new play dress

here's another play dress from Enid's 'Toddlers clothes' pattern book. This dress is made from remnants and although browns are an unusual colour palette for a play dress, it's certainly very flattering on Miss 2.

I've started drafting the cape pattern and hope to do my cutting out later on today.

new play dress

here's another play dress from Enid's 'Toddlers clothes' pattern book. This dress is made from remnants and although browns are an unusual colour palette for a play dress, it's certainly very flattering on Miss 2.

I've started drafting the cape pattern and hope to do my cutting out later on today.

more nana goodness

this gorgeous vintage, New Zealand made fur coat (and no it's not the real thing) has to be the best clothing item in my nana wardrobe. I couldn't resist buying it, so it could just be in my wardrobe. Every now and then, I take it out and stroke the fur, dreaming of times when this coat would have been worn with a true sense of occassion.

nana shoes

I found these gorgeous nana shoes online for $15. I love the 2 tone patent leather, the deep square toe and wedge heel. All the boxes ticked for the perfect pair of nana shoes. Just right for peeking out from under a pair of denims or wide leg trousers.

chocolate play dress

I've never been a fan of the colour brown. Probably because I spent 5 years at college wearing what I considered to be the ugliest school uniform ever. Picture this, a brown tartan skirt with 2 inverted pleats in the front and back (designed to make even the thinnest girl look wide), bright yellow blouse and brown wool jumper. I'm convinced that the uniform designer must have had a cruel sense of humour.

When I decided to make this play dress I thought it might be more helpful if I changed my approach. So, I renamed it 'the chocolate play dress.' Like a box of chocolates, it's full of surprise!!!

There's still plenty of fabric left over so I may make another style of play dress featuring more gingham and less print. I'll keep you posted.

enid's cape pattern

had a lightbulb moment in the middle of the night when I remembered that I'd seen a cape pattern in one of Enid's books. So at 3am I was up and looking through my collection of Enid's pattern books. I found it in the 'Smocks and maternity wear' book.

I like the streamlined shape as it lends itself to being a more tailored fit. Hope to get started on drafting the pattern this weekend.

vintage styled cape

I've decided to do away with my dull and boring coat this winter and make myself a vintage styled cape. A tailored 1960s look (like the ones pictured above) would suit me more than a 'blanket' looking cape. In my stash is a decent length of gorgeous black woollen fabric that would be more than enough to make a cape as well as some brightly coloured patterned satin that could be the inside lining. Now it's just a matter of deciding on the pattern and then finding the time to get started. Hopefully soon as winter is on it's way...

mothers day surprise

mothers day in our house starts when I succumb to dear hubby and our childrens insistence that I have breakfast in bed. Usually I'm up and into my day at around 5am with porridge for breakfast. So my mothers day surprise was a lie in until 8 am and a very BIG breakfast so nicely set up with a sprig of bouganvillea.

Hugs and kisses to my dear hubby and children. I'm very, very proud to be a mother.

more play dresses

Miss 2's first play dress that I blogged about the other day has been so successful that I'm compelled to make her more. So here's a hint of the other fabric colour combinations that I've chosen for Miss 2's other play dresses. Again I'll be using the 'economical dress' pattern. This time I'll make it with a round neckline although I think I'll leave the skirt fullness as it is. There's also a smock dress pattern by Enid Gilchrist that I'd like to make up in the red spot/black & white floral.

Most of the fabrics came from the Spotlight remnant bag, which has proved to be well worth the $5 price. I had to buy a 1/2 metre of the yellow gingham and the red & white spot as I didn't have anything in my stash that would match/compliment the prints.

Just realised today that I really love to fill my sewing world with colour!

1960s inspired mini dress

All of Miss 12's hard work paid off as her Mary Quant presentation was a hit. She looked great in her 60s inspired mini dress and received a lot of compliments from viewers on her outfit, lively speech and colourful display board. Miss 12 was sporting a shiner from netball trials earlier in the week, so we had to forgo the 60s eye makeup and false eyelashes.

I started off with a size 12 Misses vintage pattern that needed to be graded down in size in the bust,waist and side areas. I also had to alter the shoulders, reposition the darts in the back to accommodate Miss 12's swimmer shoulders. The completed length was good as we'd agreed that we wouldn't go too short even with a 2 inch hem sewn in.

It was a great pattern to sew and the alterations were an interesting challenge too after sewing Miss 2's play dress.

Cranford - 'Bessie dearest'

another Cranford moment when 'Bessie dearest', Mrs Forrester's cow suffers a huge amount of hair loss as a result of falling in a lime pit. There's some suggestion that the cow should be put down unless it can wear pyjamas to cover it's nakedness. So Mrs Forrester makes Bessie the cow, grey flannel pyjamas. Now that has to be the ultimate sewing project.

Oh and in case you wondering, there's meant to be a flap for milk and another for cow poos?

play dress

Finished Miss 2's play dress last night and then pressed and hung it up for her to find and wear this morning. With delight she put it on, all the while asking 'for me?' and 'sooo cute!.' There's been plenty of whirling and twirling this morning. The green of the skirt was hard to photograph. The photo of Miss 2 modelling is the closest to the actual shade of the fabric.

Another successful garment made from an Enid Gilchrist pattern. The pattern was drafted with ease. Next time I make this dress, I'll redraft the neckline to allow for a deeper square. Apart from that, it looks like the 3 'ugly' fabrics go together well.

Cranford - the lace incident

I'm a fan of 19th century literature and drama and lately I've been watching 'Cranford' while I sew at night. So I thought I'd share a link to my favourite scene. I've called it 'the lace incident'.

It involves lace + cat + buttermilk = a mess!

vintage doll pattern

my sewing has to be varied to keep me motivated and interested. So every now and then I do some sewing for my vintage dolls. I've just won this pattern on Trademe (NZ's site similar to ebay) and look forward to receiving it before the weekend. There's some printed voile in my stash that would be perfect for making a pair of doll's shortie pyjamas.

play dress progress

Miss 2's play dress is coming along nicely. I decided to add some bright pink ric rac to the yoke and pocket. It's brightened up the dress considerably and draws the mixey/matchy fabrics together more. Putting binding around the square neckline was a little fiddley and I didn't quite get it 'square'. Usually I'd make sure it was 'spot on' but I don't think Miss 2 is going to be looking too closely. She just wants it finished asap!

As for Miss 12's Mary Quant dress, it's almost finished. Just some hemming to do. I'll post a photo on Friday when she's wearing it at her project presentation.

ric rac

I've always had a love of ric rac. I guess it's because it showed up consistently on a lot of my childhood clothing. I bought all this ric rac from a Wellington store. It's the perfect width for trimming either vintage dolls or little girls dresses.

play clothes

Miss 2 has been waiting so paitently by the sewing machine for me to stop working on Miss 12's Mary Quant inspired mini dress & start sewing her play clothes.

Her first item of play clothing is an economical square yoked dress drafted from Enid Gilchrist's 'Toddlers Clothes' book. Again, the Spotlight remnants bag hasn't disappointed. It's yielded up 3 really 'ugly' fabrics that go together in a mixy/matchy sort of way. My plan is to make version 1 using the ice blocks fabric for the yoke & pocket, green floral for the dress skirt, make stripey bias binding for around the neckline, armholes and border on pocket. Thank goodness Miss 2 isn't fussed about colour yet. Her main concern I think is that it's twirly and whirly. So off I go to make it work!

nz artist, chris barry

I met artist, Chris Barry recently and I was immediately impressed by her work, especially her blue & white crockery paintings (as I'm a keen blue willow collector.) Chris is a really lovely person and paints with a considered and thoughtful eye. I love discovering and sharing about fellow NZers craft & art endeavours. You can contact Chris: chriscardbarry@yahoo.com.au

mary quant project update

we're making great progress with Miss 12's Mary Quant project. Miss 12 has been busy researching while I've been working on her 'mary quant' inspired outfit. I blogged earlier this month that Miss 12 had chosen a Mary Quant vest/shorts/blouse outfit. After what seemed like a gazillion alterations, it became obvious that Miss 12 just wasn't liking the outfit too much. The silhouette was great but the outfit looked a little too grown up for a 12 year old. So back to the pattern stash we went and chose this pattern instead. It's more 70s but is still the right shape. After all Mary Quant lays claim to being the very first designer of the mini. So we're going with the mini dress version with short sleeves. Miss 12 has broad, square swimmer shoulders so this should make for an interesting sew.


Quant fashions seem to be mostly plains, spots, stripes, plaids & checks. However we've taken the liberty of choosing a print. The dress fabric is a lovely medium weight cotton mix with a vintage-like leaf print that I bought from Arthur Toyes, Wellington.

mary quant project update

we're making great progress with Miss 12's Mary Quant project. Miss 12 has been busy researching while I've been working on her 'mary quant' inspired outfit. I blogged earlier this month that Miss 12 had chosen a Mary Quant vest/shorts/blouse outfit. After what seemed like a gazillion alterations, it became obvious that Miss 12 just wasn't liking the outfit too much. The silhouette was great but the outfit looked a little too grown up for a 12 year old. So back to the pattern stash we went and chose this pattern instead. It's more 70s but is still the right shape. After all Mary Quant lays claim to being the very first designer of the mini. So we're going with the mini dress version with short sleeves. Miss 12 has broad, square swimmer shoulders so this should make for an interesting sew.


Quant fashions seem to be mostly plains, spots, stripes, plaids & checks. However we've taken the liberty of choosing a print. The dress fabric is a lovely medium weight cotton mix with a vintage-like leaf print that I bought from Arthur Toyes, Wellington.