trip is dedication, and its awesome that my Mum was keen to go. It was most definitely worth the trip and the highlight of my visit to Sydney, both for the costumes and for the roadtrip with Mum. Here are some of the inspiring images of the costumes, which despite being around 100 years old wowed me with their colour, cut and varied cultural references.

A video showed the painstaking restoration of this gown which was destroyed by its time on the stage and years of storage.

Costume for a squid. I've found some gold fabric and blue, so I want to do something based on this..

Designed by Matisse, this costume was for a Japanese themed ballet

The incredible tunic for 'the blue god', amazing detail..

Theres something about this picture.. it's one of the most powerful pictures I've ever seen. This is the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky playing the blue god in the former costume. He's beautiful.

Two-tweed Tuesday

It's all about illiteration! In order to hold up my Me-Made-March pledge (in which I must wear a me made item everyday), I've knocked out a couple of quick tweed skirts.

I took the pattern off a vintage skirt that fit very well and made a wearable muslin out of a tweed offcut I had around the house. It's the oddest colour, yellow, purple and light blue in a fine tweed, the overall effect is beige. I'm not crazy for the fabric but it made a quick skirt, just to test the pattern:

(rather akward self take photo)

odd tweed

Then I made a long version in a beautiful fine brown wool.
It looked a little bookish so I made it oh so modern with a couple of strips of antique lace I've had stashed forever.

(needs an iron)

This look was inspired by my newest source of ideas, the website www.polyvore.com where I found this pic:

The idea of polyvore is that you can put together a 'look' and then shop your look. I just like all the pretty pictures.

I'm working now on a stretch skirt I've had cut for so long. Then I might get back to spring dresses, which are always the most fun item to make!
 


`

Stripey top finished!

I've finally had a chance to model my stripey top, after a week of being inside with rain and snow.
So here's the front view:

The back view:

and, to my great surprise, we're reversable!

Don't I look pleased with myself? My first self-draped, long-torsoed reversable shirt.

I've been doing well with my MMM pledge too, and without photos, heres what I wore this week from my homemade wardrobe:

Monday: Woollen Thai pants
Tuesday: Wool pencil skirt
Wednesday: Altered long vintage skirt
Thursday: Floral skirt
Friday: Long sleeve shirt

Next week I'll try to get better organised and get some photos going.
And i desperately need some more winter clothes!

Stripey top nearly finished, and day 1 MMM

The stripey top (which really needs a better name) is finally done. After much foot dragginh to finish it up, I'm right now putting on the buttons and snipping loose threads. I was procrastinating because I needed black bias tape and shiney black buttons to complete it as I had imagined, but of all my enormous fabric collection i had no lightweight, black cotton fabric. (imagine!) And of all my buttons (seen below) I had nothing suitable. Shocking.

 

But then I found some white cotton, and decided that my original concept was flexible. Sorting through the buttons I found these:

And I was again in motion. Happy day!
So, before the adding of buttons and buttonholes (this required a change of sewing machine) this is where I was up to. Top front:

 

and top back:

It doesn't sit quite right on the dress form (too short in the torso) but it works for me. 

All I needs do now is crank up the heating and take a photo.

Day one of MMM (me made march) has been a success, with woollen Thai style pants and a brown wool pencil skirt for a work appointment, but if I'm to get through a month of this I need to get cracking on something warmer.

Sadly, its about three degrees here now and snow has been forecast. Sigh.

Me Made March

I, Andrea, of Confessions of a Lazy Bee, sign up as a participant of Me Made March 2011. I endevour to wear one article of me made clothing each day for the duration of March 2011.

I'm seriously doubtful if i'm ready for this, I don't have nearly enough self made clothes to get me through a month, but maybe if I heavily layer summer clothes I might get through it! I did well in January in Sydney, but that was summer and now I'm lucky to squeeze ten degrees out of a day.  So I may post some pictures. Not every day though, and I will be wearing the same thing most days. Today I'm wearing a silk cowl neck jersey top and courduroy pants that I've made, so thats encouraging.

Wish me luck!

Prep work for stripey top.

The sewing machine has been largely idle this week, as I've only sewn this muslin from the draped pattern. Its really too cold to be trying on cotton summer tops though, so here it is on the dress form (she really needs a name doesn't she?) Do you see the black cross in the front centre? Thats her belly button. See the green cross a few cms below that? Thats my belly button. What did I tell you? Long torso.

I prewashed my fabric, both the black and white srtipe and the blue floral for the tiered was-a-muslin dress that i will get back too. No shrinkage or colour running. Good.

 Then happy day, these arrived, and they fit and I'm in love.
They're Fly London and were 70% off.