Month: October 2010

It’s Halloweek!

Published by The Dreamstress

As a costumer, Halloween is usually the highlight of the year – for once, you aren’t the only one dressed up! To celebrate, it’s Halloweek on the blog – everything will be about fancy dress, and costumes, and costume parties, and that sort of delicious fun. I love Halloween.  Or at least I used to.  It was great as a kid, when your costume was just about being fun, and clever.  It’s not so fun when you are an adult and your costume is expected to be sexy, and all the parties have more alcohol than candy.  And there isn’t much trick or treating in New Zealand. Trick or treating was fun and safe in the little community I grew up in – you knew all the people you visited, and all the other trick or treaters. Many years we didn’t go trick or treating – we had traditional Halloween parties with bobbing for apples and doughnuts on strings and caramel corn and skits and games.  So much fun!  Except for the one Halloween where …

Finished project: a medieval/elvish fantasy frock

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve been sewing like mad, and have even taken photos, but haven’t had the time to upload and edit them, so instead I’ll post about a finished project. A long, long time ago, back when I was in university, just after I had been to NZ, I heard about a Lord of the Rings themed dance. Having just been to Wellington, and see the premier of The Return of the King, and being madly in love with future Mr Dreamy, and very romantic, I was determined to go. And being the bossy person that I am, I made my friends come along by making them costumes and then assuming that that meant they would be thrilled to come. I have nice friends. They were. This is one of the fantasy, pseudo-medieval frocks that I made for the dance. The skirt is muslin gauze, the bodice is embroidered cotton sateen that I inherited from my Grandmother, and the shift is white silk.  The trimming was also inherited from Grandma. The underskirt is attached to the dress, …

Friday Review: Sweet Mother’s Kitchen

Published by The Dreamstress

Sweet Mother’s Kitchen, 5 Courtenay Place, Wellington What it is: A cheap and cheerful New Orlean’s themed cafe in Wellington.  Also one of my favourite places to eat out.  And I’m only into good food, so that says a lot. The good: Sooooooo yummy!  Everything is delicious, and it is so hard to pick what to eat that I always end up picking too many things and leaving in a food coma. Some of my favourites: beignets, curly fries, pies (of all varieties), breakfast burritos, tacos, quesadillas. Also, the tea.  It comes in tea pots.  With wool tea cozies knitted by Sweet Mother herself (the restaurant owner’s mother).  And mis-matched real bone china teacups and saucers.  How could you not love it!?! The prices are also fabulous.  Compared to the other pseudo Latin/Southern American food in Wellington they are giving the stuff away.  And it’s much better than most of the other places, which are ridiculously overrated (yeah, I’m talking about you Flying Burrito Brothers!) The bad: SMK is so popular that they don’t take …