If you’ve landed here is search of the fuchsia pink coat… please pop over to the Tessuti blog for a write-up & pics. And just try to resist their be-autiful fabrics!
Archive for the ‘Sewing’ Category
Trivia & TBirds
December 5th, 2011 by Tracy
We’re still excited about our unexpected win at the AGDA Quiz Night on Friday, as part of the formidable Lost&Found team (rebranded Sloshed&Found for Quiz Night purposes). Thanks Dan & Bec for inviting us! That’s Ash & David hogging the winning stash. (Funnily enough ‘carburetor’ was the answer to one question, which of course Paul knew!)
Yesterday was our annual Tbird Christmas Breakfast at Floreat Beach… pics here. We had a great turnout – lovely to see old friends and new faces too. Note our matching ‘Hawaiian Honeymoon’ outfits… well you can hardly miss them! Who would have thought Dorothy Lamour’s curtains would look so good? Actually this beautiful fabric is from Tessuti’s online store.
Sewing with Gertie
November 2nd, 2011 by Tracy
Sewing Diversion: some months back I joined in Gertie’s Sew Retro online course at Craftsy: Perfect Fit Bombshell Dress. I drafted my own 50s-style petal bodice – the lined ‘petals’ turn up or down, depending on your whim…
How to extend your birthday
August 3rd, 2011 by Tracy
Always happy to have an excuse to goof-off for the day, last week presented the perfect opportunity with (yet) another birthday.
So I took myself off to see a French movie @ Paradiso, cruised around New Edition bookshop, groovy stores and Outré in Northbridge, indulged in champagne at the Art Gallery, then home for cake and more champagne. The storm dented the dinner plans, but I think I’d had enough sugar and excitement for one day! Lunch with the gals on Saturday at the Boulevard Floreat with more lovely presents, and my new dressmaking mannequin arrived from Tessuti… it keeps on going!
Vogue 8184 intervention
May 24th, 2011 by Tracy
If you’ve arrived here from Jen’s blog, it’s not a ‘secret’ competition any longer, and I’m declaring my total output of 5 (gulp!) versions of Vogue 8184. By summer’s end, I was worried someone was going to stage an intervention. But it is a cool pattern and very easily customised… so I built a whole new wardrobe! I made the flared skirt Japanese cotton version first (here with pink cardi), then a halter version for Christmas, the black-and-white linen, plus 2 in lovely Liberty lawn (more on those another day!).
The colourful brushstroke rose print fabric (top left) found in Spotlight. The Japanese Kokko fabric (middle), Frankie Stitch linen (right) from Tessuti.
I think I will be leaving it there. Before the white-coated men arrive. Plus, I have so many new things I want to sew for winter!
Sewing Files
May 24th, 2011 by Tracy
For the vintage sewing girls – I made Butterick 2245 as a cocktail dress (see, I’m accessorising like illustrations now!), but the jury is out on kimono sleeves. Sure, they save heaps of time and can look quite lovely as shorty sleeves. But I really like a fitted bodice, and there’s a lot of ease in a mid-length kimono-sleeve dress, to enable you to lift your arms at the end of it! I love the midriff section, and the summer frock version looks divine. Maybe it will hang for a while before getting an outing!
Deville’s in a Red Dress
March 21st, 2011 by Tracy
Yesterday we dropped in on Deville’s Pad ‘Hot Rods from Hell’. Wow, what an event! There are a bunch of photos of the day on Paul’s site.
For the girls: the dress was hot off the (steam) press, hemming finished only minutes before jumping into Paul’s Chevy pickup to hit Deville’s. It’s a combination of Butterick 5455 – I love the pleated bodice and v-neck – and a skirt from a trusty vintage pattern. The price – embarassingly – $10 worth of Textile Traders stretch poplin, plus a couple of bucks for the invisible zip. I made another version of this dress in a floral cotton sateen, with piping. This version (B) much faster without the fiddling about!
Paul modelling one of his vintage Hawaiian shirts. We’re trying to avoid sunburn!
Secret Fabric Shopping
March 1st, 2011 by Tracy
Part 3.
This is a fabulous find! Kate at William Topp admired my hand-made dress a couple of weeks ago, and talk led to the dearth of good fabric shopping in Perth. She enlightened me about a little place you need to know about, if you’re into dressmaking – Potter’s Textiles Retail Outlet in Leederville. They sell imported fabrics remainder rolls and remnants from their wholesale division, so:
A. you’ll find something pretty original
B. you’ll find something which isn’t supposed to be made into a quilt
C. you’ll score a bargain.
My dear friend Jenni (we go waaay back) and I took a trip there Monday, and I’m not convinced her hot flush wasn’t just due to over-excitement rather than the 39degree heat! She’s a super-shopper – she spotted the bargain box from the door and scored a beautiful fabric for er, $3 per metre. And then another which she let me have (black with satiny spots for a 60s dinner dress, I foresee), so I didn’t have to pull her hair.
If that’s not exciting enough, Chez Jean-Claude’s is right around the corner, so caffeine-up before your visit or have a debrief and gateau afterwards.
It is pretty small, but the turnover seems quite rapid. I bought the botanical black-and-white Japanese cotton a couple of weeks ago and made a square-back bateau-neck dress from a vintage 50s pattern. $26 worth of fabric!
Open Mon-Fri 10-4, tel 08 9381 2900, Potters Textiles is at 12 MacEwan Street, West Leederville.
Go – shop now!
