Saturday 28 November 2015

Kitty-A-Go-Go 60's Shift Dress



It's getting close to the end of the year and I'm only just getting around to fulfilling my Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge. To kick things off I've got a new stage outfit I made with my bandmate and fellow seamstress for our 60's garage group Catzilla. We used Simplicity 3833 which is a vintage reproduction of a 1960's shift dress.


This pattern was a breeze! I cut a size 10 which fit me straight out of the packet. All I had to do was shorten the skirt (a 60's go go dress can never be too short!) and the skirt was a bit too flared for my liking so I tweaked it a little at the side seams.


The bodice is made from fabric we bought in Japan some time ago and has cute little cat heads on it. Of course we then had to carry on with the cat theme and added giant cat head pockets to the skirt.


The cat fabric is actually a cream colour rather than white and the only matching fabric to be found was a linen which turned out fine but it does crease quite easily.


I'm really pleased with how this dress turned out, it was super easy to sew and I think the contrasting black and white panels worked a treat.

The full outfit as it should be worn - with it's matching other half
More vintage pledge pattern posts (try saying that really fast!) coming soon.

Monday 9 November 2015

Ooh - an Award!

Wow, I've been nominated for a Liebster Award by my fellow singer/seamstress Ree from Ree-Sewn. I love reading her posts and seeing the clothes she makes (she even sewed her own stunning wedding dress and shared the whole incredible journey on her blog!)
So, what's the deal with the Liebster Award? It's all about discovering and spreading the word about new blogs. By accepting the award I get to share 11 random facts about myself and nominate some more fellow bloggers to do the same.

I'm so thrilled about this, in fact I'm thrilled that anyone reads my blog at all! So here goes:

1. I'm a musician. I've been singing and songwriting in bands since I was a teenager and I intend to carry on doing so for as long as I possibly can!

2. I love a lot of different kinds of music and I currently sing in 4 bands playing very different styles: Gypsy jazz, 50's R&B, 60's ska & calypso and the newest one Catzilla is 60's garage pop, in which I also play keyboards. This keeps me extremely busy rehearsing, performing and making stage outfits.

3. I'm also a piano teacher and I'm blessed with a range of lovely students from 6 year olds to 60 year olds. They're all at different levels and have varying tastes in music which keeps things fun and interesting.

4. My favourite music to sew to is anything by Brad Mehldau who is an American jazz pianist. I find his music really relaxing and somehow helps me focus on what I'm doing.

5. I'm rubbish at making decisions.

6. My favourite chocolate is Mint Lindt- ooh, and Ferrero Rochers too - yum!

7. I lived in London for 11 years and it's still one of my favourite cities.

8. I love travelling and I've been lucky enough to visit lots of different places but Tokyo and Paris are two cities that I keep going back to.

9. Ree shared her phobia of moths, birds and anything that flaps, well I have a phobia of anything that crawls - most of all spiders and cockroaches. Given that I live in Australia this proves to be a frequent hindrance to my calmness and well-being!

10. I love the warm weather and can't stand being cold - thankfully Spring is here in our part of the world - Yay!

11. My idea of paradise is lying on a beach with my man by my side, a fancy cocktail in hand, a good book and the occasional dip in a calm, temperate ocean (take me there now!)

Thanks Ree for spreading the word about my blog. I'd now like to nominate two blogs for the Liebster Award. I'm not sure if they have under 200 followers (some say this is part of the rules) but I've only recently discovered them and feel they deserve to be shared:

Coolarama with her lovely makes and fun, witty writing style
and
Springstitches - I love the gorgeous vintage outfits that Becky sews.

If my nominees accept, they get to share 11 random facts about themselves and spread the blog love by making their own nominations.