Australian winter... makes us dressed our best!

In St.-Petersburg in Russia where I came from we used to say: "summer was hot and dry. It's a pity I was working that day". Here in Brisbane we can say: "winter was really nasty, and it took the whole weekend!"

Australian winter allows us to dress our best, to take out suits, jackets, even boots and coats... sometimes. And I think this is really great.

Not bad look, I think. What we have here:
-flowery top from H&M, $20
-pants from Cotton On, $15 (special)
-booties from Ecco, $100 (approx., I don't remember)
-JACKET made by myself

This is not a regular jacket. I made it when I studied Haute Couture sewing techniques  It was a Chanel-type jacket course and it was taught by a New York fashion designer Yana Brink (Yana Brink).

Soft fall of the fabric is the main idea
of hand sewing 

Fabric is an Italian mixed one, wool + silk, and it is absolutely gorgeous to touch.
Pattern has been draped on a mannequin.
A lot of hand sewing, it is Haute Couture! 
Buttonholes were made by hand, of course.
The main idea of hand sewing is softness, tenderness, free falling of the fabric.

Whatever you do, wear your silk often...

Whatever you do, wear your silk often, and don't be afraid to wear it out.

                                                                                                Kelly Doust
                                                                                            Life In Frocks

100% silk sateen. This is my first made wedding dress.

Silks have been considered the most luxurious fibre since ancient times and nowadays, thinking about an evening gown or just nice frock for everyday life we look at silk fabrics.
Silks come to out life in wedding gowns and different exquisite garments. They make perfect lining for lace dresses.

This lace dress has 100% silk lining.
It was a wedding dress as well. 

The main thing with silks is: they are different in terms of quality, density and durability. There is very slight difference in sewing some silks and cotton fabrics, but others are unbelievably capricious.

Blouse is always something special...

"She wore the pale blue summer blouse which he had brought her home as a present one Saturday.
When he brought the blouse home Annie kissed him and said it was very pretty and stylish; but when she heard the price she threw the blouse on the table and said it was a regular swindle to charge ten and elevenpence for it. At first she wanted to take it back but when she tried it on she was delighted with it, especially with the make of the sleeves, and kissed him and said he was very good to think of her."
                                                                                  A Little Cloud (The Dubliners) 
                                                                                          James Joyce

It doesn't have to be tied on the waist,
it is just big for the mannequin.

I finished this luxurious blouse recently, and it took me about 36 hours of work. In one of the articles about tutu skirts (Tutu Skirts. Part II) I wrote that real-ballet Chopin kind skirt takes about 35 hours from a skilled master. As regards this blouse it took me so much time mostly because of the tricky fabric.

New hair - new image - new life

My friend Olga is a great doll player. She is a very serious and respectful lady, a doctor, and her apartment in St-Petersburg is full of beautiful dolls. Momoko, Tonner, collectible Barbies, special editions of different brands...

From her I learned a lot about dolls and how to play with them.  Enchanted by amazing doll world ladies spend time not only sewing new outfits and making photos of their dolls in graceful poses, they even reroot their hair, change their make up and tone of the body.

Thanks to her my two small helpers came to me. They are Tonner girls, 16" height, which is a little bit smaller than 1/4 human body. Particularly 1/4 was important for me because when I studied dressmaking and clothes constructing I was taught to make and to use test constructions 1/4 original size. So my dolls work as a small mannequins and exquisitely beautiful models for me. I even made a 'human' pattern for them. It is a great pleasure to dress them up.