Retro copy cat

Left: image from here. Right: my own version.

I love being inspired by ready to wear (RTW) items. I know some bloggers disagree with blatant copying, and I do too in many instances. I would never copy something and then try to sell it and I think to be 'inspired by' something is better than to copy it. However, I also think that it's probably ok for one little blogger to copy one little item from one big designer. Especially, as in this case, it's to enter the fab RTW contest on Sewing Pattern Review.

To find inspiration for this project I trawled through the websites of some of my favourite designers and then searched some more on Net-a-Porter. I kept coming back to this dress by Roksanda Ilincic. I loved the striking combination of colours and the retro lines.

Source

So, how to create it?

My starting point was to use the lovely pattern by Savage Coco for the 'Elegant Escape Dress'. I traced the front and back pattern pieces and played around adding lines where the different fabrics would join together. My French Curve ruler came in vary handy here. Once I was happy with that, I retraced each separate piece and added seam allowances. I took a lot of care with this step as I wanted the pieces to fit together very neatly.

The front pieces came together nicely. However, I wanted the navy side piece to be cut as a single piece that wrapped from the front to the back. It was here that things became more difficult. The more pattern pieces I made, the more complicated it was to work out if they would fit together properly. My brain began to strain! By the time I'd made all my paper pattern pieces, I had lost all confidence in the thing working at all. It was at that point I did the unthinkable (for me at least) and made a muslin from an old sheet! It turned out not really to have been necessary (muslin schmuslin) as everything fitted together as I had hoped.

So I began to cut my fabric. I used 'mechanical stretch polyester' from Textile Traders. You can see the single navy pattern piece at the top of the picture below.

And then I sewed it together...

...and it worked! You can see from the picture below that I kept the underarm and shoulder gussets from the original 'Elegant Escape Dress' pattern. I cut these from the navy fabric as I liked the extra flash of navy higher up the dress. I finished the neckline and armholes with bias binding I made from the red fabric.

I needed half a metre of each colour (at AU$7/m each), making a grand total cost of AU$10.50 for my dress. The inspiration dress was the equivalent of AU$1262. Quite a saving!

The verdict: I love it! It is very striking so perhaps not an everyday summer dress. Although I can see myself wearing it a lot with a coat and boots if autumn and winter ever arrive in Perth.

I am up against some very stiff competition in the RTW contest. It is well worth checking out the other gorgeous entries and I would love it if you felt like voting for me when entries close at the end of Feb 2013 :)

If you are interested my last year's Victoria Beckham-inspired entry is here. I ended up coming fifth in 2012!!
 

Perth Fashion Festival

I was sitting with my coffee this morning surfing through some sewing and fashion blogs, as I do occasionally every day ;) when I saw that a fellow Perth blogger was going to be in the Restyle fashion parade....today....starting in an hour and a half!!

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll remember that I (unofficially) took part in the Restyle Challenge, where my outfits had to consist of at least 50% op-shopped items every day for the month of August 2012. Well, today's parade featured the ten Perth bloggers who were officially part of this challenge along with some op shop volunteers who were styled in op shop clothes for the parade.

Op-shopped clothing, bloggers and a free fashion parade, oh my! I could not miss this event. I quickly slung the washing out on the line, grabbed my camera and hot-footed it to the bus stop. Luckily I live quite near Perth city and I found myself hustling into the inflatable-pillow tent, settling into my seat and snuffling through the goody bag with excitement (I know, a goody bag! I was beside myself) with ten minutes to spare.

The show was introduced by a TV presenter from Channel 9, who was wearing a dress bought for $3 from Good Sammy's. So great to see a celebration of op-shopping.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, especially as there were some bloggers in the parade that I had 'met' online. The clothes were lovely. It was hard to take good photos as I was in the fourth row and just had to hold the camera above my head and click. Here are some of my favourite looks:

Gorgeous, soft leather jacket in yummy orange.

This girl had attitude! 

Fab DIY leather shorts from op-shopped jeans. 

A stunning jumpsuit. 

Amazing dress.

There are some professional pictures of the show here.

After the bloggers came the op shop volunteers. This was a lovely part of the parade as these women, of all ages, were so happy to be there and all looking so gorgeous with their makeovers. The highlight had to be the two visually impaired volunteers who were led down the catwalk with their guide dogs. Even the dogs were dressed up. Again, it was hard to get photos.

So, all in all, a very enjoyable morning.

Afterwards, I popped into His Majesty's Theatre as JJ's entry in the WA Ballet Pinocchio puppet competition was among the finalists and is on display there. After that I browsed through Sass and Bide and Kookai for some DIY inspiration - and found some :) There are some gorgeous things in those shops at the moment. Lots of neon and bright colour blocking that are on my radar for summer. So exciting!

DIY inspiration from the new Victoria Beckham collection

VB has recently released a new fashion line that is (slightly) cheaper than her main collection. The clothes are stylish and simple, and we all know that simple = DIY!!

I chose three dresses from the SS12 collection that I am inspired to try. I've had some pleated fabric for ages that I haven't known what to do with. The dress above has sparked my imagination!

I love this colour blocked dress with the scalloped detail.

This one looks so easy to wear.

Check out the others at the Victoria Beckham website.

Happy DIYing,

Pinspiration (inspiration via Pinterest!) - Embellishments

I love embellishments as a way to finish off clothes and homewares. It is also such a fun thing to do to add that unique touch to your item. Here are some of my favourites from Pinterest:

Beaded neckline - I love those colours on the white fabric

Lots of ideas for grommets. Definitely something to look for in the craft shops! There are lots more lovely grommet ideas if you follow the link...

Extraordinary holes - I just think these are awesome. I would like to try them on a cushion cover.

Reverse freezer paper stencilling - cool idea

Reverse applique - adorable (and simple) use of reverse applique. Must try this!

Distressed stencilling - with two boys of my own, this is also a 'must try' project!

I hope you are inspired to try something.

Sass and Bide DIY inspiration and some disappointment

I went shopping in Claremont last week, for the first time in ages, while my boys were at a school holiday art class. For non-Perthites, Claremont is a lovely town (Perth suburb) with lots of high-end shops on a gorgeous main street. Well it was. But now it isn't.

The lovely main street, once bustling with cafes, beautiful people, boutiques and porsches, is now deserted with dust balls rolling through it. The reason - there is a glittering new indoor shopping mall that has just opened behind the main street. Sure, it's fancy and full of designer shops, but it's an indoor mall. Boring.

To console myself over the ruination of this lovely area, I decided to explore the designer stores for potential DIY inspiration. And I found some things that I just loved in the Sass and Bide store.

The colours and fabrics were mouth-wateringly gorgeous. I carefully looked through everything to see how they'd made it and hoped the 10 foot tall model sales assistant didn't notice!

I loved this tie-dyed, drapey, silk wrap dress ($650)...

These silk pants were gorgeous ($190)...

As were these shorts ($350)...

Check out this t-shirt ($180). Such an easy DIY. Just cut some holes and slits and weave strips of fabric through. Can't wait to try this...

Although I can't see myself in this skirt ($250), It would be adorable on a little girl (and so easy to DIY in pretty fabrics)...

So all was not lost on my shopping trip as I came away buzzing with ideas for summer clothes. I even managed to buy a bag of bananas on sale for $3.50 (they have been about $3/banana all winter after floods destroyed the crops).  The boys made some gorgeous pictures in their art class and I met a friend and had a good gossip. Fingers crossed that some life is breathed back into the, once lovely, Bay View Terrace again soon.