Serpent and the Swan

Earlier this month, Lou and I did a fashion shoot, the details of which I will reveal once it is actually published. As is the case on most fashion shoots, we did not end up using everything we had leased, but I wanted to give a bit of air time to one of the garments which didn't make it into the official photos, namely this jumper with crocheted antlers on the back.
Yes, you read correctly, crocheted antlers. Here's a closer look (the colour is more like the photo above, not this washed-out grey that my camera has produced).

And an even closer one - can you tell that the antlers are basically made from spirals of crochet, sort of how you'd do a shell stitch?

This only furthers my opinion that practically everything can be made in crochet (not that I have had the time to crochet my own coral reef just yet).

Lou and I met one of the designers behind this brand, Serpent and the Swan, during fashion week in Sydney recently, and fell in love with the artistry of it. The designers are two sisters, one of whom has a background in creating prosthetics and theatre props and who is responsible for the resin trimmings that adorn the garments, such as this bee on the cuff of a top.

They also make trimmings like bones and other animals out of resin, and even jewellery like this wolfy ring.

This post doesn't really do the brand justice, so head on over to their website if you'd like to see more.

Reddy to take on the world

When work makes you feel like this, you know it's time to get some colour back into your life (yes, more gratuitous use of cute cat pics to illustrate a tenuous link to the rest of this post, but who doesn't like a cute cat pic on a Sunday night!?).

I recently posted about a denim skirt that I got at Camberwell market in a scoop of dead stock bargains (and no, I still haven't had time to dye it, aggh!). I also found these brilliantly red pants, which required no dyeing, but a fair bit of altering. I don't think I have to explain why. Here are the extremely glamorous "before" pics!

Possibly some of the least flattering pants I have ever seen when it comes to the rear view. These were probably from the late 60s or so, as they had a side zip, made of metal, and the longest crotch measurement it would be possible to have in a pair of pants without them having to be recategorised as overalls.


As you can guess, a little bit of magic was called for to turn these into something I would actually wear in public. I removed the waistband and took off about 10cm depth from the waist! (What was that quote in Kath and Kim about needing to wear jeans with a 12-inch crotch?! Does anyone remember that episode? There's a pic of similar jeans plus a handy Australian English pronunciation guide for my overseas readers here... or here, for posh peeps. I'm fairly sure I can predict which of you are going to head over there right now and try these expressions on unwitting husbands!!)

It was tricky to make a new, decent waistband, and I decided I was unlikely to wear them with the waistband exposed anyway (due to the fact that I'm not keen on the leggings as pants look, and these are verging on that) so didn't bother making the waist look too decent.

I ended up just attaching elastic on the inside of the waistband instead. I'll have to wear something long over them to cover my laziness but that's OK. I also took them in at the sides for a better fit.

Not bad for $5, hey? And now I have something more interesting than jeans to wear with this jacket that I made last year! Injecting some colour into your wardrobe definitely boosts your mood - give it a try when work's getting you down!

Dread-ful accessories

We always want what we can't have, don't we? In my case, it would seem that having fine, indecisively straight hair has given me a penchant for dreadlocks, which are of course infinitely impossible (I was a zombie in a play in high school, but was pretty unconvincing as even loads of hairspray and a fine toothed comb were insufficient tools when it came to cajoling my limp locks into the teased, tousled look that is de rigeur for the cool ghoul). Anyway, the point of this long-winded reminiscing is that I have to get my fix of dreads another way, namely in the same way that I get most things - by making stuff out of crap (known in posher circles as "crafting").


I made this piece over a year ago, intending to wear it under the neck part of a turtleneck jumper. It never looked quite right though, so it joined the many pieces in my "work in progress" pile (AKA too good to chuck out but not good enough to actually wear in public). Then, as I was hunting for accessories to use in a fashion shoot, I rediscovered it and realised it could make an excellent little capelet. See?


It looks kind of furry, but it's actually just lengths of chunky wool secured to a strip of ribbing, as you may or may not be able to see thanks to my crap photo.


In true "making stuff out of crap" style, the ribbing came from bits of sleeve that I chopped off this cardigan. Waste not, want not! (See another chunky dreadlock-y wool creation here).


It's really only ornamental, and not exactly practical at the moment as it keeps slipping off. I'll probably attach cords or a chain to join the ends, or shoulder clips to attach it to whatever I'm wearing underneath so that I can actually get some use out of it! (By the way, the jumper I'm wearing with it in these shots is not mine, but I'd borrowed it for another shoot and it was perfect for this look. It's by a brand called Serpent and the Swan and might look fairly normal from the front, but the back is amazing. I'll keep you all in suspense for the moment, but will do a post on it soon!)

For all cats, big and small

Not long ago, I did a post about a turban that I made from a blanket. I didn't mention it then, but the reason I started cutting up my childhood blanket was to make a project for Peppermint magazine (I moonlight as "Little Miss Sew & Sew" - if you want to see what I made, go to page 96 of the current issue that's just gone on sale in the past week. It's very cute! I know you'll love it!)


Anyway, seeing as it's been a little while since Suki made an appearance, and having neglected to thank her for her help when I was making the Peppermint project, I decided to wrap up the weekend with some gratuitous cat snaps. She had more of a directorial role in the project than a paws-on one...


And she didn't get in the way at all, as you can see...


She had a vested interest in this project as the rest of the blanket (which was covered in the fur of feline companions from before Suki's time) has ended up in her little house by the front door so that she'll be nice and cosy on the extremely rare occasions when she has to stay outside. (Most of her time is spent on her bed. That's the one in my room that she generously lets me sleep in every night).

So now that you've got the warm fuzzies from admiring this little old lady, I'd like to invite all of you who will be in Melbourne on July 12 to come along to an event to support much bigger cats - namely, the tigers which I got so teary about a few months ago. Suki can't make it that night because it would disrupt her very tight sleeping schedule, but I'll be there, and so can you for a tiny $15. More info and tickets here, or leave a comment with your email details and I'll get back to you. And even if you can't go, feel free to make a donation to TRAFFIC, the International Tiger Coalition or any reputable wildlife organisation.

Hot Asian chicks in National Geographic

As you may or may not know, a massive book store chain is in equally massive trouble here in Australia and has been forced to hold massive sales before disappearing from the landscape. I joined the crowds flocking like vultures around a stinking carcass (nice imagery, yes?) last weekend and wrapped my talons around an amazing book imaginatively titled Fashion that had been reduced by 30% down to only $38. I was extremely excited, as it's a collection of photos from National Geographic magazine, and everyone knows the standard of National Geographic photos! The whole book is fabulous, but here's just a small collection of shots, with the theme of "Asian beauties".


All I have to say about this shot is, Lady Gaga, you've got a long way to go before you can even begin to compare with these ladies from Mongolia back in 1921. Their hair is arranged over a framework resembling mountain sheep horns and I don't know why their sleeves are so long but the cuffs are shaped like horse hooves because horses were (are) so important in their culture. (They're wearing boots with upturned toes but the book is square and I couldn't fit the whole pic in my scanner).


I think our government workers should take inspiration from this picture. Drab dark suits? Boring minimalist accessories? Not for this government worker in the Himalaya in 1978. But don't be fooled by the rocks that she's got, she's just a parking inspector from the block. (OK, I made that bit up. She's probably from the tax department.)


This lady is a dancer from the Atayal tribe and this shot was taken in Taiwan in 1982, even though I think it looks like it's from the 1930s. Love the gorgeous ethnic outfit, love the hair and dramatic makeup, love that she is on her way home by boat after a performance.


And last but not least, this pair from Japan, 1918. If you're going to bother having a cuppa, you may as well get dressed for the occasion. (Although, truth be told, I have been to a SHORT version of a real Japanese tea ceremony and I nearly fell asleep. Maybe that's why these girls have so many hairpins - to wake them up if they should happen to lie down to sleep).

Dyeing to know your opinions!

... so I was at Camberwell market a few weeks ago and happened on a stall selling dead stock. Everything was $5 each, so of course I couldn't resist buying a few pieces, including this denim skirt with huge pockets which makes me think it's from the '70s.

Another thing that points to it being from that era is that it's a size 10 and yet I could only just squeeze into it (thanks to ridiculous vanity sizing, these days I think I am more like a 6-8 even though I have definitely not shrunk since high school, when I was a size 10!! Although seeing as I rarely buy anything new, and Australia doesn't have standard sizing, I'm not sure). Even weirder was that the skirt was about 20cm too long, which means the lady who it would have actually fitted would have been like a giraffe! I had to cut off the hem - I didn't bother sewing it into a proper hem because I think it will actually look cool when it starts fraying properly. I also had to soak it in Sard because, being dead stock, it had been folded for ages and had lines of dust sort of ingrained into it. The Sard got rid of the dust lines, but unfortunately it also got rid of some of the colour, and kind of patchily at that.

It doesn't look too bad, although wearing denim this pale is just asking for trouble so I'd prefer it to be a darker blue. I don't want to use a chemical dye though. Does anyone know where I can get an eco-friendly dye - I suppose something like indigo would be ideal, but I have no idea where I could find that here!?

I was actually thinking it might be cool to dip just the hem in the dye... kind of like the reverse of these Dries van Noten jeans which soooo many fashionistas are wearing...

(photo from here)
Ideas? Opinions? Anyone??

Red lipstick and a turban

Yes, for a change this post is exactly as the title says. No puns! Just new red lipstick (being something of a lipstick virgin, am still struggling with getting it to stay on my lips) and a new red turban that I made myself. And back-to-front Chinese characters thanks to the Photo Booth function on my MacBook snapping things in mirror image.



Go here if you want to find out how I turned my childhood (cat-fur encrusted) blanket into this warm winter headgear!

Thoughts from Future Fashion Now workshop

It's always so interesting to watch people at my workshops. There's people from all different crafting backgrounds, from beginners to veterans, and of all ages too. Suffolk puffs are so easy to make - well, for me, anyway, as I've made them hundreds of times and used them for lots of different projects. But for beginners who have never held a sewing needle, they can be a real challenge and it can take half an hour just to make one! And even experienced crafters can do with some inspiration. I love seeing their faces when they realise what they can do with these little circles of material. For instance, you can use them to decorate a top like the one I was wearing.


I made this top from organic cotton left over from a throw I made for a friend. I then drew flowers on it with fabric textas and sewed the puffs on with embroidery thread.


Some of the puffs were not colourfast so they have run, but it adds to the character of the top. I always get lots of compliments when I wear it - but it took AGES to make as any crafter might imagine. Each puff takes about 5 minutes to make once it's cut out, so even just the puffs took about 2 hours, let alone the rest of the process. But I know that no one else has a top like this!


By the way, thanks again to Lara, this time for this post!

My workshops bring all the boys to the yard...

Well... maybe not all the boys...and not to the yard either... but the workshop I did at Future Fashion Now on Friday did bring this man to the St Kilda Town Hall, which is close enough...


I was quite surprised that my first student was a guy, because usually it's only the ladies who want to learn how to make yo-yos (or Suffolk puffs, as they are also known). But this guy said he changed his shift at work so he could come to Future Fashion Now - and my workshop, of course! You can see how proud he was of his creation as he's wearing the puff he made as a brooch. If any other extremely cool guys like this are reading, you should change your work shifts to come to free fashion and DIY workshops too. Us crafty ladies don't bite, you know!
The rest of my students were ladies: little cuties like these (thanks to Lara at Wardrobe Wonderland for the sneaky pic) and much older ones too (who were also cuties).



There were several workshops on apart from mine, not that I got to take part in them as I was so busy running my own. I barely even had time to eat one of the free cupcakes. Suffolk puffs are obviously HOT NEWS (so hot that I will talk about them in my next post too)!
Anyway, I did get to meet Alicia who was running a workshop on how to make amazing accessories out of T-shirts, like the ones she is wearing.

Here are some more of her creations. So cool!



I also met Gwen Van Overbeke who is the founder of Hoooked Zpagetti. You should definitely check out the site: zpagetti is yarn made from fabric offcuts that you can knit or crochet into all sorts of fabulous things like these handbags.

You can even make rugs! As you might have guessed, crocheting a rug is just one of the many things on my list of things to do when I eventually get time. Agggh.

Apart from the free workshops, there was also a fashion parade showcasing sustainable labels and vintage gear. These high school students put together an outfit from bits and pieces they found in op shops.


Another group of high school students modelled outfits they found in op shops too. Here they are chatting with drag queen Kaye Sera, who apparently makes a lot of her outfits from offcuts from a futon factory!


I think everyone had a great evening - people got to learn how to make all sorts of things for free, they got to see a fashion show for free and meet all sorts of people, and there was free vegetarian food and prizes up for grabs too. With all that, how could anyone have had a bad time?!

Future fashion now!

(pic by http://www.scephoto.com/)

Do you have plans for World Environment Day this Friday? No? Well, if you're in Melbourne, you have no excuse* not to come down to St Kilda Town Hall and hang out with me. I'll be there running a crafty workshop on how to make flowery things out of fabric scraps, along with other creative types who can teach you how to refashion old clothes or do other fun stuff like make toys out of socks. There's also going to be a fashion show and lots of other activities, and it's all FREE. More info here!

*apart from work, maybe? meh, you need a free fabric flower much more than you need that money stuff...