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? 

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! 

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! 

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!

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

Shoes - Orla Kiely for Clarks 'Maggie' in Mustard

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

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!

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! 

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.

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

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

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

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'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

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! 

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