Jungle January

So this post is way overdue, its now closer to March than January - opps! Anyway ages ago my friend Emma and I decided to take part in Jungle January. The premise of Jungle January is pretty simple, sew something from Jungle inspired fabric.

I decided to make a simple dress - one of my favourite "frankenpatterns" - the Salme Pussy Bow dress with the sleeves from the Colette Laurel dress. I've made this "mash up"a couple of times before - here and here.

As I decided NOT to buy any new fabric this year (25 of February and I have caved and bought any new fabric) I  had to look through my stash and see what I had one hand. Fortunately I had a couple of metres of leopard print in my stash that I had bought from The Fabric Store that I decided I needed  because "reasons".

Before having photos taken in our Jungle January frocks, Emma and I decided to have drinks and  treats at Louis Sergent - so fancy!

It was a super hot day when we went, so I had this icy lemon drink and a lychee dessert and it was awesome.

Emma also got a tasty treat, I don't remember what it was exactly (because this was back on 31 January) but it sure looked spectacular!

After treats and shopping Emma's husband Paul took some photos of our Jungle January frocks. We even found a wall that was a little bit Jungle like in the central city.

I've always worn a belt with the other versions of this dress and I think next time I  wear this  dress it will be belted, its kind of a weird shape without a belt.

If you're wondering, Emma's wrap dress is made with this pattern and she told me she bought the  fabric ages from Trelise Cooper, apparently Trelise Cooper used to sell fabric!

Also we tried to do animal faces, it may not have been a success. I think I have the opposite of resting bitch face - its resting smiling like a cheese ball face.

It was pretty fun to do a sewing challenge with a friend, hopefully I  can  do more sewing challenges like this on this year!

Air NZ Lady Date and "Ode to Joy" Dress

Yesterday Ria and I caught up one final time before we head home for Christmas (she's going to Adelaide/Sydney and I'm going to Taranaki/Auckland/Tauranga).

I kind of wanted to do something fun and I had recently read about an Air New Zealand Exhibition at Te Papa which included a display of historical Air New Zealand uniforms, it sounded like a blast - so we went along.

The first part of the exhibition was a history of the uniforms worn by Air NZ staff - starting with the current uniform, which is ok I guess. I've seen a lot worse on my travels on various airlines. In case you were wondering, that second photo is of a cabin crew member dressed as an elf with a small child dressed as a hobbit - I do live in middle earth after all.

Then it was the uniforms from the 1990s and 1980 - what can I  say - it was horrible, horrible stuff. Especially that dropped waist dress - I just can't see how that would look good on anyone ever!

The 1970's was MUCH more my style - I'd so wear that green shirt dress and that chunky houndstooth fabric. It's all so dreamy.

My favourite decade was of course the 1960's - look at how cute the uniforms are! I love the hats too! Also how great is that photo of the woman looking longingly at the Kiwi - it makes me giggle.

Finally the 1940s/1950s - the uniforms looked quite militaristic here - but included a perfect crisp white dress.

The exhibition wasn't ALL uniforms, there was so much interesting stuff about the history of the airline. I loved the old posters - although some of them are pretty cringe worthy by modern standards.

There was a lot of interactive parts to the exhibition - we got to sit in a old style Air NZ Cabin which is huge by today's standards. It felt more like sitting in a train carriage than a plane.

There was a photo zone - so obviously we were all over that as well!

There was also a kids area which included all kinds of fun activities - including dress ups! As the dress ups were child size the only thing we could wear was the  hats, but it was totally awesome. Adult life choices always.

However - the very best part of the exhibition wasn't inside Te Papa - it was outside. In case you're wondering, that is a cockpit of a plane!

Neither of us got invited into the cockpit of the plane as kids - can you tell? It was pretty exciting.

After all that excitement it was time for some lunch and so present opening!

Ria basically got me all the stuff I like for Christmas - Hello Kitty, birds, sewing stuff and creepy stuff.

Finally let's have a look at that "Ode to Joy" dress of mine! This dress is inspired by my friend Joy who is the Queen of all things animal print.

The fabric was from a sale at The Fabric Store and I only bought 1.5 metres, not really knowing what I would do with it! Fortunately even though I only bought 1.5 metres the fabric was so wide that I had plenty for a dress.

I decided to make a Moneta - because duh that's the dress I make right now. There  wasn't enough fabric for the three quarter length sleeves, so I made the shorter sleeves. I tend to make most things with three quarter length sleeves, but I'm actually really liking these short sleeves.

Well that's all for now - tomorrow Rich and I will be flying to my parents house for Christmas day. Then its onwards to Auckland for about five days and finally we will head to Tauranga to see Rich's family. So many busy holiday times ahead!