Boots ~ Outfit Seven

I actually wore this outfit on Saturday to a picnic with my life~long friends.  It was a really nice day for the middle of winter ~ the sun was bright and even better, we had pie!  My amazing sister decided a while ago to take up pie making as a hobby and we all benefit from that one!

She makes the most delicious pies from scratch.   Pastry, filling and all.  AND she uses her own recipes.  O.O  Her pies are so tasty and yummy….   Her Christmas Apple Pie is delightful and I adore the Pear and Lavender one she cooks.  Lucky us; we get to sample her delectable creations.  I swear cooking is such a great hobby. 

Mmmmm…… Pie. 

      

      

Okay, I will stop getting distracted with food.

Here is the outfit I wore!

            

    

 

Accessories  ~  Hair bows {Best & Less}     Scarf  {Thrifted}    Cuff  {Diva}         Top  ~  Primark {Scotland}        

Skirt  ~  Thrifted  {$7.00, good eh?}         

Tights  ~  SES         Boots  ~  FSW {years ago ~ can’t you tell by the worn heels?}

 

I love those boots.  The biker/cowgirl style is really sweet ~ not too girly, not too western.   I do not really wear western at all, so this is about as close as it gets.  {I figure that if I want to wear clothes that look like I should be riding in them, then I will ride.   Therefore, I won’t wear western as “going out” clothes, but actual yard gear.  It gets really dirty; as anything that goes near a horse will.  : / }

Unfortunately they really need re~heeling.  They are so worn down.  The problem is that even though I have a ton of shoes {please don’t ask the count, I don’t know and probably don’t want too….  That way I can stay in denial and keep acquiring new captives for my wardrobe} I wear them all to death.  I have at least three pairs that need new heels desperately.  I shall have to visit the cobbler asap.

One last piece of news ~ my camera arrived from Cannon finally!!  *does a dance*  I am soooo excited, so expect quite a flood of photographs.  I want to play with every setting until I know exactly what it can do.  

Oh, and sorry about the terrible lighting in the above outfit pictures ~ winter sun is really bright… 

xox,

b.

*cheeky grin*

Okay, so just imagine me with a big ol’ cheeky grin on my face ~   XD

There you go!

Why am I “cheeky grin-ing”? 

Because I am double posting, that’s why. 

Erm.  Anyway, to get on with the actual substance of this post. 

I’ve created a new signature for my blog, except I can not work out how to get it to load with each new post rather than having to insert the signature into every post I create.  May be someone else who uses BlogSpot might have an answer for that?   

And I am also in the process of doing a pencil sketch ~ I have been inspired by Maria of Lulu Letty.   She had a sketch on her blog and suddenly I had to start on a copy of this picture I found from a magazine.  I just wanted to draw!  Here it is as a work in progress:

 

        

 

I thought I would also post a picture of what happens to my left hand when I leave my notebooks behind… 

      

    What happened?

Well, I went the the National Art Gallery to see the exhibition of Hans Heysen’s work and I thought it’d be a great idea to lighten my handbag which weighs something like a ton of bricks.  It was a good idea, but the bad idea was ditching ALL of my notebooks/paper supplies, because I saw the cutest vest on one of the exhibition attendees and just HAD to sketch the style down.

That’s the picture and notes on my palm.  Then there’s the notes about the actual exhibition ~ *see wrist and side of hand.

Yeah.  I am not going to make that mistake again.

xox,

b.

Forget trash ~ {and Lace ~ Outfit Six}

Well I promised more photos and details of all the awesome finds that I thrifted last Friday at Revolve, so here they are!

My favourite thing of all is the full adjustable dress maker’s form I managed to pick up for super cheap.  I do not know exactly how much it cost ~ it was a bundle deal.  I got three environmentally friendly bags {you know, the green bags.  We call them enviro bags in Australia}  stuffed with clothes, handbags, belts, scarfs ~ you name it; and the form for $50.00.  So if we say that the bags were $10.00 each that puts the form at $20.00.  Which is sweet as!

I did say previously that I was not going to put up photos of everything, so here a just a few notable items.

The treasures of my haul consisted of:

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Elizabeth ~

 

A Laura Ashley wool coat; worn boyfriend style as it is too big for me ~

       

Cute handbags ~ of which I found many, including a awesome clutch but I’ll show you my favourites {oh, and a lovely cream silk scarf/handkerchief, it has a few holes, but it’s still wearable} ~

        

Leather belts ~ my favourite is the woven black one.  Not only is it that perfect width, it stays in place even with a wrap buckle rather than a pronged one {which is the type of buckle I usually prefer} ~

And this hat ~ gorgeous no?

Finally, {I have already shown you the pile of lovely doleys I picked up and the shirts} this beautiful crocheted dress.  I think that it’s handmade because there is no brand label on it, or tags describing the contents.  I think it is wool, because of the texture and it is really lovely and warm.  What was meant to be one shot to show the dress end up being an outfit shoot…..   >>  So here you go ~ a gorgeous crocheted vintage dress.  Or “Lace ~ Outfit Six”.

     

 

                

 

Accessories ~ Hair bow {Best & Less}      Earrings  {Equip}      Watch {Thrifted}      Belt {Thrifted}              Top Layered Dress ~ Vintage/Thrifted

Bottom Layered Dress ~ Crossroads {many seasons ago!}         Long Sleeved Top under both dresses ~ Primark {Scotland}         Stockings ~ Valley Girl

Slouch Boots ~ Florence, Italy {I have no clue what store I got them from….  They were 70 euro though, so they are my most expensive shoes, and most expensive item in my closet full stop at $140.00 AUD!!!  I needed them though; that’s the only reason I brought them.  Shoes in Italy are HEAPS expensive ~ these were on sale!  O.O}

I did pick up some other really neat clothes, but I’m not going to show you them here.  I am saving them for another day, and another outfit{s} shoot!   What people throw away, I mean really…

Well, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.  I suppose that I should be eternally grateful that another man deemed those delightful items trash or I would never have had the chance to own them.  Thank you unknown benefactors!

Which brings me to my final point.  If you have something in your closet or drawers, or even furniture in your house that is not as loved as it could be, but you do not think anyone else would want it ~ think again…

I am going to try to pass on the stuff that I don’t want because who knows, there may be someone out there who ends up thanking their unknown benefactor for the things that I threw out.

It’s the great recycling story of the reloved vintage {and other such pieces} world.  If these things could talk ~ I wonder what they would say? 

xox,

b.

P.S ~ Check out A Dress A Day for some exceedingly well crafted stories about dresses.  Erin, the authoress of the stories, totally inspired me.  I’d love to write my own Dress Drabbles ~ or maybe I will branch out and write drabbles on other things….  Like my dress form.  I would what its story is? 

Sock it ~ Outfit Five

I pulled this outfit together a while ago, and then decided to try it again with a variation ~ this time socks and ankle boots instead of gray knee length boots.  I think I like this look better than the other.

I used one of my favourite layering tricks for making short dresses longer.  Find the right type of skirt to wear underneath and no one can tell that it’s not supposed to be that way!

             

    

                         

 

             

 

                                       

 

 

Accessories ~ Hair bow {Best & Less}             Dress ~ Tightrope            Tights ~ Best & Less

Earrings {Equip}                         Belt ~ Ice                             Socks ~ Scotland: some shop!

Lace Gloves {JayJays}             Skirt ~ Best & Less           Shoes ~ New Look, Scotland

 

I just realized that my entire outfit is RTW stuff.  Oh well.  I suppose it really doesn’t make it any less nice does it?

xox,

b.

Thriftastic & Sew~sations

Today was the DH’s birthday so I put together the sponge cake {yes, I baked another one} with Blackberry jam this time, because that is his favourite jam.  We had lunch with his family which was lovely. 

I also went to Revolve and did some serious thrifting ~ more on that later, as well as starting my very first sewing project!!  After that rather busy day, DH and I went to the cinema to celebrate.   We saw Toy Story 3 and it was good!   Not a bad sequel and better than number 2 as well.   Good fun.

Sooo, where to start? 

Well, the cake went down well ~ thankfully.  I think he liked it, but I want to make a chocolate cake as well for Sunday lunch with my family.   My family tend to celebrate birthdays over a few days ~ sometimes with three or four different things on different days just to enjoy the birthday that the fun that it brings.

Ok.  And Revolve.  Now, for a bit of a back story.    I found a new craft idea that I am dying to try out, so I went to Revolve with the purpose of buying men’s shirts.  I am not going to tell you anything more about the craft project.  You are just going to have to wait and see.

Anyway, because this is Revolve I didn’t end up with just men’s shirts.  Oh no.  This is my floor at the moment.

    Actually, that’s only the beginning…. 

I found way too many cool things to put them all up, but I will post some more pictures when I get the chance.  In the mean time, here’s a few more quick shots.

      

My sewing project is going really well so far.  Firstly, my Guru and I decided to do the panda pants instead of the skirt as they are actually far more easier to start with than the wool skirt I am planning.  And they are designed to be around the house wear so it’s a great starting point to gain some confidence as it’s not like they have to be perfect {just comfy} for lounging around in!

So this afternoon I cut, serged {zig-zag stitched the raw edge as the fabric is flannelette which will fray if not ‘treated’} and attached the pocket to each leg.  It doesn’t sound like much, but it took me a couple of hours to get that far.  I was actually quite happy with my first efforts.  Even though my cutting was terrible to start with, it did get better {straight and on the edge of the pattern thank you!} and I managed to sew the pockets on without supervision as my awesome instructor had an appointment to keep and said “Go for it!”.  So I did.  And I don’t think there were any disasters!  Although we will have to wait for her inspection. 

Photo time!

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am dead tired as it is now 11:41pm, which is hours past my bedtime, and it’s happened for the umpteenth night in a row.   *dies*  Goodnight.

xox,

b.

Experimentation!

I sketched the lines of this picture a while ago, but today I decided to colour it.  The main reason for that is that I was browsing through more fashion blogs ~ just clicking and following links that interested me and I found a picture that made me go ~ “Huh.” 

It was a simple line art that was coloured in a really nice pastel palette.  I looked at it and went “That style of colouring really suits the type of sketches I’ve been doing lately ~ I wonder how it would look if I tried something like that?”

And this is the result :

~  “Curls”  ~

So my next question after completing it was ~ I wonder if anyone would buy this picture on Etsy?  I have a hard time knowing if my work is good enough to sell and if it is, how much to price it at.  I don’t want to overcharge ~ I personally hate it when you find something you like, but it’s ridiculously expensive.  But at the same time, I don’t want to under value my work and the time and effort that goes into it.  Not forgetting materials either!

It’s more than a bit of a quandary.   And I don’t have a ready answer for this one I am afraid.

Anyway, I haven’t forgotten about posting the inspiration.   I found the inspiration picture when I was looking at Fallie’s Scrapbook.   Can I just say that I am in awe of this child?  She’s thirteen and has some seriously awesome photographs of her outfits {she looks like a model in an editorial spread in just about every photo of her.  I don’t know if she takes the photos herself or gets help, but either way they look fantastic.  And she does really good art work in Photoshop.  I’d love to be able to do graphic art as well as her.  And she’s thirteen!!  Can I die now?  Some one kill me please…..}

 

It isn’t Fallie’s work, just a picture she posted.  I used the pastel colour palette idea.  Other than that ~ it’s not really the same at all!  Of course, I did the line art before I saw this picture or I might have tried something a little different in execution of the pencil technique for my piece.  The subject would have been the same though.  I am quite fond of this little nymph and her expression.  I won’t point out the flaws I can see ~  I don’t want you to see them too {!!} but I hope you enjoy the picture.

Oooh, and tell me if you would be interested in purchasing a print of this ~ or what price you think that  it would be reasonable to sell it at.  I need help!

xox,

b.

Edited Notes:  Turns out Fallie does have her older sister to help her take the photos, but considering that Fallie’s poses are more model-eske  than Anni’s {Find Anni’s blog at Style Hurricane} I am thinking that she comes up with them herself.   o___O  

Frustrations

I wanted to start on my crochet collar last night, only to have bunch of obstacles effectively manage to stop me.  When I read the pattern and checked it against the guide to crochet abbreviations I have, I realised that either the pattern was in US crochet-speak and my guide was in UK (thus, Australian) crochet-speak, or visa versa.  Whatever the case was, I had to find the crochet terms translator on Google, add the terminology in and re-print my guide, which had been sourced off different parts of the web. 

So that took a while.  Plus there was the fact that the computer I was using {we are house sitting, so we only have the owner’s computer hooked up to a printer} positively refused to co-operate.  Isn’t it just the most annoying thing ever when technology just won’t work?   It wouldn’t print properly.  I suppose I could have written the instructions and the pattern out by hand, but talk about taking a donkey’s ages….

Which was the main problem with the computer I was using.  It was as slow as golden syrup at Antarctica.   Then it froze, and I had to restart it, and it was still slow, but finally managed to print the papers off.  But by that stage it had taken me an hour to get 7 pieces of paper printed and I was so tired from wrestling with the thing {funny how you can get tired without doing all that much!} that I just decided to take the easy route and work on my afghan which was almost finished rather than to tackle a new pattern.

So DH played Super Mario Bros, and I finished the afghan and have started the final touch ~ double crocheting  the edge.  I shall put up photos when it is done.  It is not very pretty as this is my first crochet project ever, beside the nominal square to learn the stitches.  I did take a break from it whilst I was overseas.  I actually crocheted another, much smaller afghan when I was in Scotland, and I did a neck scarf as well which I gave to one of the girls over there.

So I have actually completed other crochet projects, but this is just the first one I started.  I used the odds and ends balls of acrylic {yuck, I know} wool that were floating about our house, which also means that it’s all sorts of weird colours without a theme.  I don’t usually do such hodge-podge jobs, but again, beginner’s project. 

I didn’t think much about it when I started it two years ago.  I certainly didn’t think that I’d still be going on it. But I took lots of breaks, and it’s one of those nice projects to come back too.  You don’t have to think about how to do it after not working on it for six months, you still know what you were doing.  You can just pick it up and go.  And because of that, I think I will start crocheting another afghan, but this time with proper wool and in the same ply and with a colour scheme!

Sorry about the lack of photos this post if you wanted them.  I just thought that as I have been liberally sprinkling this blog with a lot of pictures that I would hold off on the images and give you a non-pictorial post.  Or does that make things too boring?  Would just one photo help make all this text a little more interesting?

Oh, and in the end, my pattern was in US crochet terms and I had the UK guide.  Just in case you were curious. ; )

xox,

b.

P.S ~ I found the greater part of my crochet abbreviations guide on this fantastic website ~ Antique Crochet Patterns.  It is a really great crochet resource; plus free vintage crochet patterns?  Who can find fault with that??  If you like crochet and are interested in vintage/old fashioned pieces, I can really recommend this site.  Go ahead!  Check it out.

P.S. 2 ~  Sorry, I know I said “no images” but I guess I couldn’t help myself.  I didn’t want this great link to be lost in a ream of text.  My bad.  Perhaps I will be able to manage a “no images” post another time.

The Happy Days Dress ~ Outfit Four

I. Love. This. Dress.   I didn’t try it on when I bought it, I just knew somehow that it would look good.  So I took it home and the first I time I saw it on me, I knew this dress and I were kindred spirits.  Ever had a piece of clothing that you put on and it just makes you so unreasonably, ecstatically happy for no apparent reason at all?  Well, that’s how I feel wearing this dress!  I have had to restrain myself from pulling it out of the closet and wearing it every day this week…  =.=’

It’s RTW so that would be crime in many vintage fashion ladies’ books, but I’m not sorry, or repentant.   I liked this dress too much not to take it home with me  and it turns out I was right!

 

 

 

 

 

 

                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My DH took the photos this time ~ he’s got a good eye behind the camera and gets some nice shots.  That’s his leg in left hand corner of the ‘shoe shot’.  So who knows?  If he is agreeable I might have two photographers to help me.  Although DH doesn’t help me with the poses like Jay does ~ I have to think of them all on my lonesome. 

Cardigan ~ SES

Dress ~ SES                  

Skirt under dress ~ Tightrope {yes, the black band with the lace at the bottom is actually the skirt I wore for the ‘Alice"’ outfit, but inside out.   I don’t like my dresses or skirts to be much above the knee.}

Tights ~ SES

Shoes ~ Thrifted {$5.00, how awesome is that??  I love these shoes, and it’s another case of restraining myself not over kill with them.}

Accessories ~ Rose earrings    {Diva}

                             Belt  {Ice}

                            Ring with brooch on top  {Diva}

Does anyone else find it really awkward to pose when someone else is there with you?   I can do poses easily by myself… Maybe I need a remote for my new camera so I can snap away! 

Mind you, in some respects it’d be easier just to get over the awkwardness and deal with having someone else there.  Because that way I don’t have to take a million shots just to find a few good ones.

Hmm.  Dilemma.  The other thing is that I do like to direct the shots ~ the angle of the background, the amount of zoom and all of that.  It’s hard to do that when you are not the one taking the photo!  Maybe I need to try both ways?  Maybe I’ll try the remote when I get my new camera.  Maybe.  I might be too lazy to both with it when I have got willing helpers.  : ) 

xox,

b.

Spotlight ho!

Fabric shopping - *wheee*!  I’ve been hanging out to start my sewing project; I sorted out what pattern I want to use and I was only needing to buy the fabric and trim.  Of course that required an expedition to the largest {?} fabric/craft supplies store just outside of Canberra.    So when I say expedition, it really was!  My awesome and lovely sister~in~law kindly consented to be my sewing guru, and guide me in the mysterious ways of all things sewing.

We arrived at Spotlight just after 2:oopm, and didn’t leave until 5:3opm ~ when the store shut! So {or sew… Haha, lame pun intended.} my haul ended up being rather large to say the least.  I won’t list everything ~ but I got photos! 

     

The material ~ I bought 10 meters {yes, 10 meters!} of the ivory jacquard because it was $2.00 a meter!  That’s insanely cheap for a nice heavy cotton.  I plan to make a dress, jacket and skirt out of the stuff if I have enough. {The jacquard’s the roll at the back.}  The grey wool was the most expensive at $29.99 a meter {Ouch!!} but I wanted a nice warm skirt for winter, and with my guru guiding me through the sewing process I am hoping it will turn out nicely {even though this is my first project!!  *meep*} and then it will be worth it.

The floral sateen was another sale yardage ~ $2.00 a meter, so I bought three meters.  I plan to make a fully reversible knee-length dirndl skirt out of that one.  The nautical print muslin was a bit of a surprise to me.  One, it’s the middle of winter in Australia so buying muslin is more than a bit silly, I’m not going to be able to sew it  for a while either, so it won’t be ready for summer…  Two, it’s a nautical print.  I must confess I have long professed a dislike to the ‘sailor’ style.  It looks great on some people, and I’ve often thought that a sailor romper is pretty darn cute.  But it’s just not my style.  I never wear much blue, and I dislike pretty much ALL of the modern RTW nautical styled stuff you find in the shops.   It’s yuck.

So when I spotted this I was all, “Oh, this is cute, but I’d never use it.”  Then, the fabric spoke to me.  O.O   Oh yes it did.  It went ~ “You know that I’d make the cutest shirt dress for wearing to the beach and around the house in summer right?  A little something casual and fun to slip on!”  and I went ~ “Ah!  So true!!  Must. Have. Cute. Octopi. Dress!!!!”  And that was it.  I was done like dinner.  ><   So now I have a totally awesome muslin print to make up. I even have the pattern for it!  I bought it off Etsy last night {much to DH’s dismay as I rake up more damage on the card…  : S }.

Lastly, the panda print is a flannel, and as I never wear pyjama's to bed {just to clarify I usually wear an old t-shirt}, but love to lounge around the house in pjs I’m going to make a pair of pants from this so I can stop stealing DH’s camo. pants.

   

I also bought some fantastic vintage styled buttons for the peter~pan type collars I want to crochet.  I’ve been on the look out for really-truly vintage buttons, but haven’t found any so far.  *sad face*  : (   But these are lovely, and I think that they will look great.

The other fabric is for waist band and collar details on distant dresses that I have ideas for {another pattern coming for that one too ~ what? You think that I could restrain myself and only buy one pattern on Etsy when the store was having a 15% discount?}

The mushroom print however, will line the pockets of my grey wool skirt.  Because I am like that.  I like my clothes to look chic and elegant {for the most part ~ I do have some cutesy jewellery and things} but the idea of having fun prints to line my pockets is too much to resist.  It’s going to be awesome!

    

I’m doing up a variation on view 2 ~ which is the view to the far right, and my modifications will probably make it look so far removed from the original, as you can probably see from the sketch.  I’ve taken elements from each pattern variation and combined it into one.  It’s going to be knee length as well.  I already have one wrap skirt that is mid-calf length, so I don’t need another. :3  This is going to be soooo much fun!  I will keep you posted.

xox,

b.