Akira

On Saturday night I went to a breast cancer fundraising event and decided instead of wearing one of my handmade dresses that I would wear one of my dresses from the archives.  An Akira Isogowa dress, which I bought in 2007 for my sister's wedding.  

Akira is a Japanese born, Australian designer who shows his A/W and S/S collections at Paris.  His designs have been shown in galleries and he has also designed costumes for the Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Ballet. 

Back in February Gillian posted an article on whether Clothing is Art.  Good question and I must admit that I was one of those people that said yes and no.  There are definitely some designers that I consider to be Artists (with a capital A) and Akira Isogowa is probably one of them.  His fabric is just stunning.  The material used in this dress for example has been pintucked (all around), printed and them embroidered.

I really encourage you to visit his website and look through his collections. 

Trip Planning

Today I was off work with one of the boys so spent a little bit of time planning the clothes I would pack for our trip to France next week .I've always loved Carolyn's posts about what she takes on holidays so thought I'd have a go. This isn't the final list - it's still a work in progress.

1: Archipelago Mathilde Blouse

2: Wiltshire Pussy Bow Blouse

3: Lucy Daisy Shirred Blouse

4: Copy Cat Lace Grainline Scout Tee

5: Grainline Marion Moss Mini

6: Bentley Briar

The first thing you'll notice from this photo is that there isn't really a lot here.  We try and get most of our things (for the four of us) into one and a bit suitcases as we always end up bringing stuff back so need the room. The other thing is that this time we are also going ski-ing so one whole suitcase will be packed with ski stuff.

I haven't photographed any of the ski specific clothes and I've left out underwear. Have I got all the bases covered?  I'm assuming I'll cover off on the cold by wearing my big coat but may need to put in another smaller jacket for less cold days.  I still love stripes with tartan hence I'm taking my tartan scarf.

One good thing was that doing this planning exercise forced me into fixing the dodgy shirring I had done on this top.

I'm a bit disappointed with the amount of handmade in this collection.  Most of the tops are handmade and one jumper but nothing else.  I suppose almost all of the outfits here will include at least one handmade item so I shouldn't be too hard on myself.

The other thing I've been thinking about is what on earth am I going to do without my sewing machine for 5 weeks?  I suspect I will be putting a lot of ideas up on my sewing plans page!

I guess I'll keep trying to knit. I have another baby boy present I could make, so thought I'd try these cute little baby leg warmers from purlbee.  The thing is that I have to use double pointed needles to do it.   EEEEEEEEEK,  They look so menacing.  Anyway, I'm going to try and make these leg warmers and also make a little kerchief using the Liberty of London Tom's Jets fabric in the background which I've had for ages but have never done anything with it. Probably when I get back.   First I will need to master those double points.  Oh, and I'm assuming that I will be able to take them on an airplane???

FINISHED! Marion Mini Moss

Last week, having so much fabric left over after cutting out my Charlotte skirt, I decided I needed a Grainline Moss Mini and here it is!

 

My first finished item for the year was a pair of Grainline Maritime Shorts which I made in a size 6, as at the time this was closest to my waist measurement. The fit of those was way too big despite taking them in on the sides. Clearly I'm not too worried about fit as I still wore the shorts a lot in Summer (two days into Autumn and it already seems like a distant memory).

For the Moss, I cut out a size 4.  Again though, I had to take them in quite a bit on each side.  The fit post adjustments is ok but they are still a bit loose around the waist and the adjustments down the side aren't as neat as I should have made them (I'm blaming the fact that I couldn't see the thread on the denim - I know I know poor excuse).  On the size guidelines for the pattern, my hips sit at the 0 but my waist sits at 4 so I'll have to rethink the size I cut out next time I make this skirt.  I had the same fit problems with the pleated pants I made last year when I went off the waist size.  Perhaps there's something in this that I should investigate.  Having said all that, I do like the skirt, I think it looks pretty cute and it will definitely be going into my suitcase.  These photos show a crease in the front but I think that is also partly to do with how I'm standing and with my hands in my pockets.

The pattern is easy to follow and Jen's zipper instructions are great.  It still seems a bit like black magic how the zip goes in, but as long as I follow Jen's instructions I'm ok and I end up with beautiful zipper.

 

I'm wearing it here with my Grainline (copy cat) lace scout tee. I wore it around the house a lot prior to taking these photos hence the crinkled back.

I think it will look fantastic with a Briar but I just need to find the right material.  I'm thinking that a Briar to go with this skirt, will be my last sewing project prior to our holidays.   I had hoped to make another Mathilde and a Grainline Archer but I just don't think there is time and plus the Archer looks hard, so will need the hand holding of a sewalong I think.