Maisy Brown Repro Retro

2009-09-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

I'm a hopeless dogspotter (that's like a trainspotter, but dogs instead of trains, obviously). I'm a nerd for dogs. Here are my two pooches, Australian red heelers (cattle dogs), Buster and Maisy:

Red heelers do resemble dingoes, some more, some less, but my puppy-fox Maisy often looks like a fox:

She climbs, pounces and grooms her face with her paws like a little wild thing. Here she is on the kitchen windowsill. It took us ages to figure out how she'd keep suddenly appearing in the living room after having been put outside, then one day we caught her in the act:

While I normally babble about my sewing projects, I thought today I'd showcase a few very cute, very doggy creations offered by some very talented etsy sellers.

The first photo, above, is "He Thinks He's People", by Jtnee; a tiny, comical sculpture (oh can't we all relate) which you can find in her etsy store, Jtnee.etsy.com, along with this 'don't mess with me while I'm busy' poodle:

She sculpts these tiny masterpieces by hand, from polymer clay and wire - wow!

Look at this gorgeous embroidered cuff featuring scotty dogs, made from re-purposed vintage linens, from RemnantsJewelry.etsy.com:

One of my favourite etsy artists is ElleJW (ElleJW.etsy.com) who renders doggies, especially, in the most wonderfully whimsical manner:

Reminds me of a greyhound I once met that had an overbite - adorable!

Add two cute things together - a vintage-styled apron, and pooch-printed fabric - and you get this delightful creation, by formerprincess (formerprincess.etsy.com):

And finally, if your faithful companion ever feels like taking a holiday from the couch, how about this great "extra tough" dog bed cover:

Don't tell me you don't want to kiss that nose!!

The Roman Holiday Summer Ensemble: a sunsuit with matching overskirt

2009-06-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

Often when I make a garment I'll have a particular person in mind, usually a favourite movie star, and it's almost like I imagine I'm designing an outfit for her to wear in a particular movie. I can see Audrey Hepburn wearing my latest two-piece ensemble in Sabrina, or better still, as she was in Roman Holiday, zipping along through the streets of Roma on a Vespa, not needing to worry about the wind flipping up her skirt, as she's wearing a full-piece sunsuit underneath! lol

I'm really pleased with the result; I took care with cutting and piecing the double-border print fabric to make the most of the vintage-inspired ric rac stripes and cherry toss print:

The style is very easy to wear and very flattering - the high-waisted sunsuit shorts are not skin tight but slightly A-line, and a slightly more modest length, too (3 1/2" inleg):

I'll be making more of these soon! I have some fab Hawaiin-style hibiscus print fabric which would be great made into a 1950s bubble-leg playsuit with matching draped sarong skirt!

SUMMER LOVING: MAISY BROWN ROMPERS, SUNSUITS AND PLAYSUITS!

2009-06-16T00:25:00.000-07:00

I've gone a bit mad over rompers lately - you know, those very very cute, very retro-looking all-in-one cotton shorts suits? Here are some of the designs I've run up, in different types of fabrics and with different styles of legs, some high-waisted and others empire waist. The one thing they all have in common is most are made from woven, not stretch fabric (my attempt to be faithful to the rompers of the 30s, 40s and 50s). There'll be more on the way, including more one- and two-piece suits that can be worn swimming!

How I love polkadots! "Minnie", made from stretch fabric:

The latest plaid romper, for sale on etsy:

Polkadot romper #1:

Polkadot romper #2, doubles as a swimsuit:

My own batik butterfly romper that I wore all summer a couple of years ago:

A cherry and ric-rac print sunsuit (and matching skirt) soon to be listed on etsy:

le Sac dress

2009-03-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

My partner and I were invited to an engagement party so I decided to run up something new to wear. As I didn't have much time due to being busy with a wedding dress deadline, I decided to make one of my le Sac dresses, as they are pretty quick and easy. I had bought a great pair of satin shoes with a sort of tuxedo ruffle down the front of them, so I decided to use that as inspiration for the dress. So, I made the dress the day before the party, and here's the result: a pic of me wearing the new dress and matching wristlet, just before we left for the party:

The pleats, or rolls on the bodice echo the rolls on the shoes; from the waist I allowed the satin to just fall, loose, to then be re-attached on the inside of the deep hem. The matching wrap or obi-style belt threads beneath the wide strip, then crosses over in back to come around and tie in front at the waist. I'm really pleased with the result and will definitely be making more like it!
And I'm completely mad about the warm aqua-coloured fabric, which appears to be a linen-viscose or linen-rayon blend, or similar, with a wonderful sheen and grain to it. I'm glad I bought 10 metres of it!

The Most Beautiful Lounge in the Universe

2009-02-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

The Most Beautiful Lounge in the Universe, at johnnyvintage.etsy.com
I am suffering some serious Lounge Envy. I cannot get this wonderful mid-century aqua lounge off my mind or out of my greedy little heart. Of course, I don't have a spare $4000 lying around, and if I did, well, I'd hate to think how much it would cost to get it shipped out in a container from the US. So, rather than futilely hankering after it from afar and leaving it at that, I'm going to use it as the inspiration for my Lounge Room Make-Over. So unbeknownst to my partner, I am completely re-decorating our living area, and it's all down to The Most Beautiful Lounge in The Universe. I'll blame johnnyvintage when questioned.
Re-decorating in this case does not mean getting in an expert and paying squillions to have someone "do" my loungeroom. It means painting some bits and pieces to give them a facelift and a different feel, making new cushion and divan covers from some fab (yet economically viable) new or thrifted fabric, and picking up a few bits and pieces off ebay and etsy.

I already have a great faux leather 4 seater couch and a matching chair and pouffe that I got from Vinnies for $60. Here it is, here:

I'm going to have a theme of 1940s Hollywood Regency style - it has echoes of the previous 1930s style (sleek, low, a little ritzy, faux bamboo, metallics) but is also tipping over into the coming mid-century style. I have these two great gold damask mid-century chairs, only $40 from Salvos, what a great buy:

As we are renting, the curtains and swags pose a problem. They are made from a blue fabric which is neither dusty enough to be wedgwood blue, nor interesting enough to be much of anything else. They are purpose made for the space - 3 large floor to ceiling windows - so would be expensive to replace (and hard to store!). I'll meet that bridge when I come to it.

I've bought some wonderful cut chenille in powder blue from Spotlight (on sale, naturellment), which has an over-sized Damask pattern, with which I'll cover the divan (although it's huge and takes up too much room, we'll never get rid of it, it's so squishy and comfy for watching TV). Here's the fabric:

Then, I'll add cushions in peacock fabric and silk in various shades of aqua and blue:

I have a beautiful very 1940s convex mirror on hold for me, so Hollywood, from hellovictory.etsy.com:

I'm trying to figure out how to work in my starbusrst sconces and clock:

Then, finally, a few mid-century cachivachis (bits n pieces) made from brass or chrome, or wood:

(antelope head available at objectsinspace.etsy.com - but don't buy it, I want it!!)

This won't be a project I get finished in only a few weeks - my sewing workload is too heavy for that. I'll post photos when it's done!

HYDRANGEA PRINT BOMBSHELL DRESS with 3D SWEETHEART PETAL BUST

2009-01-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest creation - and so far, my absolute favourite!
(Please click on the images for greater detail)

I adore hydrangea flowers, and have several large bushes where I live. Of course, they are suffering in our drought. But still, the lush blue-purple fairly vibrates with intensity! I think of them as a very "old" flower, rather 'olde worlde' and nostalgic. So when I came across this wonderful cotton fabric on-line, I had to have it! It turns out it sells out rather quickly, so I had to wait to get my hands on some. Of course, having yards of fabric mailed over from the US is not a cheap process, so to begin with I bought just enough for two dresses (or so I thought).

I took my time deciding what to do with it - I almost couldn't bare to cut it! But then I came across some artificial hydrangea flowers when out browsing a craft store one day, and I had a 'Eureka!' moment. I knew what I had to do. And I had the perfect olive vintage taffeta with which to pair the lush hydrangea and raspberry print cotton.

So, it's a high-waisted 8-gore skirt attached to a sweetheart-shaped bodice, with matching bolero. The tiny jacket is rather structured and square shouldered, giving a small nod to the 1940s shoulder-line rather than the typical, more rounded shoulder of a 1950s bolero. The skirt has a 141" hem sweep - so it turned out I only had enough to make one dress after all! So, thus far, it's OOAK (one of a kind), in a size ML. It's available in my etsy store! More pics below.

SUMMER FUN DRESS - Kaffe Fasset fabric

2009-01-04T02:01:00.001-08:00

I very rarely get to make myself anything - or more accurately, get to make and KEEP anything - but I just ran myself up a new sundress and I will definitely be keeping this one!
It's made from my all-time fave Kaffe Fasset fabric, Flower Baskets in duck egg blue (sadly the colours are really flattened by the flash), a fabric which I'm pretty sure is out of print. The pattern is a mish-mash of a couple of different styles that I threw together, but is basically an empire-line tulip skirt style.

Okay, yes, it's quilting fabric, but who cares? I use drapery and furnishing fabric and all sorts of things to make clothes (please see my previous post about garments made from table linen).

SHE WALKED DOILY DOWN THE AISLE...

2008-12-11T13:53:00.001-08:00

My daughter and I loved the comedy show 'Will and Grace'; in one episode Jack was attending a spelling bee and got the word 'doily' to spell...which stumped him, but then he had the bright idea 'Oh, I know! Like: "he walked doily down the street!"' and did a mincy little pose to illustrate. We all fell about.

That phrase has stayed with us ever since, especially because I do actually have a thing for doilies, (I collect them in fact, along with vintage tablecloths) so when I recently made a natural linen wedding dress - decorated with antique doilies and with the bodice made from a vintage 50s-60s barkcloth tablecloth - I just had to dub it "She Walked Doily Down the Aisle'. If you've seen the episode, you'll appreciate the joke! It's a strapless, pull-on dress, boned for support and elasticated both at the waist and across the top back edge. The skirt is very tapered with a luxuriously swishy fishtail.

Antique hand-tatted trim and tablecloth applique roses

Huge over-sized chintz roses in gorgeous shades of coral, peach, pink, yellow and cream are dotted here and there:

Don't forget you need to have an impressive back view as well when you walk down the aisle - this beautiful, upcycled vintage 60s silk scarf tie certainly does the trick! I cut it to make the most of the design and the delicious fall of the silk. The colors perfectly match the roses in the barkcloth tablecloth bodice:

For me, the piece de resistance is the wonderful antique lace adorning the cummerbund, which is very special: it dates back to the civil war period. Please click on the pic in order to zoom in and see more detail. The 3D butterfly, which I made from a very old doily (!) is a perfect finish to this very feminine, vintage look:

You'll find this one of a kind dress in my etsy store (please click on the etsy store pics to the left). I'm keen to make more of these so if you wish to discuss an original, custom-made dress in a particular colorway or materials, don't hesitate to contact me:
shayne_binqi@yahoo.com.au

Tag - I'm it

2008-12-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

PetaPledger - gorgeous girl and clever seamstress and designer (PetaPledger.etsy.com) - tagged me so here goes....
Here are the rules:
* Mention the rules on your blog.
* Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
* Tag six others
* Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they are tagged.

Six Things About Me

1. I've twiddled my hair since I was a little girl (usually my fringe)

2. I have an unhealthy relationship with WillyWonka's Neon Nerds and am not allowed to have them anymore because I compulsively eat them until i make myself ill and my teeth ache

3. I speak Spanish with a Uruguayan accent, having originally learned it from a Uruguayan family (a bit like learning English with a Welsh accent or something)

4. I collect old editions of Dickens novels, teapots, and more recently, vintage Bambi and fawn figurines.

5. If I were a car, I'd be an E-type Jaguar:

6. Top Fave songs are Makes me Wanna Holler (Inner City Blues) by Marvin Gaye, A Tisket A Tasket by Ella Fitzgerald, My Funny Valentine by Elvis Costello. I'm also obsessed with Burt Bacharach.

The Academy of Gentle Arts

2008-11-26T17:20:00.001-08:00

What a gorgeous shop name! It conjures up so many wonderful images, doesn't it? Old-fashioned, charming, delicate creations spring to mind, made by fragile-boned ladies who most likely wear bonnets when they are out of doors, to protect their delicate complexions! The first lovely thing I came across in this sweet etsy shop was this charming, evocative mobile:

It's called the Homing Pigeon Mobile, and is completely hand-cut by Madeleine, the store owner. In her etsy store you will find babies' rattles, children's clothes and rag dolls, and paper mobiles.

I was so taken by Madeleine's style that I asked her to write a quick version of the etsy interview used on the front page for featured sellers, and here it is, in her own words:

My name is Madeleine, I live and work in Melbourne.

I mostly just create things. for a day job I work as a model and prop maker in the film industry, I also am an animator and sometimes director and art director. I also do lots of gardening and cooking and making quince jelly when its the season.

I have always made things I guess I just like using my hands, I became focused on having a creative career once I decided 10 years as a waitress was enough and quit vowing never to return. I never did, thank goodness. Sometimes I do get what I call "secretary envy" where I wish for a stable job where I know what is going to happen but it soon passes.

I have a studio in my home its also our storage room so sometimes I fight for space with a drum kit. I tend to end up getting things out of the studio and working all over the house no matter how much I try not to. I do a lot of thinking and sketch down ideas when they come to make at a later date. I tend to want to do everything all at once and start with cutting things from paper and the next minute the sewing machine is out, and then I am thinking of doing some woodwork and then glass etching and suddenly I have to bring it all back to just the idea in front of me and get that finished.

I guess the handmade possession I most cherish is my home, I know that is a rather large object. It is so cosy and nice and its where I get so much done. I used to travel a lot and never feel settled and now I do and I really like it.

My favourite books are anything by Ian McEwan, especially Saturday
Most things by Murakami except Norwegian woods which annoyed me.
Annie Proulx books.
An Atlas
My book from 1835 called The Sunday Companion which is a compilation of weekly newsletters full of bizarre tips and information.

I love a lot of different music at the moment i'm loving
i=it
Luluc
Andrew Bird
Oliver Mann
and
Listening to RRR public radio

websites I check regularly are
Small magazine www.smallmagazine.net
The Lort Smith lost dogs home (we are thinking of getting a dog) www.lortsmith.com
a blog called mint http://www.mintdesignblog.com/

In ten years I'd like to have some chooks and some children and a full and busy house and to be using my hands to make things I love.

www.gentlearts.etsy.com
www.academyofgentlearts.com

From Doily to Babydoll

2008-08-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

New from Old - from Table to Wardrobe
I LOVE old linen, tablecloths, doilies (or d'Oyley, as one traditional spelling has it), dresser cloths and teatowels. I have a great fondness for the kitsch, over-blown rose print tablecloths from the 50s and 60s. I adore hand-tatted edgings, cross-stitch motifs - especially on gingham - and cutwork. It goes without saying that vintage Irish linen cloth, adorned or unadorned, is a vintage treasure I'm always on the look-out for.
When I come across these beauties while hunting through the op shops, I always snap them up to take home to add to my ever-growing stash, not with the intent of dressing my table with them; no, I think they'd be much more beautiful worn on the body.

I've made a number of clothes from vintage table linen. My first experiment was this sweet A-line tablecloth over-skirt with batiste petticoat:

I'm quite a stickler for detail and accuracy, so I like to ensure accuracy of cutting and piecing in order to make the most of the features of the found linen. And as most tablecloths are very symmetrical in their embroidery design, my arrangement of the embroidery is always accurately symmetrical as well.

Another favourite garment, or rather the garment made from my favourite, snow-white Irish linen tablecloth which featured cut-work and a 5" deep hand-tatted edging, is this flapper inspired tea-gown:

It's very drop-waisted, with the skirt coming off the top of the thighs, and very deeply-scooped in the back. Because the tablecloth was square, the shape of the skirt emerged as a delightful hanky-hem shape (I could not bare to part with one inch of the gorgeous linen!):

I peppered the front of the dress with handmade cotton doilies, cutting out the fabric behind them so only the sheer layer of fine batiste covered the skin beneath.

Here's a cute pin-up style dress I made from a 1960s circular breakfast cloth:

Very old, hand-embroidered doilies from the art deco era inspired this babydoll top, which I made from vintage, unused headcloth:

I made two other babydoll dresses by converting pretty skirts into dresses and adorning them with vintage crochet doilies and whatnot:

This wrap dress is made from a 1960s-70s seersucker tablecloth:

I hadn't realized just how many garments I'd made from vintage table linen! I'll save the rest for another post, and finish off here with one more: a lovely dress I made from both a sheet AND a tablecloth, lol:

Tuxedo Dress, V2

2008-08-14T00:19:00.001-07:00

I'd just finished a tuxedo dress that was to be worn by a maid of honour at a wedding, and while I'm usually all tuxedoed out after making a deadline, due to the amount of delicate and tiny hand-sewing involved, this time I was feeling as if I were on a roll and ready to get straight back to the machine and make another! Normally I offer the Tuxedo Dress as a custom service, but there's nothing like making a pretty dress just because you feel like it! So I did. I cut it out on Sunday while the family was away and worked on it for two days straight. It was very satisfying and I'm happy with the result:

I originally dubbed this one 'Sabrina', for Audrey Hepburn in the movie, Sabrina, but then it occurred to me it really was very Grace Kelly in style, too: cool, prim, pretty, with a sort of 'slow burn' effect imparted by the pretty, but pretty sexy, sheerness of the bodice. I started browsing Grace Kelly photos as I had a hankering to see once again the wonderful black and white swimsuit with matching wrap skirt and huge black straw hat she wore walking through the hotel foyer in To Catch a Thief. If you've seen the film you'll know the ensemble I mean, it's spectacular. I couldn't find a photo of that costume, but I DID find this pic:

Now don't tell me you can't see an uncanny resemblance between Grace Kelly here, and Nicole Kidman?? I suppose the similarity has been mentioned before, but it had never occurred to me. They both have that cool, restrained type of beauty, and finely drawn, elegant features. Not to mention perfect physiques for high fashion (I almost wish Nicole Kidman had chosen modeling as a profession)! Perhaps Ms Kidman seems less severe and aloof than Grace Kelly often seemed (or was cast) in her roles, but both share an elusive quality on-screen, and great femininity of style.

Both women are renowned for inspiring high-fashion designers with their femininity and grace.
Please pop in to my etsy store:
www.MaisyBrownReproRetro.etsy.com
to see more photos of this dress!

A Wonderful Bird

2008-08-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning at 6.30 and was trundling about the kitchen making my daughter's lunch, when she suddenly exclaimed 'Mum, look at that bird!". We ran to the large glass sliding door and looked out: a medium sized bird was flitting about the greenery around the chicken coop. It had THE most amazing colouring I've ever seen: deep glossy black body and tail, and neon egg-yolk yellow head and wings. It was an amazing sight when it opened its wings to fly, as while many birds have colour underneath the wings which may only be glimpsed in flashes, this bird's wings were solid, bright yellow, both front and back. We were very excited to see another bird with the same colouring join the first - we immediately thought it must be two males, rather than a mated pair (in the brightly coloured species, usually the females have the drab colouring). Juveniles, perhaps? Could there be a nesting family nearby? Then my dog barked - and they flitted off into the trees, and, despite their spectacular colouring, were lost to sight. Here's a pic of the chicken coop where he was flitting about, and you can see the forest reserve in the background, which is teeming with life:

We raced to the computer to google 'black and yellow Australian birds', as we had NO idea what they might be. We tossed some possibilities around, like rifle bird, honey-eater of some kind, and John suggested bower bird: he was right. It turned out they were two male Regent Bowerbirds. We're so excited! We do have a lot of bird-life here, being on 2.5 acres with a lush pasture with a lot of water in the soil (as all the run-off from the house gets fed onto the site), so we often have a yard full of wading birds, like grey or white herons, ducks, egrets, ibis, and so on; along with the usual Australian suspects such as galahs and cockatoos (which congregate in huge numbers here), the shyer rosellas, plus various blow-ins like swifts and honey-eaters, along with a large extended family of kookaburras - but in the 14 months we've been here, we've never seen a Bower bird! What a treat!

ROSEBUD - vintage styled swimsuit

2008-07-03T23:45:00.000-07:00

Here it is, I'm thrilled with the result, it's worthy of any of the Hollywood beauties we often saw on-screen in bathing suits - Marilyn, Doris Day, Mitzi Gaynor, Brigitte Bardot, and especially Dorothy Lamour, who spent a lot of her film career in a swimsuit and sarong:

The little shaped wrap 'modesty' skirt buttons on over the swimsuit, but is meant to look an integral part of the suit when worn. This one piece is made for swimming, being fully-lined and with proper elastic, and has sort of trunk/bloomer legs, as they had in the 1940s-1950s. It can also be worn as a playsuit. Here it is sans sarong:

The demure back view:

...and close-up of pleated, shelf-bust style bodice, topped with ruched vintage trim and little celluloid rose button:

I love this one, if I do say so myself!!

VINTAGE SWIMSUITS, an obsession...

2008-06-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

I finished my first Maisy Brown Repro Vintage swimsuit last week (see previous entry) and have now officially descended into OCD mode over vintage swimsuits in general! I've been surfing the net looking for inspiration, to get my ideas focused, and have found some gorgeous things; just look at this wonderful vintage pattern for a drop waist, skirted or bloomer-type one piece:

Isn't it wonderful!! Love how it cinches and shapes the figure. And check out this wonderful old advertisement for Catalina swimsuits (just as fabulous as Jantzen, in my opinion):

Then there's this very smart swing-era (1940s) swimsuit with square-shouldered cover-up, which is basically a very cute bra and Wonder-woman style trunks, with ruching up the sides. It would be easily made in woven fabric and no doubt very flattering:

So, fired up and all excited about my first success, I've almost finished my second vintage-inspired swimsuit: a one piece with sweet-heart shaped, pleated shelf-bust, made from authentic 1950s cotton polka-dot fabric with scattered rosebuds, which is simply gorgeous! Here it is in various stages of construction:

The photos (both with and without flash) don't do it justice at all! I'm hoping to get it finished today. I intend to make a short wrap skirt to go over the top of it as a cover-up, in either a flared or close-fitting sarong style. It's a one-of-a-kind fully-lined suit made with genuine vintage fabric and trims, approximately a US size 6, so if anyone is interested in getting first dibs, do email me at shayne_binqi@yahoo.com.au, as once it's gone, it's gone! I'll be listing it in my etsy store (maisybrownreproretro.etsy.com) in the next day or two.
Then I might be able to get around to finishing this cute 70s style terry-towelling bikini:

HIGH-WAIST PIN UP BIKINI - TA DAAA!

2008-06-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

It's finished (please see previous entry for details)!! It may be found in my etsy shop as of tomorrow, in the meantime, here are some more pics of the finished product:

I totally love the darting around the seat, which gives the pants a lovely authentic shape!

MORE VINTAGE SWIMSUITS...

2008-06-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

Isn't the vintage Jantzen advertisement, above, to die for? I owned a Jantzen swimsuit in the 60s as a little girl, and it was the best swimsuit I've ever owned - two toned colour-block, navy blue and puce pink, one-piece scoop back with a little hipster belt, made from that wonderful thick stretch fabric you just can't get anymore (don't you think lycra leaves nothing to the imagination??). I wore that swimsuit to death, and, pre-empting my vintage salvaging of later years, even cut it in half and made it into a two piece when I outgrew it, at the ripe old age of 9!

I've almost finished my black and white 1940s - 1950s style two piece swimsuit! I'm loving it! I'm just finishing off the lining on the bikini bottoms, but here's the finished bullet bra style top:

The darting and pleating give it a classic shape. The next time I make one, I'm thinking of interfacing it to give it more stiffness, to really impart the bullet bra feel. The back view is really cute:

I've been browsing vintage swimsuits for inspiration, whenever I take a break from my sewing. I've found a few lovely photos, included below. I'll definitely be thinking about making my own version of this lace maillot:

Isn't this cute:

It was sold recently on ebay, boohoo. Oh, well - I can always make my own!
I have a modest collection of vintage swimsuits myself (modest, because I started selling them off a while back). I have a 60s Catalina one-piece in bright canary yellow and white gingham (currently in rehab as I'm removing the overly stiff cup liners), and my favourite is a black, brown and white FRINGED 1960s one piece - see pic below (forgive stunned mullet expression, won't you):

It's awesome, and I will never part with it! Hmm...maybe I should think of doing some fringed swimsuits....Anyway, I'd better get back to my bikini bottoms. In the meantime, here's a cute postcard-style photo of a 1950s bathing beauty sitting on a pile of coffee beans -
Love that bikini!:

BOMBSHELL BATHING SUITS

2008-06-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

While I'm freezing my behind off here in Australia, I'm aware it's summer in the northern hemisphere and so time to start making some cute swimsuits and sundresses to put in my etsy store.
I've been browsing old photos on the web for inspiration, like these gorgeous shots of Marilyn, below.

I intend to make some one-piece swimsuits like the ones worn in the 1940s and 1950s, that are made of non-stretch fabric and rather like skimpy sunsuits or playsuits, usually with shirring in the back for comfortable fit. However I do love the look of the high-waisted two piece bikini, so have started one today, in black and white stripe (clik on the pic for a better view):

I adore black and white as it's so striking and elegant in any context - you'll see a lot of black and white creations if you browse through my past sales in my etsy store.
I also love to add a touch of red to the black and white to give a garment verve, and sex appeal. There's something about the combination of red, black and white that really shouts 'strong and sexy' to me. So, I'm trying to figure out how to get that dash of red into this black and white design - as you'll see in the next pic, I'm experimenting with scarlet ric-rac and cute vintage buttons. I have a feeling the red ric-rac against the dazzling monochrome stripes may be a bit overpowering and upsetting to the eye:

......anyway, I'm still working on them as you can see. I've lined the bias-cut, darted pants and inserted the zipper, now all I have to do is elasticate them. I'll be using real swimsuit elastic so these will behave just like a bona fide swimsuit, so besides strutting your stuff like a vintage pin up girl beside the pool, you'll be perfectly safe to take them in the water, too.
I'll post pics of the finished set as soon as they're done!

CYD CHARISSE, March 8, 1922 - June 17, 2008

2008-06-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

Cyd Charisse Mar 8, 1922- June 17, 2008
The beautiful and talented Cyd Charisse passed away today. She was 87. If you love old movies, and especially musicals or dance movies, you will know her as the tall, long-legged beauty who partnered such wonderful dancers as Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in the 1950s and 60s. She appeared in classics like Singing in the Rain, Brigadoon, The Band Wagon, and It's Always Fair Weather.

Having been brought up watching all those wonderful old films, and being completely besotted by dance, I idolized Cyd Charisse's beauty, grace and skill. And what a great pair of legs! It was rumoured they'd been insured by MGM in the 50s for a million dollars apiece; while that may just have been a Hollywood marketing strategy, either way she had two of the most gorgeous legs in the business, and she certainly knew how to dance! All the more extraordinary given that she had taken up dancing as a type of therapy when recovering from polio as a child, going on to join the incomparable Ballet Russe at the tender age of 13.

She was later honoured at the White House by George Bush, Sr, who presented her with the National Medal of the Arts and Humanities. She danced all her life, was married to the same man, Tony Martin, for 60 years (which has to be a Hollywood record!!), and acted, danced or appeared in scores of films and TV shows (including Frazier!). What a lady!

I do feel a little remiss at not making mention in this blog of the recent death of Yves Saint Laurent, who after all has been so important to women the world over (he was the first designer EVER to put women in pants, after all!), but Cyd Charisse is closer to my heart. I spent so many Sunday afternoons (why is it always raining on Sunday afternoons in my memory??) watching these old films on our black and white TV and wanting to model myself after her, and other beautiful actresses and dancers. It's clear I was deeply influenced by the aesthetic of the time (40s-50-60s), as for me, the ideal of the gracefully arched instep, long legs and small-waisted hourglass figure still inspires me in my designs today.

I hope you enjoy these lovely old photos!
Please clik on them to get a clearer view :)

TRIXIEDELICIOUS

2008-05-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

I love vintage china plates, cups and saucers, and although I'm not serious about collecting them, I do like to pick up odd bits and pieces that catch my eye by their pretty designs or nostalgic glimpses into the past. But I've found a new way to collect china plates: etsy seller, TrixieDelicious, takes found vintage plates and inscribes them with beautiful calligraphy - with a modern twist. So there's "Brat":

and "Clueless"

and the "Bitch" cup and saucer:

I LOVE this Housefly which she has painted on a lovely embossed and painted plate:

TrixieDelicious also painted a White Stripes portrait on a plate - cool!
Trixiedelicious uses heat-fused ceramic paint, and the plates are food safe (if you wanted to use them) and also come with a hanger (if you'd rather hang it on the wall). Check out her shop to see her really collectible wall art; she has a wicked sense of humour (I have to warn you, there's a bit of 'mature content' as etsy puts it, in her work, as well)!

CREEPY DOLLY GOTHIC CUFFS

2008-04-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a while...I've been snowed under with orders and also not in the best of health, but now I'm fighting fit and ready to start rolling out some new creations! I can't wait, I'm full of ideas for cute Spring and Summer dresses.
To get my creative juices kick-started, I thought I'd start with something small and fun. I'd had these creepy porcelain doll photos I'd been saving up to use in an interesting project; and also some printable fabric that is colour-fast that I'd wanted to print with some original designs to then incorporate somehow into a garment or accessory. I love the broken-down Gothic look, layers of satin, lace, doileys, and well...slightly decayed tat, so I heaped all my bits and pieces onto a big table, printed out some creepy dollies, and came up with my first Doll Cameo Tatty Cuff.

I made this one to complement my Lace Twiggy Babydoll Dress, which I'd just finished and am really pleased with. Here it is:

Please drop into my etsy shop to see more photos of this.
I was so pleased with my new cuff I immediately decided to make another. I love pleating satin by hand and ironing it to get a knife-sharp edge, so I decided my next cuff would have a black pleated satin base, and then I'd go from there with the embellishments:

Thus far I'm keeping them quite simple, with the focus on the Vintage Doll Portrait Cameo embellishment. I'm experimenting with my embroidery machine to customize the trims, too. I found a supplier of wonderful vintage and antique buttons in Prague (isn't the internet unreal!) so the button closure on this cuff is from the 30s-40s, made of Czech glass and etched metal. I love incorporating vintage haberdashery into my work and I really think this lovely button adds the finishing touch to this new cuff.

Anyway, I'm thrilled with them! They look quite evocative and romantic and make me want to create a whole dress (or underwear) in a similar style! Perhaps I'll make that the focus of my next few garments...

NANICHAN
Nanichan.etsy.com
Nanichan is a fellow etsy seller and a really fun person to know. We often convo each other throughout the working day, which really gives me a lift when I'm suffering from cabin-fever and going crazy from being cloistered too long with my sewing. She has a fab sense of humour and great taste.
Nanichan makes simply gorgeous (mostly knitted) accessories: brooches, flower pins, scarves, scarflettes, cuffs (ooh, is that where I got the idea?!), bottle cozies and hats.
Her colours are strong and vibrant, often in jewel-tones. I'm completely in love with her over-sized rose embellishments:

her embellished scarflettes:

and her all other fun, whimsical, crafty accessories, like this pretty skull hairpin:

Drop into her etsyshop

and have a browse. She's convo-friendly, too!

PIN UP PANTY AND BRA SET & a NEW ROCKABILLY SKIRT

2008-02-05T03:46:00.001-08:00

I finished my tuxedo dress order so rewarded myself by taking some "me" time to make a Vargas Girl style panty and bra set. It is soooo cute! I plan on making lots more of these in different fabrics and prints. I just love the vintage reproduction fabric of lacy hearts and roses - so 1950s!

It sold very quickly after I listed it, but of course can still be seen (with more pics) in my etsy sold items in my shop
And now that I'm getting back into production, as my neck is better, I've also introduced a new A-line Rockabilly skirt which I'll be offering in a full range of sizes. I'm really pleased with this one, it's versatile and so comfy to wear and really draws compliments!

I'm still having oodles of difficulty with getting my head around this blog technology, so bear with me! I know my blog is rather clunky right now but I've promised myself to really spend some time figuring out how to do this!

A New Design: Corset Waist Pants

2008-01-17T23:24:00.001-08:00

Since my neck has been giving me so much trouble, I've had a bit of extra time to think about fun new designs I might like to try. I'm still behind in my orders, trying in particular to get one of these tuxedo dresses completed:

and the back view:

The bodice is all hand sewn, with French seams and tiny 1mm long stitches and since it's white on white, I get snow-blinded if I work on it for more than 10 minutes at a time! Actually it's been near impossible to get anything sewing-related done at all these last 6 weeks, seeing as both off-spring and SO are home distracting me and driving me crazy (and yes, I complain now, but as soon as they go back to school/work respectively, I'll be crying about how I miss them!). Even so, I took a bit of time to make up these high-waist pants, the design for which I'd been mentally tossing around for a bit. They're meant to echo the design of vintage girdles, with all the heavy-duty metal hooks and eyes up the front, and the way they hug the torso. They feel really sexy on, although they're a bit large on me (I'm still fine-tuning cut and construction)!

I'll most likely end up narrowing the leg some more, then I'll make them up in XS, S, M and L.
I've bought a whole bunch of corset tape, hook n eye tape and super wide elastic that I'll be playing around with, exploring the girdle and corset theme. But I imagine nothing will really get off the ground until the school holidays are over!

SOME OF MY REPRO RETRO CREATIONS....

2008-01-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

CLOTHING AS ARCHITECTURE OF THE BODY

2008-01-08T14:36:00.001-08:00

DIOR'S NEW LOOK: EPHEMERAL ARCHITECTURE
"A dress is a piece of ephemeral architecture, designed to enhance the proportions of the female body"
In my own work I always strive, consciously and unconsciously it seems, to create a powerful and recognizably feminine silhouette. I imagine this may be a legacy from my 1960s childhood, where the female shape was very emphasized and defined in the clothing of the era, a post WWII trend that began with Dior's revolutionary "New Look" and which can still be seen overtly influencing fashion into the 80s. My mother was very glamorous with a fantastic figure and impeccable taste so I suppose my notion of what the ideal feminine garment should be started with her.
I would have to say that the above quote from Dior expresses the single most important idea that underpins what I find attractive and desirable in clothing, and what I try to achieve with my own sewing. Silhouette is everything. I want it to be strong, defined, feminine and alluring.
I love the drama of structure. I often joke to clients about "building" them their ideal figure, but that's exactly how it feels to me. If you got here via my etsy
shop you'll know that the pic to the right, is of my high-waist fishtail skirt. While it IS darted and somewhat structured, it's made of a stretch fabric so is forgiving and comfortable and doesn't really "control" the figure, and so can't at all be compared to the sort of garment (as in the first pic, above: the beautiful 1950 Dior Rubempre suit) that is highly tailored with padding and re-shaping of the body; still, my ideal silhouette is achieved through the shapes and proportions provided by the snug, deep waistband, the darted curved hips, the tapered thighs then the outward flare of the fishtail. The long, smooth narrowness of the length down the thigh helps to emphasize the contrast between the flare of the hips and the fishtail (or vice versa) - it's like buying yourself an instant hourglass!!

I'm going on a Dior binge at the moment so will be updating with more snippets of information and pictures as well from this amazing couturier. I'm almost caught up on my custom order back-log, and my neck is feeling somewhat improved, so I hope to be spending some time soon on some lovely new dresses especially dedicated to the celebration of Valentine's Day.
Please check out this lovely blog kept by fellow Etsian, DecadentDiamond:
http://decadentdiamond.blogspot.com/
She's very talented in many different areas!

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF COUTURE?

2008-01-07T22:36:00.000-08:00

FOR my first ever really truly blog post, I wanted to write a bit about clothes, because I spend most of my days and nights thinking about the garments I'm making or hope to make. Having to answer the interview questions for the etsy featured seller article recently: http://www.etsy.com/featured_seller.php?featured_user_id=5051175
really made me order my thoughts and clarify where I come from, and where I'm going, with my designs for my MaisyBrown label. It was an exciting few days while I was featured - so many wonderful people wrote to say many kind things - but the inspirational effects continue. This year is going to be the year MaisyBrownReproRetro gets bigger, better, more organized, and more focused. I've been reading and researching a bit, re-visiting the books and magazines that I've collected and been inspired by over the years and also getting new ones from the library. One thing I was keen to look into was the TRUE definition of "couture"; it's a word that I have often seen bandied about but I felt sure was being inappropriately applied.
WHAT IS COUTURE?
The right to the title of couturier is granted by the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, after a designer has fulfilled certain strict criteria.
1. They must maintain at least one atelier (workshop) in Paris
2. This atelier must employ minimum 15 full-time technical staff (houses like Chanel have several ateliers with more than 100 staff; smaller design houses struggle with the heavy financial burden of maintaining the required f/t staff)
3. The clothes must be entirely made-to-order - partial pre-cutting or assembling is verboten! So, it literally must be made to measure, including the toile.
4. Couturiers must show at least twice a year in Paris - prohibitive for many smaller, unstable houses when a single collection may cost $1million or more!

So, the term is very clear and certainly very restrictive, only able to be applied to a very few designers. Furthermore, it's estimated that there may only be 1000 women or less on the planet who can afford to dress in couture. But as my reference book says, "couture remains the prestigious showpiece of French fashion and the place for creativity and originality in design". I'm sure the last point could be argued to include other creators and locations, however, clearly the title of 'couturier' is not up for grabs!
(above, sketch by R Gruau for 1956 Diorissimo advertisement)

Testing...testing...

2008-01-05T21:25:00.001-08:00

First Ever Blog - Up and Running!

2008-01-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

I DID IT!

I've been called a twerp, a techno-moron, a Luddite (I'm sure there are many others I don't choose to remember) but I have now officially entered the new century, by managing to set up this MaisyBrownReproRetro blog!

I'll mainly be talking about my Maisy Brown designs that you can find in my etsy store (www.MaisyBrownReproRetro.etsy.com), because that is what takes up most of my time these days, but I also hope to write posts about the things that interest me, and my life.

I've yet to figure out how to post photos, but I guess that will come. For now, hooray for me and my brand new blog!