My life as a fairy-tale

Images from: 1. Olivia Malone 2. Olivia Malone 3. Romantics 4. Girl Meets NYC 5. crazyfor-you

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm so very excited, because I was lucky enough to receive something I have been craving all year: an overlocker!!! I can't wait to set it up, I can finally lay double-turn hemming every single peice of material to rest.

I've been really inspired by these photos to attempt to make a cape this week. I'm not sure if I want to make it a complete costume peice, or attempt something actually wearable. I have a couple of vintage patterns I was thinking of altering, and I was thinking perhaps a short elbow length hooded cape with front-fastenings to wear over dresses?

Image from: imdb

Where The Wild Things Are has also inspired me to make a cape similar to Max's wolf-suit, in long white and grey patterned fur, with a hood and perhaps some kind of animal ears. My only problem is I'm a little worried about transferring this idea into any kind of wearable garment. But I'm really excited to attempt bringing the cape into my normal wardrobe (despite the fact that its summer and absolutely boiling here in Melbourne), or making it for my next costume party!

Let me know about your lovely Christmas presents or sewing ideas!

xS

Patrick Wolf

Photo from Patrick Wolf Official Site

Ok... so its two in the morning but I cant sleep at all. The reason? I have just (as of an hour ago) come from Patrick Wolf's Melbourne gig at Prince Bandroom as part of his Bachelor tour. And it may actually be the best gig I've been to. EVER. Words cant describe the high I am on right now. Its probably futile to try and convey it through blogging but I need an outlet otherwise I will explode from how incredibly happy I am.

I've loved Patrick Wolf for years. When I heard he was on the line up for Meredith, and I missed out on buying tickets, I was shattered. So I had to make sure I had tickets for his Bachelor tour. But tonight was so amazing I don't think his Meredith performance could have topped it.

Patrick was supported by Jessica Says, who were nice enough in their own way, but didn't do enough for me to heighten the mood. But this was probably because, due to several things that happened today, I was in a terrible mood. But then Patrick came onstage. And I don't think I've been so immediately drawn to a performer as I was to him. And as you can see, he completely turned my night around.

I was lucky enough to have a place saved for me at the front, centre stage, right in front of the microphone. Patrick was literally a couple of centimetres in front of me. Which meant the performance was doubly intense (and also meant audience participation... I held his hand twice... obscure music groupie that I am).

Patrick abandoned his set list during the show, telling us he would play until curfew or as long as we were willing to stay. He seemed genuinely surprised at the end when the bandroom was still packed. There is something in the way he speaks, a kind of shyness, which is incredibly endearing and really helps the audience to connect with him.

I really don't need to explain how amazing the actual music was. This should be self evident.

Patrick had three costume changes, which itself is incredible for a fairly small bandroom gig. Just the idea of going to a Patrick Wolf concert got me so excited I dressed up as well, and I'll outfit post tomorrow.

Anyway, I really don't know what to say. Only that I am definitely planning on going to his Aussie gig next year AND hopefully attempt to see him when I'm in London. He has already made my Christmas Break.

xS

baking baking baking

I believe that this warrants a post, because, yesterday, for the first time in about a year, I actually baked something!! Those of you who know me know that cooking is basically the bane of my existence. The idea of having to cook something every day for the rest of my life actually makes me want to curl up under my bed covers and hide from the world. Unlike me, fortunately, my sister is a cooking addict. So yesterday, she got in a cooking mood, and I was hating the idea of cooking less than usual, and we baked up a storm!

As you can see from the Polaroids, we made pink cupcakes (so so much food dye), and gingerbread cookies, and best of all, a GINGERBREAD HOUSE!!! From scratch! We adapted a gingerbread man recipe and I made the plans for the house and we baked it all and hoped it would work. I like to think my architectural skills are quite commendable.

The house took us all day though. We tripled the original recipe, so you can imagine how much gingerbread we had.

Oh goodness... the butter... we used an entire tub and a half.

But look how pretty it is! Complete with a paved roof, icicles, and flowers and mushrooms growing in the snow outside.

Its too beautiful to eat.

When I have time, have to take some photos of my most recent op-shop purchases (a new Salvos has opened near my house!). But for now, I think I'm just going to admire my gingerbread creation.

xS

Trish Hunter Finds

Yes lovelies, I know its been months and months and months since I last posted anything, but I had to quickly share this super awesome link with you.

I discovered this blog through a fateful article around logies time in the mX (sorry to any non-Aussies who wont understand the references), and it has since become one of my favourite distractions. This girl NEVER stops vintage shopping!!!

Now, Trish Hunter Finds is celebrating the opening of her new online store, filled with lots and lots of reasonably priced vintage goodness (theres a tooled handbag there I particularly have my eye on). You can visit here:



Please visit and give her lots of love, or at least gasp over the amount of things she seems to find on a daily basis.

Now that she's stimulated me to start blogging again, I may have to post some photos of some of my favourite op-shop and market treasures from the last couple of months. Stay tuned!

xS

Rug up and be happy

Hello again loves! Again, I have to apologise about my self-enforced hiatus over the last month, but exams end next week, so hopefully you will be hearing a lot more from me then! I had forced myself not to blog until the end of the exam period, just as I’ve attempted to barricade myself inside the house for the past month, but alas, both of these turned out to be impossible. And being inside the house so long has basically made me a facebook addict, so decided that blogging wouldn’t be so bad either!

Anyway, there’s something about winter, whether it be the cold, the rain, the greenhouse junkie heating or the inability to leave the house most days of the week (which is great if you need to study!) that makes me want to start on some cosy craft project. Every winter I take up knitting again (despite the fact that I can only ever make scarfs and gloves), only to abandon it in the spring. I never seem to have the attention span, or the talent, for long or detailed projects. But if you’re like me, are looking for am easy craft project this winter that doesn’t involve pearling, or are simply cold, slightly poor and in the mood to recycle, this next project should keep you happy!

Ever chucked a woollen jumper in the wash only to discover its shrunk so small you can’t even fit it onto your cat (if you were in the mood to try)? I made these lovely mittens last winter from a jumper that had sadly undergone that transformation. You can also make these by felting a woollen jumper from an op-shop. And best of all, they’re oh so simple to make!

Felted Mittens

You will need:
- An old, shrunken or op shopped jumper (make sure its 100% wool, synthetics wont felt)
- Paper, scissors, pens, pins, needles and thread


Step 1: If your jumper is not pre-shrunk, washing it on a high heat setting should do the trick. You will need to felt it so that the wool will not unravel on cutting. To do this, the jumper should be about half the size after washing. You may need to wash it more than once for this to happen. To test the material, make a cut somewhere on the jumped and test for fraying. If it starts to fray, you may need another wash.

Step 2: Trace around your hands on a piece of paper, leaving about a centimetre around the edge. You will only need one template for each hand, as your jumper has two sides. Cut out both templates.

Step 3: Lay the jumper down in front of you. Using the templates, work out where you are going to cut the mittens from. For mine, I lined the templates up along the bottom edge of the jumper. This way, the pattern around the bottom edge became the wrists of my mittens!

Step 4: Pin the templates to the jumper, making sure you pin right through the front and back of the jumper. As your jumper has a front and back, each template will produce both sides of the mitten.

Step 5: Cut around the templates, then sew around the edges. I hand sewed a running stitch which I left on the outside of the mittens (I think it looks cute like that), but you may like the use a machine or a different stitch. As the wool has been felted you may need a larger needle, as it can sometimes be difficult to cut or sew through.

Try them on, and you’re done!! The only downside to this project is any wasted water if you have to shrink the jumper yourself. Luckily, mine was pre-ruined.

I hope that made sense! If you’re confused, shoot me a comment, and I’ll try my best to help. Otherwise, I’m sure some talented person on the web has thought of this before me, so Google should do the trick.

Hopefully I shall talk to you soon! Stay warm!

xS

These are a few of my favourite things

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long lovelies, but work is really getting the better of me. With exams fast approaching I barely have time to breathe! But while I procrastinate over my next writing folio (which I've been doing since the Easter break... its due Monday and I've barely started!) I just had to show you some of the high points of April! My favourite finds of last month! I hope you'll love them as much as I do.



I bought this lovely dress from an op shop for $15. It was a little pricey for me as far as op shops go, and I had to alter it a fair bit (which I think may have been a mistake... I think I took it up too high), but I love it ever so much! The material is so cute! It also looks lovely as a blouse under a high waisted skirt, and I've worn in to work like that a couple of times. I've been aching to wear it more but its been so cold lately...

I found this jumper a couple of weeks ago in some of my grandma's old clothes and I'm utterly obsessed with it. When I showed it to my sister however, she looked at me incredulously and asked, 'Don't you think you're getting a bit too kitsch?'. So I was fairly worried about wearing it out, but when I took it cautiously to uni last week I got a lot of compliments. Some of them may have been sarcastic... but I'm taking them as compliments. I'm so happy to have found it just in time for winter, even if it as a little confusing (see that leopard print on the shoulders? Thats vinyl! On black velvet!).

And lastly, my fabulous skates! (I'm getting better!)

But now, I should probably go back to writing my stupid story... Thanks for all your comments on my poem by the way! I submitted it with another I wrote later which I think works much better (I'm actually kind of proud of it) and I did really well. As well as I could wish for!

xS

Roller Baby

1. weheartit.com 2. Eleanor Hardwicke via weheartit.com

Whenever you have somewhere to go, an empty road, or a temptingly smooth stretch of footpath ahead of you, don't you just wish you had wheels on the bottoms of your shoes, so you could just fly down?

I bought my first pair of roller skates yesterday, from a lovely little second hand store I had never noticed before, and I'm so incredibly excited. I had been pining after such a gratuitous perchase for almost a year, and scouring op shops for relatively inexpensive pairs, but to no avail. I had nearly given up, but these lovelies were just sitting hidden in a corner of the shop, begging me to take them home.

For some reason, roller skates have always reminded me of the Baby-Sitters Club, which my mother never let me read as a kid, and which, thanks to a lovely article in Frankie, I first read on holiday in January, so these last couple of months have been rife with 90's themed discoveries (a decade I generally hate). I spent most of the afternoon today attempting to skate (which is suprisingly difficult), mostly clinging pathetically to the arm of my company. I think he was pretty fed up by the end of it, but it was a lovely day, and all in all we had a lot of fun.

The skates arent your traditional red-and-white-boot type, but are designed to strap onto the bottom of your shoes... so I can take a chance and wear them with flats... or pop them in my bag for the next beautiful open stretch.,..

xS

PS. I'm so sorry I havent updated in so long, I've been so terribly busy, I promise to update more often now I have some more time on my hands.

PPS Happy Easter for Sunday!