Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A Picnic and a Check the Technique

Link
Picture pilfered from the fabulous Helga Link

On Sunday Georgia and Ayesha organised a wee blogger picnic in Hagley Park. It was so nice to meet Christie, Laurel and Ayesha and see Georgia and Helga again. The weather was perfect and the rain that was forecast never arrived. It was great to chat about blogging, vintage and op-shopping while enjoying snacks and drinks.

I didn't take any photos because my camera is broken and I'm waiting for my new one to be sent but you can see more pictures at Georgia's and Helga's blogs.

Picture pinched from the lovely Georgia

I wore a skirt sent to me by the very generous Brians an unusual name for a girl. She sent me a whole package of lovely stuff including a fabulous 60s lingerie set and some great dresses which I'll show you in another post. The skirt fabric is a gorgeous floral cotton. It was too long and needed a waistband and a zip so I cut some of the bottom off to make a waistband. I didn't have the right coloured zip in my stash so I made a placket and used some snaps and a hook and eye at the top.


I decided to use some horsehair braid in the hem which is on my Check the Technique list. Horsehair braid (not actually made of horsehair, it's kind of plastic-y), is used in hems to give them a nice shape. I followed the technique from Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing. You sew it like a facing, then flip it up and topstitch it. As you can see from the above picture my machine didn't really like the horsehair braid. It looks okay on the outside but the inside's a bit wonky. When I use it again I think I'll sew the hem up by hand rather than topstitching it. The braid I used wasn't very wide (about 2.5cm) so the effect is quite subtle. It makes the skirt stand out sort of like I'm wearing a crinoline which I like.

13 comments:

  1. You girls look fabulous! I love the skirt fabric....so pretty but you make it look even better with your top ensemble!

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  2. I love the picture of you all picnicing - so pretty! Happy New Year!

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  3. Yay for learning! These photos are too cute, and you are gorgeous. That skirt is the shizzle.

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  4. VintageBirdGirl- Thanks. The fabric is lovely.

    Sherry- I love that picture too. Happy New Year to you too.

    Reana Louise- Yay, for Check the Technique. I'm definitely going to make an effort to learn more techniques this year. Thanks!

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  5. Ahh it was the nicest day ever. Pretty sure we need one last opshopping adventure before I leave for good- maybe between the 22nd and 26th as I'll be unemployed then!

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  6. Yes, it was! That would be awesome but I'm in Wellington from the 22nd-26th, sadly.

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  7. That's a fabulous job, you're right it looks like you have a petticoat on. I've never heard of that before. I wish I lived near you and Helga. X

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  8. I've been keen to try out horsehair braid after hearing about it via Gertie and Casey as well. I really love the effect it gives and am keen to try it on a circle skirt this month.

    And don't be sad about being in Wellington, it's not that bad here, really ;-P

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  9. Louise- I'd never heard of it either until I saw Gertie's post on it. I wish you lived near us too, then we could go op shopping and picnicing.

    Kerry- It will look amazing on a circle skirt. Oh, I'm not sad about being in Wellington. I'm really excited about it, just sad I wont be able to go op shopping with Georgia before she moves.

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  10. I haven't had a picnic in ages, really miss it!! You look all fab!

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  11. WASN'T it just a lovely day! I had a grand time with you lovely lassies!
    I really love that skirt,anbd am fascinated by the "horsehair" stuff;gonna check that OUT!
    XXX

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  12. Suzy- It will be summer for you soon enough and then you can go on lots of picnics. Thanks.

    Helga- It was lovely. I had a great time too. The horsehair braid is awesome. It makes the hem really twirly.

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  13. Love the photo of you all together, looks like fun was had by all.

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