Glad to see the back of this year ...

I don't have any pictures of my dress or current sewing to show today. Two close deaths this past week have rendered me incapable of much at all. My mother passed away just before Christmas and my oldest and dearest friend, who was closer than any family member, died this past Monday.

I do have pictures of the finished dress and the therapeutic sewing I've been doing, but right now I can't be arsed plugging the camera in and uploading. It's hot and humid and I'm too weary, so you'll have to wait until next year.

Happy New Year to anyone who might read this. I look forward to a bright and happy 2009 and wish you all the same.

Nearly there ...

The progress on Vera's Vogue dress has been slow this week. I've changed my mind about several things many times, but now have a simple result that I'm happy with. Special thanks to Carolyn, whose suggestion of using organza ribbon under the diamantes helped me figure out what to do with the straps. In the end I made self fabric binding and handstitched the stones to it. It doesn't photograph well, but here it is. It fits me better than it fits Vera.

To go with the dress, I've almost finished a bag. I used the teardrop kit from Nicole Mallieu. I've made one of her bags before and will make them again because they are cute, easy to make and I get a real kick out it. This one is made from the same fabric as the dress and is finished with clear glass beads, which also don't photgraph well. I haven't decided what to make the strap out of yet, but I think I'll keep it simple, either self fabric or black cord.

I might make a cape/shrug sort of thing tomorrow because Sydney has been a bit cold lately. Up here, we're getting unbelievably hot and humid weather, so I know I will feel the cold in Sydney. I'm not sure what pattern I'll use yet, but as I only have a week I need to make a decision ...

SWAP on hold ...

With a 50th birthday party looming and a dress not even cut out, I've put the SWAP on hold for the weekend to start on this ...

It's Vogue 7365. This is the shell so far, no pressing, no seam finishing, no lining and no straps. I've been investigating diamantes on a string for the straps and now I've got the dress this far, I'll take it with me to the store and see what I think. I particularly like the back view of this dress. Here's a shot of the ass ruching.

That 40kg I damn near broke my back squatting has all been worth it now I've tried this on. It will have a vintage marquisite leaf clipped onto the back. I'm making a matching bag, which I'll show in my next post but right now my mind is fixed on finding the right shoes. I happen to have a blingy pair that I love to death. Jock, what do you think???? They're not too much, are they??? I have about six other options (in black) in my wardrobe, but I like the silver and if these don't work I may be forced to buy a pair of ridiculously high silver heels.

And just because I couldn't help myself, I made this dress. I think it's BWOF 5/2008 117. I never really liked the dress in the magazine, but I bought this fabric at the op shop for $2 this week and really wanted to make a dress with it. I just happened to have the BWOF magazine out to look at something else and I thought I'd give it a try. I haven't hemmed it or pressed it properly (seems to be a recurrent theme for me) but that's my plan for this evening so I can wear it to work tomorrow.

Let me know what you think about the shoes ...