Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Lady Date: Home Sewn Exhibition

Last Saturday Ria and I caught up for a lady date and went to the Home Sewn exhibition at the Dowse. Geeky sewing excitement!
As the name suggests this is an exhibition of home sewn garments all made by hand, with love here in New Zealand and there was so amazing and inspiring frocks on display.
Look at this one - I would love to make something like this now! That fabric is amazing - so bright.
Look at that fun to tone maxi - I LOVE it - I want to make something like that. The sheer pussy bow blouse is adorable too.

Look at the stunning embroidery on this lovely maxi frock.
The lovely frock on the left was made as a wedding dress - so pretty.
These dresses were both made in the 1980's - I love the tropical look frock, so perfect for a summer holiday.

Here's a back view of that lovely tropical dress and some more details of the sewist who made it - they had one of these for each dress.
I LOVE the 1980s - so all I have to say is "bum bow dresses forever!"
This is another wedding dress - this one is made of kimono fabric for a Japanese lady who was marrying a kiwi guy.
This amazing frock was made by a teenager for her school ball! How incredible - I couldn't sew ANYTHING when I was a teenager.
Look at this lovely dress, it was made by a lady in her nineties for her daughter to wear to a wedding. Amazing.
I love the colour of this frock and the bow and how its all asymmetrical - so amazing (also you can see Ria in the back taking pictures!).

 This was my favourite dress at the exhibition - its a 1950's ball dress and its just so beautiful. If I made a dress this magnificent I would want to wear it EVERY SINGLE DAY!







More and more and MORE beautifully made handmade frocks - I really love them all. So much hard work and love went into making them all.
The exhibition also had some patterns on display - I loved this plastic way hanging display thing. I wonder where you can buy one of these? It would look rad in my sewing corner (also would help me remember which patterns I actually have).
They also had a box of old patterns to look through - which as we all know, is ALWAYS a good time.

Finally for all of you have ever made a duct tape body form check this out - its quite a simmilar idea, except the tape is SHELLAC! Do they still sell this? If yes - why don't I own one and if no - why the hell not. Surely this is a thing loads of home sewists would buy?

14 comments:

JuanitaTortilla said...

I enjoyed just about every dress you've shown -- something to ram up my sewing inspiration which has been dead the past couple of weeks :) Now I feel like sewing.

Thanks for your comment: have had my chocolate cookie fix(es) and tea and I'm now good to go :D

Vix said...

What an exhibition! I'm drooling over that vibrant circle dress, the white embroidered one and all those fab maxis. xxx

Curtise said...

What a wonderful exhibition. I really like that each dress has some information about its maker and the dress itself, that's a nice personal touch.
So many favourites - the Kandinsky-esque circle print,the kimono fabric wedding dress, the yellow floral 50s dress, the maxi with daisies on the bodice, the button-front autumnal maxi - actually, I just love them all! xxxx

Krista said...

This is absolutely one of the coolest things you've shared with us! I love getting to see all these handmade dresses! I love that two tone maxi best of all!
Xcoo

Monsterchen said...

woooow what a great exhibition! really so many beautiful handmade dresses it´s hard to decide which one i love most, very inspiring indeed, i have so much love for 80´s do 50´s dresses as well, i love huge bows and i love this tropical print! amazing!

Helga said...

The black and white maxi and the tropical 80's frock are divoon!
What a splendid exhibition, right up my alley! I wonder if it'll come down here?!
XXX

Anonymous said...

You can still buy shellac, from Little Johns (now called Gordon Harris but will always be Little Johns to me), I think I even still have a bag of some in my box of design stuff from university days, it's fun!

Penny-Rose said...

This looks like an exhibition that was in Dunedin recently,but it is so much better laid out. I recognise the two tone maxi. There was hardly any room to walk around and enjoy the items from different angles. I can see from your photos that it was really spacious. I love the patterns and the shellac mannequin - a very nice touch.

Indigo Violet said...

I'm with Penny-Rose, this version of the exhibition is so much better than the version which was in Dunedin!

Vintage Bird Girl said...

What gorgeous frock creations....I adore the green floral one towards the end. I SO wish we could have hit the Auckland vintage fair together, so much fabric & patterns & clothing. The Captain & I had a ball. Xx

Kura Carpenter said...

when was this exhibiotn in Dunedin? totally missed that. doh!

Camelia Crinoline said...

I went to see this when I was in Wellington. It was great. My favourite was the black floral 1940's dress.

alicia said...

bum bows forever!!! <3 i love all the old patterns too!

Anonymous said...

That first pattern you pulled out, the 80s number with a pink and floral view, I have that exact pattern! You know, if you're keen :)

Also Jo of Making it Well made a dress form similar to that, full instructions on her blog. I'm thinking of doing one myself!