Look! I actually made a thing!!

Hello folks - the last couple of months have been extremely busy work wise and whilst I have been able to keep on posting over on my instagram by blog posts and sewing projects have been few and far between.

However, yesterday I finally finished up a new dress and today Rich and I went for a winter walk and we managed to take some photos of my brand new dress!

This is a dress pattern I've had for a while but I just never got around to making it! The pattern is the Elisalex dress from By Hand London and although its a little big I am happy with how it came out overall - next time I will lengthen the bodice a bit though (which is a pretty normal adjustment I need to make in most patterns).

I didn't make too many changes with this one, but I did go for a gathered skirt rather than the two big box pleats which was what was in the original pattern.

I also went for the long sleeve version of the dress as its the middle of winter here, also I had a LOT of this fabric (I bought it for $3 a metre at The Fabric Warehouse pop up sale) so I figured why not.

I do really like the pack of this dress - although I have to admit it is a little chilly at the moment to be showing off so much back!

We seen to be having a pretty mild winter this year - which I'm not mad about!  All these photos were taken in our parliament grounds - in the photos above I'm outside the parliament library. In New Zealand things are pretty relaxed, when I first started working as a public servant in about 2006 you didn't even need to go through any kind of security to enter the parliament buildings (I have to admit that even back then I thought that was a little weird). I hope you all have a great week!

Little Green Dress

The weather is warmer, the days are longer and I'm going to try and do more outfit posts - it works in theory, lets see if it also works in practice.

This is a little green vintage dress I picked up at recycle boutique. It's tighter around the hips than I normally like - but I love it so much I can deal with that.

When I actually BUY stuff I tend to stick to stuff that isn't too tight around the hips, as basically nothing fits around my hips and my waist. First world problems right?

 Also my slip is sneaking out of the bottom of my dress - just another reason I will never be any kind of "fashion"  blogger and I'm more of a "general ramblings" or "stuff that happened"  blogger.

But look - I took a selfie in our hallway - so that's fun right? The glamour of big city life.

 Also my hair is slowly reaching my ideal "reverse lady mullet length" - party at the front, business at the back! Photo includes bonus drying rack in the background (oh apartment living).

Hope you guys had a super Monday - Rich and I actually spend last weekend "up the coast" in sunny Waikanae. I have some pictures to show you sometime even!

Pretty in Paisley

As you know - I love 1960s and 1970s vintage. The colours and the designs are so fun and bright and bold. I'm not one for modern minimalism.

Recently I found that a local vintage store Unearthed sells a lot of beautiful vintage fabrics and patterns and I've bought a few metres of fabric from them. The fabric they sell is a little more pricey than what I am usually prepared to pay for vintage fabric. However, the store is beautifully curated and I love looking at all the vintage goodies. Plus I like to shop locally, because if you buy everything from the internet because its  cheaper, pretty soon there won't be anywhere to buy anything!

Recently I bought some lovely purple and blue paisley fabric from Unearthed and decided I wanted to make a dress from it. I didn't want to risk any mistakes, so I stuck with a tried and true pattern for the dress.

 It's a pretty simple frock - but the fabric kind of speaks for itself, you kind of don't want to use any complicated pattern when there is THIS MUCH happening with the fabric.

I had my hair cut yesterday - it looks so "under control" in these pictures. But I'll wash it, then it will be all big and crazy again.

I hope you are all having a great weekend! It's been mighty cold in Wellington - just a reminder that winter had a long way to go yet.

Dragon Lady Dress

Well look I made another thing! Well actually I made this thing a while back, I just didn't have a chance to blog about it. I finished it up the last week of Me Made May but all you folks got to see was this selfie, because by the end of the month I was SO SICK of all of the photos.

So this dress is more of the same in some ways - I made this dress  from the Laurel pattern by Colette Patterns. You guys have seen so many versions on this pattern already, but what the hell. I like it and it works for me, I'm pretty sure there will be more and more versions of this dress in the future!

So I SHOULD have straightened the frock up a bit before asking Rich to take the photo! But you guys can see the dress - I think its cute. Also we ALWAYS have a football in our lounge, its not just for the Football World Cup.

This fabric may look familiar to some of you, it was one of my sweet scores from the Island Bay fabric fair. I STILL  need to make something with the magnificent 90s computer fabric I bought on that day.

Here's a close up of the fabric - you can see why I call it my dragon lady dress right?

Also you may have noticed I'm NOT wearing my trusty brown Avon winter boots in these photos - WAHHHH?? I bought a new pair of winter boots and they are black and are super comfy. Hurrah.

Oh yeah and the passport - so apparently its been approved! I rang the passports office last night as I have been thinking about it a bit (AKA freaking out). They told me it has been approved and there is no reason I won't have it by the end of the week. Next Monday at the very latest. So everything should be fine - but I DO fly out on the 26th of June! At least I'm still smiling right?

Hope you all have a good week!  PS - I totally know the neckline doesn't fit that great - but I kind of don't care, life's too short!

The Meg Dress!

As I've mentioned before, when I was in the USA staying with Alicia and Bear in Pennsylvania, Alicia took me to Jo-Anns and I bought a whole lot of fabric. This is the second dress I've made from the fabric I bought and its a really fun sugar skull print.

I would have loved to have said I wore this dress on Dia de Los Muertos - but I actually made it the day after and wore it to work today. Better late than never right? Also I'm totally including this as dress number three of my four Halloween dresses.

I've decided this dress shall be known as the "Meg Dress" - sure it could be my "Sugar Skull Dress" but the reason I got off my butt and actually made something with it was because of this dress my friend Meg in Philly made. We are fabric twins!

Also I could imagine Meg making a dress from this pattern - its the "Back-to-school shift dress" from Simple and Chic sewing by Christine Haynes. I have made this dress so many times before - see here, here, here, here and also used it as a pattern for this costume. I wanted to make a simple dress from this fabric and I also wanted to use a tried and true pattern as I didn't want to mess up my precious sugar skull fabric!

These inside photos aren't the best - especially taken in the hallway of our apartment building. You can see the weird painting outside our apartment, its kind of grey and dull. I wish the body corp would put something more fun and bright up!

I hope you all have a great week - I've decided to take annual leave this Friday, so I only have three days of the week left. Hurrah!

Peg Dress & Petone

As you may have guessed from my earlier post - today is Anzac Day in New Zealand, which is a day of remembrance for those we have lost in war time. I also means we get a public holiday.

Rich and I had a quiet day off - Rich had study and I was intending to do sewing, although to be honest I didn't get much done. I did wear this dress though that I finished making last weekend.

Here's a close up of the fabric - it has pegs all over it. It's kind of a random print, but kind of fun too. I means why not have a dress with pegs on it?

 Rich decided to take a few artsy shots of our building whilst we were taking these photos - as you can see the scaffolding is still up. I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever come down, I asked the property manager about it but their answer was at best vague.

In case you were wondering, I did manage to actually get out of the house today. Rich went up to the university library to study and I went to hang out with my friend Nankz. We had a coffee and then went to the beach in Petone.

It feels weird having to go back to work tomorrow after having Thursday off - I guess the up side is I only have one more working day and then its the weekend again.

Snakeskin Maudella

I made another Maudella dress a while back - this time in a shiny, snakeskin knit fabric. I have to admit - I didn't like the dress the moment I made it. I thought it was too much and not flattering. But I decided I had to wear it at least once.

Sorry the picture is such poor quality - we took it perhaps a little but too late and my camera couldn't cope (to be honest it can't cope with much). I tried to fix it up on pic monkey a bit, but this is the best I could do.

I know, I know - we could have taken another photo another day. But I think this dress is just so horrible I never, ever want to wear it again. It basically brings out the worst, most negative body image thoughts ever.

Here's a close up of the fabric of the dress - gold snakeskin, I thought it would work out and be awesome. Turns out its the worst dress in the world.

Sorry for a downer post all - I think I will go and cut up/burn this hideous dress before it totally destroys my self esteem.

Hope you all have a great weekend xoxo

Wellington Bloggers Meet Up - Jaime Shift Dress

Earlier today we had another Wellington Sewing Bloggers Network Meet Up and this time I decided I would make an effort to make something new to wear to the swap. 

For Christmas this year, one of my brother's bought me the Burda Style Sewing Vintage Modern book and I decided it was time I finally made something from this book. I chose one of the easiest projects from the book, the Jaime Shift Dress and got to work.

The Jaime Shift Dress is from the 1960's section of the book and is described as "The basic shift dress is a quintessential wardrobe staple, a blank clothing canvas for your imagination" - In addition to this, it only has four pattern pieces, I like that a lot!

I think I made this dress a size too big, when I first tried it on it was pretty big on me so I took it in at the sides quite a bit. I think I will trace the pattern again in a smaller size. Also the dress is a little on the short side for me, if I make it again I will make it a few centimeters longer.

The fabric is a soft stretch that I bought from Arthur Toye Fabric and it was pretty reasonably priced at $10 per metre and I really didn't need too much fabric to make this frock.

Time for the artsy "What's on the bottom of my shoe" photo (oh there is nothing there actually).

I really do like this dress (apart from the length) and I do think I will make it again. 

I had a pretty fun time at the meet up, I got to hang out with some new people as well as those who I met last time. We also had a swap and I managed to pick up all kinds of cool stuff, which I will share with you all later. 

I hope you all had a great weekend and YAH! It is finally raining here, fingers crossed the drought has broken in the North Island. 

Last Day of work for 2012!

Today was my last day of work for the year and it was also my last day with my current team. So today was a little bit sad for me, I am glad to have some new challenges and opportunities in 2013, but at the same time I'm sad to be leaving my current team.

I had a farewell morning tea today and we basically had the biggest cake EVER (I was able to take about half the cake home with me) and I also received the most lovely bunch of flowers from my team.

Today I wore my latest sewing creation, to be honest, I feel a little like I've lost my sewing mojo. I've made a couple of dresses lately that I've just hated - something has either gone wrong whilst I've been making the dress or when I've finished it and put it on it just didn't suit me so I haven't bothered finishing it.

I did finish this dress last night and I wasn't sure about it either - but when I wore it to work both my manager and another lady in my team both thought it was great. One of my work friends, Fiona, also said that if I didn't want it she would gladly take it off my hands so it can't be all bad right?

 Finally another outdoor photo picture - taken in front of the Korean supermarket around the corner from our house. We like to stop off here for food supplies when we miss Korea - my favourite is the this banana milk which I drank pretty much every day after I finished teaching.

Here's a close up of the fabric of the dress - I got the fabric on special and it only cost $13 for three meters.

I think if I make another wrap dress I will use fabric with a bit more stretch for a better fit - the fabric I made the dress from is cotton and I think it would fit a bit better if it had more stretch. When I thought about it after I completed the dress I realised that both the other wrap dresses I have owned have been made from stretch fabric. I guess you learn a bit more with each sewing project right?

I think in the New Year I will do a few sewing courses to get a bit more confidence and learn some new skills with my sewing. One of our local craft stores, Made on Marion, has a lot of interesting sewing courses and I think I should try a few in the New Year - perhaps starting off with the vintage 1930s capelet class.

What about you guys - any thing you're planning to do in the New Year?

Well its time to say bye for now - Rich and I are off to watch a few episodes of American Horror Story.

Looking for a new home

Here's my most recent creation - its from my favourite sewing book "Chic and Simple Sewing" - it's  simple baby doll style dress I made from vintage fabric I picked up in a op shop last time I was in Taranaki.

This dress made me a little crazy whilst I was sewing it - the pattern wasn't too difficult and the instructions were clear, but I kept on making silly little mistakes which drove me crazy. The quick unpick (that's what I call a seam ripper - is that a NZ thing or what?) became my close friend - especially when it came to added the sleeves.

It has a yoke and puffy sleeves and I thought that the whole design was suited to this mad vintage fabric - I really love the fabric design and colours.

So here's the thing - I liked the fabric, I liked the pattern and it took me quite a few hours to make this dress with my mistakes and all, but I just don't like this dress. I've tried to wear it - I really have. I've added boots, belts, badges, tights, beads - but I don't like it - I just plain don't like it and there's nothing that can be done about it.

BUT I've spent way much too time working on it to let it languish in my wardrobe unloved and unwanted - so I've decided to give it away, here on the blog.

This isn't a competition as such - I just want to give my frock a good home! I made this dress in a size "L" from my Chic and Simple sewing book which is a US size 10-12, although its loose fitting so I think a range of sizes could fit this dress.

I am a NZ/AUST12-14 and it fits me - but I think it could fit between  NZ/AUST12-18, that's just my best guess though - I can't make any guarantees.

So if you want this dress - just be the first person to leave a comment stating you would like it and its ALL yours! I'll post it out to you for free even.

Have a great weekend xoxox

OOTD: Strawberry Shortcake Dress

I'm calling this my "Strawberry Shortcake Dress" due to the pattern - so of you who follow my blog may remember seeing it on a coat hanger, but I've never actually given you an action shot of this dress.

I made it for our trip to Vanuatu and it's another pattern from my all time favourite pattern/sewing book Chic and Simple Sewing  - I think this is one of the best buys I have ever made in terms of a craft/sewing book, I use it SO much!

Anyway it is a fairly simple dress with a full skirt, I really do need a fancy petticoat to wear underneath to give it some volume.

After yesterday - I was determined to bring some "sunshine" into my life today and the only way I could think of doing that was wearing a summer dress. Also I did feel a little sad that a dress I'd put so much effort into making was wasting away in the cupboard - I decided I needed to "make it work" for winter!

Shortly we are off to have some delicious Korean food and then we're going to meet our friend Nankz to do some planning for the New Zealand International Film Festival - have a great Friday night xoxo

Birthday Dress!

It's my birthday soon, 15 July to be exact and every year around my birthday I buy myself a new dress.

I've always really been in to nautical themed things - but this year it's become a bit of an obsession so I thought I would buy a nautical themed dress.

This is the dress I've bought, it's from a UK website called The Rock Collection. I am hoping it will arrive in time for the picnic I am planning in Seoul park. However, I recieved an e-mail from the company today saying all overseas orders must undergo a security check which will take a week and the picnic is planned for 10 July - so it may not make it in time - boo!

I really love this website, they have all kinds of amazing dresses, there's another nautical dress I really like. Maybe next birthday - unless someone wants to contribute to my nautical themed clothing fund.

Sugar Skull Dress

I love dresses, in fact I'm almost a collector of them, a girl can never have too many dresses (especially if that girl is me).

I decided it was time I bought a new dress and when checking out esty I came across this cute little number.

I have now bought this dress from an esty store called The Luna Girls . They are going to make me a dress to order to my measurements with super cute sugar skull fabric.

I'm going to be watching my mailbox with anticipation over the next few weeks.

They also have another dress I want - it's a sailor dress - I love sailor themed clothing! They will even make it in black. I like that.
Finally is this Hello Kitty Corset style top, I want this too, a lot. I love Hello Kitty!