What I'm into at the moment - sewingwise - is deconstruction. It has opened up a whole vista of new possibilities that suit a creative but lazy person like me. Oh, and did I mention cheap as well. That's me - cheap. Anyway, what you do is go to your local op shop - and instead of coming away with very little because you are fussyish about what you'll wear ready-made, you can grab a heap of stuff that you see potential in, by just removing a collar or cutting shorter, or adding another garment to it. See my four items below. . .
No 1 is a nice blouse, which I've cut shorter and added a length of my favourite material to. Then a panel section which I've sewn paua beads on.
No. 2 is a man's sturdy 'lumberjack' shirt, which I cut the sleeves off, used the cuffs to add some definition to the waistline, and voila - a waistcoat.
No.3 is a stretch jersey/sweater, that I've cut back to 3/4 length sleeves, and used just the sleeves and bottom half, and amazingly they fitted perfectly into a stretchy cotton shirt, with eyelets, once I took those sleeves out. Now I have a nice long tunic top. And look (below) the little eyecatchers on this one are watch faces sewn onto the collar.
Finally, no. 4 is this one made today out of another jersey/sweater, which I've used for the top half, and a hank of material I bought for the strip and the longer half at the bottom. This one took a bit of getting right because I made it too slim, but with some extra gussets in the back, it's now working. Phew.
. . . don't look too close.
And the detail is the different coloured buttons from Mum's button tin, which have been around most of my lifetime.
Bit of a cold trip down to Christchurch to catch up with Meg. Dropped about 10 degrees, and rain and greyness pervading all.
We managed to get to the movies twice, though, and ate chocolate beforehand.
In the morning, caught up with Jane at Caffe Roma for breakfast in front of fire.
One of a few great paintings Meg is working on.
Jack and Louis bored at Caffe Roma today.
Meg and I NOT bored.
Rather gorgeous view of the ridge of the alps shrouded in cloud as I came further north tonight.
Random photos from the big roast dinner we had last night in celebration of Helen's birthday
A lovely thick mist softened all the hard edges on my walk around Te Atatu this morning.
making of a rubbish bin, a hallowed object
setting a small galleon sailing in dewy splendour through the teatree bush
enchanting the eye with this spider's craft
erasing the city completely
and making an oil painting of the inner harbour.
Now the difficulty is finding items to wear UNDER the tops I'm making. Not happy with either of the possibilities below, but I do like the tunic. So easy to put together when someone else has done buttons and collar.
This Mother's Day, we had High Tea at Woodglen Road, bringing all the little savouries and sweets and setting it all up on Mum and Dad's table.
Steve came on his motorbike with yummy bakery items, we had gluten free items for Jemma, and overall, more food than we could handle.
Lovely little celebration around the kidney-shaped table. (How appropriate)
Helen and Jem (who came up from Rotorua)
Once we finished the savoury items we loaded the tiered cake stand up with the sweet.
Ashley came in a bit later, after being at the bach mowing the lawn, and Phil called from California - Helen is holding phone so the speaker phone can be heard.
Sunday is Mother's Day, and we're doing a high tea for it - this is my start - some of my favourite Belgium Biscuits. I hope they make it to the weekend.
No 1 is a nice blouse, which I've cut shorter and added a length of my favourite material to. Then a panel section which I've sewn paua beads on.
No. 2 is a man's sturdy 'lumberjack' shirt, which I cut the sleeves off, used the cuffs to add some definition to the waistline, and voila - a waistcoat.
No.3 is a stretch jersey/sweater, that I've cut back to 3/4 length sleeves, and used just the sleeves and bottom half, and amazingly they fitted perfectly into a stretchy cotton shirt, with eyelets, once I took those sleeves out. Now I have a nice long tunic top. And look (below) the little eyecatchers on this one are watch faces sewn onto the collar.
Finally, no. 4 is this one made today out of another jersey/sweater, which I've used for the top half, and a hank of material I bought for the strip and the longer half at the bottom. This one took a bit of getting right because I made it too slim, but with some extra gussets in the back, it's now working. Phew.
. . . don't look too close.
And the detail is the different coloured buttons from Mum's button tin, which have been around most of my lifetime.
