Just a quick hello

Just a quick hello and goodbye... Had a few dramas with our costumes for tomorrow. I bought four hats off eBay and the MORON didn't post them till Wednesday afternoon!!! So we had a email war so I could vent my anger. But luckily we found two white sailor hats and two navy pilot hats at the local costume shop. Got to get up early tomorrow morning and get some extra food and somehow hide our alcohol in the esky. Your not suppose to take your own alcohol to the event but EVERYONE  does... We have bought a fair bit of booze and I don't think we'll be able to hide it but we'll try.

Anywho I'll take lots of photo's and share them all with you! Hope you all have an exciting weekend? What do you have planned?

P.S Where the hell did spell check go? Am I a moron or what? someone please help!

pipalachic xxx

Some little creations.....

Yesterday I had a busy day! I went to the gym bright an early at 6am (ouch), did the grocery, drove to Maitland to Spotlight and grabbed some ribbon and materials for my projects, and came home started sewing the shirts. After one shirt I had enough as my hayfever was getting worse and I got a splitting headache that I couldn't get rid of. Then I decided to start making my headband for Melbourne Cup, here are the material's I bought. 

And this is what I came up with. I didn't end up putting the large red feather in it as it looked funny to me. I hand sewed the red feathers to the black base, then glued the red thing (not sure what it is called) onto the base and hand sewed it as I couldn't put a weight onto it for the glue to dry. I'm pretty happy with it! I feel like such a Lady wearing it. I'm excited about my whole outfit!! Excuse the no make up :S

Here are the shirts that my girlfriends and I are going to wear on Saturday to Jazz in the Vines. We are dressing up as sailors, fingers crossed the hats turn up by tomorrow or we're stuffed! At first as I was sewing the ribbon onto the shirts I thought it was going to look pretty ugly. But after the end result I'm pretty stoked with them.

Here are my girlfriends shirts. Aren't I a lovely friend? :) 

 

I have plans all weekend so I won't able to get ANY time with my new friend Betty the dress form. Saturday got the Jazz in the Vines and Sunday I have my nieces 2nd birthday and it's a tinkerbell party! But I have Monday off so I could do some sewing then I guess. Here is some fabric I picked up for $5AUD a metre, I am going to make a dress with a burdastlye.com pattern so stay tuned for that!

pipalachic xxx 

Betty the Dress Mannequin has ARRIVED!

Guess who arrived at my work today? BETTY my dress form! I have tomorrow off but I have soooo many jobs to do tomorrow. So hopefully I'll get some time to do some alterations. Ben helped me put her together as soon as I got home.

I bought this vintage dress a while ago and haven't had a chance to fix it properly. I tried fixing it a few months ago but I got sick of taking the dress off and on to check my alteration. So after my jobs tomorrow  i'll have a go altering it.

 

This weekend I have a Jazz festival to go to out in the vineyards which is about 10-15 minutes from my town. Three of my girlfriends and I are dressing up as sailors for something fun to do. I purchased four hats off eBay so fingers cross they arrive by Friday! and  I am sewing navy and gold ribbon onto our tops, but  I'll post up some pics after they are done.

Next Tuesday 3rd November is one of the BIGGEST days in Australian history! MELBOURNE CUP! And my work is shutting for the day WOO HOO! In Victoria (state in aus) Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday and not in any other states, but mostly the rest of the states take the day off anyway. It's  a fun day filled with gambling, drinking,  women frocking up in their best dresses and hats, and seeing who wins the Melbourne Cup. I am making my own fasinator/hairclip with some cool bright red feathers and I think I'll wear that cute party dress I bought off eBay, perfect day for it!

Stay tuned for some sewing costume and sewing projects tomorrow!

Dress Maker Mannequin on It's Way!!!

I got a email this afternoon at 1pm to be precise that my adjustable dress maker mannequin has been posted and will arrive shortly! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! Am I a sewing nerd or what? I cannot wait for it to arrive! You don't know how much stuff I have that I need to alter and this dress maker will make it all happen FINALLY!!! I paid $197.00 AUD for it and postage was about $30AUD so worked out pretty good. In the shops it cost at least over $250.00AUD.

Also included are three bonuses which are:

• 12 month free online home sewing course, which I alrady know what to do as I've studied fashion but it will be a good thing to refresh my memory. 

• Secrets, tips and tricks on how to sew for your body shape which means I can create garments flattering to my figure

• A concise guide on how to measure yourself correctly when using a dress form.
  

So that's really my excitement for the day! Oh and finally worked out how to use my own music from itunes to use as ring tones on my iPhone... As you can see I am very savvy tech..NOT!!! 

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De-Clutter Your Wardrobe

Yesterday afternoon I decided to go through my wardrobe and pack away all my winter clothes and get the rest of all my Summer clothes out. I did bit of a clean up and had a pile to sell on eBay or give away to charity, in this case I give all my unwanted clothes to my Mum. She then sends then to her family in the Philippines as they don't have the luxury to buy nice clothes. I have another pile of what to actually throw out, if they have holes, or the fabric is wearing thin, and then the other pile is alteration pile, can it be altered or be changed into something else. Here's a look of what my wardrobe looks like now. Ok so it's not really tidy but it's definitely tidier than it was before.

Now here is a little trick I learnt off Oprah (yes Oprah!). A Aussie guy name Peter Welsh who is a decluttering and organisation guy is a regular on her show.  He says to turn all your coat hangers around and in six months time see which clothes are not replaced the right way and them send them to charity or sell on eBay. I think it's a great idea and I exactly did that yesterday. Ben thought I was completely mad when I showed him and thought I had way too much time on my hands. Here is what mine looks like.

See how I already have one hanger the right way already? I wore that dress Friday afternoon to the pub.

Here are a few little questions to ask yourself when your deciding what to keep, fix or discard.

1. Have you worn this garment in the past year?

Chances are if you haven't worn a garment of clothing in a year, you won't wear it this year. So why hold onto it?

2.Does this item fit you properly?

If the answer is no, it may be time to toss it. Or for a second opinion, take it to your tailor or if you have a friend that sews (like me as most of my friends do ask me). They will let you know if it is savable by taking of a inch or loosening up a seam.

3. Is this your style?

 Is it something you bought when the sales were on and you thought you could pull it off? Or a family member gave it to you as a gift? If a garment does not enhance your image, let it go!

4. Will this garment make it another year?

Whether if it's the Spice Girl platform shoes or a sequined tube top that is now "so last year" all clothes have an expiration date on them. Even though you love it so much, it may be time to face the music that this item isn't in shape now.

I hope those tips were a little helper and you can use them for yourself. I'll see how long my wardrobe de-cluttering lasts for... hopefully for the whole time! Hope you all had a great weekend! As you can see mine was a fun filled weekend...NOT!!!

 

Daily Outfit

I had a extremely busy day at work yesterday. We have started a birthday sale and there was so many screaming and crying babies and children everywhere. Luckily I have learnt to block it out. This is what I wore to work yesterday.

 

I got this dress off eBay about two years ago. It's a Australian

 brand called Kitten. It's a little too big around the boobs and the

straps keep falling off my shoulders. I wish I had broader shoulders so

tops would fit properly.

When I get my adjustable dressmaker mannequin I'll be able to alter it. I'm working today then I have so much house work to catch up on.... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Hope you all have more exciting things to do on the weekend.

pipalachic xxx

Australian Fashion Designer Peter Morrissey for Big W

The most exciting thing happened this morning at 8:30am! Australian Fashion Designer Peter Morrissey revealed his first collection at BIG W called WOMAN by Peter Morrissery and MAN by Peter Morrissey. for those of you (silly) people who don't know Peter Morrissey launched his label "Morrissey" back in 1997, but years before that in 1983 he had a joint partnership with with fellow Aussie Designer Leona Edmiston where they dominated the market for over fourteen years. Morrissey is known for his clean cut clothing pieces for men and women. The latest from Peter Morrissey is a direct reflection of the global financial crisis. The Morrissey label is on the brink of extinction meaning Peter decided to work with Bruno Schiavi for Big W to release an affordable underwear and clothing collection.
For those non Aussie out there your thinking "What the hell is Big W?" I'm not sure how to compare Big W to another store in the UK or USA.... It's a low prices store like Target (Aussie), or Wal-Mart. I don't know the equivalent for the UK, but I hope you catch my drift now. But here are the pieces that are in the collection.

I put this dress on layby for myself, it was only $89! Pretty good for Morrissey! And it's my first Maxi dress for summer how exciting!

I tried on both these dresses, the pink one looked horrible on me but I loved the blue one. But I decided to only get one dress as I have WAY TOO MANY dresses and I don't go out very much so I see no point as it will only collect dust in my wardrobe.

I liked the black dress but I didn't try either of these dresses on. Didn't really fancy them.

There was some beautiful lingerie as well but of course I buy so much sexy lingerie and it NEVER gets worn. Poor Ben gets deprived doesn't he :p

This is the men's range. I bought a pair of trunks and briefs for Ben. I really don't like briefs or trunks on men unless your David Beckham. Ben is a boxers man, but he was happy I bought him some, he even said to buy more for him :)

EVEN better news! My tax cheque arrived in the mail woo hoo! I'm better be off so I can deposit into my account and start spending...or actually pay off my credit card and close the account and spend what's left!

Sewing Pattern's Arrived!

I ordered a few pattern's off a site I came across a few weeks ago called sewingpatterns.com and they arrived today! Here are the patterns I got.

This is my favourite pattern...but much to my disappointment the measurements and sizing are very different to Australian sizing. There is no size that will actually fit me, all the measurements are out of whack or American women are super skinny. I think I am a average size woman, but I just have to pick the closest one to my size and then bloody alter it... I absolutely hate altering!!! I was hoping to make this by the 14th November for my fiance step dad's 60th, but I have found another dress pattern I like too.

My favourite pattern is the black dress on the end.. so very cute and classic.

 

I like all the dress patterns here, especially the maxi dress. I only own one maxi dress and it's a beautiful silk one. I will def be making one for summer.

This is the dress I was thinking about making for my father in laws 60th next month. It's from the site www.burdastyle.com which has some pretty cool patterns that you can print off at home and piece together. I found the site last year and have never looked back.

 

I won't be having straps like that, I might have it strapless or with skinny straps. And I'll make it maxi as well.

I bought this magazine this afternoon, I haven't had a chance to look at it so I'm reading this in bed tonight! I just wish someone would give me money to have a wedding!! I just can't justify spending thousands of dollars on a wedding when I prefer to spend it on a honeymoon. And no I will not go overseas to get married as I definitely don't want to do that.. EVERYONE is doing it and I don't follow everyone else!

 

pipalachic xxx

Spring is FINALLY here!

I am very happy today as it finally feels like Spring! It reached up to 35 degrees today, even though I didn't feel it too much as I was in doors with  the air conditioning on. But it felt good when I locked up the shop this afternoon and the wind was warm! Ben will be cleaning our pool this weekend so he can get it ready for Summer!!! Pool parties coming this way!

Thought I'd post up what I wore to work today. I look slightly pregnant in this dress but I still continue to wear it, it's just so comfy to wear to work. 

 

 Just Jeans dress, Supre White Singlet, Supre Black Tights, Necklace from Myer.

I made sushi yesterday too! OK not proper sushi with raw fish but I made tuna and avocado sushi! How clever am I? 

I have tomorrow off YAY! I'll be heading out to get some fresh fruit and vegetable tomorrow morning just out of town. So much cheaper, better quality and fresher than the regular shops. Then I will be looking for a birthday present for little nephew that's turning the big FIVE! I asked what he wants off Uncle Ben and I and he said a motorbike hahahaha if only we were rich! So I might buy him a motorbike magazine and a DVD for the little man.

pipalachic xxx

New Layout.... You like?

I had troubles again with my side bar, it took me a while to fix the problem AGAIN! So I decided to get rid of the side bar and make a more simple layout. What do you guys think? Should I change it back?

pipalchic xxx

How to Spend my Tax Money!

Well it's Sunday night and the weekend is pretty much over, but I really shouldn't be complaining as I have Monday off as well YAY! I had a very eventful weekend and of course no photo's to prove it. I always forget to get some shots whenever I am out. So a long story shirt, I went to my girlfriends on Friday night to help prepare some mini quiches for her son's 1st birthday party for the Saturday. It was a mini catch up with our friends before we were all surrounded by family on the Saturday.  Lots of funny stories, champagne, pizza, and laughter was filled throughout the night.
Saturday had Ethan's first birthday which was fun, I consumed a lot of food in the space of a couple of hours. Then Ben and I had to leave at about 5pm to get ready go to his sisters place for her husbands 30th. I am normally the type to pack warm clothes, but this night I just didn't think!  I wore high heels but then didn't pack any flats, I only packed things so my feet were freezing. I didn't pack a big warm jacket but a black blazer...ARGH! I was kicking myself. Normally in October it's pretty warm but the past weeks have been slightly weird weather. But thankfully I asked Ben's sister to borrow some enclosed shoes and she gave me these cute brown flats as she doesn't want them anymore. Hey their a little worn but they are comfy.

Now for the exciting part! I should be getting my tax money this week (well I'm hoping I do). After paying my credit card off I'll have$500AUD left over. I was just going to go crazy and spend all the money on clothes BUT I am thinking I might invest $200 of it on a adjustable dressmaker mannequin. I don't have a photo of one as it keeps playing up some how. It will definitely be well money spent as I'll be able to fit my clothes properly. And then whatever is left over I will spend on clothes!!!!

I hope every had a exciting and fun weekend!

pipalachic xxx

Something to make me smile

I was in such a great mood this morning but as soon as I got to work something bothered me and now I'm pissed off.

But here is a note my fiancé left me yesterday morning when I came home from the gym. He knocked off night shift at about 6:30am and I headed to the gym. He had to go back to work which is a 20 minute drive one way cause he left a lock on  a machine he as working on (plant mechanic talk I think) so he wasn't happy. Why am I showing you? In the nine years we've ben together he has NEVER written me a note! I just love the crying face he drew hehehehe. Our pet names for each other are pookie or poop... I know totally lame but it's our thing. Even my girlfriends call him pookie now. He makes me smile and laugh everyday!

I'm testing out emailing to my blog.

I hope your day is better than mine.

Pipalachic xxx

$6.AUD Second Hand Dress!

I have had the last two most boring days of my LIFE! Ben was on night shift from Monday -Wednesday night so all day Wednesday and Thursday I had to be super quiet. Wednesday I went to Vinnies, which is a op shop or you might call it a thrift store. It finally got moved into a brand new area as it was in a very old heritage building so I definitely had to check it out. I found two treasure's at the Vinnies.

I found this dress for $6AUD! what a bargain! I'm wearing it to work today so I'll try and get a outfit shot of it today.

 I got this lace which was only$1.50AUD for 2 and 1/2 metres. Don't know what I'll do with it, but I'm sure I'll find something to do with it.

 

So they were were my little treasure's I found on Wednesday. Thursday I got my hair trimmed as I cannot get into my hairdresser in Newcastle until mid November. I am a bit nervous getting my haircut in my home town as I don't trust anyone here, but the young girl who did my hair listen to what I wanted done so I am pleased.
Also when I stayed with a friend in Sydney she gave me this lovely wedding book/folder for all my planning. She is one of my bridesmaid too, so it was really lovely.

I can't wait to start using it, it won't be a while till we get married so I'll have to leave it in a safe spot for now.

And on another note THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY! I am finally going to work today after having two days off, and I'm actually looking forward to work. Then I have the whole weekend off! I have to rush home after work today to clean the kitchen and lounge room floors. We have friends staying tonight and tomorrow night. We have our friends little boys 1st birthday on Saturday and then Ben and I have his brother in laws 30th Saturday night and I have NOTHING TO WEAR! ARGH!!!

Anyway  I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and you all behave :)

Beautiful and Gorgeous Blog Awards!

Yesterday I was going through all my favourite blogs and one of them is Sadie at Butterfly Wings and she had received these two blog awards and as I scroll down see has given me one AGAIN! So a lovely and huge thank you to Sadie, check out her blog on the above link.




To accept these awards, I have done the following:

* Thank the person who nominated me for this award.
* Copy the award and place it on my blog.
* Link to the person who nominated me for this award.
* Name 7 things that people might find interesting
* Nominate 7 Bloggers

The seven interesting things I have for you are a mixture about Australia, fashion and random crap:

1.If you put a egg in a glass of water and it sinks to the bottom it is fresh. If it floats it is a bad egg.
2.Clothes that are dry cleaned last longer
3.An item of clothing is considered vintage if it dates back from 1920 to 1960. Anything after this date is considered retro.
4.My home town Singleton has the largest sundial in the Southern Hemisphere.
5.The first pair of Doc Martens were made form old tyres.
6.Your shoe addiction is nothing compared with Imelda Marcos.
When the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos and her husband were kicked out of their palace and exiled in 1986, she had to say goodbye to 2,700 pairs of pumps, stilettos and slingbacks. That’s 5,400 shoes.
7.There are 1500 hundred species of Australian spiders (I HATE SPIDERS!)

The seven bloggers I choose are:

1. Lisa-Jane at The Brunette Girly Girl Lisa was already voted by Sadie but I love her blog alot so you can have another one :)
2.Daisybee at Daisy Bee Beauty
3.Nancy Magoo at All the way with Stephanie K
4.L.T at elle-tea
5.Alex at FASHION AS WE KNOW IT
6.DaMonique at i love being me
7.Cyber Girly at cybersewer

Phew, well I hope those facts are interesting or at least you've learnt one or two new things. I have today and tomorrow off so I am lady of leisure next couple of days. I've already been on a few adventures this morning and its only 11am! The fiance is on night shift so I have to be quiet ALL DAY today and tomorrow :( which is oh so hard for me.

I'll update my blog this afternoon or tomorrow with my bargains and finds I found this morning!

Long awaited eBay Purchases!

I received my eBay goodies the week of the long weekend and I didn't get a chance to post them up when I actually got them. So here they are! Oh and please excuse my yucky hair, it's annoying the crap out of me! I need a cut ASAP!

One of two of my $10 dresses, this one will be great for summer.

The other $10 dress, I have to wait till Winter to wear this bad boy :( Will look fab with black boots!

Now I have a thing for wanting to wear certain trends or clothes that some people wouldn't dare to wear. And for some odd reason I seem to think it will look great in my mind but then I put it on and it looks terrible. I hate when I go shopping and most of the time I have something in mind, I find it and it doesn't look right or nice :( it's such a let down. I'm not too sure about this jumpsuit, I like but I still feel funny about it. ??????

Honest opinions would be greatly appreciated!

I am so tired and it's only 9pm! I got up at 5:50am to go to the gym this morning. One of my girlfriends joined the women's only gym I go to. So I now have a gym buddy which is fantastic. I was suppose to meet her Monday morning but I couldn't get up, and she was suppose to meet me this morning but she was sick! So we will try and see if we can both make it together tomorrow morning. Nighty nighty!

Birthday Vineyard Tour!

I've started organising what I am going to do for my birthday next year. So your thinking whens my birthday? Hahhaha it's not til February, yes I know I am sad but I am excited, plus I'm turning 27 which I'm actually quite scared about! For my 24Th birthday in 2007 I hired a mini bus and 9 of us girls went on a vineyard tour around the Hunter Valley. My fiance drove the bus for us too, he definitely deserves a medal for that one because can you imagine 9 drunk girls on a mini bus wouldn't be too much fun.

I was originally going to hire a stretch hummer but I need to leave half a deposit of over $1000AUD and I don't have a credit card and that type of money lying around. So my best friend Stef said we should just do what we did last time and plus it's much cheaper and we can be as naughty as we want! I made the girls all wear dresses, and we had a picnic lunch at Hunter Valley Gardens while the boys played aqua golf and I think we went to 2 wine vineyards, the Peterson champagne house and the blue tongue brewery where there was beer.... Mmmm beer! then we partied back at my place where the boys could join. Please excuse the photos as we get drunker as the day goes on.











This is my favourite photo I laugh so hard every time I see it. Look at Stef and mine's face, my other friend Natatlie fell off her seat hahahahhahaa we are so evil!




Hope you all had a amazing weekend! Mine was pretty quiet.