Promised Pattern-free Poncing

 

Throughout the year, I've made a few more pattern-free garments, and made mention of them here with the promise of photos.  Today's photos serve as an example of why (until now) I have not been inspired to ponce about in front of a camera in them. 

 

I no longer have a big open studio with white walls, floor-to-ceiling windows and loads of foam-core board lying about the place.... I can never get enough space and light.  It's all murkiness, distortion and movement... but I hope you get the picture.

 

 

This (oops, I should have arranged those drapes... perhaps pressed out the creases..?) toga-esque number was a toile (muslin) for an idea I had for a dress for my book launch.  It is made from something I found on a bargain table in GJ's (I may have paid $2 or $4 per metre for it).

 

I wore it to my book launch.

 

 

 

In order to get my legs in shot, I either have to shoot downward or upward... and then there's not enough light or it's out of focus.... so I move in closer.

 

Behold, a really bad angle on the neckline drapery....

 

There were better photos of the dress itself, but ...ahem... they showed that it is more see-through than I thought it was.  (I'm glad that when I've worn it out, it has been with a more appropriate slip!)

 

 Again... I hope you can squint, use your imagination and see that it looks ok in real life.

 

 

 

You may have seen this top before, so just focus on the skirt here... I draped it on the stand (dress form), rather than on my body, and originally put the tucked detail at the front. 

 

 

When I put it on my body, I realised that the stand was somewhat taller than I, and the shortening/widening effect did nothing for me.  I turned the skirt around and hey-presto... a modern asymmetrical bustle-ish effect. 

 

 

(I love a bustle!)

 

 

 With two more garments to photograph, the camera battery ran out and the spares were flat.  By the time they are charged, there will be little or no daylight left.

It occurred to me to write off  this afternoon's attempt at a photo shoot completely, but I'm not too sure when the next opportunity to ponce about will arise.  So here they are... sort of... the promised photos.

I'll be running Pattern-Free classes at Handmaker's Factory and CAE soon.  It's heaps of fun and you get to play with lots of new ideas. 

Oh, and please don't think that all the garments are made to suit pixie-size bodies - the idea is that you drape garments that fit and flatter your own body, and mine just happens to be too small to carry loose garments or too much fabric.  You can see lots of examples here of the fab things that suit other shapes.

 

Kids' Berets....and...errr.. photographing kids.

A spot of quiet button-sorting looked like an opportunity too good to miss.
ACTION TRIPOD!..... and VOILA! Photos for my new Kids' Beret pattern!

Like the adult version, the kid's beret comes in three sizes (to fit headsize 50cm-56cm) and three crown depths.

They can be jazzed-up with all manner of simple embellishments and are super-quick to make.
Unfortunately the photo shoot was short-lived before it became necessary (?) to sit on the table and poke silly faces anytime a camera was pointed in that direction.

Luckily, I'd previously borrowed other people's children for a fitting and crown-proportion check.

...and taken a few quick snaps before I gave the berets to the kids.
So it's here and ready to order.

And I heartily endorse the wisdom in that old saying about animals and children.

Like a Walk in the Park

Yesterday, I gathered a few super-duper crafty Mums and kids.
We rugged up against the chilly Melbourne winter and headed for the park....

Kids were asked to discard the winter-woollies, wear summer clothes and think "warm" for the duration of a photo shoot.

There was much star-jumping and wriggling (thanks to Coach Tania)...

...followed by copious amounts of marshmallowy sugar and artificial colouring (previously known as "the props").

The shoot for the book is all but done (...and I fail "Responsible Parenting 1"). Thanks team!

The Review Round-Up Competition is all but done, too. You have until the end of today to submit your entry if you want to be in with a chance to win a $100 voucher, a $50 or some free patterns.

Over the weekend, I'm going to work out how to use some Blogger widgetry to install a voting gizmo on the sidebar of this blog. What I'd like to ask you to do** is to visit at least a few of the reviews listed at the bottom of this post and vote on your favourite.

**I know it's a "big ask" - as they say on the Footy Show - but think yourselves lucky that I'm not asking you to freeze yourself (or your children) for the sake of a photo.

Ready or not....

Thanks to all who sent lovely emails or comments to wish my hell-week away.

The hellishness was mostly due to me having a cold, Leah being incapacitated with a bad back (read: me and my cold - and my admin-ineptitude - in the office), the photo shoot for the book being brought forward a few weeks and the small matter of me not having sewn up most of the final "hero pieces"..... least of all organised models or props.

I was in a spin. A flap. A kerfuffle.


Thankfully, models arrived and were fabulous, the HarperCollins design team and photographer are a dream to work with, and all seems to be going swimmingly. (Extra-thankfully, I have a sewing day tomorrow to "catch up" before the final day's shoot).

BIG big thanks to SuperPops for "disappearing" my twirling fairy on Monday afternoon so we could get on with the shoot.

Oops, I forgot...

I mean, besides picking my child up from kinder yesterday...

I forgot to mention that we've scheduled another Patternmaking for Bags course (and already three places are gone). We were over-subscribed for Patternmaking 1 and under-subscribed for Patternmaking 2, so...

We're going to run another Patternmaking for Bags 1 course on Thursday nights between the 10th November and 12th December. 6.30-8.30pm in my studio in Brunswick. $245. Places are limited to 6 people. Contact Leah (with a booking form) if you'd like to book a place.

The course will take you from the very fundamentals of drafting bag patterns to the methods for creating shapes like the Clutch, Baguette, Mod, Hobo etc. (Pleats, darts and more sculptural shapes are a Patternmaking 2 thing).

Oh - and another thing I forgot to mention was that Anabel Pantano won the monthly prize for spending over $50. Thanks Anabel - I hope you enjoy your free choice of bag pattern from us.

The prize for the September draw will be a $20 voucher to spend on our new shopping cart.

...

...

And I forgot to take relevant photos for today's post. So here are more from yesterday, which I took instead of driving to the kindergarten....

And the bride wore black...

While unpacking a few more boxes this weekend I found a photo from my wedding day - all creased and torn (a bit like that marriage ended up...).

I've always loved this image, because it sums up the day perfectly. It's of the full bridal party sliding down the Helter Skelter on Brighton pier (in the UK). It was Summer and we were young and beautiful. We felt like we'd be that way forever.

I also love the way the camera caught my sewing buddy's hair in full flight... (and reminds me just how long we've been friends!).

That's me in the middle with the long black hair... what happened to that??

It's amazing what you find when you move house.