My sewing wrap up of 2017

In 2017 I EMBELLISHED a LOT! I made a few things too. Overall I got more done than I thought I had so this is a useful exercise!
I'm not including the denim jacket and stool I wrote about already, or the mending I did after Christmas but that was most satisfying too.

1. Robe for CC 

 I cut this out but Kat my sewing fairy made this up as I was up against it early in the year. Made from Wearing History's rayon with musical notes on it, so beautiful! It has CC on the back. It's good to have a robe to throw on over costumes so as not to reveal too much before the show. Here I am with Penny and Hans before the Clever and Constance show in Feb.

 2. The Wedding!

Our Sarah got married in March I overhauled her imported dress with new lace and beading, after remaking it a lot to tidy it up. It was very pretty! Me on the end in my Liberty sundress. I also overhauled June's dress (Matt the groom's Mum second from left) which was gorgeous. The petite lovely in dove grey is Sarah's Mum, Bronwyn. I love that woman.

3. And now, show stuff!

 OK, this outfit is a purchased jacket and me-made trousers, both embellished with a pink sequin trim, by hand, Big job! Same with the pink purchased corset. I love the trousers and am making some flowy ones in rayon for summer.

 Me left, Debbie right being hilarious. A purchased dress embellished with gold sequin motifs for more stageworthiness.

 My pink kaftan. I am not in love with this to be honest - I feel a little like a Nigerian noble in it. Shiny though!

 More embellished RTW from City Chic. This lovely blue flowing top now has a fancy sequinned and beaded neck feature, and I'm slowly sticking rhinestones onto it. Embellishing can be Agile - delivery a Minimum Viable Product and building on it!

This dress I love so much, after I embellished this one with shiny oranges, I bought another for day wear. Sadly it is so polyester I feel in it like I am wrapped in gladwrap. But I have cut a pattern from it as a basis for an outfit. Not the same - besides the ethics, I don't like aspects of it as much as others.

This is a screen grab from our video playlist as I don't have a photo of it. Little blue 3D butterflies on an embroidered net - each of them carefully brushed with tacky glue and "flittered" (fine glittered). It is much more impressive in reality!

4. Flashback!

That's not everything but it will do. And now for a wee flashback to the past - about 1985 I reckon!

An about 20 year old me in my favourite shirt at the time, naturally known as The Sneeches shirt. I don't remember the lass beside me, but she's wearing a similarly shaped shirt! It was a boxy, drop shouldered style popular at the time and I had several of them in different fabrics. TNTs are not a new concept! I think I wore this until it actually fell apart.

And that's me for now xo

The finish line is in sight!

Goodness me the endurance race that has been my February is close to the finishing line!
Songs for Grown Ups closed last night - it was the best fun! Our second venue was a small downstairs club seating about 50 people and it felt just right for what we do.
Costumes hung away, wigs and makeup stowed, sales tallied and initial post show reflections begun.
We have video being edited, but not photos.

Except a couple of selfies! From left to right: Gertrude aka Penny, our dour and terrifying stage manager/care giver. Penny is a smiler and it was an act of supreme self control to maintain a poker face! Constance in her new robe, revealing all her chins. Peeking in at right is Clever Hansel. We all look like our characters!
So, that complete, I've spent today organising everything I need to do in order to drive to Auckland tomorrow! It's an 8-10 hour drive so I am wanting to get going earlyish.  Our Sarah gets married on the 4th and I am part of the "week before pit crew"!
The sewing machine, steamer as well as all the usual stuff one needs for a week away are pretty much under control. NOT under control is the Stepmother of the bride outfit. It is mostly finished in a bag - I have some sewing tasks to do up there so I can finish it then. My attempts to make an orange lace bolero were stymied by me being an EEJIT (more later) so at my Kat's suggestion I dyed one I already own orange, then will overdye it red later. Nobody needs two orange lace boleros.
But today I did fit in some retail therapy. I rarely buy RTW, but I wanted a back up shrug option, and found a black chiffon one at City Chic which could be useful. Also making it into the bag are a leopard skin dress, a fetching halter neck top, and a bra and undies set SO BRIGHT it could be seen from space. I also talked another lady into buying a dress that looked amazing on her.
Oh my, I am looking forward to this week away. A change is as good as a rest and with an action packed schedule of preparation and fun, it will be change not rest, but joy is very invigorating and I am VERY joyful about this.
So many photos and tings to share when I get back. I've done so much interesting sewing but it will have to wait.
Love to you all xo

What I have been up to.

Hello! I'm alive! I've been:

• working in our new shop space, which is much busier with curious people popping in  - not buying necessarily but keeping us busy!
• working on a wedding dress revamp. It may be summer here but this snowy white fluff ball of tulle feels like a snow blizzard, only hot to be stuck under! I can't show you photos yet as the bride hasn't seen it, Patience..
• doing a gig! Yes in spite of swearing that this year I would not overdo it, I did a comedy show called Sing it Wrong on Saturday night, which is a bunch of stand up comics writing silly, satirical lyrics to popular songs. It is such a lot of fun to do and watch, my fave comedy show in my city. No pics tho.
• writing a show! Yes, Clever and Constance sing Songs for Grownups is coming along very well.

The show I CAN share about. The weekend before last, Hans and I did a photo shoot as we only had photos together from our Sweeney Todd Little Priest number, which would scare anyone away!

Yes, the ukulele is used in the making of this show. We have a Hawaiian inspired number, and another classic that isn't generally associated with the ukulele, but it is fabulous!
Other songs are accompanied by more traditional backing tracks, a couple of which are being arranged by Hans' brother. Such a Clever family!
Locals who are interested in our Fringe Festival show, you can click here to see the dates and times
So, my evenings go - write some lyrics and/or rewrite lyrics already written, then bead bead bead the dress.
I have now finished beading, I think, and just have some construction things to do - put zip in, finish adjustments to lining and rehem. The dress was purchased new but needed a lot of tidying up and resizing and refining, and as is so often the case, the huge underskirt with train was bagged into a lining. But, it was 10cm longer on one side than the other! So, I thought I would undo the lining and finish it separately, and narrow hem the skirt. But now I am thinking I might bias hem the bits I've shortened, catching in both layers, and hand stitch to the lining.


Either way I have until Saturday to get it done as it is going back home on the plane with Ms Bride.
So, I'm off to catch some much needed sleep as I've got a couple of long sewing bees to get through yet.

People are Strange...

...As Jim Morrison once sang. And as did I on Saturday night emceeing at Caburlesque Weird and Quirky. I had very little time to get costumed and made up so I went for a simple look; matching my makeup to the faces on my costume. As you do.

Here I am at the curtain call, with Douglas Sievers-Jarrett and La Femme Fantail.

So why such a fast turnaround? Because until 5pm, I was emceeing a wedding in the country!

My daytime look, pinup inspired. Wearing the black lace dress with red rose appliques.
It was a glorious wedding, incorporating Druid, Christian and legal ceremonial elements. Emily the bride declared that she and Richard got "All kinds of married" and that was a great way of putting it!

I know I've been quiet these past few weeks, but of course that's because I've been so busy. I am working on a costume, making those kale edged organza frills for the bottom. Negotiating with the supplier of our bias bindings to make a super narrow satin one for the edges of this. It's going to be such a pain in the pattoottie to attach but it will be worth it I feel.
I have until 10 October to get all the details for our Fringe Festival show locked down so that is my priority. Wish me luck!

The Spring Wedding Show

A few months ago I had a sudden urge to do a wedding show, as you do. We sell and hire lots of the kinds of stuff used at weddings - cake tins and stands, bunting, ribbons, cake decorating stuff - and hessian, or burlap as it is known in N.A. Plenty of couples want to D.I.Y. some aspects of their wedding and so often when they do come in they remark that if only they had known we had all the stuff that we have, they would have come to us for it. So why not get out there and show them.
The show was on Sunday 18th October, at Macs Function Centre which is a converted dockside warehouse and quite funky.

 Cupcakes - wrapped in hessian ribbon, lace or both. Fruit leather daisies make a lovely topper for a rustic look.

 Of course I had to show off my butterflies too. The cupcakes are there to show off the tiered stand that we have for hire, and also to promote private workshops in decorating them.

 Cake toppers - I was chuffed to find one with two guys. None with two women seem to be available...

 more stuff

 The whole muddle.

I HAD to get these wicker hampers - they are so great for displaying stuff. Back at the shop it is filled with rolls of Christmas wrap. Here, it is showing off all the things out of which you can make table runners.

It was a pretty quiet show really, but we had some lovely chats with lovely people, and got to know some of the venue people and hire people etc so we can all help point people to each other. 

At some level I find it odd that people would pay $18 to get into a show like this and then act like the people with stalls are trying to ensnare them. Most of the attendees were relaxed, happy types interested to find out what we had to show them, but about 1 in 5 groups didn't even bother to come over and see what we were about. So stupid - how do they think they can tell what it is we are offering by a quick glance at our stand. And us. It's these types that really put me off getting in too deep with wedding related stuff. To me it is such a sacred act, so much more important than the colour of the serviettes, and I find all this superficial nonsense really disheartening.

Oh well. That's what happens when you go to the people instead of waiting for them to find you, I guess.

300 Years of Wedding Fashion - *LeSighofBliss*

We gals love nothing more than a bunch of wedding frocks. The Victoria and Albert Museum is touring a collection of its wedding dresses to Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand later this year, and Edwina Ehrman, Curator of textiles and fashion at the V&A, popped by to deliver a lecture on the subject a couple of weeks ago.
Talk about SQUEEEE!!!!! About 600 women and approx five men comprised the audience for this lecture, and we gasped and oohed over the slides, and laughed and aahed at Edwina's interesting and entertaining lecture. It was oddly comforting (although of course not surprising) to hear her confirm what all properly informed costumiers know, that Queen Victoria was not the instigator of white wedding dresses, which were already a popular choice for weddings. Her contribution was to turn away from the silver more favoured by royalty to dress more like a normal bride not a queen, showing by doing so that her beloved Albert was her husband first and her consort second. It was a romantic gesture not lost on Victorian brides, or on the bridal industry, which was as commercial and abundant as it is is today.
Anyway, the V&A has put out a book to go with the exhibition, and I bought a copy and Edwina signed it for me. Here are some pix from it - a random sample of my favourites:

 The cover shows a dress of cotton organdie from 1953, designed by Hardy Amies for the Cotton Board. It so reminds me of the beautiful wool wedding dress in Te Papa designed for the New Zealand Wool Board to promote wool. I'm not sure if these unconventional alternatives to silk and synthetics for wedding dresses ever took off but how utterly gorgeous it is!

 I actually think this is my favourite. The most beautiful hand-painted coat by Bellville Sassoon from 1971. It was off the peg but a very high quality, stylish garment and don't you love the bride's orange satin boots!

 A Norman Hartnell embroidered dress from 1951. I just love the almost mediaeval lines of the dress, and its architectural simplicity.

 This dress from 1828 is so beautiful! Fascinating too that its silver trimmings have now tarnished and provide a strong contrast, which of course alters the appearance but makes it easy to see the patterns of the silverwork. Exquisite.

 A gorgeous robe a la francaise from 1775-1780, more likely to have been worn for the bride's presentation at court than on a wedding day.

Possibly my favourite for its glorious maximalism, by Norman Hartnell, 1933. For a society wedding. It has the second largest crate in the exhibition, second only to Dita von Teese's dress! I adore the way in which the chiffon border looks like sea foam and I cannot wait to see it in person, so to speak!
I am reproducing these few pages to show you how lovely this book is. I've only read to page 49 although of course I've peered at all of the photos already. It's as interesting to read as it is beautiful to look at.
Rock on the exhibition!!

Why I love making wedding dresses...

Once upon a time I made wedding dresses for a living. It was hard work - the money was bad and it was stressful. And yet, there were moments that made it worthwhile.
When I read this challenge on Haley's blog to write a 500 word story using body language, I immediately thought about those days, and I got writing. Here's my short story.


Her eyes lit up for the first time since she entered my shop. A smile slowly spread across her features and she reached to stroke the bolt of silk. I draped a generous swathe of the glowing fabric around her body. She preened in the mirror, turning this way and that, chin up, running a hand down her body to enjoy the fabric following her curves.
I love this moment of magic. It doesn’t always come – the confident ones, the ones accustomed to seeing their beauty in others’ eyes, not so much with them. But the ones like this luscious redhead hiding her charms in baggy clothes; for them it happens every time. Only 15 minutes ago she sidled into the shop clutching a page ripped from a magazine, which she handed over, her ring finger sporting a shiny new emerald engagement ring. Emeralds for a redhead, I thought, this one’s man knows her better than she does. I don’t really know that of course, but I get caught up in the magic too.
The dress pictured on the magazine page is predictably hideous. I remain unsurprised when she explains that her mother thought this was a good style of wedding dress for her.
“Why?” I ask. It’s a good question, and after the usual hesitation (no one expects that question) she says, “because the magazine said it would be flattering to my size”. I raise a single eyebrow. “Really? The magazine thinks that baggy white polyester and cheap lace is flattering? An interesting viewpoint.”
She smiles in spite of herself. “Yeah, well, it was her idea. I don’t really like it though. But I don’t know what to wear, whatever I’m going to look like the iceberg that sunk the Titanic anyway.” Ah, self-deprecating humour.
“Well, for a start, white isn’t really good for that complexion. And hiding those curves is a jailable offence. ..” and so on, until she is laughing in spite of herself. “So, let’s start again shall we, like you’re going to be the most beautiful bride in the world…”
And then I fetch the ivory silk, the one with just a blush of pinkness.
And when she sees herself in my mirror, she sees her beauty with her own sparkling eyes, and the magic begins.
I love my job.

A Dress for Kate

The Dreamstress is having a competition. Design a wedding dress for Queen in waiting Kate. I confess, it was my idea. I LOVE royal weddings. When Di married Charles, I made a replica of her dress (well, sort of) for my big doll, although it was out of crepe as that is what I had! And tea dyed laces. I liked my version anyway, and a local craft shop displayed it in their window. I never did like the original dress mind you.
Then when Fergie married Andrew, I really loved that dress, it was everything Di's wasn't - beautifully cut, tastefully and skilfully embellished, perfectly designed to set off her curves, and it looked sleek and uncrushed and caught the light and glowed in the cathedral. Unlike the big crushed pile of dull taffeta Di wore!
So, in designing my suggested dress for Kate, I considered what I have learnt are the design constraints for a royal wedding dress:
It must look good close up, and in long shots from all angles in the church, in the carriage, and in the museum afterwards.
It should glow and sparkle- matt fabrics don't work in this situation - they are for intimate events
It should be timeless - Di's and Anne's gowns are both examples of dresses that suffered from too much fashion and have dated badly as a result
And so here is my design:

Click on it for a close up.
It's inspired by the Hollywood historical costuming from the 40's and 50's, where historical clothing was run through the 'New Look' filter. I love that look! This is a medieval 1950's combo.
The big skirt and train, fitted off the shoulder bodice and overall styling of the New Look, but the sleeves, waist sash and underskirt of medieval fashion.
What I love about this look is the richness of the lace and the satin working together, and the very traditional style with just a few details that are unexpected. It isn't going to change the direction of fashion as we know it, but I like it :)
Go on, have a go yourself, check out the competition on The Dreamstress' blog!

How to get a neckline not to gape - the art of taping (Tutorial)

I promised Lauren I'd do a tutorial on taping because it was too hard to explain, but taping seams is the MOST amazingly useful technique for all kinds of outcomes:

• strapless necklines no longer gape on the side front or over the bust
• wide scoop or v neckline won't fall off the edge of the shoulder
• Watteau pleats won't pull the neckline down at the back of the neck
• faced waistbands won't stretch
• armholes won't gape at the bust level

etc. etc. Taping is a way of drawing in a seam, usually a faced or bagged in seam, so it sits closer to the body than it would otherwise do, and will STAY THERE. Without any puckers or funny gathery bits too.

In this post, I am using tape to stop the top of a strapless wedding dress from standing away from the bride's body, which is a common problem with strapless dresses. The taping helps the bodice to curve in more than the flat pieces would do otherwise, so they follow the curves of her bust.

You can tape seams that you've already sewn (like I am in this case) or if you are really canny, sew the tape into the seam as you go. Just ease stitch the seam first.

When to tape and when to adjust the pattern

 If you're making from scratch, you may need to adjust the pattern and there seem to be heaps of tutorials on that. But I know from experience that this can only get you so far in some situations because it is a flat adjustment. Taping allows you to introduce a little bit of 3D to the seam, which helps to cling and grip around the body's curvy bits, like busts and necklines.

What tape is tape?

Cotton tape is best, always straight woven not bias. Bias defeats the entire purpose. For curves such as armholes and necklines, use the narrow 1/4" kind and use the wider ones for strapless, off the shoulder and waistlines.

In the photos I am using the wider one which I think makes it easier to see.
 Now I apologise but I am left handed, all you North paws out there will have to think backwards!

Step 1: Open out the facing or lining to expose the seam allowance. In this case, the lining is organza so it's hard to see it, and the seam has piping set into it - works just as well with or without. Place one edge of the tape right up against the stitching line and pin it to the seam allowance.

Step 2: Gently but firmly lie the tape along the seam allowance, matching the top edge to the stitching of the seam, and pull it as taut as you can, letting the seam stay relaxed. The seam will be a little looser than the tape - only a tiny bit but that's all you need. Pin.

 Step 3: Keep doing this every 1.5" or so, easing the seam onto the tauter tape. It's hard to tell but the seam and dress are curving inward quite nicely even now.

  Finally, a section completed. The tape is at least an inch shorter than the original seam was, but there are no big folds in the seam - this is easing not gathering. 

 Step 4: Now using a double thread and smallish stitches, start to stitch the tape to the seam allowance hard up against the top edge, ensuring that the bodice seam stays fairly flat.

 The is the section sewn in, and the next section also.

 

With the lining folded back into place, you can't see any evidence of the tape except for a hint of a curve in the bodice.

 See how the bodice now curves almost as if it is molded onto cups. It's just taping that does it.

Nice curved bustline

You can tape without so much easing if you're just using the tape to stop a seam from stretching. Tape sewn onto the seam allowance (no easing required) of a puffed sleeve helps it to sit up, or sewn on the underside, to sit out.

It's one of those techniques that, once you get the hang of it, is useful for a range of finishing fixes.

For a watteau back, tape the whole neck edge, from waist at front right around to waist left. This reinforces the seam and helps it to bear the weight of the back without stretching.

Happy stitching!

No gaping on this bodice! :)



Rob's Wedding Dress

Rob is my bestie from a million years ago and ever since. We rode dinosaurs to school together. Our tastes are about as different as two women can have, and that's all part of the fun of it.
Actually our wedding dresses have a few things in common - I will have made both of them, both have high waists, split overskirts and are made of silk. That however is where the similarities end.
Rob is a beach bunny, and is getting married on her favourite beach. She wants something that will float and flutter to the max in the wind, but not fussy. I'm making it so it has to be silk - on my planet, wedding dresses are made of natural fibres as much as practical. I got 19 momme charmeuse, silk crepe chiffon and silk organza from the US, since such things are really hard to find here, let alone at a sensible price.
So, here are some pics:

A bad sketch of the dress, decided upon after toile fitting. Vertically ruched bodice with sash under it, under and over skirts.

Using the dummy as a 3-d aid to ruching the bodice. Ruching is cut on straight grain as in spite of getting 12 yards of 54 inch wide fabric, I am running close to the wind! The chiffon is very givey though, probably more than some fabrics on the bias so it works.

Silk organza, boned bodice underlining. I like to get just enough engineering into a summer wedding dress - it could be 35 degrees (Celsius) on the day so the less weight, the better. Silk organza has amazing structural integrity for its weight and makes excellent interlinings.

Using the quilting design wall to test out the over skirt fronts. Right first time! :)

The skirts tacked together along the tops, seen draped over the ironing board, very poshe. All in all, these bits and bobs of components don't really give much away do they! But that's the trouble with wedding dresses, they are kind of modular and all come together at the end in a rush.
Anyway darling Rob is over for this weekend to be fitted, hemmed and generally to finalise everything, giving me three weeks to complete the dress, which I will take over with me on the ferry two days before. We're taking the ferry so the sewing machine can come too, just in case.
More pics to come as it builds, and maybe a few structural technique shots, including the taping process, as this seems to interest at least one other blogger :)

Trips and weddings

Oh the convergence of large events, how they try us! Two fabulous things are happening in the next few months. My bestie is getting married and Mr C and I are off to the UK. So, we are making plans, and I am making a dress. I may blog about it but it's really very boring for most of the process as it's just a bunch of off white silk. The trip is cool too.
I am sitting here at about 10.30pm wishing that we weren't on daylight time because the 1 pound sale at the Hoxton Hotel begins noon GMT and right now that is 1am NZDT. And it's a school night.
So, we will retain our rather shabby and poky accommodation in London that after all only cost the same as similarly pokey accommodation in Nelson. Amazing!
My challenge is to savour the run up to both of these amazing events. Either of them would be enough to fill my non-work hours, yet I have them both. I am doubly blessed! :) Blessed rhymes with...stressed hehehe.

Earlier sewing projects

To keep the attention of the wonderful sewing geekettes out there (I use the term endearingly and identify with it) I thought I would show a few pics of other things I've made. This is me in my 'thobe', which is a loose fitting kaftan-like garment worn in the arab gulf. It is made from a sari, but the front panel showing up all swirly is a piece of embroidered silk organza. It is bugle beaded around the neckline, which is also trimmed with a heavily beaded trim. It was so heavy I had to notch it to make it curve then glue it!

This my Mum the Embroidenator in her wedding suit - the jacket is a quilted silk organza and the skirt is silk chiffon. I only had one chance to fit it during construction as we lived in different cities at the time, but it just goes to show that knowing someone makes sewing for them easier.

This is a close up of one of my favourite wedding dresses I ever made. Sam wanted something essentially beachy, but in burgundy, so all the usual 'paua' colours were out. I discovered though that when you look at real paua, it is often burgundy and grey/green and pink, so we picked up on that palette. The embroidery and applique represents the eddying of water, but as Sam is also a wordsmith, the comma and apostrophe shapes in the pattern have that little extra significance :) As well as silk and cording work, the bodice is beaded with a range of glass beads, and hung with paua drops. The dress had a full skirt with random hitches up the back.
Little sis' on her wedding day. She got married way before me, and our dresses are 'sisters' also, as different and similar as we are(see mine in this post). I still love this dress. It is hand painted on front panel and train, with soft sculptured flowers, leaves, berries and buds around the shoulders.
I have heaps more but I am going to be mean and eke them out over several posts. :)