Season's Greetings

There's something about a red dress that brings out the Christmas in me. Have a wonderful holiday season, full of happiness and joy.

Eat well, but not too much.

And stay fabulous my festive darlings.

A New Idea for the blog

Salute ma petite darlings.

I have something new for you today.

It is going to be a regular thing I will try to do once a week, for a little bit of fun.

Its called Spot the Darling!

And to begin I would love it if you could tell me, which one of these three engravings, photographed from old copies of The Illustrated London News, do you like the best.

This Weeks Challenge

THE STYLISH

Do you like the style of these three Samoan men, who worked on English ships in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

THE INDULGED

Or the style of this young woman, who had her toy dog specially trained to carry her train, oh the delight of it! The little thing on its hind feet, with a mouthful of his mistresses robes, kinda like little girls who dress their dogs up in dresses for fun.

THE SEXY

Or this engraving titled, Italy saluting France, well I'm sorry my pristine darlings, but it is just deliciously sexy.

So now its time for you to make your choice, The Stylish, The Indulged or The Sexy? Tell me what you think, do any of these images, strike a cord with you?

White petals will always remind me of Kate

The Death of a Friend

A friend died today. She was not someone I had known for a long time, or someone I was really close to, but I respected her. She was so vibrant, full of life and love. Spring was a fitting time for her to pass, and as finally the sun came out today after weeks of rain, I wished you were still here to see it. As I left work, white petals were falling from the pear tree, they covered the ground, and I felt it was Kate leaving and saying farewell. It was a strange feeling, I can't quite describe it, but I cried all the way home. I will always remember the hug you gave me Kate, when you found out my cancer was terminal. Go well Kate. I hear Neil is taking you back to Greece, may you find peace there. Falling white petals will always remind me of you.

The Rose

The Rose

A fully opened rose, is like a woman in her 30's, all her beauty has unfolded, and yet she hangs on the cusp of fading.

In her 40's she starts to soften, the fullness and vibrancy of youth leave her. She holds the shape and form of youth, but the moisture and plumpness that held the petals of the rose in shape is slowly evaporating.

The faded rose, slowly dries, and the colour in the petals intensifies, the edges curl like delicate ruffles on the edge of a petticoat, and suddenly the rose is more beautiful than it ever was.

My Movie Costume Designer Name

Virginia Fisher print of Irene Lentz-Gibbons costume design; gown with mink and pearls for Barbara Stanwyck in \"B.F\'s Daughter\" 1947. Niiiice, but I digress.

OK who were some of the greats.

Adrian Adolph Greenberg, March 1903-13 September 1959, (how cool is that he died 10 days after I was born), known mostly as Adrian, was a Hollywood fashion designer whose most famous costumes were for The Wizard of Oz and other Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career, he designed costumes for over 250 films and his screen credits usually read as "Gowns by Adrian". He designed costumes for over 250 films including Judy Garland's costumes in The Wizard of Oz, Greta Garbo's Matahari and the extravagant creations for Marie Antoinette.

Well thats pretty hot, when you consider that it was designed back in the 1930,s, pretty outrageous really.

And here she is, Greta Garbo as Mata Hari, the Vamp, the forerunner of your kick arss woman, with a touch of darkness. She is almost Gothic.

Oh yeah go Greta, Sexai. So Adrian Adolf Greenburg, so there's a name, he must have been a Jew, and his second name was Adolf . And this was the 1930-40 period, wierd, no that is not going to work for me.

And then there's Cecil Beaton, a fashion photographer and costume designer for film and theatre.

Here is Audrey Hepburn dressed by him in Gi Gi, the Ascot Races scene. Luxuiously beautiful.

And look at these gowns, all by Cecil Beaton, oh yeah, I want one!

But I have to say Givenchy's dress designed for Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's

and the gown he designed for her in the movie Sabrina, now that is glamour. Gorgeous darling, yes definitely has the gorgeous factor in excessive quantities.

Hubert de Givenchy he does it for me, but how do I get a costume designer name out of that. What about Zho Zho de Venci, oh yeah I like it, what do you think?

Well I was sitting having my breakfast and it was just starting to get light outside and I got a call on my mobile. It was Grant and he and Nick had hit a wave going out the bar, that had come over the boat, and they thought they had lost Nick's new golden rod, the Marlin rod, for when the Marlins come around, knock knock. So anyhows they found it, hanging off the back of the boat hooked onto another rod - LUCKY. So now I have to go and pick them up from the launching ramp in Pilot Bay, (cos they don't want to risk coming back in the Kaituna) well actually I am not sure which one, I will have to make another phone call. Seems I am always rescuing Grant from something, broken down cars, too much alcohol, and now fishing adventures, its all very exciting. xx tee hee and away

Could you please comment I don't want this to be a one way conversation, which blog do you like the best? Which ruff do you like, and why. Do you like my photos? I am not too good at photography but if you have any pointers, I would appreciate it.

Well I am having a sewing frenzy, so I am too busy to write much tonight. I am using the cotton fabric I bought a couple of days ago to make a skirt, The fabric has a tartan print with a black lace pattern overlaying the red checks of the tartan. It is quite cool, although probably a little bright for some, but I have been inspired by this kind of Balmoral love of tartan that Queen Victoria started. So I am using an 1860's dress from the Kyoto Costume Institute's collection to base my pattern on and it is going to be an interesting garment. I will show you how it comes out, and if anyone is interested I could put the pattern up. Anyway some cool stuff is unfolding at the moment and we could be about to get underway to make a crinoline underskirt for an 1860's dress in the collection so I am pretty excited. We are going to follow traditional techniques, and are even going to use crin steel, so it is the real deal, and I will blog a little about it soon. Anyway its tee hee and away cos I want to wear this skirt.

Weekend Friendship

I couldn't get near my computer all weekend, partly because I was sewing and partly because my 2 grown-up sons were having a LAN party in our office, it was wired up and pumping. I spent the day on Saturday with a new friend. When I met my friend he was already dead, so I do not know his or maybe her name.
It was a peaceful day we spent together, and I enjoyed my new friend's company because he was so beautiful in death, we became quite close and I have left him on his glass resting place, hoping he will hang around for a while.
It may be the effect of working on Francis's gothic coat that has made me a little macabre, but I enjoyed it, the feeling of life and death intertwined together.


Here is another wonderful thing, it is the top section of a hatpin, and if you look closely, I am hoping you can see trapped inside are small pieces of ostrich feather. I love this, as it speaks of the life of this object, I would like to display it magnified so that you can see the feather fragments, as it speaks of the hat laden with feathers that this hatpin would have once been worn with. This delicate metal filigree ball is only 2 cm in diameter, the detail is so fine, that I did not notice the feather fragments until I was looking at the photograph. It was a special treat, and was a reminder of the importance of observing objects carefully, as it would have been a shame if this hatpin was cleaned and the feather fragments removed, don't you think? I have one more thing to show you, and it is the cloth I was working on, on Saturday. It is a birthday present for my sister, so I shouldn't really be putting it up, in case she sees it, but its not finished yet so she won't see it in all its glory, and its nice to show something partially finished, cos it kinda proves that it was made by me.



It is hand painting, applique, embroidery, and silk ribbon work, on a vintage linen tray cloth, that has been hemmed with hem stitch. Anyway this a a post post as it should have been posted on Saturday as I explained earlier, but has been posted a little post the event. Tee hee and away.

Well I have already broken my promise of blogging everyday, cos I missed it yesterday. Oh well it is early days and I am still getting my head around the whole techno thing. My aim today is to put up a photo, and to thank Fiona for her great thought, that I have to go for it, even though my life might be cut short, I have to still do the things I would have done, and not let myself be stopped because I am scared that I will get sick. Thanks Fiona. Thought I would put up an image of my favourite textile at the moment. It is a gothic coat I am making for my son, and it has taken me over a year because I never have had the time to sew until now - yes things are going to change, cos I am now a 4 days a week girl, and it feels dam good I have to say. Anyway the coat is tailored and so it has a lot of hand sewing in it and no top stitching, it is called the Victor Coat after Victor the lead vampire of the vampire clan in the Underworld movies. Gotta go nighty nite don't let the vampires bite xx

Hi everyone, I just got home and what a great day, 50% off sale at Arthur Toyes, so of course I spent way too much money and bought some of the most wonderful fabric with the idea of making some historical costume. Isn't it amazing, and to quote some of my fellow bloggers how dorky we textile lovers are, and how happy anything to do with textiles can make us. Anyway look at my stash. 3 different colours of silk (yes silk) taffeta, red, the palest of pinks, and a yummy chocolate brown, hmmmm chocolate. 5 meters of white cotton lawn, 3 metres of black flannel, and 3 metres of a pale grey/green cotton nylon blend that just looks like a Victorian gown to me. OH I have found happiness and it is a wonderful thing.
I would like to introduce you to a friend I met in Wellington, dressed in one of her wonderful dresses, she inspired me to start blogging and I love her inspirational blog.

Hallo world, well here it is my first blog. I am thinking that I would like this to be a personal journal of my experience as well as a platform to share my designing and painting on. I want to talk about the textiles I work with and maybe help others to learn a little more about sewing. Today I am not feeling well, the cancer is starting to bite, and I have a mild pain in my chest. I no longer have the patience to put up with people that don't inspire me, and work that I do not want to do. So I am richly blessed, as my life allows me to apply both these desires. I wonder if I will feel better again, or if this is the peak now, and I am starting the rapid decline. I wonder if it is a good idea to talk about my suffering and my thoughts? At one stage I talked to Francis or Nick about writing a book about what it has been like coming to terms with the fact that I have terminal cancer, and we thought maybe it would help others in the same situation. Would it be a nice thing to leave behind for those I love, to read over once I have gone? I always wanted to write a book, so this could be my way of doing that. I love my boys and Grant so much, the saddest part of dying is leaving them, and worrying about them, I don't mind so much that my life has been cut short, I don't hink being old is that much fun, and all I have to do is lie down and fall asleep, as I have always been a pretty lazy person, I do not think that will be that hard. I will think about it, or maybe not, maybe I will just put up whatever I feel like putting up on the day and my blog will just take form on its own. Well bye for now and I will talk more tomorrow, I thik my only commitment should be to write everyday.