Catching up.

 Hi Team!

So I finished up with my short contract last Tuesday, and my days are my own again. Bittersweet as I thoroughly loved working there, but also, I have so much to do... here's a list!

• Three costume commissions,
• An unconventional wedding dress commission 
• Two glove commissions, plus I need to work on a big order and build some stock (did I tell you I am obsessed with gloves? No? Ok, another post about them soon!), 
•  Festival planning to do, lots of contracts to send out
• A script to write for the October show
• 20 denim jackets to decorate in time for WOW.

As well as life "lifing" of course. 

Also, not sure if anyone realises but I have a big mobility issue - my left knee is not in great shape and moving hurts. It's not super painful but the pain is so "Stop this, it's going to make things worse" flavoured that it exhausts me. 

I was a little mortified that someone said something leading me to understand they assumed my knee was bad because I'm a chonk, but it's more accurate to say that the injury that caused the bad knee hasn't really been helped by me being a chonk. ANYHOO, I was talking to my massage therapist and she suggested I do some hip release exercises. I'm doing them on my back on the bed, and I decided on impulse to add a leg stretch with a foot flex into it, and OMG, the pain in my knee has gone. I've done it three days in a row and it is working. I immediately feel like being way more mobile because I'm not anticipating that pain. Crazy. The PT gave me these flex your foot against the wall ones, but it HURTS TO STAND ffs. 

So, I have a sense of hope of clawing back a level of mobility I've not had for years. Wish me luck!!!

 

A quick, satisfying alteration

 Recently, I made an impulse buy of a crochet style tie front cardigan. I love shorter, tie front cardigans as they don't flap about in my city's insanely windy weather.

This is not a true representation!

 

 Soo, when it arrived, it had cuffs big enough to go over my head!

 Instead of being fun, Bishop type sleeves, they dropped right down over my hand, got in the way and I had to roll them up. Bah humbug. Enter my all time favourite elastic! It is five 12mm strips of elastic wefted together with a nylon thread. I've used it as is, covered it and sewn in between the rows, so many things. This time, I cut a length big enough for my wrist, and split it into 3 - 2 times two strips and a leftover single strip.

 Some nifty quartering, a zig zag stitch on each edge and through the middle now I have a cuff that is not so firm as to be uncomfortable, but not big enough to slide over my wrist.

Now all I need to do is handsew some kind of no stretchy tape from shoulder, across back of neck, to other shoulder, to manage the "sagging" thing that happens with every piece of knitwear I own!

Have you done any quick and satisfying alterations lately? 

 

 

 

Costume makeover -from Grey to Teal!

 What to do if a costume, heavily invested in time and materials, ends up being....meh? 

My 100 hour, 1kg of rhinestones and 9m of boa, Meh costume.

 Back in 2018, I bought a pile of stock from a closing down shop. This included a big bag of grey turkey feather boa. This is important as I do not care to purchase it new, as the supply chain is far from kind.

Anyway, I used it on a costume made from a purchased City Chic dress, that had about a kg of rhinestones glued to it - 100 hours of work I reckon. the dress is black with grey flowers and teal birds, and the grey boa looked lush and expensive and gorgeous. 

In my studio.

On stage, it looked like I had repurposed the fur of a deceased English Sheep Dog. I mean it looks...OK?...  in the photos but nothing like as good as it does in my studio! 

 I have worn it "as is" several times, including at the Saskatoon International Burlesque Festival (seen above), but in the back of my mind I was preparing myself to unpick all 9m of it.

This costume spent a couple of years on the proverbial naughty step before I could face it, but my current dayjobless life means all kinds of projects are finally getting finished. 

So a few weeks ago, spurred on by my burly partner in crime Debbie's instructions, I unpicked all the grey feather boas from this costume. I wet them in the sink to get a sense of how many I could fit in my 8L pot. The answer was, four. I have six, so I did two in the first batch, four in the second.

The dye was Jacquard acid dye in colour Turquoise. It cost about $18. Apart from some tartaric acid, that was it! 

These are they drying gently in the breeze outside our door. They went from looking like Cookie Monster's fur to these fluffy floofs in a couple of hours.

 There is definitely colour variation in the batches, but it isn't really noticeable as I used the two on the sleeves and the rest on the bottom. My earlier made pink and green version of this costume has pink boa in three different shades due to replacing them from different sources.

And finally, I sewed them back on, which took ages with a "doll needle" and some TV time. A doll needle is about 15cm long - I thread it up with an extra long, doubled thread, wax the thread, then it's a matter of sliding the needle inside the rolled hem for about 5cm at a time, coming up to do 2-3 overcasts that catch the centre rope of the boa. 

The final look, before and after! How did I do?

Photocredits: Left: LisaTrusler Photography Nelson, right Nicole Lorimer on her mobile from Saturday night, official pics to come! 

Small Projects completed, large ones to come...

I have been sewing so much! Having no day job has freed me up to focus on projects of all scales. I don't have photos yet of the big ones, but I can tell you that last night when my major costume commission hit the stage, the general incredulity and delight from people who didn't realise I had made it was very satisfying!

On a much smaller scale, it is my job to make the winners' sashes for DIY Burleskiwi held in Wellington on 6 June, and DIY Burleskoala held in September in Sydney.  As last year I completely forgot about 'koala until 2 weeks before, it was a scary rush to make and dispatch to Aus at an eye watering cost of $85.

I wanted to make the rosette, but there was so little time, Debbie made it and put 2026 on it by accident, so THIS year, I made the 2025 rosette. If that makes sense? but when I sent her a photo she said I should remake the 2026 one to match my new 2025 one...so anyway I made two. These rosettes are for the second place getters. And Debbie makes the 'kiwi one so no wonder she put 26 on the 'koala one! 

Two koala rosettes for 2025 and 2026

I made both sashes back to back, kiwi first. A NZ company called Nutex does a wonderful range of Kiwiana and Australiana fabrics, and we've fallen into the practice of using these prints as the base. The Aus one has different animals in floral circlets tossed across it. The NZ one is ferns. My primary requirement having learned the hard way, is to find a fairly low constrast fabric so the lettering pops.

I then use wool mix felt and steamaseam to make and attach the lettering, going over them with free motion machine stitching to ensure they never come away. 

After that I dive into my enormous collection of rhinestones and bling them up. 

Two sashes for 2026, 'koala and 'kiwi respectively.

Below are short videos of each sash that capture the sparkle better. Please excuse the footage of my dinner that night, it was sweet and sour sausages on rice, for the curious, one of MrC's specialties. :)

I made a tutorial about making bunting and adding felt lettering back in October 2013, and the other little project I completed lately was a string of bunting with a baby's name on it. Except I bought the bunting from the "no longer my" shop, which I had made back in 2014!! That was fun! I made a big pile of baby bunting back then but rather overdid it. Nine apple green letters spelled out her name. I won't post a pic as I am big on baby anonymity. Result!! 

The only change is I can't work out how to flip the lettering so I traced through the printout with a sharpie to make the reverse templates.

Let me know if you give it a go?  

 

My January

 How is your year going so far?

I was meant to go back to work on 12th January, and spent the 11th finally tidying up my "show table" which is the dining table covered in makeup and jewellery, props, hair pieces, drawers upon drawers of it. 

It took 5 hours! But the resulting two big bags of stuff for the op shop and a lot of stuff that went into the skip, as well as finding homes for things, has resulted in a much tidier space. Phew, it was the last big job on my break to-do list.

But, it ended up taking 2.5 weeks to get back to work due to an IT issue with my login. So, in the stolen back time, I binge watched all of The Traitors UK as well as sewing and relaxing. I am obsessed with TTUK. It's SO GOOD. So, not all is lost.

Last Wednesday was my first day I could work and true to form I went into the office all three days. It is as I suspected, very nice being around people again. I only have part time hours left, barely 55 for Feb, and I intend to make the most of them!

For most of January we had a house guest, as we always do. Our friend Colin comes home from Australia to host the Gardens Magic concert series as his alter ego PollyFilla. We hardly saw each other but we did have a really great day of sewing together and it made me realise how different it is to sew with someone who is an expert and we were working on our separate projects and just talking. I often am sewing with somebody needing my assistance which is fine, it just isn't as productive for my own projects!

Balance in all things. That is what 2026 is going to be about for me. Already is. 

Anyone got resolutions, determinations or missions for 2026 lined up?

Old photo for funsies!

 

 

Wrap up

 We will hit NYE midnight before the rest of y'all so I thought I'd jump in fast!

In no particular time order:

Saskatoon! I've shared the flashy side already. Here's a photo of me and Jackie the producer of the festival  at the Berry Farm, which is dedicated to all things saskatoon berry. We had a lovely time and a lovely dinner there, and her partner Jason snapped these fun pics of us with the Bear. 

Nov 15 brought the annual Wellington Polish Christmas Market, with its all day stage of fab music, dancing and more music. And me MCing it all. Here's a pic by the "official photographer" who was also an old uni friend. My Christmas tree costume is a staple these days!

Orange on Cuba is my local cafe, it is very dedicated to kitschy orange things. Owner Ai asked me to make some banquette cushions and cover some chairs and so I did. These covers are like ironing board covers, zip free. I have a cover for a free standing bench all sewn up waiting for her to get back from holiday -I have joined up all the leftovers to make a fun patchwork.

I turned 60 in April, and we had an afternoon tea party at the Polish Association Hall over Easter. Hence the big eagle mural that I quite serendipitously stood in front of and became an angel!

This week I have been tidying my studio - thrown out so much stuff including heavily editing my scrap bags (sob) and the result is more space, less piles and it feels roomier. I love that! I've been making simple organza bags, not even draw string, out of the many rolls I have in stock, and using them to bag up fabric lengths that don't like to be put on a card, like chiffon. Double win using up what I already have to tidy what I am keeping :)

My 2026 aspirations include:

• patching and selling all of the denim jackets on my rack, then shutting that whole chapter down.
• working on the new gloves idea I have. 
• making more costumes for other performers - most costumiers are working in lycra and that is awesome because I have little interest! Somebody has to do the wovens!
• at least one more sundress.

Other new things will include:

• working in the office more often while I have a job. I've been feeling disconnected and this needs to happen. 
• hopefully making a start on the novel in my head
• a trip to the UK in their summer
• two podcast projects that are just for fun. 
• I've been asked to perform a wedding and will be looking into getting licenced, 

And that is me for 2025. See you next year <3

Me vs AI (I think I won)

 Hi Team! It's been a couple of very busy months since I posted. I've been to Canadia, had a fantastic time there, and came home to a job. But it is high time I did the Big Reveal!

My version is proper denim blue. The tutu is made of five different nets from palest grey to navy, with a delightfully denimy shot organza  top layer and sleeves.

The magic is in a stiff crinoline horsehair tape that has gravity defying properties. I am already planning to add it to a few hemlines for extra flooff.

I made this dress to be worn with a corset. However it was so hot, and I was not feeling that great so encouraged by another performer helping me to get changed into this at the interval,  I dropped my bra straps and wore it without. The result is a less defined bust line and waist but do I care? NOPE!

AND, denim is of course cotton and very comfortable in heat,  and having it against my skin was so comfortable I wore this to the after show party and only unzipped about 3am!

It was very much appreciated by the Canadian audience and attendees of the after show party. So many people bounced up to me to tell me that denim was Canadian formalwear! They were even more excited that I already knew that and made this in their honour.  They felt seen and understood. I love that.

The AI version is technically impossible to construct, in particular the sleeves, but it was a jumping off point for my idea and I am very happy!

Other looks for the Saskatoon International Burlesque Festival:

Thursday night drag show at Free Flow Dance Centre

 

 

 

 

Friday night first look - I snipped this from video while I am singing Royal. This costume looked so much better onstage than off! But the left sleeve keeps slipping, I will tighten the elastic.

 

 

 

 

Old faithful for the second half of the Friday show! Belting out Dr Longjohn

 

Opening look for Saturday show  - Welcome to Burlesque. I adore this costume but I have come to the conclusion that the grey feather looks drab AF. So at some point I'll be unpicking it all, and dyeing it some kind of teal blue. Eep, big job!

And finally! Double Denim! 

And that was it for frocks! Thanks for reading.

If you want to see any of these songs on Youtube, I made a playlist including a show reel for showing what I do xo

 

Denim formalwear update

 Team I think this project has fired up my sewing mojo again. I can only do about 4 hours at a time because the mental overload of trying to problem solve as I go is a lot. I am interspersing it with making panel skirts for people which is a repetitive and skilled task. I'd get bored doing that alone so all in all I think I've hit the perfect combo!

A reminder of the inspiration image. An AI generated denim tutu dress that went a lil bit viral because a seller was using it to generate sales then sending the fugliest piece of junk out to buyers. This practice is so reprehensible!

But the image got my brain fizzing. 

OG AI image, technically impossible as it isn't an actually constructed dress!

Progress! This bodice started life as a trucker jacket. I cut it up, turned the sleeves into panels to make it go around me, the bottom band into a neckline finish, and to shape it I cut along one side of the felled seams up to under the bust and folded the cut edge under, and hand stitched it. It is fully boned in 12 places. 

How am I doing? The skirt is well underway, it's to the knee at most but has absorbed 15m+ of net and organza. I've had to make two trips back to the shop to get more. Luckily it was cheap. 

 

My big discovery in all of this has been stiff crinoline tape. All of the crin I've bought over the years has been the same weight, but the stuff I got for this is amazing! Game changing.

More on all that later. This is just a sneakpeek for the sewing people, or the sewing curious ;-) 

The Costs and Payoffs of Free Time

 Free time - what about it is truly ever free? I finished work on 30 June and was -am, determined to use the free time it has given me in July and August at least, well and carefully.

So far I have discovered that my memory is a big reason why I feel like I never get anything done!  Part of my wrap up with last agency was tidying up my online Drive, and downloading work I wanted to have for future reference. Well, I was amazed at the gold I found - photos of whiteboard work I had forgotten about, operational models, articles, critiques, papers - the whole gambit. I felt a lot better knowing I had been that productive. And that smart too.

On my to do list is getting ready for Canada, a couple of shows before then, decluttering parts of the apartment and sewing. And possibly making a start on my book idea. 

Sewing

So, (sew?) I have gathered the materials needed to make two pretty epic costumes to take with me, it has been a process. Then THIS image appeared on a reel by the amazing Monde's Threads. WOW!!

It is most definitely AI generated, it makes no sense construction wise, and I don't like it as much as the idea of it. But come on, I'm hosting in Canada, where double denim is the official Tux, so I abandoned all my other plans and I'm now making a trucker jacket based tutu frock. More on that later.

Canada

The above is sewing for Canada but I am also proud to have got my tech in for the six numbers I will be doing while I am hosting! Two of them have dedicated existing costumes which helps for sure. These are being given a glow up for a much bigger theatre than the 100 seat bar venue I have worn then in so far.

And lyrics must be nailed. Argh. I can do it!

Decluttering

 I have taken two big bags of clothes to Aunty Dana's op shop, and have a few to sell. Shoes are in a holding pattern. I made the 1.5kg beef fillet in the freezer into Beef Wellington for a family mid winter Christmas last Sunday and we are munching our way through other things that need eating. There's even a list on the fridge door. As for my studio, hmm. Still needs work? I have a plan to go down to one desk only, not the one I currently favour, and get rid of the spare. The space has gotten away with me again and I need a fabric declutter. Maybe I'll just stick some on Marketplace. Or Facebook in general. Last time I had a big stash to sell, I posted pics on my profile and presold half of it! Next week's job. 

Work

 I had a job interview this morning. My cunning plan to take 8 months off has been stymied rather a lot by the need for a new roof on our building, and our share of this way exceeds our savings. Plus I can only do it by basically short changing future me when I retire, which is not sensible. Not a lot of work out there but I am pleasantly surprised to have been given such an enthusiastic welcome by my fave agencies. Which is a nice circle back to the beginning of this post. It may take a few gos and a few months to get something to stick, which is why I am starting now. I am cautiously optimistic.

Anyway that's me! And now I am off to see the movie The Count of Monte Cristo on a weekday afternoon because I can. Week day movie going is one of my guilty pleasures. Preferably alone, though in this case I am going with a friend which is fine occasionally too.

 

 

Free time!

 WELL, as of Tuesday, I no longer have a job. It's been a TIME, and for nearly a decade as one door closed I usually had another door open. We have savings and I'm willing to see the upsides to the situation - TIME. FREE TIME!

I have been busy, I tell you. Busy. Between the Festival, my 60th and the day job, plus a regular quiz writing gig, I've been gritting my teeth and getting through. It's been AMAZING but by Monday I was a splodgy mess. 

Could have been worse, thanks to my incredible braineopath, I've made it through.  

Mae de la Rue from Sydney Aus and I, hosting the Saturday show of the festival

 

My Sixtieth birthday party, held at the Polish House, hence the eagle giving me angel wings!

 One of the "fun" aspects of ADHD post menopause is getting really easily overwhelmed by emotions -good or not good. So, all the amazing experiences of the Festival and the party and life in general, have been a lot. And my day job has been a struggle.

So now I'm FREEEE!! WEEEE!! I woke up on Tuesday morning feeling like a big weight was lifted off me. 

I've written a long list of things I have to get done as unstructured time is not my friend. So far I have:

• updated CV, consultant profile and Linkedin
• completed and submitted the funding report for the Festival, due on 11th
• decluttered the freezer
• made leek and potato soup - the first cooking I've done myself in months

Still to do this month:

•  declutter my wardrobe, costumes, and drawers
• declutter my workroom/studio
• declutter the linen cupboard!! (this afternoon's job)
• write five quizzes
• make a big start on, if not finish, my Queen of Hearts costume.

So, plenty to be going on with. I'm also heading to Naarm (Melbourne) mid-July. 

What are you all up to this Summer/winter, depending on your hemisphere? 

My New Roommate!

 

She's perfectly 'armless!

I yeeted my old dress form a couple of years ago because it was absolutely munted. But recently I have had costume ideas that really need a 3D form to work on them. So I went a hunting.

Here in New Zealand, a dress form that is big enough to imitate my body is an absolute unicorn. But I found this Dritz one on Amazon Australia. An eye watering $750 later and she is mine.

She resisted being set up initially, the extender mechanism is different to every set of instructions including the one they sent me. But clever David realised extender pole was just jammed in the base. He inserted the closed pincers of the pliers, gave them a couple of light whacks with a hammer and it shot out the other end. Yay!!!

I do need to spread her measurements a bit to be me, but that's fine. Then, bring on two new costumes for Saskatoon!

So, what to call her? All of my forms have been called Esmerelda. She needs a German name being a Dritz. Is Dritz German? Gosh now I am wondering. Thoughts anyone? 

Aggressively Thriving and International shenanigans

 W-4, four days until I go back to the office.

Having four weeks off has been a game changer. Things that would send me over the edge a month ago are now mildly irritating or I laugh them off.  I can feel the stress in the corner of my eye, lurking and looking for a way back in.

Look everybody has been saying 2025 must get better but I think that it is unrealistic and I refuse to be interventionist in my thinking. In 2025 I am Aggressively Thriving in response to the craziness of the world.

Taking less sh!t, letting more of it go, understanding boundaries, and making amazing things happen in the world, for myself and for others.

The last bit is expressed through co-producing an international festival. Debbie my fellow Pinot Sister and I only committed to this late October, leaving very little time to plan it, really. But we're doing it anyway, 

We have an amazing team called the Glitter Council!  We have a Trello board, a google drive and we're using all the things many of us use in our day jobs, to plan. We've had amazing feedback from funding agencies about how well organised and articulate we are. I am very proud.

My Big Project!

By jingers it's a lot of work though! It's been nearly a full time job this past month. But thankfully all of that "do it once" admin is nearly complete and for 2027, we can focus on improving what we already have, and we have two years to do it in too. LUXURY.

On Wednesday Debbie, Jojo (funding manager) Ian (who is responsible for our gorgeous branding) and I piled into the car and took the two hour trip to Papaoiea, Palmerston North. Such a fun day of meetings and consolidating plans.

As for my other projects, the Summit Dress will still be there, I am slowly pottering away at two costumes for the Festival (I am Emceeing it) and I've made a Midnight Era costume for a Taylor Swift themed show in a couple of weeks time.

Photos will eventually trickle through of all the things!

Much love to you all in this creative time before life takes us all over completely and sweeps us into a new year.

Sewing Season is upon us.

 Happy New Year all. It's day 11 and I've been doing sewing or sewing adjacent things:

• Traced off the Summit Dress pattern from Scroop. I have lipstick red linen and Italian linen black background with traditional Mexican hearts printed all over it for the godets. But the execution is being delayed for a while
• I've rehomed my small collection of A0 patterns to see through document wallets, all clearly labelled. Previously in rolls standing up in a laundry basket, I could never find the one I wanted and even paid to have one printed twice! I've also culled the collection of several that I think other people will be more likely to use.
• David cut up thin MDF saved from a collapsed kitset desk, to make shelves for my cubby stack. They're held in by pushpins! The level of DIY hackery in this makes me so very happy! And it works a treat
• I MADE a linen shift and sheer curtains and a whole dress! 
• I'm making my friend Joy a dress so she came over for a toile fitting and also rethreaded the @$#$%#$@ overlocker so I could finish the seams of said dress - purple linen. No photos of it yet.

Cubbies with shelves!

Boring linen shift but a very satisfying make nonetheless!

My oppressively sundrenched studio now has some sun quenching sheer curtains. they're cream so do an extra good job. No more working with the curtains completely closed needed!

Bonus smashed spuds content - my favourite holiday food. The perla potatoes are so yellow inside they look even more delicious when cooked! 100% recommend smashing your spuds hehe.

That's pretty much it so far - apart from a LOT of admin for my biggest project ever, but more on that some other time <3

Meri Kirihimete!

 Well it feels like only yesterday I was running a quiz at the company Christmas party as we celebrated a good year.

And now I am theoretically unemployed*, along with 11% of my city's workforce, over 20,000 people. WOW. I don't want to talk about our current government as they don't deserve my time or mental effort.

It's been a good year as well as a bad one - nothing is every simple in reality is it. Worked with some amazing clients, Emceed some amazing shows, made some beautiful costumes, and embarked upon a bunch of hacks to insulate our flat in a 130 year old building.

I can't talk about my mahi with clients but I can talk about the other things!

My last gig for 2024 was early December, hosting a quiz for an amazing organisation who do impactful research into a range of diseases, and are a bunch of absolute gems. 

Me at the event, which had a vintage circus vibe, so I was the Ringmaster!

 Straight after, I had a photoshoot - in spite of not being very happy with my makeup - but decided to just lean in anyway and I'm SO glad I did!

Love this look, there are other more "arch" ones but I went for camp as my first edited one

I love this pic SO SO much. And Haley worked so hard repairing my sweaty makeup digitally!

I spent a lot of this photo shoot with the most adorable doggo looking up at me adoringly. So cute.

House hacks:

As well as having our enormous curtains relined, we had our single glazed skylight "skinned" with a glass house product called twinwall, kind of like super boojie corflute. Also the totally annoying cat door is now blocked up once and for all!

Tiles make great cat door insulators! Also, Sir Robert has been joined by two more brass rubbings. James my hanging guy has banned me from buying any more He's probably right...

 

 

And that's me for now - I've left it so long there's so much to catch up on, but I have four weeks off then only working three days a week!

*What this means is, I have contract work instead of a permy job and that goes through a chunk of this year. I'm very lucky, And it means I can work three days a week which I am looking forward to!

New Tattoos!

 People I finally got new ink. I shared about my first tattoo back in 2011, based on a fabric I bought in the UK, and in that post I said I would get a little butterfly added.

WELL, it only took 13 years to get the next instalment and what a beauty!

My friend Ria is a costumier who has worked on movies from the Hobbit to Avatar, but now her artistic expression is via tattooing. I asked her to design a shoulder piece based upon William Morris' Strawberry thief. I absolutely adore the cheeky birds, the strawberries and flowers and the curling stylised leaf patterns.

To make a coherent outtake, Ria took the top birds and turned them to face each other. She then isolated a bunch of the pattern around it into a design that I fell hard for immediately.

It is quite detailed and complex, and we played with lots of colour - the range of ink colours available now is enormous, far more than in 2011.

This beautiful design took 20 hours over three sessions to complete. I love it so very much!

I couldn't stop looking at it! And a few months after it was completed, I went back for butterflies, a tidy up of Nev's 2011 work, and another I'll show you further down.

Still in the chair, three little periwinkle butterflies to help tie the old and the new together

 Now to be honest, I want my butterflies bigger. Maybe we'll do that this year. But I am SO happy with my growing collection of strawberry related tattoos. Which is quite funny as I'm not a massive strawb fan, given how tasteless they usually are these days. But they are VERY pretty.

And lastly on the same day as the butterflies, I got a wedding ring.

I adore the Husband and it has been 20 years together, and in that time I've had my wedding ring reduced in size and let out again, but although I still love it, it annoys the heck out of me. As I get older my sensory issues have gotten worse and I find it so uncomfortable. But I also do not like going without.

So, borrowing an idea from a young friend, I got a finger tattoo.

It bears no resemblance to my actual ring, and fingers are hard, so it had to be simple. So this tiny heart is now a permanent symbol. 

So there you have it! Am I done? Heck no! I am planning a tattoo for my right arm, some kind of scissor and flowers combination to sort of riff on my late father's dagger and snake one. It was pretty awful,  that weird bluey green we associate with old school tattoos, he would have got it in about 1953. But it was a part of him and I like the idea of a blade that I use all the time, and something feminine like flowers. Possibly done as if they are embroidered. Not sure yet. Any inspirations are welcome!

Anyone else taken the plunge into body art?

 

On Starry Nights and Washi Tape

Washi Tape was a contentious issue in the shop days. Penny suggested we get some in, and I did. Felix came as close to pitching a fit as I've ever seen him, over it. These are two adults I adore and who flat together. But oooh blimey, they have different attitudes to washi tape.

Felix's position was that it wasn't a proper craft supply. I agreed. But, its beautiful, coloured, matchy rolls in a set was so intoxicating to the stationery lover in me! So, I decided to make something crafty out of it, as much to prove a point to Felix.

I decided to make a lampshade with a delicious set of Starry Night, Van Gogh washi tape. Even though it is sticky, I didn't trust it to be strong enough to hold a shade together, and making the rings sticky (as you do) held them onto the styrene.

I started off setting a diagonal, with the big diva tape.

Building those rows, one at a time. Ever so carefully not leaving even a sliver of white between the strips.

All filled up now, the ends roughly trimmed and tucked in.

I gently tucked the tape around the rings, nice and tidy!

And finally, here we are. It's silly, but I like it. I think it's still in the shop. Felix hated it! heehee!

 It's been at least two years since I made a lampshade and I miss it. Once, fabrics were divided into ones that would make a good lampshade, and the rest! 

I still have a few lampshades in me. I'll get there...

A couple of Linen Makes from Stash

 People I have four cupboards of fabric. I am not proud of this triumph of dopamining over common sense.

At least they are well organised, with 95% of them on a card, all lined up on shelves like books so I can quickly spot what I have.

Anyway between Christmas and New Year, I always make a few garments. I love being able to just focus on sewing! It's heaven! And this past summer (Southern Hemisphere remember!) was no different.

Many moons ago I fell hard for this linen at M Rosenberg and Sons in London, online. It's so mad! I bought it for Constance, but when it arrived it was so loosely woven and drapy, I couldn't use it. That means I get it! The dress I based loosely on one I bought, with some adjustments.

I mean, what's not to love about this fabric? It is a gingham but printed, and it swirls and gathers up ni the print like a disrupted table cloth, which is I think the point. Everything from baked goods, lobsters and playing cards are depicted.

It is a little see through and I bought some white linen to make an undershift for it, but I've just been wearing it as is in the heat of summer. It has washed and worn really well. I frenched and flat fell the seams to manage the loose weave. A keeper.

The other dress I mostly made in summer but only finished it in April in time to wear it to Emcee a wedding. I bought the deep grape purple linen on sale, and paired it with a Kaffe Fassett printed cotton from my stash. I felt it needed this little pop of colour. I love this style a lot - it's the Hanbok Dress, but with several changes including a horizontal bust dart to ensure the waist stays level. 

Please excuse the derpy photos, this one being in the Wharepaku (loos) which at least had the big mirror needed for full length selfies. Worn here over a burgundy top as it's a bit parky here.

I adore linen!!! It's cool and comfortable and ages so gracefully. I hope I am ageing gracefully, albeit being rarely cool, or comfortable.

Under my cutting table is a box of fabrics that I have concrete ideas for, and these came out of it. In it is still two lengths of plain linen, one a glorious lipstick red, and the other a beautiful fuchsia pink. I know what I like! I hope very much to be making them up over next Christmas break, if not before.

A tale of two hats

Hat #1 Ruched Bonnet

 I thought I'd show a bit more of Natalie's, and my, favourite bonnet from Pride and Prejudice

It was inspired by everybody's favourite from S&S:

There's something so happy making about this bonnet!

 I was keeping brims back off the face, so the shape is ideal. But, a total dearth of straw hats! I found one only. And a sort of straw and fabric example, that had it had a straw brim and a cloth "crown," I could have worked with. But it was the other way around. And so, I decided to cover it.

I love this extant bonnet from the MET, albeit 30 years later, but I could still imagine such a bonnet with a shallower brim & plain trim. Because the type of bonnet your average Bennett type sister would be wearing was surprisingly simple.

American bonnet 1840 MET

Side angle. It had to be an odd number of bands to look right and I couldn't face 5!

Back angle, deciding what to do to cover the place where all the ruching came together took some fiddling. In the end I felt that this twiddle of gimp did the trick

This angle shows the straw crown I could not work out how to incorporate. I machine sewed the pleated lining to the brim edge facing outwards, then folded it back in and hand attached it deeper inside. The machine sewing disappeared under trim on both inside and outside.

The simplicity of this bonnet belies the amount of time it took to make it but I enjoyed it very much! 

0.5m striped Linen from Voldermart: $16

Hat from some random bigbox store, $8.

Gimp and silk lining both scraps from my stash. 

Time: about 6 hours.

Hat #2

Total pivot now to the annual Polish Christmas Market, which is a street fair in November, when it's pretty warm here in NZ! I had been told I could amp up my costuming from the year before, so I put my thinking cap on. What had I not done before? I know, a Nutcracker!'

Two nutcrackers that inspired me, with their tophat like hats, knobby tops and gold feather.

I have a saucy, silly ringmaster costume to deliver military chic, candy cane tights, and I swapped the bolero from my ringmaster for a plainer and more covering cotton one, for heat management and family friendliness. All Ihad to do was add some bling to the jacket and tophat.

To make the knob, I used a small polystyrene ball, a slice of toilet roll and some card from a box. 

 

 To make it gold, I covered it in the inner gold wrap from some Whittakers chocolate. I've now started saving this paper as it is so useful! The result looked very much like a GI stud, as used in leatherwork.

 

The top hat got a red felt and gold motif I had lying around feather and a band of both gold and red. The gold seemed too plain by itself and the red was too narrow by itself, so we got both! I tried magnetising the knob to no avail, in the end a very few stitches held it on. This is a real top hat and they do not respond well to being sewn!

The final look. Gold on jacket sleeves, epaulettes, and this very silly costume combo!

To be fair everybody loved it, but the general consensus was I was riffing on some sort of Polish traditional costume! So funny.

No nuts were harmed in the making, or wearing, of this costume.

So this year, I have already found a gorgeous green cotton off the shoulder dress that is begging to become a Christmas tree inspired look. More on that in 6 months!

So, what do you make of my madcap adventures in millinery??