And the winner is...

Hello, hello! There has been a lot going on in my world some of which is all a bit hush hush (very mysterious) but here it is at last, my round up of the Wellington Cup... which was a few weeks ago now but hey better late than never :)

First up was the Couple of the Carnival. In the picture below the couple in the left won this category. I get that they match but for me the outfit looks a bit like funeral directors wear not sunny race day wear. My pick , on the right, is this delightful couples outfit, wonderful colour combinations, eye catching detail and they looked like a race day couple enjoying the sun!

Next was Designer of the Carnival, of which I entered! So the outfit on the left won. I like the modern fabric used, but was not a fan of the black asymmetric fabric across the torso or the lace fingerless 80's gloves. I thought the outfit on the right stood out, I really loved the hat, twisting spiraling feathers!

Moving on now to Man of the Carnival. There was lots of men is smart suits, which was great to see, oh yes it was :) The winner of this section is on the left but I just think the guy on the right looked a lot sharper in his suit... more Don Draper

Can not really remember the exact order but up next is Mature Lady of the Carnival. There was lots of well dressed mature ladies who proved that style lasts longer than fashion. The lady on the left won but I have to be complete biased and say I think my mum rocked black and red with more razor sharp style.

Classic Lady of the Carnival. So many to choose from. The winner wore a lemon, grey and black combination that just did not inspire my senses. It was the lady on the left that I thought looked amazing! I love, love, love the use of the black lace on the jacket and her skirt was draped beautifully. From her shoes to her hat it was classic, classic, classic.

Last but not least was the Contemporary Lady of the carnival. The winner is on the left, the photo is not that great but I thought it was quite a safe choice for this category. Much more fun and alive is the entry on the left. How super amazing is that hat! It picks out the detail from the dress amazingly well. The hat won the peoples millinery award and was made by no other than Amy Jansen-Leen... of course!

So there you have it. If you want to see more pictures of the Wellington Cup fashion in the field click here to go to Snap Star where I got all these photo's.

You may be thinking what did I wear, but that's for another post, hopefully tomorrow!

xx

Sometimes love just ain't enough

I did go and sew and I had a little disaster too. What seems like another century ago I downloaded and started to cut out the Ute pattern from BurdaStyle, as I mentioned yesterday. What I did not mention is that I printed it wrong. I never checked the square to see if it had printed out the right way.

Hence the sizing was way out. So I fiddled and meddled (with much frustration) and I was going great guns and it was looking pretty cute, cue pic below...

Then just at the last moment it ripped! In the armhole, beyond the seam line. So, so, so ANNOYING.

Yup I got mad and decided that sometimes, very rarely you have to make the decision to give up and move on. I have just enough to cut a new panel... but its back on the UFO pile and ... erm ... right at the bottom.

To smooth out my nerves and make me feel like downloading and taping A4 sheets of paper in to a pattern are worth it I made up the Madeleine Mini-Bloomers from Colette Patterns. It was a free download and by golly I they wiped themselves up in a thrice.

I have been wanting to try one of these patterns for a while and this little item of lovely makes me want to try out the Sencha and Ceylon patterns. I will use these for night time pursuits but intend to make more as they are ideal for under a skirt in windy Wellington.

While rummaging around the gallery on Collete Patterns I linked to Casey's site (she made a divine Ceylon) and it is rather yumsious. One more to add to the blog roll.

I am now going to assemble some pictures of my Wellington Cup outfit for another post.

Ta ra for now.

xx

Budget style from the pros

My parents have gone back to Scotland...* sniff*. It is kinda weird being on the other side of the planet from your family. I took a good few days to feel sad and eat chocolate. But now its time to get back in to things I have been neglecting and well this blog is one thing that has been suffering.

I don't seem to be in the groove for sewing right now, maybe my two years of intense study has just thrown me off track. Do you ever get that? It's like a mental block every time I look at my sewing machine.

But the need to make stuff is nibbling at me. I did start to finish off the Ute blouse that I downloaded from BurdaStyle ages ago yesterday so that is a start. I do have a lot of UFO's (Un-finshed Objects).

In the meantime I have been reading a rather good book that I picked up. Elizabeth Craig's Needlecraft (War Time Edition c1948). She was a fellow Scot too.

I love it. In her foreword she writes:

With clothes, as with other things, it is only when we find ourselves having to "make do" that we realise how wasteful we used to be.

I thought that was so appropriate for the reason that I started this blog.

It has great chapter titles, the best being Dressmaking without tears. One other great thing about old books is the inscriptions in the inside covers.

Prudence Jackson! What a name. There is one project I am going to try, making a women's blouse from a mans shirt. My Dad left a linen shirt behind and I am going to convert it rather than post it back to him (he is cool with that). There are heaps more too.

So I am going to sign off now with the up most resolution to go and sew... yes I will!

xx

Have you heard of Glee?

I have not been doing much blogging of late as my parents are here visiting from Scotland. I am however still reading the blogs I am interested in everyday with my morning coffee.

I have mentioned Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing before and while reading it today Gertie linked to a site called What Would Emma Pillsbury Wear? which I found quite entertaining. From what I can gather Emma is a character from a show called Glee in the USA. Anybody seen it?

I did go to Fashion in the Field for the Wellington Cup Races on Saturday and it was a scorcher of a day. I will devote a blog post to it soon. Promise!

Until then, have fun in the sun (or snow, rain, wind).

xx