SOME ROSES

One my chores during my usual weekend is to renew or rearrange my vase of flowers. I am fortunate to have the most gorgeous roses in the garden so I can do this whenever they keep blooming.  Unfortunately they got a beating this week in the torturous heat.  I decided to see what I could find and picked the few that survived and below is the outcome.  As you know some of my favourite flowers are Roses and Peonies hence the name of my blog but along with these I also love Hydrangea and Lilac.  

To be honest I actually love most flowers but if I were only allowed two it would be Roses and Peonies.  There is something so delicate and beautiful about them.  No doubt it is the pink colours that gels so well with the dainty petals but its even more than that.  While I continue to get my sewing sorted and await my couture pattern from America I decided to share these pictures because they are such pretty flowers.

I don't know the name of these but they are particularly pretty. They are a soft peach colour with very open blooms.  There are also gorgeous Red, Yellow, Pink and White roses almost in bloom so I will try to capture those at a good time and add them to my collection.  Around our neighbourhood a lot of homes have amazing flowering roses and we've been told that this year was particularly good for the vegetation because of the amount of rain that we got throughout the year.  I guess it must be true.  I will try to capture some of those images while I'm out and about walking our dogs if I remember to pop the camera in my pocket. 

Enjoy!

CRAFTSY SALE!!

ONLY ON 18 - 19 JANUARY 2014

Another day of heat but I'm indoors so I am grateful that I can escape the dreadful heat outside. I do feel for the people going to and from work and doing errands during the day.   My roses have shrivelled up but I believe there is a change coming tomorrow.  When a change comes in Melbourne, it comes rapidly, sometimes in a matter of minutes.  This isn't always welcome but in this instance it surely will be.

Back to the Craftsy sale.  I love Craftsy because the teachers are people who have runs on the board so to speak.  You can have a lot more confidence in them than some.  You can also have access to the course you have purchased for as long or as often as you need it and that is pretty valuable  to me because circumstances arent always such that you have loads of free time for yourself.  You can stop and start whenever you want to, you can do it wherever you want and at any time you want.  In addition the courses are so reasonable and have extremely good video and visuals.  

I am personally learning a lot from a lady whom I have admired for a very long time. I will probably never get to meet her in person but thanks to Craftsy and the excellent ability we have available to us to see smooth clear video on our blogs/web it has made learning a whole lot easier and much more fun.  Perhaps this is the way all universities and colleges will go eventually.  Do away with the bricks and mortar and just have online tutorials for as much as possible.

Anyways click through on the Craftsy Sale on the header above or the link below and see whats on offer.  There might just be something that you would enjoy doing too but remember this sale is only on this weekend.

CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR THE SALE!

I HOPE THIS IS A RARE EVENT ....

I am here sewing boiled wool and I was feeling a bit hotter than usual.  I got on my laptop and looked up the weather and discovered I think it is the hottest it has ever been where I live.  I'm sipping ice and breaking needles and slowly slowly getting these jolly boiled wool pockets put on.  Tomorrow is supposed to be just as hot and then we'll see a lovely change.  I'm not sure whether I prefer the heat or the cold now but I sure don't link it this hot.  I will keep going 

SOME THINGS TAKE PRIORITY

This week I have been busy getting my sewing gear together and have the task of remodeling school clothes.  I'm not quite sure how this fits into the RTW Fast other than they are second hand uniforms that require fresh pockets and dresses that need their hems adjusted.  I'm here wondering why they insist on making girls school dresses so unflattering shapeless and boring?  I have three dresses to hem up and two blazer pockets to replace and I'm trying to get inspired to just get it done.  

While I'm on the school uniform subject  I have a question that I've asked myself (out loud because I know at least one person has to listen to me) several years in a row now.  Why do schools insist on changing the design of their emblems and styles and colours of their uniforms so so often?  Why? The last school our daughter went to they almost had a different outfit for every different year level.  It soon became a bit obvious that the uniform shop wasn't as lucrative as the school hoped so they decided to change it and "encourage" parents to replace their uniforms from the old design to the new as quickly as possible.  Ok! I know its a business but do they think we don't work out what they are up to?  And along with the change in uniform this school had absolutely no buy back, resale or secondhand uniform set up.  Me, coming from a business background immediately thought this was one way I could help out so I offered to do the hard yards on behalf of the school gratis and set up a win/win secondhand sales outlet that would benefit both the parents and the school.   The sweet lady, who clearly gave birth to her children during the inception of the uniform shop because she appeared to have been there so long, kindly said that they already had something happening.  I politely stepped away and .... left them to that happening moment.  Some 4 years later still nothing has happened and there is no sign of it ever happening.  We've moved state and school and happily gifted most of the uniforms to good friends who could use them.  The remainder our daughter kept for posterity and memories which is fun too but you don't need several sets of everything just hanging in the wardrobe for looks and dress ups.

Don't get me wrong I love seeing my children in pristine uniforms but there is a limit to what is for presentation and practical purposes and then there is what is basically a fairly easy business model.  I just think that that model could get a whole lot better.  In the new school our daughter has to wear a boiled wool blazer throughout summer over the top of her dress rain, hail or shine, to and from school. Right now its shining a whole big lot and we are sweltering. So much in fact train lines are buckling, we are having power outages, the roses are wilting on the branches and the dogs water bowl needs replacing what seems like every few hours.  I just don't know how much of the lovely appearance of the students is healthy or necessary in this sort of weather.  But we wont buck the system because it looks pretty good.  One would think that the comfort of the children in the learning environment would be more conducive to a good experience at school than suffering the sweltering weather in a boiled wool jacket just to look good.  Silly mums, just because we went to school in sandals doesn't mean society hasn't progressed.

Much to my surprise while shopping recently I discovered those fabulous Jerusalem/Roman/Greek Sandals that I recall going to school in and they are ..... yes, back in style. WOW!  They still look as silly as they did back then but they are in fashion girls, just WOW!  I'm just not sure I'm ready to swap my Birkies though.  My hubby loves my Birkies, not!  Remember these?

So  I will stop procrastinating and get on with the repairs and send them off to the dry cleaners for pristine pressing.  That should do this week I think.   Next week its my turn, I will do the planned January outfit for the RTW Fast, hopefully if my real work doesn't call first.

RTW FAST JANUARY 2014 PART ONE

As I begin my FAST I now discover soooooo many beautiful fabric stores online and thats dangerous right? I'm pondering how to do this fast without spending just as much on fabrics as you would on RTW because I happen to know its easy to do that.  This is all about being smart and resourceful.

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Step One: Review all stock in stash

Step Two: Separate into Winter and Summer fabrics

Step Three: Put opposite season away for later on

Step Four: Start imagining what each piece of fabric would be best made into.

Step Five: Identify patterns for a minimum of two pieces of fabric. This is where I imagine what accessories I would wear with them also including shoes, bag, scarves, jewellry, etc.

Step Six: Put all other fabrics away and commit to a date when the first one will be complete.

Step Seven: Open pattern and create muslin for first item, then continue the process until the first item is complete.

Step Eight:  Take a photo of the completed item and post it on a blog page with all notes from the making of the garment including things I do and dont like, how I changed it up and what issues I had with the pattern.

Step Nine: Wear the garment and enjoy the fruits of the many hours of labour.

Step Ten: Repeat the process from Step Five above, again and again and again ...............

-o0o-

But I will mention a couple of the special fabric stores that I have found below.  If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear about them also.

http://www.moodfabrics.com - Amazing selection of exquisite fabrics, especially the silks.  It took me forever to load all the silks

http://www.tessuti.com.au/ - I recommend you order at least one item from this company, their wrapping and shipping is just so worth receiving.

http://www.ditalia.com.au/ - Beautiful quality italian fabrics

http://www.clegs.com.au/ - Dont let the lack of function on their website put you off, you wont be disappointed with their collection of fabrics and they have $5 Vogue patterns now and then which I've been thrilled to catch this year.  Vogue patterns got up to around AUD$30 but its nice to see the new ones have come down a little in price and what is even more fun are the amount of vintage patterns available now.

Of course places like eBay and Etsy are good sources of fabric pieces also.  The fabric stores nearly always have lining scraps so its worth picking through the dregs for gems there also.

WELCOME TO PEONY'N'ROSE

Why Peony'n'Rose?  They are two of my favourite flowers, it really is that simple.

My blog has evolved over time as my circumstances have changed and as my inspiration, time and interests motivate.

Please enjoy your visit and comment as you wish .........

GOODBYE VALENTINO 2014 RTW 365 FAST

Commencing in January 2014 I have committed to joining a RTW (Ready to wear) Fast established by fellow blogger Sarah Gunn from Goodbye Valentino. I do not know Sarah personally but I have been following her blogs for some months and I am inspired by her achievements and obvious creativity which she has so willingly shared with others.  

In Sarah's words " What constitutes a RTW Fast? Refraining from buying ALL outerwear, dresses, tops, pants, shorts, sweaters, coats, exercise clothes, jeans and bathing suits. Shoes, socks and underwear are permitted." So there you have it, no purchases other than shoes and undies for the year, seems a long time really.  Following is the link to Sarah's blog and reading her "about" page was enough to get me motivated to do the same in 2014.

http://goodbyevalentino.com/about

As part of the "fast" and "sew along" I will endeavor to add items to my wardrobe that I like and want to wear and in doing so at least clear some of the stash of gorgeous fabrics. Yes I know, that's every seamstresses dream of course but one casual glance at my fabric stash whilst moving home was enough to send me on a search for a reason to get motivated to get sewing again. On further inspection I discovered in my closet an amazing collection of lovely fabrics and a rarely used good sewing machine (or two) and an over locker. I have no more excuses now. 

I love the idea of the sew along and I think it will be rather refreshing to abstain from the insufferable retail trips trying to find something that might work in my wardrobe. Us creative souls are pretty fussy when it comes to choosing something we like to wear. I know both my daughter and daughter-in-law could attest to this.

'Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied.' 

~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859~

I have always enjoyed being creative and I have sewn many items over the years from wedding dresses, flower girl and bridesmaid dresses, high end artist dolls clothes, ladies suits and many baby clothes.  I've smocked, quilted, embroidered, cross stitched, china painted and various other creative pursuits and without doubt I have a sincere appreciation for the finer things in life which is where most of my inspiration comes from. 

I have a real love of natural fabrics like silk, linen, leather, fur etc. and there is nothing more satisfying than seeing a project come together when everything has been created by hand.  I will, if I must, substitute natural fabrics where necessary but my goal is to create items that have the look and feel of high end couture garments. I aim to construct all of my garments in the same way that the European Fashion houses create their garments with the assistance of a few tutorials from the experts because I do not believe you ever stop learning in life and there are so much wonderful information on the web now.  The garments will be constructed in this way from start to finish.  I can't promise that I will remember to document it all but you will get to see the end product and I will give credit where credit is due to others who have assisted in my learning and my creative process.

So here is my commitment, now to get started.