crazy socks

Wear if you dare.

comments, comments

By all means, I love your comments and feedback. But I do not love spam comments! So I have now got comment moderation, which of course adds an extra step for me, but stops the spam from appearing!

Thanks! Have a great week!

stitch lines

I have a bit of a thing for drawing stitch lines. I think that it actually comes from patternmaking rather than fashion drawing as I often end up drawing a dashed line curve like an armhole shape on little bits of paper. So there is no wonder when this rather reptilian like figure appeared on a bit of paper, that I had to add more than a few stitch lines to her. I decided that she was a bit on the reptilian side via her dress, which reminded me a little of an art deco fashion illustration of a woman in a very reptilian dress. I also decided to differ my way of drawing for a change and tilt her neck forward a little, kind of like the Applet drawings at Inside a Black Apple. I think that I quite like it, but it has put her body out of kilter a little...

Anyway winter is encroaching here in Auckland, and I am kicking into my winter craft- and that means knitting! I am about halfway through a gorgeous dusky pink basket-weave scarf, which I will show you when its finished. And of course I'm adding a little to the blanket that I started last year- but I have promised myself not to spend all winter knitting obsessively!! I am also nursing an early winter cold (a sore throat and the sniffles), so will be in for an evening of chicken noodle soup and knitting tonight...

Sniffles or not this long weekend I am also planning to chip away at my sewing- I hae two projects on the patternmaking/cutting/generally very much unfinished (or unstarted stage). As I have a huge fabric stash, including some rather lovely Liberty fabrics, I'm getting behind the philosophy of the Use What You Have Flickr group. Using up your stash of fabric (or crafty bits) makes perfect sense to me- I now realise that there is no point in being too precious about your fabric and not using it!

And to make you smile I am looking after two of the cutest babysitting charges- my two little niece's mice! They are ridiculously cute (and very speedy on the mouse- wheel!). I will try and put a picture online of them.

Bye for now!

sometimes, I try cute

Sometimes, I'll try to create something cute. But you know what? I don't really think that it works, like its an aesthetic that I don't quite understand. I think that this picture is just too twee and kind of insipid. A friend once described my fashion drawings as 'sophisticated cute'. I think she's right- I work with a more sophisticated style with a touch of cute, but not 100% 'awwwwww' cute. But for those with an innate sense of cute design (I know a handful)- well done! Its harder than it looks!

PS. ...by the way this is post #100 woohoo! It took me a good year or so to get this far (I is not Miss Frequent Blogger). Here's to another 100!

the neverending cuff (part two)

I have been wanting to show this to you for a good while. And despite the time that it has taken me to get this far (hence the title 'the neverending cuff'), its not quite finished yet. You see, I'm wanting to drape some silver chain over it and link it through the gaps made by the butterfly wing shapes. Thats if it doesn't look too silly, which I suspect that it could...

This cuff is made from sterling silver which has been cut, soldered, riveted, hammered, textured with a scratch brush and polished to within an inch of its life. Am I proud of it? Certainly. Now I just need a good excuse to wear my extravagant piece of jewellery!

ghost grey

If I was making a range of clothes, I would be sure to call a shade of grey like this 'ghost grey'. Unfortunately, due to my photography skills, the photos do not do this top justice! I have been dipping into my fabric stash as of late, and this is my newest piece. I thought that I would play around with some stitching detail this time, and have wound up creating an art deco meets handcraft bit of stitching on the yoke, which is very endearing...

a tree and a babydoll dress

This girl appeared on a piece of paper. I like what she is wearing and thee whimsical landsape that she is in.

deco jewels

This is just a little sketch of a little brooch. It is on a bit of an art deco meets butterfly wings trip, and is to be quite three dimensional. I've brought a couple of little lapis lazuli stones (the blue ovals) which have lovely little flecks of gold (or something gold-y) through them. The blue-y green areas are to be enamelled. So there are a few new things which I will learn through making this. All I've done so far is cut out the plate for the back and daydreamed...