And another Christmas passes

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas day. Ours was spent inside with the house locked up and the aircon blasting. As usual, we do Christmas lunch, this year I cooked a pear and cranberry stuffed turkey, veggies and salad. We had a fantastic morning, and I got some wonderful gifts. Spending money for my trip to Japan in February, a new jug to replace my broken one and the book "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" to name a few. But what I love most about Christmas is picking a fantastic gift for someone.

My brother and I gave my dad an Art Nouveau mirror which he loves and this year I made quite a few gifts, so I though that I would share photos now that they have been given. My friend Sarah got the Christmas faerie cross-stitches...

And the rest were for my mum. Firstly I finished her regency day outfit by completing her bonnet and spencer. I adore the colour of the silk that we chose and it matches really well with the dress. And lastly, I made her a new Victorian corset. Her first one was always slightly too big, so I took the pattern in a bit at the bust, waist and length and remade it for her. I even added some steel bones into it this time (my first ones). She tried it on for me this morning and I am very pleased with how it looks.

Kaleidoscope Soiree

Last night I attended the Kaleidoscope Dancers end-of-year Soiree. As it was rather warm (putting it mildly) last night, very few of the attendees dressed up. But by now you should know that I never pass up the opportunity to dress up. Of course, this called for a new gown. To be specific, a regency evening gown. It also meant that I needed to get motivated and make my mum's first regency gown as well.

Mum's gown is made out of a cotton fabric and with a silk ribbon underbust tie. The gown is made from a Sense and Sensibility pattern, using the size supplement. We bought the fabric on sale at spotlight earlier this year, and it has just been sitting around waiting for an excuse to be made up. I did add an extra row of stitching above where the skirt is attached for a gathering ribbon. It helps to make the gown fit nicely and also gives me my lacing ribbon at the back. Now, I know that the eyelets are not period correct but because the fabric is so soft, I could not get my machine to do nice ones. And I was overly proud of Mums hair too - hello rag curls. So glad that she has started growing her hair out.





As for my gown, I decided on the design from a fashion plate I found somewhere. It is made of cotton, lace and purple georgette. I took me two patterns, some butchering and a bit of guess work, but I finally got the pattern sorted out, and I am very pleased with how it turned out. I especially love the gathering on the back and the train. The lace sleeves also help to make it cooler, but before I wear it the next time I really need to make a petticoat.

That makes one gown ready for the Jane Austen Festival.

Proclamation Day 2009

Yesterday evening at twilight, I attended the Proclamation Day (official 150th Birthday of Queensland) celebration at Newstead House with the Kaleidoscope Dancers. Since the weather has been so very stinky hot lately I decided that I would wear my regency gown instead of crinoline (Way too many layers in this heat). I got to wear my new regency short corset and I dressed up my outfit with some Christmas ribbons. Oh and my Dad decided to dress up too.

Unfortunately I am a little disappointed with my short corset. I normally wear a 12C size bra, but when sewing, my bodices are always a 14 in commercial patterns. So I thought to make the size 14 with a B cup because I have heard that the pattern bust cups can run large. I took it in slightly at the centre front, but that meant I couldn't fit in the second piece of boning, and the thing still laces closed. Grrr. I think that my next one will be a size 12.

Melbourne Cup Day 2009

And now I am exhausted and ready for bed. It feels like I got no work at all done today. As many of you would know, today was the Melbourne Cup and of course in our office, we have a lunch. The downside for me is that I was stupid enough to say that yes, I will organise it. I had a lot of helpers, but it would be nice for once to be able to go along without having to stress over the food and setting everything up.

That being said, I had a great time, and got to wear a pretty dress for the day. I have had the hat sitting in my stash for quite some time. It was actually a birthday gift from my Dad who caught me drooling over it in the hat shop one day. And just because I am so fantastic at procrastinating, I didn't get around to making a dress to go with it. That is until I needed an outfit for Melbourne Cup. I thankfully had the dress half made and only had all the red binding, waist, zip and hem left to do. Which is why last night, I got home from work and got stuck into it. It's a good thing that I have tricks like overlockers for waist seams and invisible zip foots. It makes me job so much easier. Anyhow, I topped it all off with some navy blue gloves, my vintage style heels and some red red lipstick.

Kaleidoscope Dancers in Indro

Saturday saw me up at the crack of dawn (stupid brother playing stupid computer games at full volume), but as the afternoon rolled around I attended an antiques fair at indooroopilly to dance with the Kaleidoscope Dancers. Not only was this my very first time performing with them, but I picked up the cutest antique cake forks to add to my tea party collection.

Bollywood Birthday

I thought that I would begin by saying thanks to everyone who came along, I had a great time and it was a pleasure to have your company. What I am referring to, is of course my Bollywood Birthday Party on Saturday night. There were 22 of us all enjoying Indian food and music. Not to mention costume. I spent most of my Friday (which I thankfully took off work) baking in preparation. As for the day itself, it was a little more relaxing with way less preparation on my part, though I did manage to peel open my finger instead of the potato, which put a real crimp on my cutting abilities with blood gushing out of my finger. Ew, I know.

As for the night itself, I had many colourful decorations, mild and hot Indian curries and fruity desserts. (I have to say that the mini strawberry cheesecakes were my favourite). Not to mention just about everyone was dressed up in their Indian attire. It was actually one of my less stressful costumes to put together, mainly because it was quick to do and I really did not have to worry too much about cultural or historical accuracy. I was channeling 'I dream of Jennie' with pants, a skirt and a bolero style vest, along with a leotard underneath (you don't need to see my flab) and a high ponytail. My skirt and vest were made out of a full Indian sari that I chopped up and it was my very first time working with Lycra for the leotard (easier than I expected). I also made my brother's costume which was very simple. It is basically a pair of pyjamas with a bright open robe over the top to add some colour and flair. Overall I had a fantastic evening, but for the photos. I didn't get that many, being in the kitchen getting the food ready, so I am relying on my fellow photo snappers that were there to post photos for me to get copies of.

 

Vintage Afternoon Tea

And because I have been super slack these last couple of days, I am only just now getting around to posting pictures. Last Friday afternoon saw me heading over to Donna's place to start getting dolled up for a retro afternoon out on the town. After flipping through her new vintage hairstyling book (which I now have on order too) I picked out my challenge and started to get ready. I tell you now, it wasn't easy trying to do my hair without a mirror, but Kerry helped with the pinning up, and I think we ended up with something good. I got all done up in my new peach 1940s dress along with a couple of my vintage fashion fair finds - gloves and hat. We then headed on into the city to meet up with Cat at the Shingle Inn for tea. A bit of wandering around, and we ended up at the Brisbane arcade and having a second set of tea at Room With Roses Cafe. The atmosphere is just lovely there, and calls for a future outing in historical costume. Maybe something Victorian or Edwardian.