Change of Season

Don't you just love a change of season!  I've been backwards and forwards with winter-to-summer and returning from fall-to-spring next month... it doesn't rain, it pours.  The key is to layer.

Here are a couple of outfits from Paul Smith A/W10 that caught my eye:

Death Comes Knocking

The Fortune Teller by theblackapple

Death Comes Knocking

As Death he rose to greet me

I turned, looked back.

He beckoned.

Fashion vs Style

Fashion can be bought. Style one must possess.
Edna Woolman Chase, Vogue Editor-in-Chief 1914-1952

Dear Rivington

I was wandering through the Lower East Side last night and stumbled upon Dear Rivington (I took this picture of their superb window display). 

I am taken by their style, it is so close to my own and brings back fond memories of my costume student days. 

Adventure after adventure in NYC... mb

Lashings of Leather

Who knew making things out of leather would be so easy?  I've spent the last two days on a handbag making course to see how I'd like it, well... do I ever!  These are pics of the bag I completed using all sorts of tools and techniques.  The textured leather flap over the front is glorious.

Can't wait to get moving on new designs - although not for another five weeks, vacation starts tomorrow (New York Fashion Week here I come!!) - will have plenty of fresh inspiration. mb

Print, Print... and Repeat.

I've always been fascinated by prints - it's still nearly impossible to drag me away from a fabric store - but how to preserve them?

Here are a couple of experiments of mine, sure to become birthday presents in coming weeks.  They're antique fabric print designs, transferred using watery black ink on artist tissue paper.  The effect is an antique look, as the paper dries with a slight ruffle and it's light weight means it absorbs the colour of the paper or board behind it.  More to come...

Oh, and yes these are new shelves in my revamped workroom!!  mb

Change of Season's on the Way...

Lady in Red

I've just added the last of my leather handbags for sale on Etsy, it's a gorgeous bright red, like 1950s lipstick.  The lining is from a local designer's end cuts, it's beautiful.  Last chance! mb

Par Avion

Who knew it would take three months to finish my workspace?!  I have a new wall, new paint, a shiny charcoal coat on the old wooden floor, mountains of storage shelves and a cunning floorspace setup.  Unpacking the last bits'n'pieces now, ready for action when I return from New York in October.

In the meantime, here's a little something I've been snapping up of late - custom stamps.  I bought a bookplate stamp for my 3 year old nephew so all his books are named in style, a beautifully stylized "Ex Libris [your name here]" for a friend's birthday and a sweet adaptation of a vintage "Air Mail / Par Avion" for my own letters (pictured above).  These were purchased via Etsy.

More from me soon, I promise!

Temptations in Blue

Change of season = time to shop... top of my list is a Karen Walker bag, great to travel with.  Also a couple of her gorgeous silk frill pieces:

To Knit or Not to Knit?

I first studied knitted apparel, prior to my fashion / costume degree and have recently been missing my old knitting machine.  Of course, have just finalised my new workroom plans today, sans knitting machine... but I think I need one.  Perhaps it's the weather cooling, or perhaps I'm simply lost without it.  So time for some slight rearranging then it's all hands on deck, watch this space. mb

Tulle and Lace

I've just returned from my holiday in New Zealand... time to get back to it.  Here's another of my notebook pages while I get busy in the workroom:

Treasury Mad

So I've been going crazy with the new Treasury East on Etsy.  What a great way to 'filter' the shopping experience for other users and let's face it - it's just addictive to page through (kind of like sitting down to read magazines).

I've curated the following... grab a cuppa:

• Industria 
• A Rose by Any Other Name...
• Poetry in Motion
• Tea in Style
• Could This Be Love?
• Ladies a Plate
• The Pony Express
• Gold Treasure Treasury
• DEATH
• Handmade Home

As Featured in Handmade Spark

 Thrilled to be featured in Handmade Spark today! See #6, below:

Handmade Home

Check out the list I just created on Etsy: Handmade Home.

Ideas

Always be passionate about ideas and communicating those ideas and discoveries to others in the things you make.  Charles Eames

High Impact Easy Dress-ing

Keeping in Simple

There is time for work and time for love.  That leaves no other time.  Coco Chanel

Workroom Revamp

I've decided if I'm spending this much time in my studio, I need to enjoy looking at it... so I'm completely revamping my workroom.  Starting with walls and floors, then moving to storage and office.  Here are some design spaces I like, for a kick start:

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Ponder This:

Only the individual taste, in the end, can truly create style or fashion, since it is not concerned with following in the wake of others.  Hence, whatever an individual taste may choose, be it a stepladder or a wicker basket, it must always be based on deep personal choice, a spiritual need that truly assesses and gives value to that particular ladder or basket.  The beauty of these things is somehow transmitted through the personality of the one who chooses.  It is in our selection, after all, that we betray our deepest selves, and the individualist can make us see the objects of his choice with new eyes, with his eyes.

 Thank you, Cecil Beaton

What to Pack for a Holiday

Tweed Through the Years

Who knew a Tweed celebration could look so good?

Love is Like...

...a red red rose:

Who Needs a Holiday?

Next best thing to really being there... I've just listed more large vintage scarf cushions, these are souvenirs from Belgium, Switzerland, Mallorca and Djibouti.  Now where's my suitcase?

Escenas Flamencas

I love this one - large vintage scarf cushion made from a Spanish souvenir.

Flying High

This one's made from a retro silk Oroton scarf designed for Qantas airlines, it looks great with the Vera silk scarf cushion.

Souvenir de Paris... and Alaska

The past little while has been dedicated to transforming my scarf collection into cushions... this is just the tip of the iceberg - Paris and Alaska.  More to come in the next few days (here's a sneak preview):

Standout Comfort Style

Tee Dress from Marc Jacobs Panel

I was looking through my fabrics yesterday and found three Marc Jacobs printed cotton single-knit panels that I bought in Wellington.  Have been meaning to whip up some oversized t-shirts so here is my first run... I'll be travelling with a pile of these wash-n-wear gems next trip.  mb

Sleeves to Remember

The Great Kaftan Experiment

I've been throwing together kaftans for myself over the past 6 months or so and now I'm looking to perfect my pattern to start producing them for others.  There's a rack of beautiful luxury silks I'm working my way through... here's the first one, more to come.  mb 

Not for the Faint at Heart

More Workspace...

 

 

I've dotted photos and trinkets around my workspace.  These are some shots from my New Zealand costume days... a play on Victorian undergarments using modern fabrics. mb