Pendrell blouse - the next blouse pattern.

I just finished a(nother) top for work, using the freakishly easy Simplcity 2594. Seriously, only four pattern pieces. Everything went to together well. The nicest neck facing I've ever done. Absolutely my best yoke/ lining ever. I made the v-neck version, but I redrafted the neck to be a nice, quite deep, round neck. It's lucky it worked out well, because I bought the fabric to make four versions of the same pattern in one go.*

Anyway, stumbling about the internet, I came across the Pendrell blouse. That's it in the picture above (being modelled by the designer). Pattern due out soon. I love it. Super flattering princess lines (pain to sew, but they look so purty), and drapey sleeves. And no fastenings. Made up in something soft and drapey it's exactly the kind of thing I wear to work.

* I got a bit overexcited. A cotton print for the wearable-muslin (done); silk satin on clearance at $8/m; red viscose jersey; and a natural linen/ rayon blend. The first two for work, the second two for play.

State cushions

I have long loved these embroidered state icon cushions from Uncommon Goods. Always lamented the fact that they only come in US states (and only ship to US states too). Just occurred to me this morning - why not try my hand at designing a nice, cheesy WA version? My must-includes are the yacht that won the America's Cup, the Bell Tower, Tim Winton, whale sharks, a kangaroo paw and the Argyle diamond mine (with a pink diamond, of course). What would you include?

Just some little links

I'm getting excited about Christmas already (I think because it's a distraction from impending exams. I start to get excited about the same time I should be starting to study). I'm already plotting and planning Christmas odds and sods. And I'm think that I should make some garlands. Decor8's recent blog post on garlands has confirmed my idea. I have two lovely little red and white felt star garlands already, but I think I'd like some triangles or circles too. I like the idea of paper being cheap, but I like that cloth garlands would be reusable. Garlands do, however, come second to my Most Favourite Christmas Ornamentation Ever. Some years ago I bought some tinsel that is really thick and fluffy. It's pine green, non-metallic, with white tips. So it looks like it's been snowed on. Sounds not so great, but it really does impart a feel of greenery in the house. A sort of lazy Australian student's equivalent of boughs of pine and holly and mistletoe adorning the bannisters of the country house. And I never ever been able to find any more since. If anyone sees it... oo, let me know.

I also need to sort out a tree. I'm a bit stymied there. I'm not a fan of the real tree, I'm not thrilled by the idea of buying a plastic one... I've heard that the WA Art Gallery Shop has a peculiar 'topiary tree' that slots together out of flat sheets of plywood. That might be the go. It's lollipop shaped, rather than pine tree shaped, but beggars/ choosers.

In non-Christmas news, my favourite pages in that totally obese US Vogue from a month or two ago were the Kate Spade ads. Loved the colours, loved the styling, loved the feel. And now, love the cute little 'I've always wanted to' page on the website that includes 'learn to knit'.

Is it a bad idea

to make this pattern:


with this fabric?


I don't mean print-wise. I happen to think a wood-grain print dress is a simply wonderful idea (wait, if you feel very strongly that my style is straying to the 'hey, that chunky-knit twinkle dress is cute' side of quirky*, please speak up).

It's just that the fabric is quilting cotton (as are all the best prints), and I'm worried it'd be too lightweight. I've made this mistake before. I have a lovely structured vintage-pattern shift with a peter pan collar hanging half finished at mah mum's place, because I foolishly made it out of a cotton so lightweight you could almost call it voile. I'm thinking I could get away with quilting cotton weight if I made the full-skirted view. That'd accomodate softness, flow and drape a little better than the more structured wiggle-dress. Any opinions?

I'm so pleased to have found this pattern. So rarely do I think about what pattern I want and then seek it out. This was almost unintentional. I was dreaming about both a certain skirt style (blogging later); and a kind of shift dress that had a gathered seam under the bust in a nod to the empire lines so fashionable right now, but that demonstrated that I do in fact have a waist (as empire and trapeze lines do not). I couldn't believe it when I actually found exactly what I was looking for, and with a nice full-skirt variation I hadn't thought of to boot.

* My stitch'n'bitch will understand. I am somewhat infamous for declaring an intention to make a knitted dress so chunky it used 15mm needles... upon closer inspection I was forced to agree that yes, it would make any human being, including the model, look chunky and that perhaps my sense of taste had strayed to the dark side of quirky momentarily.

Get your knits on, Giles Deacon*

(apologies to House of Holland, and anyone who understood my terrible punning reference).


It's kind of like Twinkle had the chunky-knits crown. I couldn't even find the needles needed to make the Best Friend Cardigan she designed. Then Giles looked over and went 'think you're chunky, hey? Well guess what! I'm so chunky/ edgy I... I... I knit with roving!' I am now waiting for Mr Galliano to recruit the thinner, more flexible models and knit them into a bolero to be worn down the catwalk by another model. That will truly determine who is King of Knits (or Queen, though it seems Twinkle's lost out).


I know that's roving, and not a really chunky single-ply because last week I accidentally landed on the site of the mill that supplied the roving. They had the photo above with a 'look what Giles Deacon made with our roving!' caption. And I've promptly lost the site. Google was to no avail. I'm so sorry. Because else you could all shop at the place that supplies the designers.

And I know about Mr Deacon's fabbo Fall collection (well, except maybe for the feathery shoes with the olive cardigan) because I picked up the September UK Vogue yesterday. All 803 pages of it. It is, no kidding, an inch thick. Mostly with ads, but when it comes to Vogue that's kind of half the reason you buy it. I love UK Vogue, much better than Australian Vogue and much much better than US. The UK style suits better, and they have the largest arts section, and they've maintained this slightly quaint, dictatorial style of writing that feels very 1950s.

I also grabbed IK Knits, for the Tangled Yoke cardy. I was going to make it in a tweedy brown colour, but after seeing Kate Spade's beautiful, bright quirky ads I think I'll make it in fuchsia.

Why the big magazine splurge? Well kids, yesterday I got a job. Not just any job, but the job I've wanted and been working towards for about a year now.

Who could ever throw away Kaffe?

I stopped off at the annual Save the Children book sale at uni the other day. It opened on the weekend, so I missed all the best books, but I did pick up Vogue Knitting 1930s - 1980s Volumes 1 & 2 (weirdly enough, I already have 3, and 3 wasn't there). I also got Glorious Colour by Kaffe Fassett. Whoever did the pricing knew their craftspeople, because although the same size, shape, and era as the VKs it was twice the price. It's a big fat hardcover with knitting and needlepoint patterns (sometimes interchangeable charts) produced for his first ever exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum (my absolute favourite museum in the entire world, by the way).

Now, it might be from the 1980s, but seriously amazing design just can't date. Look at the Juliet Coat (first designed for a stage production).


And because the idea of his exhibition was that he was inspired by the V&A, there are heaps of shots of his work and parts of the collection that inspired it.


I love love love Kaffe. I really do. And, in an interesting aside, a while ago I read a comment by the lady that designed Babette that said she was inspired by Kaffe. Easy enough to see, given the geometry and colour. But might it not have been this exact design, do you think?


(actually, there's a design featured, The Stamps Shawl, that is even more similar to Babette in design, but there isn't a large, clear shot of it that I could photograph).