Forget Me Not

The other week, Morgan and I stumbled upon a little boutique/cafe called Forget me not. Shops like this are quite common in Australia, but here in France this was quite a rare find. We shared a pot of organic rose tea and had lovely chats about the world with Marie, the owner. If you're ever in Biarritz, try and find it, you'll love it.

-kim Forget Me Not
2, rue Simon Etcheverry
64200 Biarritz.

i made: man shorts

One of my goals for this year included making more clothes for Morgan. The weather has been starting to warm up here, so I got Morgan to design some shorts for me to make. I used the Burda Style Jochen pattern as the base and i'm pretty happy how they turned out. They are a bit baggier than I planned, and I think later I will bring them in a little. The best thing is Morgan likes them and wears them all the time, so that is all that matters.
-kim

i made: a circle skirt

The other week I picked up this beautiful circle table cloth at a little second-hand store. I loved the fabric and wanted to make it into something I could wear. This is a really simple sewing project and one you can do with very little time and resources.
1. Fold the table cloth in half and cut out a semi-circle from the top. This hole will be for your waist. Make sure it is big enough to fit over your head or hips.
2. Cut a piece of elastic that fits around your waist or hips (depending where you want it to sit)
3. Secure the elastic in a circle and then sew that onto the top of your skirt. You will need to stretch the elastic as you sew it so it contracts with the fabric when released.
4. Wear your skirt with pride knowing you made it.
enjoy
-kim

i made: a red dress

So about 5 months ago a friend of mine moved back to Canada, and was clearing out her sowing gear and so I snatched up this beautiful 1950's pattern. I have been working on this dress on and off since then, and it has been a long time coming, but this week I finally finished it.



I learnt a lot making this dress, and am very happy with the result. There something special about making something from scratch, it's very rewarding. I wore this when we celebrated Christmas this week with my family.







enjoy.
-kim

ready for winter

As we have been sorting through our clothes and deciding what we keep and what has to go, I have been getting more and more excited about living in the northern hemisphere, in a place where it actually gets cold. I love winter and layering up, but growing up in north Queensland where jumper weather only lasts a month or so, I am so excited for the new fashion opportunities. More than anything I am excited to buy some knee high boots and coats. I have never owned boots other than ankle ones and brought my first coat this year to get ready for the trip.

Here is some fashion inspiration I have been storing on pinterest for when I get live in a winter wonderland.
-kim

Source: None via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: ravelry.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: None via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: None via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: None via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: None via morgan & kim on Pinterest

Source: None via morgan & kim on Pinterest

recycle: wedding dress

Last week I got a lovely email that brought a big smile to my face, and I thought I would share it with you. You see, when Morgan and I first got engaged, we decided we wanted our wedding not to be a big huzzah of just one day, but to make sure as many things as possible, were able to be used again some how. That was kinda easy for some things like our fabric bunting decorations, the tea cups, black boards and some of our clothes, but one thing I always hoped was able to be used again was my Wedding dress.



I loved that dress, well I still do, and so when I saw a friend of mine, who I knew had a similar style to me, got engaged I knew I should offer her the dress. She loved it and she sent me some pictures last week of her wedding day wearing my old dress. She altered it a little to bring her own spin, and don't they look amazing. I found it so incredible to see this dress be re-used again and for it not to be a one day dress.




I guess I want to encourage and challenge those of you who have been, or are about to be married, think about what you can do with the things you make/use for your wedding. That dress hanging in your cupboard could be perfect for someone else to enjoy on their wedding day.
-kim

i made: jeans

Time has flown and it seems its been a couple of months since I last did a diy post. I thought I would try something different to get me back in the swing of things, so I'm going to share a little tip of one of my favourite types of sewing.



I love to buy second hand clothes from an op shop and then revamp them so they suit me. Morgan loves skinny leg jeans which are kinda hard to come by in an op shop, so he started buying any jeans that fit him in the waist, and then I just make the legs custom to what he likes. This is super easy to do, and I'm gonna give you a couple of ways to do this.

::ONE::One may to make your own custom jeans, is to try them on inside out, and pin then to the cut you like. This is hard if you are doing this for yourself and you may need some help from a friend.

::TWO::An easier way to do this, especially if you are making them for yourself is to lay a pair of jeans you like the cut of, on top of the jeans you are trying to fix. This way you can just trace the cut of the jeans and sew them to the same size. Once you have done this, you can try them on and see if you need to change anything.



TIPS
- There are special sewing needles for Denim. For years I just used the same needle for everything, but would always snap needles when I was fixing jeans. It's well worth swapping needles when you're switching to sewing denim.

- If you don't have an overlocker (like me), you need to reinforce the stitch so it is strong. Its good to do a straight stitch down the length, then running parallel down the edge of the fabric neaten it up with a zig zag stitch.

- It is best to make the adjustments (unless you're doing some major work) to the inside seem of the leg. This allows you to change just one seem, and correct the length, width and crutch all at once.

If you have any questions just ask..

Oh and don't forget to enter our Giveaway. You go in the draw to win a lovely collection of goodies (camera, book, beautiful coffee, earrings and much more), and there are a heap of ways you can win, so get cracking.
-kim

consume

Source: matchbookmag.tumblr.com via morgan & kim on Pinterest

I am back from a big week in Sydney and it is delightful to be home.

It is always nice to get away to a city and see many different things that you can't see in the area where we are currently living. I love the fashion and style of people in cities, and variety of cultures and foods you can find. I spent most of my time last week eating in china town, and looking at super cute japanese stores. This was lots of fun, but was a challenge for me to stay strong and avoid buying lots of things I don't really need.

See, as an attempt to live a sustainable lifestyle, I have pretty strict personal requirements on any purchases I make. This was really hard to stick to while I was in Sydney. I saw so many people wearing really cool things, and had a bit of free time, which was easily spent strolling around the shops. I found so many things I wanted, and believed would make my life better if I brought them (I'm a sucker for good merchandising), but alas I really knew they would not. They were all cheap imported items, which would not last, and were most likely made in bad conditions. I do not want to support that but buying these items.

So I thought I would share a three of my simple requirements I have for whenever I want to buy something...

1. Always try and find it second hand first! This is always my first point of call, to reuse something already created. Whether from op shops, a clothing swap, ebay, or if I can source it from friends.

2. Is it ethically made? Buying fair trade/sweatshop free products is well worth the added costs. There is nothing better than knowing the people who made your things didn't risk their life doing so.

3. Is it build to last? Buying things new isn't bad, as long as it is going to last the distance. Quality made items, constructed with care are so worthwhile to invest in. I buy many of my shoes brand new, but try to select ones that are going to be worth while.

I would love to know any other things you like to keep in mind when your making your purchases. What helps you make the decision on what you buy?
-kim

ps. how amazing was morgans post while I was away. He sure is quality.

winter time

Its pretty freezing cold riding on my scooter to work and back, pretty glad I have sweet glasses to keep the icy wind out of my eyes.
-kim

april challenge pt2.

So, this weekend just gone, I actually finished another dress, and fortunately this time i also actually took a before photo (don't mind the crazy face)... I got this dress from a clothes swap about a year ago and loved the print but thought the dress looked like it was from a polish concentration camp. It took me a while to work out what I wanted to do with it, but I am happy with the result. All I have done is brought up the waist with a new waist band, given it new sleeve cuffs and a collar. This probably took me about 6 hours all up, but I had a few complications which dragged it out. This was my first Peter Pan collar which I messed up a little, but I rekon next time I'll get it perfect. Enjoy.
-Kim






finally the handsome photographer...

april challenge pt1.

So, as a result of my April Challenge to work through all the clothes waiting to be sowed in my art room, I am finally making progress and taking photos. Unfortunately in all the excitement of sowing this dress, I forgot to take a before photo [woops], so you just have to imagine what it looked like.


I brought this dress for $2 at an op shop because I was instantly in love with the fabric print. If you can't tell in the pictures, there are parrots all over this dress and they make me smile. When I brought it, this dress was really wide and frumpy with a drop waist, not really my style or suits my body shape, so I took to it with some scissors and a sowing machine and this is what i achieved.




I am so happy with how it turned out, and have been wearing this dress so much since I finished it. It was so easy, you can do it too. Hope this inspires you to take to the sowing machine and make old clothes great again this weekend. With all the public holidays here because of Easter i'm going to be sowing even more, so I should have more things to share next week. Enjoy...
-kim

ps. what im wearing: pack brixton hat [gift from derek], opshop dress, belt and bag, found sunnies, and whittner shoes from dfo.

i made: pretty jeans

So, a couple of months ago I was at a cafe, and noticed the waitress had these cute black jeans had this great lace on the back pockets. I just made such an impression on me. The simple little detail that made the jeans so much more than ordinary. Ever since I have been wanting to do that to my own black (hand me down from my old housemate) jeans and bring a little shazzam.

All you need to do this is some sewing utensils (I used my machine and hand sowed), some lace or ribbon and some jeans. Crazy huh!



All you have to do is cut the lace/ribbon to the length of your jean pockets. Make sure you fold over the cut ends and sew it down so they don't fray. I did two layers of ribbon as I think that makes it nice and effective. I machine sewed the top one, and hand stitched the ends down. The second layer is a little tricky to maneuver to sew with a machine, so I just hand sewed that one.



There you have it... a little bit of fresh life in your jeans.. If you have a go, please do share pictures. I would love to see your work.



-kim

ps. Don't forget to join us and play "Pay it Forward". If you don't have a blog don't worry you can still play, just ignore that. We can just send you a little treat.

i made: coffee date dress

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, and finally with the post Christmas holidays i have found some time to write it.. so here goes..

I made the coffee date dress from Burda Style. I am always trying to be ethical in what I wear and have been trying more and more to make my own clothes from recycled materials. Sorry about the crazy photos... they were done in a rush before I ran off to work. This is a sweet pretty easy pattern, which creates a very nice shape. I actually didn't put a zip in this as I can just fit it on over my head, so very simple.

I used an old bed valance which I found at an op shop for a couple of dollars. I love that this is a completely recycled outfit, and cost next to nothing except for my time. I liked the gray fabric, but it was a pretty bad decision for this dress. Because I made it mostly to wear to work and the fabric is cotton it reacts to water and goes dark. So if you spill some water on you it is VERY visible which is not good with high pressure taps in the bathroom at my work. I quite enjoy the zig-zag frills on the front, simple but effective.

I like that I can try things and learn from them. I still wear this dress, but it was a good learning curve. My friend Talia tried to make this dress too, but ended up making something even better. I recommend this pattern for you to use, its a lovely dress.
enjoy. kim