{for hire} pop goes the Anda

Here's a number for the fabulous diva of vintage hair, that rocks The Leopard Lounge, Mel. A colour blocked Anda pattern variation.

Mel has many fabulous vintage '60s and '70s dresses. One problem: polyester! This cotton ensemble lets her steam up the stage (without the sweat) in her band The Lang Langs.

Being a creative type, Mel set the brief and I happily, finally delivered on it. What movie star she is!

{diy 2} outdoor lounge cover

An outdoor lounge cover.

Because sometimes you have uninvited guests.

One metre of clear PVC (table top protector) trimmed with bias binding, all the way around. Leave long ties of bias binding at the corners for tying to the lounge. 

Shortcut: Sandwich the plastic between two pieces of bias binding (one on top, and one on the bottom) and stitch all three together with one long run of full width zig zag.

Dr Livingtsone, the black cat (who first made an appearance here) is on that lounge 9 out of 10 mornings. He approves.

{dying to be different 2} here comes the sun

Two refashions

1. Hand dyed silk cotton top

2. Cut off jeans

Amaze balls! Even the buttons turned yellow

Thanks to iDye and iDye poly

Guessing competition: which is whiter, the cat or my legs?

...ready for summer

{diy} notions holder

One day when I was browsing ebay I came across some listings from a haberdashery store that had closed down. I ended up with a box full of bias bindings for a steal. Now, following the advice of Male Pattern Boldness' sewing don'ts... we shouldn't hoard notions. But, ahem, for me, like threads (yes, the header of this blog is just one of my drawers of threads!), I subscribe to the notion 'freedom of design is freedom of selection'. Being creative is easy when you've got a full pack of crayons ;)

Which works well if you've got a container to put all your crayons in.  When I bought the box of notions, I hadn't thought THAT far ahead. So I commandeered a cube and ended up with this, on the left. That is as neat as it ever got. The trouble was most of the time the towers of rolls fell over and tumbled out the front and back of the cube.

There had to be a better way. After a few months of my subconscious mulling it over I came up witht this easy project you can do yourself WITHOUT ANY POWER TOOLS... I didn't want to permanently alter my dear wooden cube. So, this is a method you can confidently use knowing it can be easily removed and only leave a few tiny holes left in the wood.

Curtain wire pack

What I used:

1. Pliers
2. Curtain wire pack with hooks and eyes
3. Ruler
4. Chalk
5. Wooden cube

1. Measure and mark where the wires will be hung

2. There's all three marks

3. Press firmly to make an impression,
then screw in the eyes (or hooks)

4. This wood was a hard so I did the last few turns
with the pliers

5. Cut your wire to length - the width of your space
(minus the length of a hook and eye)

6. Screw the hooks
(or eyes - the opposite of what you screwed into the wood in 3.)
into each end of the wire

Slide on your rolls and hook them to either side... phew! Notions nightmare sorted

If you're wondering what's in the middle there... it's an old wooden bobbin I picked up at the vintage fair :)

{cloth 2} the bag

Cloth first made a mention on LeCoutureve, in the wardrobe cover makeover. They have fresh, Australian prints. Unrivalled in contemporary application. Australia flora featured in other fabrics (like quilting) range between too kitsch (think: tourist postcard and placemat) and too prissy (neat, soft 'English' arrangements that belie the 'rough as guts' appearance of the Australian bush). Cloth depicts wiry Australian flora in all its glory. They use rough linen and unruly patterns that ooze organic out of every fibre. I didn't need to check the tag, I knew this was made right here in my beloved bastard of a country.

Constructed with rough, layered seams to showcse the fabric's raw edges

this one has been gifted to Nanna Linda

{sewcial 2} vintage fair

 Going to the vintage fair. A step-by-step guide.

Step 1. Dress vintage.
Whilst '50s style Madmen ladies and Rockabilly is all the rage...
I subscribe to the steam age Victoriana!

Step 2. Check weather for travel by umbrella.
Mary Poppins taught me herself.

3. Prepare for take-off.
Up, up and away.

~ || ~

Later, at the show....

vintage goodies!!

Sequined bags

Hats!
With Pam (aka BurdaStyle's PamBox)

Jewels! Wonderful costume jewels.

{sustainable design 4} untouched world

Source: http://www.untouchedworld.com/

Untouched World is a New Zealand clothing company that embodies the principles of sustainable design. They create timeless, modern designs using high performance, sustainable, luxury fabrics. Including ecopossum™ (luxurious merino & possum knitwear), organic mountainsilk™ (fine machine washable merino), organic cotton and bamboo collections.

Something you should know about me, is that I was one of those kids that belonged to every extra-curriciular activity and club (think Rushmore). One of those was the United Nations Youth Association. Where I would draft resolutions for the mock General Assemblies in which equally pronoid teenagers solved the world problems at state and national holiday camps, ahem, conferences.

So, I was delighted to discover Untouched World, was the first clothing company in the world, to use the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainability emblem on their products. And thought you might like to check out their pieces.

Source: http://www.untouchedworld.com/

Source:http://www.untouchedworld.com/