SUPER SUNDAY... AT LAST...

Here is... THE DRESS! 

Remember the maxi skirt I made here... http://curvesofmyheart.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/fish-n-chips-wrapped-in-newspaper.html

well this is the dress I made the same night, the night before we hit the road for our trip to Tauranga, I must admit it turned out really well, because just like the way I make scrolls, (never measure anything) thats pretty much how I sew, in fact I have never been able to successfully sew something using a pattern, I just don't get them.  I usually see something in my head and then visualise the pieces I would need to make it work, yep... sometimes it works and sometimes it don't, but wearing my item is a sure indication that I think it's worked... I've worn it twice now, to my nieces 21st Bday and to church, both places I had positive feedback so YAY!

Lately I have taken to drawing and writing down the visuals from my head... like this... I totally stink at drawing but as long as I get the main idea, thats all the matters...

Making your own clothes is totally cool and here are my main reasons why I think you should give it a go...

1. Made to fit; custom made, you can't go wrong if a dress is made for you.  Custom made, your size, your colours too, your fabric.. pick what you love.
2. Limited edition; its very unlikely that you will EVER see anyone else in the whole world wearing a dress exactly like yours...
3. Inexpensive; although that all depends on how much you spend on fabric, as mine are usually thrifted (like this fabric) or gifted (like the maxi skirt fabric), it always fits nicely into my budget.
4. Experience; the more you sew the better you get, soon enough you'll have plenty of new dress visuals floating around in that pretty little head of yours... so get yourself a creative diary, who cares if you can't draw, as long as you get it.

So feel free to use my design above to make your own drawstring maxi dress or visualise your own and go for it...

Tips for making the dress your own;

• look for vintage fabric, something that's not easily available everywhere...
• make it to your own length, longer or shorter its up to you...
• make the A frame more dramatic (ie wider)...
• maybe you want to use elastic at the waist and buttons at the neck...
• Team it with your fav 'pop' shoes, these are my 2nd pair of Sweedish Hasbeens (I know they're red too, do you think I love red shoes?)

SALON ONE - Fraser Cove, Tauranga...
I got my hair done while we were in Tauranga and I wanted to let you know about my experience http://salonone.co.nz/.

On entering the premises and seeing how beautiful it was I was afraid that it might be a bit out of my price range (you know when you go in to a store and straight away think hmm maybe not) but the woman at the front desk understood exactly what I wanted and and was immediatley able to give me a quote. $99 half head foils and $35 for blow wave.  Hmmm, not bad I thought, although I hardly EVER  NEVER spend that much on my hair, I convinced myself due to my nieces Bday the next day and I was starting back at work the following week.  So I asked when they could fit me in, expecting to have to come back and she said "we can fit you in with Josh now if you like"." WOW! Ok, lets do this" I thought.

Settled in my chair with some great and recent magz, I was offered a drink, and given a form to complete... my daughter and my little niece were welcome to come and go as they wished, no problems, (they were happy to run back and forth to the pet shop, btw the pet shop people were awesome too, the girls came back squeling that they were actually allowed to hold the kitten and puppies.. so cool!)

Josh was young, cool and funky, not at all over the top as most male hairdresser's are sometimes stereotyped as being, he was confident and collected and knew just what he was doing, mmmm the head massage to wash out the foils... divine... After the wash Josh suggested a tone, but I decided not too due to having left my 14 year old in charge of my 5 year old at my friends house... he GHD'd my hair rather than blow wave which was great, the colours were beautiful and I was really happy when I got to the check out and only had to pay $99.  Also Josh said if I changed my mind about the tone to come back in the morning and he would do it for free WOW!

Anyway today I wish I had taken Josh up on his offer of a tone, I can see a little too much contrast now, however I can live with that, and thats my fault and another indication that Josh is a pro...

So I absolutley reccommend you go to Salon One at Fraser Cove if you are ever in Tauranga and you want to treat yourself, I wish I had my iphone back then so I could have taken a photo of Josh and my gorjus 'Salon One' finish... Thanks guys, what a wonderful experience. 10 out of 10 from me!

Ok blog land, have a lovely Tuesday and Wednesday and I will see you again on Thursday..

Mrs C

xox

P.S I have some applicants for the $20 vintage makeover challange... stay tuned