My summer wardrobe got a bit of a thrashing last year, as it got carried over into a Hawaii trip in June, and an LA trip in August, so by the time October came around and it started warming up in NZ I was pretty short on summer frocks and tops.
In anticipation of nice warm days, I started making Scroop Henrietta Marias – my summer wardrobe staple. I made one with a drawstring waist in rayon crepe (learn how to add your own drawstring waist here), and one in a Liberty of London silk-cotton blend.
I’m not usually a huge Liberty fan. The prints don’t really make my heart pitter-pattern, and the new Liberty fabrics just don’t feel as nice as ones from 15-20 years ago. Liberty fabrics are NOT cheap, and I don’t feel that the quality of the fabric is good enough to justify the price any more.
However, this Liberty IS from 15 years ago, is delicious to wear and work with, and was ridiculously, ridiculously cheap.
Plus, I actually really love the print. It’s just a bit cleaner, and less fussy, and reminds me of lemonade, and sailboats, and tiled swimming pools, and all things summery and wonderful.
So, the perfect fabric for a summer frock!
I was going to call it the ‘Hello Summer’ frock.
Alas, summer never really came this year in Wellington. 🙁
We got one week where the temperature hit over 20 every day, and that was it. It’s been cold, and wet, and grey, and blustery, and altogether entirely disappointing.
I’ve managed to wear my drawstring Henrietta Maria twice, and this one once (not counting the photoshoot, where I wore it, and then huddled in the car with a blanket wrapped around me as soon as we were done getting photos).
At least this means it will be in nice, pristine, condition for LA again this year (yay, Costume College!), and can carry on in to next summer.
And hey, maybe we’ll get a week of awesome late Autumn weather at the end of April?
Wellington isn’t expected to be hit that hard (comparatively, seeing as this is predicted to be the worst weather event in NZ since the infamous storm that cause the Wahine Disaster), but we’re still battening down the hatches and preparing for lots of rain. Lots more rain actually – we got hit by the tail end of Cyclone Debbie last week, and Wellington got as much rain in 12 hours as it usually gets in the entire month of April, so we’re feeling a little damp and soggy. I’m very grateful that our little Castle is perched way up on a hill!
We’re doing much better than other parts of New Zealand though. My heart goes out to Edgecumbe and the rest of the Bay of Plenty, which had only just stopped flooding from Debbie.
The only nice thing I can say about the upcoming weather predictions is that at least it will be good sewing weather, and even if the power goes out, I have hand crank and treadle sewing machines!
Clearly it’s time to start sewing LOTS of winter clothes, and hoping I won’t have any excuse to wear those either!
But first, I’m off to the supermarket to stock up on consumables for the next three days, so we don’t have to break into the emergency kit if everything goes down…
If you’re in New Zealand, the Pacific, or Australia, I hope you’re OK after Debbie, and please stay safe with Cook!
Good luck! Just finished reading about the storm over on The Guardian. I have been needing to make clothing and household goods donations, and I’ll do that today or tomorrow, and send the karma over.
Lovely frock! And I am quite curious about your swell slingback shoes, will you share the source?
djangoandjuliette.com.auThank you!
My swingbacks are a pair of shoes that are so old they have come back in again! They are by Django & Juliette, but are at least 7 years old, and they aren’t making anything like them at the moment.
Your summer Henrietta Maria is lovely, and looks so wearable. One day, it will be worn!
Here in Christchurch, I’m finding the leaks in the roof of my ‘new’ house, and looking forward to the smell of hot cross buns!
A treadle or hand crank sewing machine! That’s brilliant. I think Northern Territory Emergency Services should add those to their cyclone kit recommendations. Clearly I need one. Although fortunately the tropical low threatening to turn into a cyclone this week, and give us in Darwin and surrounding coast a bit of wind and MORE rain here, never eventuated. Not our turn … this time. But like you, my heart goes out to those in Aust and NZ affected by Debbie and Cook.
As for the dress, it’s gorgeous fabric. I’m not a liberty fan either but that one is a really lovely combination of colours, and I know you extra-like yellow. And the Henrietta Maries seems to be an absolute wardrobe staple.
Stay safe, I hope the weather is reasonably kind to you and your loved ones.
Greetings Leimomi from storm-tossed Whakatane! Your comment about your manual sewing machines made me laugh, because when the power went out here on Thursday night during the tempest, I was thinking, “oh well, if it’s off for most of tomorrow I guess my treadle will get a bit of a run”. I have a flat-iron on layby at the local antique shop, but once I have that and a little gas cooker to put it on to heat it up, I’ll be fully prepped for non-power sewing!
Oh my, that is thinking ahead! I just figured I’d have to do all the sewing I could without pressing! I do have two sad irons though!
Hope you guys are all dried up and doing OK. I’m so glad Cook mostly missed us.