Yellow, Fluffy & they go Cheep Cheep

The little LPS Blythes have been very busy rehearsing and practicing, going to costume fittings and dance classes ... all because they are going to part of a big Stage Show with some Easter time numbers.

Julia and Bird are going to be 'Chickadees'  ...  fluffy yellow baby chickens and here are some sneak preview photos from a dress rehearsal.






Bird : We have one song, it is a little bit silly because we have to sing a lullaby to lots of eggs!

Julia :  Well, it is the stage my dear - lots of things are a little bit silly on the stage.  I like to think that it is all rather cute.

Bird :  Oh, I think we do Cute quite well darling. 

 

 Julia : Yes sweetie I quite agree.  Well the Lullaby to the Eggs number ends and we go straight into a big dance number with lots of High Kicking - it is quite spectacular.

Bird : And exhausting sweetie - quite exhausting!  

 Julia : Our friend Violetta is in the show too and she has lots of dance routines - I'm rather glad we only have the one!

Bird : Quite so darling.  We join Violetta (in another post we'll show you some photos of her in costume)  for one of her big numbers and we have to ride about & pose on this big Chicken sitting in a Basket prop as it gets wheeled about the stage.

Julia : Yes sweetie, and it is quite difficult to hold on to the big chicken but we must keep smiling ... no matter what!

Bird : Well my dearest, that's show-business.  Smile even though there are feathers up your nose, Smile even though you are sliding off a big chicken ... just keep smiling and everyone will think you are very cute.

Julia : Oh I do hope so - because really it is all quite a lot of fun being a 'Chickadee' on the Stage.

It's Yellow, it's Soft & it's Fluffy ...

 

Bird :  She said she was going to make us outfits with this yellow stuff - but what is it all about?
Julia :  I'm not sure but I think it has something to do with Easter.
Bird :  Hmmm, I like the colour and it is soft but it kinda' gets up your nose!
Julia :  Ah-chooooo !
Bird :  Bless you my little chickadee.  


To Be Continued ...

Hats & Tats

Some photos from the Autumn Hat Exhibition last Sunday at Yuga Cafe - was lots of fun & there were lots and lots of Hats!

And that's the piano I played:  do hope everyone heard all the good notes and that no-one heard the mistakes!

And Now to the Tat tat tatty tat - Tatting

I'm going to be teaching how to tat this week so a good time to get out the threads and dust off those shuttles ...




They say that tatting developed from net-making - fishing nets that is and I guess that does make sense. 






It is an easy form of lace-making that was very popular in the 1930s & 40s ... I really can't understand why it is not more popular now.

I like to make lace edgings ... not sure what I'll put these on though the pink would look nice on a pretty frock for my granddaughter.
In 2008 I tatted about 5m of mauve lace for this 'Munchkin' costume ... can you see it on the Jabot and at the cuff?

My Munchkin was Quite a Dandy

I don't usually use tatting to make motifs and this butterfly was the first time I'd used beads on the thread.  The beads weren't difficult though I had problems with the slippery metallic thread and my picots are quite un-even! 

Tut tut Tat tat








As I'm going to be teaching How to Tat I was looking at the diagrams in all my books - they seem to leave out half the 'moves' - so I looked at some YouTube clips but there the hands move so fast ... I'm not sure I could learn from them. 

So, being an inveterate DIY person I've decided to Do It Myself and make a set of How to Tat notes with LOTS of photos to show every step.  Last night we set the camera on a tri-pod and my hubby darling took oodles of photos ...  now to put them together with some words...

Oh but my poor old hands look so wrinkly and old.  Sigh! I used to be proud of having pretty hands!  Guess they've done a lot of work though.   I'll just have to be proud of having hands that can Do & Make things ... and have the wrinkles and age-spots to prove it!

Hats hats hats

Hats hats hats - these are hats I've made - they'll be for sale at the exhibition on Sunday 18th at Yuga Cafe - 172 St Johns Rd, Glebe.







Big Red ??   it's looking rather cherry colour there but is in fact a rich burgundy red - the felt has a lovely velvety finish. 


Style & trimming inspired by 1940s Hollywood Glamour  - Rita Hayworth, Heda Lamarr, Ava Gardner.

A fabric hat in Gray with black pleated insert. 

Inspired by 1930s Hollywood Glamour - Marlene Dietrich wore pancake hats like this.  The rakish angle is de rigueur  and I've shaped the crown so it fits snuggly when worn at an extreme angle.





And - as we've been going backwards through the decades - my Cream & Cafe Latte cloche - very 1920s Flapper Girl, very Miss Fisher, Great Gatsby, The Artist ...









It was inspired by the hat in the bottom row - 2nd from the left.
From a 1928 Sears, Roebuck & Company catalogue, reproduced by Dover Books. 

Get Mending! A Workshop

This Saturday - 17th March - from 1pm - I'm going to be facilitating the first of 3 workshops at the Green Living Centre (aka The Watershed) 218 King St, Newtown.

This first workshop will be all about Mending clothes ... the virtuous frugality of Make Do & Mend will also help save our environment.  Think of the amount of water* and energy it takes to make a T-shirt.

 

Learn how to get a few more years from a favourite jumper ...

Underarm disaster!

Manage very nearly almost completely invisible mends in knit fabrics and woven.

Can you see the mend?

Hide those mends that are visible - and turn an "Opps!" into a "Design Feature".

Underneath those pretty flowers lurk glue stains

Have fun with Patches.

Hem? What hem?

Learn how to fix a hem so it doesn't show



and how to sew on those buttons so they don't fall off again!

We'll even learn what you are meant to do with one of these :-)





For more information about this and the following workshops:
Marrickville Council website
City of Sydney website 
The Watershed on facebook

phone: 9519 6366

Shop front 218 King Street Newtown - hours: 10am-4pm Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-7pm Thursdays.

*  Cotton T-Shirt ... takes a whopping 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for an ordinary cotton shirt.  (source: TreeHugger.com)

Hat Exhibition - Sun 18th March - a Sneak Preview

Yea!!   I'm part of an Exhibition (& sale) of Autumn Hats at Yuga Cafe - 172 St Johns Rd, Glebe - on Sunday 18th March.

Bold Red Hat by Carole Maher

There will be over 40 Couture Hats - all lovingly hand-crafted by a dozen Sydney Milliners who are members of the Australian Milliners' Guild.  The range will be diverse - as each milliner has a distinctive style of their own.

For example, Carole's style is bold and current, whereas my style is very vintage inspired.   There seems to be such a 1920s buzz at the moment with The Artist  winning so many Oscars & Miss Phryne Fisher solving crime on the TV ...

Flapper Girl Hats by Lyndell

The French call the 20s - les années folles.

Interestingly, from the hats I've seen so far - several of us are going for 

strong - swirling - contrasting lines 

Black & White Swirl by Carole Maher

Orange & Black Swirl by Lyndell

Swirling Beret by Jene Walker

The venue - Yuga café - combines great food, with a relaxed exhibition space and beautiful floristry.  On the 18th you can enjoy a delightful long Sunday brunch while contemplating magnificent millinery - and (if my nerves don't get the better of me) there will be live piano music a-tinkling in the back-ground ... 

The Milliners will be there to help you select a fashionable hat that flatters you.  Something perfect for the Autumn Races or to complete an ensemble or – just because hats are irresistible!

Well getting everything prepared for the exhibition it quite tiring - I think it is time for a nice cuppa' tea ...

Sweet Tea Cup Hat by Amalia Pearl