SOME BOWS FOR A DRESS

I imagine you guessed that my girls have a more than a few bows in their collection. Yep, you guessed right.

I recently found this gorgeous little mannequin. Mmmm mmm I couldn't think of anything cuter for putting their clips onto (they still have another drawer full of the ribbons that are on elastics). It is a sweet sight in their bathroom.

Here is a bit of eye candy to brighten your day.

CORNERS OF MY HOME - BEDROOM

Here is a little corner of my home...our bedroom. My Mum and I wallpapered this wall when she was out here, the time before last. Definitely a two person job. We used a Laura Ashley wallpaper which I would not recommend, except that it is just a fraction of the cost of any of the others I loved from Osborne & Little or Nina Campbell...two of my favourite inteior fabric designers

When we renovated a few years ago I wanted our bedroom and en-suite to be opulent.



So, in this tiny room I have tried to create opulence; gold silk curtains, shimmery wallpaper, shaped beveled mirrors, and the chandelier from our very first house.



And I love this special cushion that my girlfriend bought from Anthropologie. The things in that store are to-die-for.

Just shows good things can come in small packages.

A LITTLE SWAP

A few weeks ago Comfy & Cosy mentioned that she had a double-up of a Martha Stewart magazine. I also have a double-up of a MSL issue and so I offered to do a swap. Well, Carolyn is a little more organised that myself and sent my package last week. Not only was I lucky enough to receive a great issue of MSL with a whole section on cleaning and organising...yum.



but I also got some lovely fabric, (in my favourite colour) and some of the most beautiful old buttons.




I love them. Thanks Carolyn.

Finally I have managed to do a post on her scrumptious package and finally I have sent hers off.

(I have inherited a family trait of being very bad at sending mail. Something I will have to overcome if I am wanting to run my website business successfully. Yes, my website is on it's way...just going the scenic route.)

THE PEOPLE YOU MEET

A couple of weeks ago Pip organised a bit of a get together with some craft bloggers. I have only just now got around to telling you about the wonderful time I had.
I was very excited to be there. Marianne and I finally met, after swapping so many emails whilst she was designing my labels. Allison and Shannon were also there. It was no real surprise how much we all had in common and great to see each other's products; Shannon's fabric (and her very charming girls) Allison's gorgeous and almost-famous tea towels and later Pip's shop. Pip even took some ribbons for her shop. Thank you Pip. I do hope they sell well. (So, if you live in Melbourne and you're after the ribbons head to "Meet me at Mikes". I see someone has bought a pair already.



Here is that tea towel. Oh, I do love it. I always remember my mum counting to ten under her breath when we were giving her grief (I never ever remember her yelling!!!). This tea towel gives me that same feeling; yes the kids are about to kill each other, yes the dinner is burning, yes the phone is ringing and it's a telemarketer and yes the baby has a dirty nappy. But what will you do...that's right...keep calm and carry on.
When I showed my husband he thought I needed to work on the keep calm part but said I was already very good at the carrying on bit. Sadly, I think he meant the pork chop kind of carry on, not the persevering kind. Oh well, always room for improvement.

Nice to meet you all girls.

THE DRESS

Well, I finally finished Ella's dress. I have has such a wonderful time with my Mum visiting that I haven't had time to post before now. She left tonight. It was sad to see her go back to England but the sadness was eased by the knowing that we will be visiting her in less that three months. Her time here has been so enjoyable; sewing, shopping, drinking tea, family dinners and lots of talking. Whilst she was here we managed to get a few projects completed; one kinder quilt (now off to quilting my a wonderful Grandma at the kinder), nighties for the girls (the old fashioned type I had when I was a little), half a skirt for Kate and Ella's dress. So, without any further announcement, I present The Dress.


I had to modify this pattern, quite significantly as you can see. Ella and I went on a special outing one day to Patchwork on Central where we chose all of the fabrics. The main bodice and skirt were made in a Japanese Kei fabric called dahlia. The two prints in the bodice were by Lecien.
The lace at the bottom of the fabric is a French vintage lace that my Mum was given many years ago.


The lace has polka dots throughout which match the polka dot fabric in the bodice. The big round buttons are so scrumptious, I was almost tempted to eat them. They are from Theo's.

Ella insisted on picking the posy for the photos. With such lovely photo posing how could I object. I hope you enjoy wearing this dress darling, as much as I enjoyed making it for you.