Christmas is Here!!

Well, I finally made it.  Ham ready and a friend's pickled watermelon rind to go with it.  Three bird roast cooked.  Home made Christmas cake, fruit mince tarts and shortbread out of the freezer.  Small home grown cherry tomatoes roasted to go on top of goat cheese tarts.  Home grown Roma tomatoes ready for a salad Caprese.   And of course, lots of nice drinks in the fridge.  Here are photos of my grinch husband, Bob, wearing two of the Christmas shirts I have made for him.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Sewing

 Christmas is a great time to release your inner kitsch!  I love sparkly fabrics on festive table settings.  Here are some items I have sewn over the years for the festive season.

Christmas Cushions

Decorations

Festive napkins

Tablecloths

My Staff

The Pattern Reviewer

Sewing Assistant

The IT Expert

Overlocking Supervisor

Pattern Weight

The Foreman "Barks" orders

Bag Lady

I am often given fabrics and some of them are used to cover enviro shopping bags.  These are sold to raise funds for various not-for profit groups I am involved with.  I have just finished working on a set of bags for Miss Porter's House (a National Trust Musuem House) Bric a Brac Sale.  Here is the process.

I cut one strip of fabric to go right around the bag.
It is stitched at the top and bottom of each side.
Two strips are cut to cover the straps.
One small section is cut to cover the small tab.

The bags are purchased from supermarkets for around $1 each. 

The straps are unpicked for a short
distance and then covered.

The large piece of fabric is stitched around the body of the bag to produce the finished products.

A staff member road tests a couple of bags awaiting finishing. 

Wedding dresses

This week was our 20th wedding anniversary so I thought I would feature some wedding dresses I have made over the years.

Here we are at our wedding on October 12, 1991.  As we were living in Darwin (read HOT and HUMID) I wanted a dress that was cool.  I bought cotton curtain lace from Dimmy's in Geelong and lined the dress with cotton lawn.  The front and hem features cream satin ribbon.  The dress cost $48 to make - the shoes were $120!!!

Anne Vowles' wedding in the early 1990s.  Pearl beads were wrapped around the band that separates the body of the dress from the lower frill.  The back featured 15 small fabric covered buttons and rouleau loops.

Here I am with the bride, Trish, in the early 1990s.  The top of this dress was a beautiful Italian lace, 

This dress was made for Virginia Smith's wedding in February this year.  It featured spider web lace over Dupion silk.

In action.....but not missing

Cropped jacket for the summer collection.

Cotton kaftan top.

OOOHHH - time has flown over the past two weeks and the blog has been neglected.  I have, however, been busy working on a new set of costumes for an African dance concert in early October.  Here are some of the other items made recently.

Summer skirts for a regular client.  The red is  a
Japanese fabric bought in Kyoto.

Linen tops for another regular client.

Tunic dress - coloured trim from an

Op shop in Port Macquarie.

Sew.....

This week I finished the Indian dance costumes, made some linen mix pants for a friend and made these.

Retro skirt from op shop fabric.

Pieced evening skirt for summer collection.

Polycotton shirt for a client.

Pieced knit skirt for summer collection.

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Cropped jacket for summer collection.

Lovely Lace

The navy Table 8 lace on the left was 

purchased at a factory outlet in the early 1990s.  

The lace on the right was purchased from

Chic Fabrique for a dress.

I have never worn a lot of lace but I love collecting it.  Here are some of the pieces currently in the sewing room collection

This piece of vintage lace was given to me by a friend

This crocheted lace was made by my great
grandmother.  It has been stitched on and
taken off garments over a period of more than sixty years.

This spider web lace, purchased at Tessuti's in Sydney,
formed the outer layer of a wedding dress made
earlier this year.

These tatted sleeve pieces were purchased
at an op shop.

I made this crocheted lace collar in the
late 1960s.  It has been on and off several
garments.

This tatted lace collar was made by my
grandmother in the 1950s and has been
on several garments.

Lace pieces purchased from op shops.

This Week in the Sweat Shop

My husband, Bob, refers to my sewing room as the Sweat Shop, particularly when I am working over extended periods of the day.  This week has been a busy week as I have worked to complete a number of projects.  Here is what I finished this week. 

Black tailored pants
for a tall client who finds
it hard to find pants long
enough to fit.  A customised
pattern was made so now she
can have other pants made
in different fabrics.

6 gore skirt with kimono fabric
pieces for the summer collection.

Dance costume skirt from a sari.
Almost all of the sari (6 yards or 5.6 metres)
was used to make the 8 panels which
 are each one quarter of a circle.

Linen shirt for a client.

White stretch drill skirt with knit trim for the
summer collection.

Palazzo pants with godets inserted into
centre front and back and in to the lower
leg seams.

A Bulge of Buttons

Vintage buttons which have been given to me or have been purchased at craft fairs or markets.

Some of us are compelled to collect.  My collections include fabrics, patterns and buttons.  I had my own small collection and then in 1984 my mother gave me her collection which included buttons previously in the collections of my grandmother and great grandmother.  The collection has grown as I have purchased, made and been given additional buttons. 

Part of the collection which is organised by colour.

Buttons purchased overseas.  On the left are metal buttons from Notting Hill markets in London.  On the right are coconut shell buttons from Samoa.

Polymer clay buttons made at one of the fabulous workshops run by friend Wilma Simmons.  (www.empresswu.etsy.com)

   

Op shop finds.