Saturday, August 9, 2014

Success in the form of cardigans and recipe cards

Hello hello! What did you get up to today?

Today was my first opp-shopping trip in awhile and I must say, probably the best ones I've had in years in terms of finding exactly what I wanted. Which if you go opp-shopping you will know that you can't really go in with a list of things to buy - but instead let the shop sell it's items to you whether you thought you needed them or not. 

I actually had decided well before getting out of bed this morning that I would really like to get a lumpy cardigan and perhaps a pair of high-waist "Mum" jeans that I could turn into a skirt.

Well, I managed to get those, plus a few more items which I had looked around the internet and other opp shops for, but never found. 

Let's have a look now!

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Sewcial Saturday

Hows your weekend going lovely people? 

Mine's been quite good so far! Yesterday was another opportunity to hang out with the Spoolettes for a little sewcial sewing day. (I'll never get sick of sewing puns!)

We hired out a community hall, popped up some tables and chairs, got ourselves all ready to sew and then... nothing

There was no electricity! 

It was pretty annoying but we found out one power point worked so we daisy chained all the power cords and boards for a few hours until an electrician came to sort everything out. A little bit of an electrical hazzard to bring some excitement to the day!

There was only a few of us at that point, so as more people arrived more machines were whirring away and more heaters to warm up the space.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Listen and Look: Everyone - Van Morrison

Hello to you! 

Have you been enjoying your week? I had a nasty cold the past few weeks but I'm all better now, nothing some time off work and lots of movie watching couldn't fix. 

And of course I've been feeling very happy! Have you been feeling happy? (Don't say happy too many times it looses it meaning... ) 

I've been trying to get out of bed each morning to do yoga, but getting up in the cold at 5am is hard, so I maybe only do it sometimes... but I do go to a proper session two days a week and its really so fun and every time I can reach that little bit further or balance that little bit longer I feel like I've achieved something major and makes me very happy! I still can't get the whole breathing through your nose bit, mine is always blocked for some reason! 

Anyway, so for today's post I thought I could pair up a song that makes me very happy along with some dancing, fun and happy looking 60's people

Press play whenever your ready and have a little dance in your house! 


  

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin', Plannin' and dreamin'...

I know I haven't posted a new project in a long while, and if you read carefully you will notice that I have been having an emotionally shitty year, but now I think I am finally able to turn things and time back into my favour. No more poopy times for me anymore - no way Jose! 


I know this because I feel actually quite excited to sew again and have been carefully squeezing time to do wee little sewing jobs here are there in between regular life stuff. (The ironing pile is even looking less daunting) Sadly, my winter sewing plans (as blogged here) kind of went out the window so I didn't get around to them, and McCall's 8939 is still sitting on the chair half done, but don't worry I won't let them become UFO's!

So what have I been sewing?  

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Choosing, storing and using vintage patterns

Hi everyone! How's your week going? 

I was having a little ponder the other day when shopping for patterns about challenges that new sewers might have when it comes to picking out vintage patterns to work on for the first time.

When I started using original vintage patterns, my main concern was the sizing as well as what pattern would suit me best. 

So hopefully in this post, I can give you some tips about how to choose vintage patterns, how to use them and finally how to store them so they are yours for many more years. 



Sunday, June 29, 2014

Vogue Sewing book 1964

Its time to get a little sophisticated around here! 

You maybe remember earlier this year I showed you some photos from the Simplicity Sewing book of 1969. Well I also happen to own the Vogue sewing book from 1964 - which is completely different to the Simplicity book. 

Everything is way more couture focused and speaks a lot more of Paris and the classic sewing techniques you can learn. Very fancy!

So while one of these books is fun, colourful and the models are all dancing around. This book is beautifully  photographed and includes lots of lovely illustrations, not unlike the kind you might find inside Pierre Balmain's sketch book.

So lets have a look!


Monday, June 23, 2014

Its give-away announcement time!

Well hello! How was your weekend? 

Mine was well spent getting started on a new weaving project, shopping for dreamy vintage dresses at Retrospectrum and learning about Filipino food but not actually getting to eat any!

Isn't this dress fab!? It matches my blog theme!
Photo taken by Dann @ Retrospectrum

But I know you don't want to hear about all that! I know you just want to know who the winner of the give-away is!!!

Friday, June 20, 2014

Miss Catherine's Pattern Mysteries

I do love it when I can pick up any vintage item and see traces of the previous owner, like second hand clothing that has been altered or handbags with small notes left inside the pockets. But my favourite things to find are the tiny notes on sewing patterns from a hopeful seamstress or from a fashion loving daughter to a mother.

When this pattern - Simplicity 5670 arrived the other day, the notes written so many years ago were quite interesting!  

Saturday, June 14, 2014

My Pattern collection and a giveaway!

Hello there lovely people! 

I have two rather exciting things to tell you about!

The first thing is that I have put my organising skills to good use and created a new page listing all of my sewing pattern collection. It was a bit of a pain trying to get blogger to line the pictures up just as I liked them but managed to find some coding tips over here which did the trick.

I really wanted a way to be able to look up my own patterns easily while out shopping and also somewhere for you the reader to see them as well. So I had looked at apps for organising patterns and thought of using flickr as a portal but in the end I decided it might be good to have them all on the blog where it would make sense to have them and then include links to all the projects where I have used them before

Pop over to the page to have a look! There is a button to the right of this page and there is also the link below;


They're all sorted by company name and pattern number so they're easy to find and if you ever need a hand with finding a missing piece, let me know!

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Taking Stock - Mid year

Well its almost half way through the year and I think I can safely say that this is going to be a pretty cruddy year. Various little issues in my non-blogging life are making being my normal happy self a little harder to be and I've not spent anywhere near as much time sewing as I'd like. 

I guess I can be upset about my situation for as long as I like, but in reality I'm the only person who can get me out of this funk. So I decided that I will need to start being responsible in taking charge for my life, my productivity at work and how I spend my spare time!

Pip over at Meet me at Mikes regularly likes to 'take stock' so I thought I'd try it out. I've tried to be positive and you can have a try too if you like! It's fun!


Friday, May 30, 2014

Me Made May - Week 3 and 4 and a bit of 5

Well I've taken my sweet time since the last Me Made May post, so here is pretty much what's left of the month! 

(You can see the first and second posts here)

There were more than a few days where I didn't wear me made mainly because I just wanted to get going in the morning and not have to worry about making my dodgier things look normal. 

I also noticed I didn't have enough separates. I have plenty of skirts, but no where near enough tops. I think I have 2 me made tops that I actually want to wear. Hopefully I can rectify that soon as I've recently bought patterns and fabric just for that purpose. 

Also we had some crazy weather this month. Sometimes it was really cold and then, like last week it was Springtime warm! So dressing to match the weather became an art form

So lets have a look then! 

Monday, May 26, 2014

Sally

It's been awhile since I've named my projects - heck its been a while since my last project!

But what's in a name you ask? Well, if you have been watching the latest episodes of Mad Men, you may now see Office manager Joan is now an Account Executive and has sporting a few dresses contrast collar and cuffs - much like my new girl below. But the real fashionista I think of this season so far is Sally. Sure Megan has the most fabulous West Coast wardrobe, but Sally's teenage wardrobe is giving me the biggest envy of all! 

Sally doesn't get enough screen time I reckon, but we are now seeing her form a different relationship with her father and getting into mischief with her friends, rebelling against her mum and her school and sneaking out of class to go shopping - all the sorts of things girls her age may do, but in her case, while wearing the most trendy styles of 1969

So now onto my Sally dress then? 


Sunday, May 25, 2014

Fabric-a-brac 2014

Hello dears! How is your weekend going? 

For me, this weekend was successfully spent splurging my pay on vintage fabric and patterns, eating bagels, listening to ukulele bands and "sewcialising" with Susan from Measure Twice/Cut once and lots of other fabric lovers

The shops, crowd and merchandise was substantially bigger then last year, which was awesome. If you remember I attended last years Fabric-a-brac at Newtown and had quite a bit of luck with my buys - you can see last years post here. I didn't spend as much time in the notions baskets or button jars this time - I had my eyes on fabric and the huge amount of vintage patterns which filled the boxes, cute suitcases and baskets around the tables

Photo by Susan Goodwin

Monday, May 19, 2014

Less is more

Hello one and all! 

How are you keeping? I think it's time for a nice short and sweet post. Life is all so busy and crazy lately, I need to re-centre myself and get back to basics 

Less is more is the theme today - enjoy my lovelies

1960’s mod fashion

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Me Made May week 2

Dear lovely readers, guess what? Monday was my bloggy birthday!

Hip, hip, hooray!!!!

Thank you for sticking around and listening to my nonsense this past year! I'm so darn excited and grateful to have you all popping by every now and again for a look. The frequency at which I post has definitely slowed down from those first few months, but I guess it was all very exciting back then, and it still is, I'm just such a busy little bee of late. 

I wanted to post this on Monday, but man I've been sooo tired lately after work that I crash out after dinner, I haven't sewn in about a week, but that's ok cause this weekend end is gonna be spent behind that machine!

I'm still prepping the pieces for my McCalls coat, which is taking ages cause I have to baste organza to each of the coat pieces. Cause I chose cotton sateen as the coat material it would basically be useless without some sort of under lining so that's what the organza is for! 

So anyway onto the me made's then? 

Friday, May 9, 2014

Eurovision - 1960s style!

I love many things, but each year in May, the thing I love the most is the Eurovision song contest!

Yes, quite seriously I am a Eurovision fiend. When my good friend still lived in Australia we would watch together and play drinking games and have a giggle at the insane costumes and dance around and smile when our favourites would come on. 

Eurovision has a quite a decent following in Australia, being that we are a multicultural country who in the past 60 years has seen immigrants from all over Europe and who are still in touch with their families in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Germany and so on. And as I have Lithuanian heritage I also get to legitimately cheer on my country even though their entries aren't always stellar!

We watch it on time delay however, so I have to restrain my Facebooking and news watching during the weekend so that I don't accidentally see who the winner is!

The most outstanding part of Eurovision is always the fashion and costumes. Some are amazing architectural pieces, some a plain letting the singer shine and some are multi dimensional giving the wearer the chance to change costumes mid-song for higher impact. The show is voted on by the viewers, so the song, set, costumes and dancers must all be entertaining. 

But back in our favourite decade, (before the famous ABBA performance), Eurovision was a little more restrained and certainly didn't reach the dramatic proportions that it does now

Lets take a look at the sweet and demure looks of 60s Eurovision!


Sunday, May 4, 2014

Me Made May - week one

Hey there fine people of the internet? How have you been?

Last week was another nightmare week at 
work so I did pretty much no sewing and totally forgot about Me Made May!!

I knew May 1st was coming up, but for other reasons, and then May 2nd came and I think the only me-made item I wore was a knitted scarf, but it wasn't anything to sniff at!

So I tried to make up for the two days I lost by wearing my pledged me-mades on the weekend! 

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Impromptu swing dresses

It's Sunday, and I have to go back to work tomorrow after 10 relaxing days off! But happily I think this has been the most productive work break in a while! 

On Friday, just for funsies I whipped up a new dress so I could have something to wear to my first day back at work tomorrow. Something to help ease back into the work week that was fun and easy that I knew would fit without any problems, and here she is Simplicity 7436!

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Green goings on

Hello lovely people! How was your Easter?

I'm still on holiday because I was a smart cookie and took off the 3 days between Easter Monday and Anzac day which falls on Friday this year. Quite a lot of other people in my office did the same thing, so I guess it would be somewhat un-Australian not to extend it out to a 10 day break!

So, what have I been up to these past few days? Well quite a lot of cleaning out of my cupboards - nothing good. Just trying to get rid of those naff things that I've bought over the years that don't fit me or my style any more. Some things I've put into storage because I cant bear to let them go - kind of like an outpatients ward. If I don't see it, it will be easier to let go of later!

And I've also been watching this interesting 5 part series on Youtube - "The 60's - The Beatles decade". Basically it tries to follow the ups and downs of the Beatles in line with the changes of the 60s, focusing mainly on England and its own political and social story. 
You can watch parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 here

I also took time to take photos of all the little projects I've been doing here and there. Repair jobs and modifications as well. 

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Peggy Pinny

Hello to you all!

How have you been? Its been a while, but we have no one to thank for that except but my naughty little modem who decided to conk out last week leaving me internet-less until yesterday! 

I have been sewing quite a few little projects in the mean time, but I can now finally share with you the blouse and pinafore outfit that I have dubbed Peggy, in honour of the return of Mad Men for the year! 

Once I had finished and popped on this outfit, it felt like something the smart and career minded Peggy would wear. I just missed the deadline for the Mad Men sew along so I never got to submit it, but I guess sometimes my whole blog is just one big Mad Men sew along anyway!

And so I present to you now for your perusal - the Peggy Pinny!

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Me made yay!

Do you recall back to the start of the year when I promised myself I would participate in Me Made May?




Well it's confirmed for another year! So that means for the month of May I will make an effort to wear my me made garments according to a little rule that I get to set for myself

I already wear my handmade stuff pretty often, so I decided to challenge myself to wear something handmade every work day and weekends are optional - depending on what I'm doing that day, though I totally could do it on the weekends too really easily. 

Monday, March 31, 2014

It's getting better all the time

Hello hello there! 

How was your weekend? 

Thank you for all your comments on my previous post. I'll reply to them all shortly as I think they all need a properly written response as you all took the time to write such nice things. 

I think sometimes I just get myself worked up and need a little breathing space and time for things I enjoy! Everyone goes through periods of good times and down times and it's important for our mental health to try to get ourselves out of the funk we've buried ourselves in. 
I've been really good and working away at the tweed pinafore. The fabric is really lovely to sew with - no special needles required. And so far I've gone through 3 packets of bias trim for all the Hong Kong seams!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Time of the season

I feel like I've been neglecting this poor little blog of mine and most of all my sewing machine! I'm so flipping exhausted when I get home that I just need to have a little sit down like a Nanna before starting dinner.

It's all totally self-inflicted, you see. I had this marvellous idea (not really) to go to the gym after work each day, and then come home and make dinner. But work being the way it is, means I finish later than intended, go to the gym and end up catching the all slow services home.

And then I keep picking the most complicated things to make for dinner when really my dear boy is just happy with having chicken wings and rice! Bless him. 
And then there's the pile of laundry that's sat un-ironed for the past 4 weeks! Oh yes 4 weeks. We keep picking things out every morning to iron and wear and it gets progressively smaller, and then a new load of washing is done and we start the merry-go-round again! 

How I feel every time I look at the ironing pile from here

Monday, March 17, 2014

Pattie Darling!

March 17th may have been St Patrick's day for some of you, but if you are after something else to celebrate, then why not Pattie's day!

That's right, Pattie Boyd, the lovely 60's dollybird also celebrates her birthday on the 17th of March. As her mother had assumed she would be a boy, a name was never picked for her, so being born on the day of a saint was an easy pick!

Pattie is a favourite of mine. I even made a suit in her name and managed to remember her birthday!

Pattie darling!


Sunday, March 16, 2014

Cool weather sewing plans

Hello readers! 

I have a very funny situation going on. Its March and normally around this time its starts to get a little chilly, but summer just wants to hang around for a bit more! Which I'm totally cool with cause I love warm weather. Luckily its not the stinking hot version that saps your energy and makes you want to eat icy-poles all day on the couch. Though I have been doing a little too much of that anyway... 

So regardless of what its like now, the cool weather will eventually come and I've got a pile of projects I plan on executing in the next 6 months. 

I have this idea that I'm going to be super productive over the colder months (like I was last year) so I've created quite a large to-sew list.

Would you like to see? 

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Charlotte, the dancer

Oh hi there! You've come back! Hurrah!

Last week I promised I would post the pictures of my Charlotte dress like the next day, but I never got the chance to.

It was a very eventful week last week. In both good and bad ways

Bad because I was swamped with work one day which required me to stay back, I fell ill with a cold and needed to go to bed early and then had a super large hangover yesterday

But also good as I was randomly invited to see Phoenix on Wednesday with a friend, had my birthday on Friday and birthday dinner on Saturday (hence the hangover) and then an urge to cook a lot of fancy things on Sunday whilst hung-over. 

We had roast pork with all the trimmings and I made banana bread for this week’s morning teas! Yummy! 

So you see. I'm very bad with time management lately, for both good and bad reasons. Add the warm weather lethargy and I'm just a hopeless sloth! I really must learn to get back on top of it because my sewing is looking quite neglected =( 


So finally, I will now give you my lovely Charlotte! 

Monday, March 3, 2014

Being sewcial on Satuday

Hi there lovely! How was your weekend? 

On Saturday I met up with a group of sewing bloggers from Sydney for a little sewcial outing.

The very well organised Mel from Made by Melanie set up the whole day and we all had a pretty darn good day! 


Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Dressing the Decade - 1964

It's been a fair while since the last installment of Dressing the Decade, and I do apologise as I've just been too busy to spend the time researching and so on. But this weekend was a lot more relaxing. Catching up on blogs, baking and catching up on some TV shows has been really nice while writing this post. 

Speaking of which, if your in Australia I hope you've marked Mondays at 8:40pm in your diary to watch Love Child! For those not familiar with the show, Love child focuses on the lives of the Nurses and girls at a women's hospital in Kings Cross, Sydney set in 1969. The main story line focuses on Nurse Joan Millar who has just moved from London back to Sydney and discovers her new place of employment engages in illegal forced adoptions on un-wed mothers. A poignant and sensitive topic for Australian women's history as forced adoptions were something practiced quite often - so much so that the government was compelled to make an apology in 2013 to the Mothers and Children involved in the practice. I highly recommend watching it not just for the story line, but also for the music and of course costumes!

Anyway, so back today's blog post. I last left you in November with 1963. That year we started to see the emergence of youth fashion with silhouettes slimming down and the cinched in waistlines almost disappearing 

So lets continue now 1964!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Put on your dancing shoes!


I'd been keeping my eye out for the release date of the Orla Kiely for Clarks collection since they announced their collaboration last year, but when they were put up for sale a few weeks ago they didn't include international postage - I assume because Clarks wanted to keep all the Orla Kiely loveliness to themselves* and not share it with Australian Orla lovers.

*Not actual reason, I just made that up

But with thanks to my sister-from-another-mister Nicole, I was able to have a pair forwarded from the UK to me and when they arrived I put together a little outfit to wear to work to compliment my adorable new shoes! 


Jumper - Supre
Blouse (collar only shown) - Top Shop
Mini Skirt - Self made

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Charlotte Dress

Hey there fab people!

Thank you for all your comments on my last post, I'm feeling much better about my choice. I've decided to put my the chiffon frock away for a bit until I feel ready to sew it again.

It's not often that I completely feel the need to just stop a project, even at work or in regular life situations. Normally I have the energy and drive to be able to complete projects and deal with any little pains that come up, but not this time!

It's probably something as silly as the hot humid weather we're having, exhaustion from work or distraction from watching the Olympics that's making this dress less interesting. Combine all of that with something as tricky and fiddly as chiffon and well it's a drag. I hope that explains whats going on in my dear little head! 

To get myself back into the right frame of mind and refresh my 60s love, I've been spending lots of time of Etsy looking at fun 60s frocks, trawling through my Pinterest pins and visiting my favourite place for ideas - Vintage Pattern wiki! 

I also created a separate Pinterest board for sewing patterns only, so they aren't all mixed up in fashion, sewing and private boards.

One particular image which I pinned not too long ago, came back to my attention whilst going through my pins   

Couple attends the Festival of the Flower Children at the Windsor Jazz Festival,  August 12, 1967

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

The big chiffon mess

Hi hello how are you? 

Me? I'm not so good. You see, I seem to have lost my sewing mojo! 

How could this have happened???

Well I blame it on this little scamp of a dress. Currently titled "the big chiffon mess" It's just not doing it for me. 

I know it will look good in the end because it is chiffon and very forgiving, but right now I just don't have the energy to be dealing with fussy little bits and details. Not to mention I never really had enough fabric for this dress in the first place and so things like the facings have to be replaced by organza and the ruffle at the bottom is non-existent!

The whole project is making me feel very ho-hum. 

Gosh! Even the photos are uninspiring!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Shift dress sew along!

Hello wonderful readers!

I know I said I would post these photos on Sunday, but I have been insanely busy even in my down time and nursing a sore knee from over doing it at the gym. Perhaps more pressing the sewing machine pedal and less hitting the treadmill is required!

Anyway, so here it is! My version of Simplicity 3833 which was sewn for Rosie Wednesdays shift dress sew along


Saturday, February 1, 2014

Sunshine came softly through my a-window today

Hello there! Hows your weekend going?

My version of Simplicity 3833 for Rosie Wednesday's shift dress sew along is complete! I did take some progress photos, but I lost them whilst I was switching to my new phone so I don't have them to share! They could always be buried in a folder in my computer somewhere...

Anyway! I took a little trip to the city today and had some luck at both the record and vintage stores so I thought I'd share with you what I got.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Sewingthe60s dresses for sale!

Hello there! Guess what, guess what, guess what!!

I have things for sale!

That's right I have been sneakily sewing up 2 dresses from a 60s sewing pattern. The pattern is far too small for me, and I wanted to try it out, so I decided to whip up some sweet dresses for you! Take a look below for the details and let me know if you’d be interested in making them part of your wardrobe!

First up...

Aqua blue sleeveless shift dress with top stitch details on front yoke and decorative buttons. Dress is fastened with zip at back. Dress is handmade by me with facings and hem slip stitched. Great care has been taken to sew this one of a kind dress!

Fabric - Vintage cotton fabric with slub. Hand wash only please.

Approx. size 8 Aus/UK (Size 4 US)

Measurements lying flat and doubled
Bust 83 cm (32 ½ inches)
Waist 80cm (31 ½ inches)
Hips 94cm (37 inches)
Length 90cm (35 ½ inches) – Upon ordering please advise your desired length of the hem and I will sew it before posting

Price $60 AUD (Approx $52 USD, GBP ₤32)




And also this bright lime green sleeveless shift dress with top stitch details on front yoke and decorative buttons. Dress is fastened with zip at back. Dress is handmade by me with facings and hem slip stitched. Great care has been taken to sew this one of a kind dress!

Fabric info – Stretch cotton gabardine – new fabric. Hand wash only please.

Approx. size 8 Aus/UK (Size 4 US)

Measurements lying flat and doubled
Bust 83 cm (32 ½ inches)
Waist 80cm (31 ½ inches)
Hips 94cm (37 inches)
Length 90cm (35 ½ inches) – Upon ordering please advise your desired length of the hem and I will sew it before posting


Price $60 AUD (Approx $52 USD, GBP ₤32)




Postage for one dress is AUD $6.95, GBP ₤13, USD $18. Exact postage will be calculated upon inquiry

Email me if you’re interested or for more detailed photos. If your happy to go ahead with the purchase I will send you a paypal invoice

Thanks for taking a look, and we'll be back to our regular Sewing the 60s programming soon!

See you later lovelies! 

Cat xo

Friday, January 24, 2014

Norma Tullo

Hi there good lookin! How’s your week been? I’ve been a busy little bee myself sewing up some new dresses and doing a lot of research for today’s post.

It’s also our national day tomorrow – Australia day, and my friends and I will be celebrating by having a picnic and watching a classic Aussie film The Castle in the backyard projected up onto a sheet.

So now let’s learn a little more about one of Australia’s most prominent designers from the 60s. 

Norma Tullo

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Grain lines, cut and Ossie Clark

While working on Simplicity 3833 for the sew along I thought I'd work on Burda 10/2011 which requests you to cut your skirt piece on the bias, and I wondered how this will make the end garment look, especially cause this pic isn't that great for detail. I decided to do some reading on grain lines and cut to understand more

Bs1110_jaan_bur_5_v4_050_original_large

In my research I came across some articles about Ossie Clark which spoke of his talent at being able to cut a garment well. I was rather confused because it obviously didn't mean that he was good at holding scissors and I knew it had something to do with getting his garments to fit women in a flattering way, but I still didn't know what it meant when a garment was well cut! 

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Sunday's on the phone to Monday

Well, that dreaded day has come - tomorrow I go back to work after 3 weeks off. I'm kinda looking forward to it, but I'm sure the novelty will wear off by 9:30. 

The last week of holidays was well spent, I went to the MCA in Sydney to see the Yoko Ono exhibit, visited friends and got lots of housework done. And I also had a huge pile of opp-shop finds that needed new hems or some fitting changes made to them. (One dress I had been waiting to fix for 2 years!)

So unfortunately there are no new fancy new things to show of this week, but I have been spending a lot of time on Pinterest looking for work outfit ideas. I'd like to share with you some of my favourite looks which if I could I'd pluck them off the screen and wear them to work!

That would save a lot time in the morning... 

Paulene Stone
Paulene Stone

Monday, January 6, 2014

I'm Just mad about Saffron

"...Saffrons mad about me"

Oh Donovan! How many post titles can I come up with from his lyrics? Perhaps we can discuss that another time, because now I have my finished dress to show you! 


Saturday, January 4, 2014

The Simplicity Sewing book 1969

Why hello there and welcome to 2014!! I hope your New Years celebrations were filled with lots of fun and sparklers!

I'd like to share with you today some images from the Simplicity 1969 sewing book. Two of my favourite things combined - sewing and the 60s! (in case you couldn't tell) 

The book itself is like most sewing books, with instructions in a lot of basic techniques and tips on how to use Simplicity patterns, but this one also comes with advertisements for sewing products and full colour fashion photos - Fun!*

*Mine also includes scribbles from a budding artist wielding a ball point! See if you can spot them!

Lets take a look!

Front cover