Monday, November 10, 2008

Nostalgia


I needn't worry about making things that look ridiculous if the latest Fashion Quarterly is anything to go by.  There's a whole magazine full of them, with a hefty price tag to boot. 

These beads are made of Sculpey, which is a Fimo type clay. I bought the colours to match my day dress, which is rapidly becoming the "shirt dress with a silent 'r'"  as my sister calls it.

You can see the fabric of my shirt dress under my Sculpey Stonehenge. When I went to the fabric store to get it, I asked for a light weight denim. They rummaged around and produced this fabric which looked to my eye to be what I was after.

The first suggestion that all was not as it seemed was that it dried on the line, despite there being 4 consecutive downpours. When I ironed it ready for cutting I noticed that the iron kept snagging. It wasn't until I was pressing the princess seams and the fabric began to shrivel under a moderate iron that the truth dawned on me: I had purchased polycotton.

It's not a shirt dress, it's a house frock. I'll finish it though, and wear it to Playcentre. "Water play today? No problem, this will dry in a jiffy. Paint marks ? - no worries, with this wash and wear style."  

Everything speaks cleaners' uniform. The modest collar, the button through front, the crisp sleeves. Now that I see the garment taking shape my mind goes back to hospital corners and bedpans, porridge buns and queen pudding. 

It's Redroofs in red piping.

4 comments:

  1. I'm really enjoying the blog and have looked up a couple of your links also. It's really inspiring me to sew but so far a quick reality reminder keeps the thought in the thought basket. Fact is I've only ever had about a 5% success rate with sewing and I've done the world a favour and put down the knitting needles also. Now I'm looking forward to seeing this garment made up. Have you considered dropping the piping and putting on a name badge instead? Epaulets? An embroidered watch upside down on a dangly chain, nurse style? Well enough helpful advice from me, you know my pedigree and can take it accordingly. ciaou

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  2. Hey you could also embroider a few drips of jam and butter from the morning tea scones, just on the bust line! Noice!

    Pa ha ha ha ha ha! Not that we're laughing at your sewing misfortune of course!

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  3. I can see it already....if only it was a brighter blue. Perhaps you could dye it, now that you understand the fabric's true purpose?

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  4. I can see it already....if only it was a brighter blue. Perhaps you could dye it, now that you understand the fabric's true purpose?

    Sorry, forgot to add my name the first time!

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