Saturday, March 30, 2013
Sew for VICTORY
On Easter Friday, I hosted a 1940s vintage luncheon to celebrate the completion of our 1940s dresses that were made in conjunction with Sew for Victory http://luckylucille.com/2013/02/sew-for-victory-a-40s-sewalong/ a 1940s sew-a-long running for the month of March. There were only three of us in attendance, and I had way too much food. But we had a lovely time taking photos and relaxing in the aircon for the afternoon.
The project I had chosen to make was the McCalls 5615, a 1940s vintage patten in my collection. I have made this pattern numerous times before, so I am happy that the pattern is correct and I don't have to do any adjustments. One of my favourite things about this pattern is that I can squeeze it out of about three meters of fabric due to the way the pieces are constructed. The dress features gathering at the side seams, a button up bodice, gathered skirt front and hidden pockets. I decided to make it out of navy blue linen so that I would finally have a dress to match my vintage hat. I do actually have a bag and gloves that match as well, but it was just so hot yesterday that gloves were not something that I was wanting to wear.
My fellow 1940s gals - Ainead and Trinnyt:
Friday, March 29, 2013
Steampunking Safari Take 2
Some of you may recall that last year I organised a Steampunk Safari trip to the local zoo for the Australian Costumer Guild. Well, it was such a huge success that we decided to do it again this year - being last weekend. Unfortunately, while it is technically Autumn right now in Brisbane, we have had an incredibly hot month, and last weekend was no exception. The temperature soared to 32 degrees Celsius and the humidity skyrocketed. It certainly made for an interesting outing. It probably didn't help to much that I was coming down with a head-cold, so was running a temperature, but I was determined to have a good day.
There were eight of us in attendance, but not all in full costume due to the weather. The slushy machine was working at full strength and we were sculling down the water to try and combat the heat. The animals were out and about but many took the heat as a good time to nap. A few of us had our photo taken holding the koala. Fun Fact - Queensland is the only state in Australia that will let you hold a koala, so if you want to cuddle one of our native cuties, there are only a few place that will let you do it. The lovely little one we had was named Nutsy. She was very soft but very co-operative for the photos.
I debuted my new safari ensemble that I spent some time working on earlier this year. It is the a more feminine version of my steampunk safari costume, using a few pieces for both - namely the vest, hat, shoes and accessories. It is made up of a number of components. The blouse underneath is a peter pan collar cream cotton with lace trimming. The underskirt is of the same fabric. It is then topped with another skirt which is ruched up at the front. On top of that is the apron, trimmed with cream fringing and green velvet ribbon. The vest and accessories then finish of the look. I am pleased with how this turned out and am looking forward to wearing it again sometime later this year. I definitely achieved the effect that I was hoping for.
There were eight of us in attendance, but not all in full costume due to the weather. The slushy machine was working at full strength and we were sculling down the water to try and combat the heat. The animals were out and about but many took the heat as a good time to nap. A few of us had our photo taken holding the koala. Fun Fact - Queensland is the only state in Australia that will let you hold a koala, so if you want to cuddle one of our native cuties, there are only a few place that will let you do it. The lovely little one we had was named Nutsy. She was very soft but very co-operative for the photos.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
All Dressed Up
And then there was Saturday. I organised to attended an exhibition at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in the big city of Brisbane titled All Dressed Up - Costumes from Broadway to Hollywood with the Australian Costumers Guild. It's a free exhibition that showcases a private collection of film costumes from musicals. I was incredibly impressed with what was on display my favourite being three of the ensembles from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
There were a good number of costumes dating from as early as the 1940s, and it was really fascinating to see up close and personal how they had been made. The seam treatments were not what I was expecting and in some cases, the hems were so perfectly stitched they were invisible.
The weather had taken a turn for the hot, with the temperature set to hit 30 degrees Celsius and the humidity to skyrocket. Add to that my train line was down, so transportation plans were changed - no freezing cold train aircon. My original costume plans for the day fell through when I realised the temperature so I set out to wear a 1940s inspired outfit with a hat that a friend had made for me. It was much cooler than my other plans, but I made the unfortunate decision to wear heels that I would not normally wear without stockings and wound up with blisters all over the place.
We finished our afternoon off with a trip to Max Brenner, the Chocolate Shop for a late morning tea before perusing the South Bank markets on our way back to the bus terminal. I ws glad to make it home and relax out of the heat for the afternoon.
There were a good number of costumes dating from as early as the 1940s, and it was really fascinating to see up close and personal how they had been made. The seam treatments were not what I was expecting and in some cases, the hems were so perfectly stitched they were invisible.
The weather had taken a turn for the hot, with the temperature set to hit 30 degrees Celsius and the humidity to skyrocket. Add to that my train line was down, so transportation plans were changed - no freezing cold train aircon. My original costume plans for the day fell through when I realised the temperature so I set out to wear a 1940s inspired outfit with a hat that a friend had made for me. It was much cooler than my other plans, but I made the unfortunate decision to wear heels that I would not normally wear without stockings and wound up with blisters all over the place.
We finished our afternoon off with a trip to Max Brenner, the Chocolate Shop for a late morning tea before perusing the South Bank markets on our way back to the bus terminal. I ws glad to make it home and relax out of the heat for the afternoon.
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