organza scarf

I won this red scarf in the Telesa Trilogy Gratitude celebration held by Lani Wendt Young (author) over at her blog http://sleeplessinsamoa.blogspot.com. It's handblocked organza with tradtional Samoan elei patterns. I love daring, bold red accessories - this is going to get a lot of use - thanks Lani!

water everywhere

Mr13 came home from cadet camp yesterday, had a shower and managed to flood our bathroom. To make things worse, the water went through the floor & came out through the light fittings in the sewing room & bathroom downstairs. The best bit of news is that my vintage/retro dolls and 99% of my fabric escaped getting wet.

travel organiser part 1

When our family travel overseas I'm always the one who plans and organises the whole trip. I'm also the one who holds onto all our passports and travel documents. To make my job a lot easier with our upcoming Sydney trip in the spring, a travel organiser is exactly what I need to keep all the travel stuff together and easy to find. I've had a look around on the internet but haven't seen anything that suits, so I thought I'd have a go making my own.

The materials I've chosen are: 60cm remnant of 120cm wide printed drill, 1 metre of red striped bias binding, 1 metre of green striped bias binding, pellon stabiliser, 50cm of 15mm black elastic.

While I work on a pattern for this, there's a list of things that I want to include in the design:

*pockets for 5 passports

*pen holder

*credit card pocket

*arrival/departure forms

*boarding passes

*accommodation vouchers

*car rental documents

I've purposely excluded a zippered pocket as I won't be keeping money in this organiser.

fabric, fabric & more fabric

The last time I did a major de-stash was back in March 2009. This week I've been sorting through the mountain of fabric which I sheepishly refer to as my 'stash' (I mean seriously, as I checked shelves and opened drawers, I kept discovering fabric, fabric & more fabric). Some of it I don't even remember buying. It's all got to be measured, priced & packed into enormous stripey carry bags ready for next months Fabric-a-brac here in Auckland. Whatever is left over will be donated to the Panmure Hospice shop.

At the end of this process, I'll be able to say hooray (again) the stash is rationalised again!!!!!!

sydney in spring

I love Sydney. I love the sights, sounds and smells of the city. I'm looking forward to being in Sydney during the spring with my 2 daughters. It's a surprise trip for our older daughter who is turning sweet 16 in a couple of months. So I'm imagining that we'll be doing lots and lots of shopping. Let the countdown begin!

frost

a quick trip to the beach in the middle of winter is probably not the ideal holiday for most. On our first morning, the bach windows were fogged up with condensation and outside it was frosty. Our daughters and I went for daily walks on the beach and raced back for much needed hot cocoa drinks.

tattoo inked girl

I'm a fan of Alexander Henry's tattoo inspired fabrics and the Tattoo Inked Girl (pictured above) is my favourite. I bought 3 yards of this fabric a while back and I don't have a clue what to make with it. I checked out etsy for inspiration and most crafters are making bags with it. Not sure if that's what I want to do. Any ideas?

fabric-a-brac auckland

Fabric-a-brac is coming to Auckland - that's loads of fabric goodness for all. You can find out more about it at http://fabricabrac.wordpress.com/auckland/. I've booked a table - so drop by, say hi, I'd love to meet you!

winter sun

After a dark & damp start this morning, we were rewarded with a beautifully sunny day. Even the industrial areas in Onehunga look almost pretty.

black hard plastic

this English black pedigree doll (another Trademe find) is the latest to join my collection of vintage dolls. She's 16 inches tall and is still dressed in her original outfit and shoes. I am intrigued by her face and I wonder what her story is?

vintage poodles

Yesterday Mr B and I were making a trip across town and came upon a really great antiques and collectibles store in Mt Roskill. Every nook and cranny of the shop is filled with all sorts of treasures. I found these two 1950s Japanese poodle ornaments for the china cabinet. I'm looking forward to going there again soon - plenty more finds to be had.

more 1950s hard plastic

Recently I posted here about how it was an enjoyable pastime in the 1950s  for home sewers and crafters to make doll clothes from the many knitting and sewing patterns available. This is very true of the 1950s NZ hard plastic doll that I blogged about here (she's the doll on the right in the photo above). I finally got her repaired (she had multiple seam splits to her head and body and a crack on her behind, no lashes, no lip paint and definitely bad hair). She's all fixed now thanks to the good folk at the Auckland Doll Hospital.

She came with her own wardrobe made up of her original bridal outfit (needs a napisan clean), an original Pedigree cotton dress and the four handmade dresses shown in both photos. My favourite is the blue floral dress in a knit fabric which is exquisitely sewn with real tiny pockets and ribbon ties - a lot of love in every stitch! 

The blonde doll on the left of the photo is a recent Trademe find. She had been abandoned at the first Auckland Doll Hospital in K Rd, then she went on to a new home where she mostly lived in storage for 35 years and now here where she's at home on Miss 5s bed.

birds at the bach

Fantail



Eastern Rosella

We spent a very relaxing long Queens birthday weekend at our bach. There are always plenty of birds around. Our usual hungry visitors are the gulls, sparrows and mynahs. For the first time we had a fantail flitting about nearby looking for insects with a very cheerful chirrup and in the pine trees on our fence line a very brightly coloured eastern rosella. Most amazing of all was a native hawk soaring high in the sky above the bach.

vintage black plastic

Mandy Lou (England), Chatty Cathy (standing), Mandy Lou (NZ) 

Onsie - front view

 

Onsie - back view

During a recent sewing room tidy up, I rediscovered these 1950s vintage black plastic Pedigree dolls (pictured above with Chatty Cathy). Since they came to live with me (must be about 3-4 years) I haven't sewn them any new clothing.

In the Fifties, it would have been a favourite pastime for mothers, aunts and grandmothers to make doll clothes from the many knitting and sewing patterns available. This is very true of the 1950s NZ hard plastic doll that I bought a few years back. The doll was in a bad state with a ragged wig, cracks to her head and face whilst her body was in good shape. It was sold complete with some lovely handmade clothing ranging from dainty 1950s florals right through to 1960s retro brights. It was obvious that someone had put a lot of love, time and effort to making the clothes.

So in keeping with that tradition, first off the sewing machine is my version of the onesie (pictured above).  Then next up, I'm making them both a typical 1950s styled school dress with the peter pan collar and gathered skirt and some extra dresses in a bright yellow or red.

TEAL retro travel posters





TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited) retro travel posters depict a time when air travel was a luxurious treat. Flying in the luxury solent flying boats was glamourous with passengers dressed in their Sunday best - women dressed in furs and hats, men snappily dressed in suits and ties. Today it's a very different story. Now the only remaining Solent IV in the world is located at MOTAT. I got the chance to have a look inside some years ago. The presentation was elegant travel with silver service, table linen and a chef that cooked to order.

The TEAL travel posters are really something. The posters designed by Arthur Thompson are my favourites. I love his use of bright contrasting colours and unusual abstract style. Eyecatching and very memorable!

At my primary school we had these posters on the walls. I'd imagine travelling on a Solent on the "Coral route". By the end of the school year, the posters were tatty and ended up in the rubbish bin. Wish I'd kept one.

mothers day

What comes from the heart, goes to the heart!

nood

 Nood (New Objects Of Desire) in Sylvia Park is my new favourite place to shop for the quirky and the interesting. They have a great range of retro inspired furniture and homewares. They're also having a massive sale at the moment. The wall clock was $10 (it was the last one) - I bought it for my sewing room. As for the robot, I bought that at a previous sale and it lives on my dresser. I've been a bit slow posting a photo. It's a wind up walking robot that clunks along and even has sparks in it's chest. Very cool!

new arrivals...

In mid March I ordered my Betty dress pattern and Simplicity 1801 from overseas pattern supplier. After a long wait, the patterns arrived in this mornings mail. It will probably be a week or two before I can get to sewing up the dresses. The change of season has brought coughs and colds to our household. I was the first to get sick and now Miss 5 has been off school for a couple of days with a runny nose and cough. Usually the rest of the family get sick soon after.



Also in this mornings post were 4 "Good" magazines that I had bought on Trademe for $6. I'm saving these for reading at the bach when we next go down. In the meantime, I'll be busy combatting our family coughs and colds! Keep warm and cosy dear readers...

chalk picture

an early Mothers day present from Miss 5



what's in a name?

Yes, it's time for a little name change. This blog has evolved a lot since I first started  blogging almost 4 years ago. As I'm rarely doing any doll clothing design work now, I've decided to drop 'Designs' from the blog title. It's just Normatika now!

camera change



Nikon D300

 

Recently I upgraded to a second hand Nikon D300 DSLR camera. It is fancy schmancy compared to the Fujifilm S9600 that I've been using. There are more knobs and buttons on this camera than I've ever encountered before. Getting familiar with the D300 has been a challenge and I've had to resort to reading a guide to help explain the D300 manual as well as asking a photographer friend for help.

Anyway, above are a couple of photos taken on the D300. I expect to produce better photos as I learn more.

remembrance






                                                     

THE ODE

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

"We will remember them"

 

no 'betty' dress yet

Dark paisley

 


Fruit

 
last month I posted about making a 'betty dress'. Since that post, apart from deciding to make 2 'betty' dresses ( I couldn't decide between the dark paisley and the fruit fabrics above) I haven't started sewing as the pattern still hasn't arrived in the post. I'm hoping that it will arrive in the next day or so, as I'm keen to get these dresses done and ready to wear.

Have a great weekend dear readers!

retro inspired goodness




Flower power

 
 


Home decor

  



Real groovy

 
a few weeks back Spotlight in Syliva Park had an exclusive members 1 day sale with 60% off their 'retro inspiration' fabric range. As soon as I'd finished the school morning drop off, I made an effort to get to the store with my membership card and discount voucher in hand. I got to the store expecting a huge turnout of people and was pleasantly surprised to find that I was the only customer in the fabric department. And that's how I managed to get this great selection of retro inspired goodness. Of course as soon as I was at the counter buying my fabric, lots more customers arrived.

seagulls

as we were heading home after grocery shopping, I caught a glimpse of a huge number of seagulls perched on a nearby factory roof. So I pulled over quickly, climbed up on a concrete stand and took these photos. There must have been at least 150 gulls. Many of them were on the roof with at least 20 seagulls wheeling and whirling in the sky. It was an amazing sight!

ps: click on the photos if you want to see the seagulls better.

to the moon

We had a lovely easter break at the beach with some wonderfully, hot sunny days. Probably the best of the summer weather packed into a few days before autumn really sets in. The morning high tides meant boaties, several boogie boarders and swimmers were heading out to the beach before 8am most mornings.

Last nights sunset was spectacular with a full moon rising in the sky and then slowly disappearing as the sun rose early this morning.

easter

hope you all have a happy and safe easter break!

tamaki river

We recently viewed a house located on the Tamaki river with the loveliest views. Here's a couple of photos taken from the deck. Despite it's name, the river is mostly an esturial arm with several tributary arms and harbour. The local council are completing a public walkway along the river's edge. As soon as it's finished, I'll be taking more photos to share.

Have a happy week dear readers!

butterfly creek

today we visited Butterfly Creek which is located near the Auckland Airport. There was plenty to see - tropical butterflies, fish, farm animals, creepy crawlies and even 2 Australian crocodiles named Goldie & Scar. Exciting and scarey at the same time.

franklin zoo

Today our family visited the Franklin Zoo where we encountered a lot of interesting animals and people. Miss 15 and I had our cameras at the ready and between us took well over 400 photos. Her Nikon D3100 takes much better photos than my Fuji Finepix s9500. Anyway, here's a few of my best shots. I was the only one game enough to hand feed the zebra with the very lovely toothy 'smile'. It's a perfect place to take the family and enjoy a picnic on the zoo grounds.

the 'betty' dress beginning

I've finally seen all the 'Mad Men' episodes and I'm feeling inspired about making a 'Betty Draper' styled dress (fitted top and full skirt) for a function in early April. Then I spy this Cynthia Rowley pattern on the Simplicity patterns website. This is exactly what I want. The cut of the bodice is ideal (I'll be making dress B, adding 1.5 inches to the length and doing a FBA). I really like the look of the box pleated skirt. It will be more flattering on me than the typical hugely gathered drindl skirt. As this pattern won't be released in New Zealand for at least another month, I've had to buy it from overseas, so now the waiting time starts. In the meantime, I'll be searching for just the right fabric. There's a few possibilities in the fabric stash.

pink evening sky

this photo was taken late last week before several days of rain and wind. It's the strangest summer we're having! This weekend we're to expecting a storm to hit Auckland.