WAAPA

So. It's been 6 months, or there abouts since I last posted. I'm a bad blogger...

But, in my defence, 2012 was a busy year for me. I finished the course I was doing, while working full time, and also dancing two or three times a week, going hiking ever third or fourth weekend, and taking an extra class. I also applied to four costume schools. And made a wedding dress and 2 bridesmaids dresses.

Makes me tired just thinking about it.

The outcome of all of that in 2012 was that I got into WAAPA!!!! For those of you who don't know, WAAPA is the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. (I also got into 2 of the other schools that I applied to... but WAAPA was the one I wanted). So, I moved across the country.

So now, I'm stupidly busy, and it's amazing. I really love it.

Oh, and the wedding was beautiful, and the dress looked stunning on the bride. By the end of the process, I think the pattern was more mine that it was the original Vogue 1095, and it was stunning and perfect. It has the button on the back to allow her to dance, and fitted so well - the first time I did a fitting on her where I could actually touch her was a week before the wedding, so I was so relieved. The bridesmaid dresses are my original pattern.

A wedding dress practice skirt

I'm making a wedding dress for my friend D (I'm also one of her brides' maids, and making the bridesmaid's dresses). D's wedding is about 6 months away, but she is starting to work on her wedding dance. Skirts make dancing interesting, especially if you're not used to dancing in them. So, a practice skirt is necessary. The difficulty we face is that she lives in Perth, I live in Canberra, and the other bridesmaid lives in New Zealand.

Clearly, toiles are going to be my friend.

The other thing is the guy who is helping them choreograph their wedding dance lives in Canberra. I also dance the style of dance, so seems I needed a practice skirt as well.

D's practice skirt is made from a thin satin, lined with a heavy calico. I put in a self-cover button pick up at the back, to allow her to dance. Trains and dancing do not get along.

My version of the dress is a slightly thicker satin, again lined with heavy calico.

My style Heartland

I don't like modern fashions. None of the colour palettes for the last few years have worked for me, most of the silhouettes for that time are unflattering to me or make me feel uncomfortable. All of this amounts to having bought very few items of ready-made-clothing in the last few years. I do buy things, but not often. And, thinking about it, mostly staples like t shirts and cardigans that are (less) influenced by the current fashion trends.

I look through clothing catalogues, blogs, pinterest, online sources, and I pin the things I like. If you're interested, this is my style pinboard on pinterest. I know the kinds of things I like to sew, and that I tend to wear. And I recently looked at all of this in relation to each other, and came to one conclusion.

My style heartland is 1950s, full skirted, party dresses.

They are just so gorgeous - feminine, fun, and flattering. They allow me to hide my hips (which I have never really liked showing off), and flatter my figure. I know that there are all sorts of feminist readings of the 1950s dresses, but in a modern sense, I just love them. I don't think in a modern context, those feminist readings have quite the same meaning. If it was totally realistic for my lifestyle, I think I'd probably wear them every day. Sadly, it doesn't.

But, here are some I've pinned recently that I love.

Source: coutureallure.blogspot.com.au via fyrefairee on Pinterest

Source: craftinessisnotoptional.com via fyrefairee on Pinterest

Source: ebweddings.tumblr.com via fyrefairee on Pinterest

Source: sewweekly.com via fyrefairee on Pinterest

Source: sewweekly.com via fyrefairee on Pinterest

Source: hemlockvintage.com via fyrefairee on Pinterest

Source: blogforbettersewing.com via fyrefairee on Pinterest

And yes, some of these are modern, but they have that same feel. And oh, the gorgeousness.

An update

So, it's been a while. Like, a long, long time since I've posted (okay, 6 months isn't a long long time perhaps, but it feels like it.) I have been sewing, but I wanted to post things in the order that I sewed them, and I hadn't taken photos of everything. But, now I have, and 6 months have passed, and I am just going to have a longish update post, which will kinda sum up the last few months.

So, the thing that was holding this whole thing up was the jacket I sewed for my class last year. It's a pinstriped jacket. I love it, and I feel like I am going to run away to the circus every time I put it on.

 

 Isn't it cute? I had such difficulties with matching the stripes - of course, I had to make it difficult for myself and have the stripes on the bias meeting at the centre back. But, I'm super pleased with the results.

In January, I sewed a bunch of things, many of them still un photographed. This top is a dusky pink satin, and is the same pattern as my red day after dress. I wore it to my friend's Australia Day party, and it is quite comfy, but doesn't really fit in with the rest of my wardrobe, so I haven't worn it since. It does work with the necklace, which was the point.

In February, I made this dress for my aunt's 50th birthday party.

 I sewed other stuff between February and May, but I haven't photographed it. And really, it can stay unphotographed. (At least for the time being).

I started a millinery course as part of my studies. The first thing we made (and the only thing I've photographed so far) was fascinators. I made three - two remain unphotographed - and I love the third.

For one of my classes, we had to design a collection, and I based it around my jacket. And titled the collection, funnily enough, 'run away to the circus.'

My collection sketches:

And my finished garments:

I love the button details - I agonised over the buttons, and finally decided on those ones. They needed to be that big to work, and I love the detailing of them.
Coincidentally, the shorts and jacket go very well with the corset and undertop I made for my moulin rouge outfit - the red of the satin is almost exactly the same as the red from the jacket lining, and the pinstripes.

And that's me, basically up to date now.

Mum's wedding outfit

For the same weddings as I wore my strawberry shortcake dress, I made my Mum's outfit. I need to get more photos of it, and photos of the individual garments, and there will eventually be a jacket out of the skirt fabric, but here it is so far:

The jacket and shirt are made from green chiffon, the undershirt is made from a green satin, and the skirt is a gorgeous embroidered silk.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about this outfit is that it was finished. Eleventh hour sewing if I ever did it, it was finished the day before I flew across the country to Perth for the first wedding. I'm really happy with the skirt, undershirt and skirt, although the jacket still needs work. The silk one is going to be perfect. It doesn't have a choice :P

The skirt has a hand picked zipper and a hand picked hem - two of my favourite elements of this outfit. All the tops are finished with self bias binding.

Oh, and I'm counting this as my 'Mum' challenge for the sew weekly. (I decided to make the challenge my own, and rather than sewing something inspired by mum, I sewed for mum).

Some Gifts - Chocolate dipped pretzels.

For my friends, I once again made food. This time, chocolate dipped pretzels, with sprinkles. I reckon they're pretty, right?

Some Gifts - cushion covers

I made some cushion covers as Christmas gifts this year.

Four sets of three cushions were based off an idea I saw on a blog (although I can't remember which one - I more saw the picture and made my own version).

The other set of three cushions was based off an idea I think I saw on craftgossip, and pinned to my gift ideas pinterest page:

Source: ideasfromtheforest.blogspot.com via fyrefairee on Pinterest

Mine are a little different, but I'm very happy with the results. The cushions have a zipper on the back, with a large flap hiding it.