::Styling It Retro::

Safari!

2009-10-01T18:25:00.002+10:00

Some photos taken on my mobile during a recent trip to the zoo. Stylin' the safari look toddler style!

Spring has Sprung!

2009-10-01T16:02:00.003+10:00

Spring has finally sprung! To celebrate I made this very simple, but colourful ensemble for my little Pixie. The ant fabric and dot fabric are both Japanese imports :)

Brunch Stylin

2009-09-08T21:53:00.006+10:00

A whole lot of changes (mostly fantastic and exciting) are happening around here and there hasn't been a whole lot of time (but mostly energy) for new sewing projects.

Sewing may have taken a backseat for a bit, but I have not altogether withdrawn from the crafting world in favour of the boring reality of work and life. Recently I decided that my little LaLa NEEDED leg warmers. I could have ordered her a pair of expensive BabyLegs, or even created my own quick version using socks, but no, I envisioned her wearing lovely ballet pink fluffy knitted leg warmers and it sounded like the perfect project...except I couldn't knit!

My very dear and incredibly patient Nana came for a visit last month and spent a great deal of time teaching me how to knit (without any sign of frustration...but perhaps a little amusement at my lack of coordination at times). All was going fabulously, until my Nana returned to Melbourne. So then began the frustrating week of knitting half a leg warmer, dropping a stitch, trying to pick it up, messing it up, unravelling the entire leg warmer and starting again. About 12 unravelling's later, I finally decided to settle for imperfection. So we have it...one leg warmer...one leg warmer that has now become an arm warmer. If only my Nana had of been here to remind me to cast off on larger needles....

I have been equally as unmotivated to take photos recently so photos of my lovely, imperfect single armwarmer will just have to wait. Until then, some photos of little LaLa off to Brunch...

Pinafore dress - Heather Ross Far, Far Away double-guaze fabric, pattern adapted from Japanese pattern book

Cardigan - blue cotton lycra with lace trim, pattern adapted from Japanese pattern book

Ruffled skirt - cream babywale cord, own design

Sharing the Love - Jewellery by Geneine Honey

2009-07-16T23:17:00.005+10:00

This week I am sharing my adoration for Love by Melbourne artist/designer Geneine Honey.

When I stumbled upon a selection of her amazing accessories in a teeny tiny shop right here in Canberra, I literally did a happy dance and squealed with joy. I absolutely adore her cute, colourful, quirky oversized necklace pendants. The worst thing about the range is that everything is so darn adorable it is almost impossible to choose just one piece!

Thankfully I easily convinced shop-a-phobic Hubby to purchase something special for our anniversary (with a passionate lecture about supporting local designers/artists and all that....) and he has dutifully promised to check it out tomorrow and come home with a lovely piece (or two...please!!!).

To see more of these absolutely delightful treasures, visit her beautiful website HERE

Open for Business!

2009-07-14T13:18:00.003+10:00

I have listed a vintage style swing coat in my Etsy store. More coats will be listed this week :)

Girls Day Out

2009-07-05T20:43:00.005+10:00

Skirt made by me, pearls, red handbag and baby in matching red dress all her idea...Miss La-La stylin' it today for the Way We Wear Vintage Fair.

A Call for Help

2009-07-03T17:46:00.003+10:00

I have 2 coats finished and have another 2 on their way. I really enjoy making these sweet little coats and would love to start listing an assortment of one of a kind coats on Etsy.

I have started getting messages from people wanting to buy them. Thing is, I have absolutely no idea how to price them. What is a reasonable price, without selling myself short? I've searched Etsy and online and have found similar (but nothing quite the same) coats selling for anywhere between $50 and $225! At what price point do my coats belong?

As a general idea, I'm spending anywhere from $25-40 on materials (depending on whether I get a bargain or not!) and for the vintage coats with the handsewn lining, between 5 and 7 hours hard labour to create a single coat. So what is my time worth? What are people willing to pay?

Any tips? Can anyone honestly tell me how much they would be willing to pay for one of my vintage or reversible pixie coats? Help!

I'm in love with...

2009-06-28T16:55:00.015+10:00

Japanese Craft Books - what isn't to love about kawaii and Japanese design?

This week has been all about felt hairclips for my little La-La. I started out making flowers, but then I stumbled upon this incredibly cute felt craft book. She'd flip over that little elephant or frog!

More felt sweetness. Mobiles for big people...

So in love with this little bee and look at those little lambs. So much cuteness!

Simple designs, linen, lace, white cotton and gorgeous photography. Perfection!

Zakka inspired embroidery. What a sweet addition to a bag or even a little linen dress.

I have no intention of extending my coat making skills this far, but thought this one was too funny not to share!

All these gorgeous Japanese craft books and many more are available on Etsy at Pomadour's Craft Cafe.

Got to have that fabric!

2009-06-26T20:22:00.011+10:00

Last night I finished my favourite coat yet made with sweet fabric by my favourite Japanese designer, Kokka. I can't tell you how much I love Japanese designers Kokka and Echino!

This very cute Wonderland coat is made with a gorgeous linen fabric from Trefle by Kokka and is fully lined (and reversible!) with pale blue cotton drill.

It took me many hours and many bloody fingers to realise that the old fashion method of handsewing in the lining can be very, very tedious! While I like the idea of recreating vintage designs as genuinely as possible, I have found a way to make coat construction much less time consuming, much more fun to make and as an added bonus, the coat is now reversible! Who would have thought it would be that easy huh?!

I'm in the process of redrafting this design with different collars and hoods (less puffy boys version coming as soon as I can figure out how to make the coat hang properly without the gathering...).

With the success of my latest coat still fresh, I've been scouring the internet for gorgeous fabric for my next creation. It was hard, but I have cut my long wish list down to just 4 (this week anyway!).

I'm pretty sure Charlotte needs just one more coat....

Vintage Style Swing Coat (size 1)

2009-06-26T19:15:00.011+10:00

Wool blend outer with cotton lining (sewn in by hand).

May

2009-05-28T18:10:00.008+10:00

It seems that I'm about to lose more of my precious sewing days to attend to 'real' work (oh how it sucks to be a grown up...). Like a woman possessed, I've set about sewing and designing more retro/vintage inspired goodness in the hope that one of these days I'll be organised (and brave) enough to actually set up my own online store. Until then I'm more than happy to supply to all the good people on Facebook!

It's been a busy week, between work and the kids and all that terribly grown up stuff I also managed to handsew the lining into another vintage style coat, design hats, hats and more hats, I whipped up some Oliver + S skirts and Ottobre blouses for Miss Charlotte and friends and of course I also found just a little time to go shopping for more fabulous fabrics for some of my new projects.

When I finally exhausted myself after a hardcore morning of stitchin', I noticed it was a really lovely afternoon. I formulated a grand plan to go to my parents house after I got the kids from school to take some pics of my lovely Lala modelling one of my latest outfits. By the time I hauled Miss Charlotte, the camera, the clothes and myself over two gates (my parents weren't home...), the sun had almost gone down. I managed to take a couple of grainy/blurry photos, mostly of the back of Lala's head as she ran like the Energizer Bunny from one end of the yard to the other, before we had to relaunch ourselves back over the gates. Given I did damage to my unfit body getting over all of those fences, I'll be buggered if I don't share some photos no matter how grainy/blurry they are!

Cloche - redrafted from original 1920's pattern

Tunic top Ottobre 3/09

Japanese Inspired

2009-05-17T16:28:00.007+10:00

I made this kimono dress some time ago, but it hasn't had a lot of wear. Every time she wears it, I obsess over the uneven gathering at the back of the dress. I don't know how I managed to mess up the gathering at the waist, but after adding elastic and reinforced seams, I really don't think I'll ever get around to pulling it apart to fix it. Being a perfectionist when it comes to these things, I also can't imagine I'll ever get over it. It's just one of those things that drives me nuts! In an attempt to cover up the offending seam and avoid the inevitable anxiety that this one little mistake causes me, I added a ribbon today and decided it really must be worn!

We were en-route to the gallery when we made a last minute decision to spend the lovely Autumn afternoon at the park instead. It turns out that a kimono with cream tights is not exactly practical when sliding, climbing and falling into piles of tanbark, but really, when is a kimono and cream tights really practical on a toddler?

Lucky I had my camera in the boot of my car and was able to capture a little bit of the messy fun.

The Kimono Dress was made with a pattern from Amy Butler's 'Little Stitches for Little Ones'. I absolutely adore everything about this book - the spiral binding, the photographs (especially the insanely beautiful babies!), the gorgeous fabrics, lovely toy, accessory and clothing designs and the simple patterns with super easy to follow instructions. There is so much to love about this book!

Petticoat Dress - Round 1

2009-05-06T21:34:00.011+10:00

On a recent trip to the local thrift store I picked up a few cotton petticoats with the vision of turning them into sweet dresses for the monkey. I considered shirring them or adding a bodice and some lace, but then I stumbled across this gorgeous honeycomb smocked top by UK Lass in US.

Feeling inspired, I cut the top off the first petticoat, kept the original bottom ruffle, added honeycomb smocking to the front and shirred the back. I'm not so thrilled with the way the smocking turned out on this one, but the monkey was more than impressed with the twirling quality of the 'pwitty' dress. This one is going straight into the dress up box!

While I'm less than thrilled with my first smocking attempt, I'm super pleased with the impromptu photo shoot of our little spidermonkey. It's like she was born with an auto pose switch!

Stylin' it in the late 70's

2009-05-06T11:01:00.008+10:00

Today I fully intended on taking Miss C to some lovely location to take more photographs of our latest creations. Instead I just want to curl up in a ball under my doona until the thick fog lifts and the temperature rises above 5 degrees. Brrrr.

So while I wait for the sun to make an appearance and for my athritic bones to thaw, I'll share some stylin' shots that I found while flipping through some old albums this week. When I was little, mum used to sew most of our clothes and many of the patterns she used (and patterns that my Nan used to make my mum clothes...), I am now using as inspiration to create outfits for little Miss C. Many thanks to Mum and Nana for creating this sewing monster!

(No prizes for guessing which of these little girls is me!)

(Ok, I'll give you a hint...)

Goodbye to My Pa

2009-04-26T17:19:00.004+10:00

We should have been with him yesterday watching him proudly wear his medals in the ANZAC Day parade. Instead it has been a weekend filled with much sadness.

This morning our dear Pa, who lead a life of inspirational strength, generosity and love for family and friends, passed away. How lucky I was to have had him for so long.

I love you and miss you already Pa.

Autumn

2009-04-25T22:09:00.010+10:00

It doesn't seem to matter how many times the seasons change, or how prepared I think I am for yet another long winter, that first night we have to fight each other for the blankets instantly triggers the winter blues. With a chill in my bones, I quickly forget the sweltering summer days when I swore on my life I would never again complain about being cold.

Last week in an attempt to somehow fight off the winter blues and embrace the changing seasons, the kids and I jumped in the car with a picnic hamper and my newly fixed camera and pointed the car in the general direction of Wee Jasper. A few long dirt roads and hours later, we landed at a lovely creek, somewhere...

Autumn didn't seem awful at all while we were sitting on the grass, near a sparkling creek with sunshine warming our backs. Besides, how much fun is it to be playing amongst piles of big yellow leaves (even when you are almost 33 years old!)? I have to concede, Autumn isn't so bad.

In a few more weeks the trees will be bare, the ground frosty and fog will settle in for the morning. Is it possible to find any joy in that?

Made by me - Simple shift dress using the same fabric as swing coat.

Vintage Butterick

2009-04-23T16:40:00.010+10:00

I made this sweet little swing coat from a vintage Butterick pattern (early 60's). I used a recycled tablecloth for the outer coat and a scrap from my stash for the inner lining. The inner lining is sewn in by hand.