Done with my jacket and 2012

Just a lil post to show off my finished fur coat and the dungaree dress I whipped up a couple of days ago! It's super hot here in good old New Zealand but I'm so desperate to wear the coat that I'm ignoring all weather conditions for the time being.
A quick shout out to the dress which hasn't been mentioned on this blog at all previously, the fabric's one of my choices off Spoonflower and it was made with the impending summer holiday with the boyf's family coming up in 2 days. Getting ready for fun in the sun is a true challenge, but I'm doing my best. As a side note, I might start adding these chest pockets to everything I make, they're so handy dandy and sometimes people slip gifts into them when I'm not looking. I've previously come home with several varieties of flower and a lighter.
Try it yourself!!
So long, and bring on 2013 :-----)

Progress reports + Spotlight haul

My rainbow 'n' black yeti coat is well on the way to completion! Joseph and his technicolour dream coat better get out of the way, because there's a new sheriff in town.This sheriff is framing up to be one of the warmest things I own. It better be, because currently my carpet is just not surviving every time I give one of the seams a bit of a trim. Which is often, if you want any hope of seeing where you're going. Again, all that's left to do is the lining, which is boring as hell but it needs to be done, I s'pose. uuuuuuuuugh.

To add insult to injury, I'm headed on a summer holiday in a few days, so this baby will have to wait even if I DO get it done.

TO SPOTLIGHT ------------>

(Potentially) underrated products: Hair chalk

On christmas, I was lucky enough to recieve something I have been curious about for quite some time: Hair chalk. Just rub it on some damp hair, and hey ho, you've got a new hair colour!
There's better versions out there than the one I received, I am led to believe, like the Colour (color?) bug bye Kevin Murphy. I've tried it out, and it's fabulous, but I can only ever afford one colour at a time- but surely the point of this kind of thing is being able to change your hair colour every day, or have heaps of colours in at once?
I'm pretty pleased with these bad boys- the only problem is that they can make my already brittle hair even more so, resulting in non compliant hair when you're trying to style it. Lucky for me, I'm a fan of an explosive hairdo. I dare say if your hair hasn't been ravaged by years of dyeing, it'll hold up just fine.

Sam (reluctantly) models his new coat

My lovely boyfriend has a severe aversion to photographs, but is too nice to say no to the people wanting to take them. I have to say that I probably have contributed to his fear of the camera, as his chronic eyes-closed problems is a source of much amusement for me.
For example, the last time I made him something and needed to photograph it for my portfolio:

Aaah, Sammy. you can't say he's not trying his best. The coat I made him this time is along the same lines as this one, it's from the same pattern, but the key difference is the fact that I didn't have my sewing teacher holding my hand throughout. There was a lot more guesswork involved than I care to admit. It's times like this when I am pleased that Sam (slash anyone else I sew for ever) doesn't know all that much about fabrics and therefore can't laugh at my inability to get things right. For the same reason, I tend to shy away from showing really really experienced sewers things I've made.

The new coat is as follows:

(P.s. The hem looks uneven, it's not really, it's just Sam doing some artistic "modelling". Same with how wide it makes him look in the second one. How did he even achieve that?)

Despite the look of exasperation on his face, he assures me that he really does like the coat. I do too, the colours do look quite fetching on him. All in a day's work!!!

We refreshed ourselves after this challenging photoshoot by having an indoors picnic- a boxing day tradition of ours (well it is now), but it was pissing down with rain. Ingenuity in action, or what?

The promised Christmas post

I really think that the only reason I am making this post is to do with the fact i have a new computer to do it from. Yes, that's right, my darling parents provided me with a Macbook Pro ("for studying") this fabulously hot Christmas morning. Shouts out to them!
All day I've been so hot I felt like I was going to burst into flames. At 28/29 degrees, it's, I think, the hottest Christmas day Wellington's had since the 1930s. It certainly felt as much. You can tell my passion merely by the fact that I am even talking about the weather to begin with.
Anyway, because the funnest part of christmas is about giving, I'm going to show some substandard photos of what I rustled up for my lovely sister. The great thing about Kate is that she's up for anything, style-wise. You don't have to worry about her never wearing what you make which is brill.

Onwards:

That's immoral

Yeah, hi, sorry I've been gone a bit lately- it's not because I haven't been doing fabrics, in fact, quite the opposite. I've been doing SO MUCH fabrics that I haven't even thought of documenting my progress, I'd need five posts a day to keep up.
I've taken a couple of photos so I'll chuck those up tomorrow, in the meantime, let's discuss the last few days. I often listen to the Hamish and Andy podcast while I sew, and in the last few days I've gotten through fourteen hours' worth of their beauty. I am oh so up to date on their adventures of 2009.

The "immoral" activity referred to in the post title is about some sewing I recently did for my 7 and 8 year old cousins. My aunt drops them off at sewing boot camp for the day, in exchange for babysitting wages paid in fabric shop vouchers. It would be soooooo much easier if I could measure them and then they would fuck off, but, you know, the kids like to feel as though they are helping, even though they only have a very vague grasp of how to use a pin correctly.

This is all well and good, but the eight year old wanted a dress that looked a bit like these iconic items.

I'm pleased to say that her version is more PG, but through the whole sewing process I couldn't help thinking of these beauties. Feelings of unease were in the air.

The other outfit I made was for the 7 year old, who has a thing for mermaids and has been begging me to make him a mermaid costume for about two years. I finally complied, although I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. Heroes of our time. This kid heckled me throughout the process, actually shouting out sewing tips to me from across the room. M8 I kknnnoooowwww how and when to use elastic, stop shitting yourself.

The kiddos look oh so cute though, I'd put up pictures but I feel a bit weird putting youngins on the internet without them knowing.

Merry Christmas my darlings!!!!!!!!

Sparkles and Dinosaurs

Dear friends,
the tinsel pants I pitched a few posts ago have reached completion! It was a long and traumatic journey, which involved nearly passing out from inhaling too much superglue and a 12 year olds' production of Bugsy Malone.
The original fabric was a bit flimsy for what I had in mind so I had to get a bit creative in sturdying it up and so on. They also kinda itch quite a lot, even though I actually overlocked the inside seams for once.
As with all of my clothing choices, I will overcome this issue by simply pretending that they aren't causing any form of discomfort.
The boyfriend (who's meeeeeega into acting) would approve.
The "dinosaur" portion of the post title is to do with this sick top I made out of fabric gifted to me by my Grandmother. The best part of this is the fact that I actually started making this two years ago. I made it, it didn't fit me at all, and I, disheartened, dumped it in the corner of my sewing room and pretended it never existed. It was only out of sheer desperation/hatred of my wardrobe that I salvaged it and made it look remotely like an item of clothing.
Anyway so click read more if you wanna hear more about the actual process of making them.

'Tis the season to do fabrics

The following purchases were made within twenty four hours of myself uttering the phrase "hey Dad, you know how you're santa...?". Manipulation 101. Dad disagreed that he was responsible for my stocking, however, it was agreed that we would stand next to these rolls of fabric in the store and loudly talk about how it would be super cool if these fabrics appeared at the end of my bed come christmas morning. Good old Kevvo, always willing to help me contact Santa when necessary.

I considered it highly necessary to contact Santa in this situation. I have been eyeing up this fabric for about a year now, and every time I go to buy it it's out of stock. I wasn't about to let this beauty slip through my fingers yet again.

Gimme gimme more ------------>

Progress reports

Let the record show: I have an awful attention span. It's a complete necessity for me to have roughly 3 projects on the go at any one time. This is heightened around christmas time, as I have problems with time management as well. I'm really not selling myself here. Anyway.
 Here's what I have on the go at the moment.

PROJECT ONE: MEN'S WINTER COAT

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I planned on makine a new winter coat for my boyfriend. As you can see, it's kinda starting to take shape a little bit. Forgive the second photo, putting a man's coat on a female mannequin really doesn't show said coat in its best light. The fabric is proving to be a bit of a nuisance- it frays and it's itchy as hell. However, I'm going to slap on a brave smile when I hand it over to Sam. I might have to have a cry about this in the future as all the complex steps seem to be (inconveniently) at the end of the project. Like the collar. Don't even talk to me about collars.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: Check out that fucking welt pocket!!! What a legend!!!

SECOND PROJECT: WOMEN'S JACKET

Okay so this picture makes the beginnings of this jacket look like a pile of shit but I assure you that it's actually quite nice in real life. To my delight the fishy smell on the black fabric is dying away, so I'm feeling optimistic about the future. I'm tossing up a few ideas for said jacket to make it a bit less boring-- at the moment you could probably pick it up in one of those awful stores for middle aged women. I'm thinking a little bit of black lace or something.

 

THIRD PROJECT: RAINCOAT

So there's barely anything to show of this raincoat but I'm going to do it anyway. I got the fabric from work, it's just a laminated version of fabric we already sell so that's all very exciting. If you've actually read more than one post on this blog, you might recognise this print from elsewhere- It made up part of my ball dress a few months ago. I'd just like to take this opportunity to point out the pockets (oh and the hood as well)-- I took clear vinyl and lined it with the white lace. Not only is this kinda cute, it also stops (or at least partially alleviates) the issue of the vinyl fogging up!!

Ingenuity in action or something.

Fashion rules to break, maybe?

You know, I'm not sure how I feel about making a post like this. I don't feel like I have any authority or place in telling you what to do with your life. These will just be a few observations I have made in my dress sense today. When you're not going to school, and therefore not sprinting out of your house at top speed every morning, you gain some free time to really look at what you're wearing.
This is not always a good thing, as today I have realised that my outfit today makes absolutely no sense.

Jacket:Secondhand, Cardigan:H&M, Top:Sydney markets, Collar:Trademe, Shorts:Etsy, Socks:Topshop (they have sheep on them okay) Shoes:Dr Martens

Is it wanky to do these little caption things? I don't know. Whatever, I'm committing now.

 

The first rule to break today is the opressive idea of having different sets of clothes for winter and summer. Is it the kind of day where it's a happy medium between hot and cold? Then feel free to chuck on a fur coat with your short shorts. Especially when the coat in question is a $7 masterpiece from a second hand store in Wanganui. (Or Whanganui to some.. I don't even know anymore)
This kind of look is the best of both worlds (hi Hannah Montana) for me because I carry all my fat/insulation in my bottom half, but my upper half is a little baby wimp in the cold. As much as this clothing combination doesn't make sense, it would make even less sense for me to own a matching pair of fur cow print pants to go with this jacket. Although that would be amazing.
I don't think I'll rule that out, actually.

The second rule to break is the one that says your cardigan should be on the right way up. I beg to differ-- Cardigans are so much more fun when you put them on upside down. Not only do they look more fun, but it's also fun to challenge yourself to try to do your buttons up. This is a great thing, you can pretend your cardigan is a whole new item, and a much more artsy fartsy one at that.

I reckon I could make a whole series on "things that Tess wears that don't really make sense if you think about them for longer than 20 seconds" but I feel as though that would be exhausting. Not to mention a bit eye opening in the word possible sense of the term.

P.S. The next post is going to be mega fabrics chat. Like, MEGA fabrics chat. It's kinda good to have a little bit of an outcome after being holed up in your sewing room for two straight days.

P.P.S. Quote of the day:
Me: Yeah I don't think I trust anyone that doesn't do fabrics
My sewing teacher: Yes, yes, perfectly understandable.
The hilarity of this lies in how serious we both were. Or maybe it just wasn't hilarious to begin with. I don't even know any more.

I'm pretty much Santa

Today I am feeling extremely self-satisfied because I have gotten about 70% of my christmas shopping out of the way in one fell swoop. It was an epic journey, with my Mother, her car, and her wallet in tow. This generosity turned out to be a ruse, as she held the purchases for ransom until I completed a variety of cleaning tasks. I tried to tell her that witholding fabric was considered a felony in a variety of countries, but unfortunately she didn't entirely agree.

On that topic, my Mamma is a nightmare to go fabric shopping with. It's like having a toddler in many respects. More than once she has threatened to throw rolls of fabric in a javelin-like fashion, to which I relaliate by giving her a swift pinch. Actually, just thinking about it, we're both just toddlers at our core.

Anyway. Read More and so on.

You can totally wear that again

Yes, I've stolen the post's title from a project runway episode about bridesmaids' dresses, what a sad life, ha ha ha, okay now let's move on please.
I'm feeling quite pleased with myself, and not just because I have quite clearly mastered photoshop (check out the below pictures). I've managed to re-wear an element of my ball dress, a feat which I have been attempting to achieve fore approx. 2 years. I've never managed it/I've never wanted to manage it because I always end up hating my ball dress a few days after the event.
I decided to not connect the top to the skirt for this reason- I was determined to make the jump to frugality. Even if I only wear the top once, this day will always go down in history as the day that I tried.

I was feeling angry with my face today, I looked under the influence in every single photo I took, hence the somewhat crude editing you see above. Nah but who cares, check out the cute rainbow embroidery I did. I know I talked about said embroidery last post, but shut up, I wasn't prepared. Is it nice to call people out on their lack of preparation skills?

Oh yeah and I bought these pants like a month ago and haven't mentioned them till now. Sorry.
Gr8. Who knew that being a "blogger" would mean I would so many guilty feelings on a day to day basis?

Ball 2.0

Hello my friends, today's blog post will be exclusively to do with the fact that my High School had its ball last night. Because I know you don't care about anything else, here are some photos of what I wore to this event. (I'm just going to assume that you care about this as well) (I'm going to put this under the cut because it's quite long and boring if you don't care)

Why I wish I could knit, reason one

I have such trouble with knitting. This is upsetting to the highest degree. The upsettingness of it all is heightened because I work in a store that specialises in knitting and embroidery products, so I can answer approx 1% of questions customers ask me.
I'm not really sure why this is. I can knit a square, do a few different stitches, and read a knitting pattern, but the second I try to follow said pattern things just go tits up. It's just a big loopy mess of wool, not even close to remotely resembling a clothing item.
I have cheated in the past, just knitting a giant square and then cutting pattern pieces out of it and sprinting to the overlocker, but it's just not the same as having those nice bound edges.
I wasn't too worried about this until I found this book of knitting patterns that my Nana gave me a few years ago, and I want to own pretty much every item in it.
I could either waste time and money and get an outcome that's about a tenth of the quality of the items here, or I could grovel to Nana, who can knit without looking but also slightly terrifies me.
It's a hard choice.

P.S. Just before the photos, I'd like to chuck in some fabrics bitching. I've finished the two ball dresses I previously mentioned, and oh god the second was traumatic. The first's fitting took about two minutes. The second meant hours of fiddling around with darts and pleats and it still doesn't look quite right. Maybe I should take up professional sims-3-ing instead.