Archive for August 2012
August 27, 2012 | 
Author 
Welcome to the first edition of EyeSpy a collection of Sewing, Graphic Design and Music links found around the interwebs for your clicking enjoyment.
:: Tessuti fabrics stock the best Japanese sewing books.
:: The counter-digital fabric printing movement- I would love to get into designing and printing my own fabric.
:: Gina over at Sew Weekly made this gorgeous detachable collar.
:: If you are into sewing vintage bombshell dresses we all know that Gerties book and Butterick line are here. Yay!
:: If you love packaging and rad typography like me I think these boxes from House Industries would be the perfect thing for stashing fabric.
:: Keeping up appearances with these new High Quality FREE fonts yippee.
:: Urbandon’s aesthetic is k i l l e r.
:: I’ve been zoning out on Grimes.
:: Two members of Pussy Riot flee Russia.
:: Do you sew, knit, make jewelery? you should totally be uploading your awesomeness over at Kollabora.
Last week I was scrolling through my Google Reader catching up on some of my favourite fashion blogs; Susie Lau’s blog Style Bubble is one of my favourites I’ve been reading for years. Susie herself is fierce, I love her anything goes approach to fashion, her quirky, colourful style and not for the faint of heart either, I’m a fan. I was reading this post and pretty much fell in love with the Christopher Shannon A/W 11 pom pom tassel shirt (pictured below). I had only just purchased some— of what looks to be the exact same mexican poncho cotton woven fabric a couple of weeks back keeping it in my stash for that flashing idea to come to fruition.
Will. you. look. at. that? I think it’s gorgeous and it’s a mens shirt, I love mens clothes and as I’ve discovered, this little beauty is sold out everywhere. Lucky for me and my sewing hey? now I have my very own. I’ve practically been living in it since it’s conception.
Construction was fairly simple, I used my go-to shirt pattern and cut the front and back pieces in the mexican woven to where I wanted them to sit. I then sewed the pom pom braid to the pieces, just stating the obvious. I have five different colours in there: yellow, light blue, purple, aqua and black. I serged all of the insides before it unravelled. I then placed the cut, white pin-tucked voile to the front and back placing small pleats in at the bust so it’s not so blah and flat looking. The back I forced the fabric into the centre folding each side in which forms a pleat (I’m sure there is a fancy name for this) I placed a loop across for some added interest, if you squint you may see it.
Onto the sleeves- I pulled out a couple of the threads from the woven so it frayed, that added interest thing again… the pin-tucked voile has turned-over slits at the opening of the cuffs which also button up.
The collar, I pulled from Vogue Cutting Edge Pattern 1248. I like this collar pattern it actually has three collars at different sizes, I’ve used this collar here and sewn the Vogue shirt here. I like that the pattern has a collar band which lifts the collar up nice and high around the neck. The collar band I cut from blue broad cloth and the underside of the collar is pink broad cloth, a nice quirky touch methinks.
I’ve been listening to loads of Jane’s Addiction lately so I thought I’d name this one after one of my favourite Jane’s songs.
Happy Days.
On Monday I spent a good hour in one of my favourite recycled record stores- Dixons in Fitzroy, they have a wicked selection of vinyl to choose from, I always form a mental blank when I walk into places like this. I found Nothing Shocking by Jane’s Addiction, the shopkeeper assured me I was very lucky as Jane’s is a rare find on vinyl. I skipped out of the shop a very happy camper I did.
Loved this alternative to the everyday -’We’re Closed’ sign for this fun and quirky Fish & Chip eatery.
This caught my eye as I wandered up Brunswick St. The back of the shop is filled with taxidermy and large circus letters. A worldly feast for the eyes.
I absolutely love black and white graphics how could I miss this beauty on Westgarth St. Fitzroy. This looks to be newly created no tags yet, hopefully it stays that way.
I was planning my Monday lunch date with me, myself and I and stumbled across this beauty, Twenty & Six Espresso in North Melbourne. What makes this cafe so special is not only their attention to detail when it comes to food but also their sheer brilliance when it comes to Graphic Design it’s not at all over done, it’s to the letter, you see, they’re Graphic Designers who happen to run a cafe. LOVE IT!
When this beauty was placed in front of me my mouth watered a million rivers, it was seriously s e n s a t i o n a l.
I always ask for a business card, this card is embossed, it’s stunning. You know they’re serious about their product when they invest in the little things, and I am a sucker for great packaging, design and typography the branding lives up to the superb coffee and what’s on offer from the menu.
I asked for a takeaway just so I could have the cup.
Today on my Saturday morning run to the coffee shop and op-shop these little beauties were calling my name. I’ve gone through a couple of pairs of the cheap plastic handled pinking shears so I was dead chuffed to find these in the box and in top notch condition.
Here is a sneek-peek at what’s going to be on the blog tomorrow. I’m super happy with the outcome. Hope to see you here tomorrow.
Happy Days.
