Latest Posts

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 all the guests caught scarlet fever at the party.  That was a little too much excitement.

Far more than the parties and candies, I loved costumes.  My older sister helped me to dress up, and then I made my own costumes, and then I made costumes for my little sisters.

I think I was supposed to be a gymnast. Or a circus girl.

Sadly, some of the best Halloween costumes from my childhood went unphotographed.  There don’t seem to be images of my little sister as the Paper Bag Princess in a paper bag and a crown, or the same sister, the year after, as a beheaded Marie Antoinette with a ruff covering her head, and an extra head of papier mache with paper curls piled to the sky.  But I do have some images to share.

Paper harlequin hats: the easiest costume of all! (I'm the hatless one)

Doesn't every little girl want to be a cowgirl at least once?

It was for a play, not Halloween, but who cares? I'm an evil wizard.

As a Victorian lady. I got in trouble for hand-sewing this dress on the school bus

The lace collar and sleeves crack me up

A proper Halloween picture: the naiad as a Victorian lady (with a naiad on her cheek), Mum as a 20s lady, Goldie as a jester and me in 18th century.

And finally, another non-Halloween costume.  I’m dressed as a gift-giving bird.  I love this costume.  It was made from a coat hood with feathers sewn on it, a construction paper beak attached to glasses, a tie-dyed skirt, a pink tutu, a hat with feathers sewn on it for a tail, pyjama pants, argyle socks, and shoes with construction paper bird feet.  It took about an hour to make, and was so effective!

Doin the funky chicken

The kids inspect their goodie bags

It's Dame Edna the chicken!

No more photos please!

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, and (if I recall correctly) was just plain white cotton.

I made the dress as a surprise, and underestimated how small and delicate Grace Darling (she’s graceful and she’s darling, hence the nickname) is, so the dress is a bit big.

You can really see the size issues in the shoulders of the shift.  Aren’t the sleeves and the lettuce leaf edging delicious though?

All in all though, considering that I made this without measuring Grace Darling, and without any fittings, I’m pretty amazed at how good I did with sizing and the general fit.

I wasn’t brave enough to try making the dress without fitting lines, so I used princess seams.  If I’d been really clever, I would have found a way to incorporate the seams into the false front, but I wasn’t an experienced enough seamstress at the time.

I used every scrap of the blue muslin I had, which resulted in some interesting design issues, such as the slight double train of the skirt, which, in retrospect, I rather like.

I also used every scrap of the silk that was left on the bolt in the shift, which is a simple over-the-head blouse that ends at the hips.  This was the reason for the slim sleeves that open up into circles just above the elbow, rather than sleeves that were cut as full trumpets right from the shoulder (which is how the actual Elvish costumes in LotR were cut).

The overdress laces up the back, with the silk shift providing modesty.  I used metal eyelets for the lacing, and then carefully positioned the trim over them to hide the eyelets .

I told Miss Darling, normally full of smiles, to look ‘wistful’ for the photoshoot, which resulted in the far too many images of her regarding the camera in stone-faced martyr-mode.  At least I got one of her smiling!

I love this image.  It’s very Pre-Ralphealite in its tragic beauty, with the fair maiden peering longingly into the hall from which she is forever barred.

I am pleased to say that Grace Darling still has the dress in her closet, and has even occasionally (well, once) found a reason to wear it!

Friday Review: Sweet Mother’s Kitchen

Published by The Dreamstress

Sweet Mother’s Kitchen, 5 Courtenay Place, Wellington

Even on a grey day, the outside tables are full

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.

It's so cheerful!

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.

Mmmm...tacos...and tapatio. Happiness!

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!?!

So cute!

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 reservations.  Be prepared to wait at least 30 minutes for an inside table at almost all times, and just as much for an outside table unless the weather is really, really, hideously bad.

It has plastic wrestling figurines on the light fixtures. How could it not be ridiculously popular?

The only bad food item is the virgin bloody mary.  Don’t believe what anyone tells you: unless you like drinking canned tomato juice that reeks of oregano, the stuff is bloody awful.  And when I say reeks, I mean it.  If oregano repelled zombies like garlic does vampires, a glass of this stuff a day would make you safe as houses when the zombie apocalypse happens.

Bad. So bad.

The ugly:

OK, not ugly-ugly, more fabulously-ugly.  It’s the decor.  As far as I can figure out, SMK started out with a slightly retro-kitsch Mardi-Gras look, and people started bringing them stuff to add to it, and they just stuck anything they were brought up on the walls.

Hi!

You can visit SMK just for the decor: to read the random notes that customers have written, to goggle at the anatomically questionably double portraits celebrating Charles and Diana’s wedding, to identify all the wrestling figurines (this is Mr Dreamy’s favourite part) and the exotic fruit (and random vegetables) on the strings of lights (this is my favourite part).

Happy Mr Dreamyness

I have no idea what that fruit is. Maybe a cashew apple?

That is a starfruit (carambola) and a strawberry. For some reason I think it is really funny that they are on the same string.

That is a fennel bulb. Next to the strawberries and the starfruit. Awesomness.

Uhhh..why is this on a costuming blog?

I’ve never reviewed a restaurant before.  This is interesting.  I’m not exactly sure what it has to do with costuming, but as I am inspired by the most random stuff, I can see myself making a SMK dress  – something casual, definitely vintage/retro, with a little bit of New Orleans flair and definitely a novelty print!

How about something like this 1950s novelty print sundress, but with a print inspired by the awesome plastic light strings, rather than nuts?

I'd wear it without the hideous, overly-large petticoat though!

They are cracked and uncracked walnuts! Is that fantastic or what!?!

This sundress is a little more Miami than New Orleans, but still fabulous.

1950s halter dress. It's perfect just as it is!

This bikini has the perfect feel, and is sooooo adorable, but I wouldn’t be brave enough to wear it to the restaurant!

Vintage 40s Novelty Print 3 Piece Bikini Swimsuit & Skirt

Yep.  I definitely need a tropical fruit novelty print SMK vintage dress!