Viva La Liberty was entered into the 2016 Oversew Fashion Awards. Following and amazing night at the awards show for this extravaganza of remade, re-imagined and upcycled fashion, I can share the details of this outfit born out of years of collecting fabrics and hours of sewing.   The finished work  features a white linen camisole and a fully reversible circle skirt.


I’ve included the following excerpt from my accompanying entry, to tell the some of the story.

The Outfit

The camisole is based on a vintage 1950’s lingerie pattern, with darted shaping and bias cut body. I’ve updated the style has been updated to incorporate recycled details from a Liberty shirt.

The first side of the skirt features Liberty floral shirts pieced in a radiating spiral, starting with lightest at the top and gradually darkening towards the hem. The use of ombre in placement of fabrics, gives a contemporary edge to the more traditional Liberty prints.

The second side, again celebrates the wonder of Liberty prints with an allover pattern and white linen accent to the hem. This linen strip being the only new fabric visible in the garment.

Viva La Liberty was made possible by a  family tradition of saving, storing and exchanging garments.  The original garment include pieces found, donated and handsewn.  Pieces were gradually added for their texture, pattern and potential.

The finished pieces tell pay homage to Liberty patterns. The Liberty pattern has continued through times where pattern and decoration were dismissed by modernism as irrelevant. The fabrics are made from natural materials including natural linen, cotton and cotton lawn. This outfit tells a story of women choosing quality materials and detailed patterns to express their creativity.



And ….This outfit was judged Runner-Up in the Fire Worx section of the 2016 Oversew Fashion Awards. 

Details of the many, many garments that went into making Viva La Liberty to follow.

There is a growing collection of mismatched cups on my windowsill.  I love the colours, just a little murky and so cheerful.  They are waiting for me to get started on giving them new life. 

You see, each one is a little broken.  Some chips are obvious, some cracks only show up when the cup is full of hot water.  I could call it perfectionism, but really it's a matter of safety.  Once when catching my mother throwing out a china cup, she explained that chipped wine glasses are fine, decadent even, but anything broken, holding a hot drink, is just dangerous.

Rather than waiting to fill these teacups with wine, ever the engineer, I'm on the look out for a ceramic drill bit.  I believe these will make a great collection of bulb planters.  I can gaze again at the cheerful colours while sitting around a pot of tea with good company.

My apologies for the lack of recent posts.  My work hours have unexpectedly increased and as a family we are still finding our feet in the shifting sands of new routines.  The crafting adventures continue.  They are as essential as breathing, yet the writing is taking a back seat.

This painting just had to come home with me.  The muted colors have me wanting to paint the walls to match.  I love the distant peaks and water front houses.  It feels so very sound of music.  I almost want to rip down the curtains and make playsuits for the children - so much easier when you have 2 rather than a Von Trapp-ish 7.  I am a sucker for musicals and dance movies.  I would love to believe in a world where every low point, challenge and high moment is met with a song.  Kind of like this:


The painting is from my first foray into live auctions.  This painting came with another of an english village and a "back to the op shop" framed cat poster.  Oh, and there was just a little fabric. Enough to clothe a whole Von Trapp family escaping through the mountains.

Sometimes projects are just an angels breath from completion.  These little pegs had been sitting painted for a while, waiting for wings, skirts and faces.  I imagined skirts made from slices of lightly coloured vintage embroidery and paper doily wings.  Consulting my drawers of damaged, vintage embroidery, I found other ideas. 

A hand embroidered table cloth, too long in the napisan was waiting for me.  It had been so long bleached that the thread work and hems were dissolving, but still not long enough to remove whatever the tenacious stain had been.  The white on white details remind me of feathers and so wings they were.  The tattered edges became an underskirt for each modest angel, with just the smallest whisper of cotton lace over the top.  My very own mini host of mini angels.

The strangest things rise to the surface when parents start clearing out spaces.  I spied a pair of these glass domes on a shelf in Dad's garage.  At first he though they might be old valve domes, but closer inspection and splashes of white paint suggest they were outdoor light bulb covers.  With $2 of thrifted decorations,  they look grand. 

The kids are latching on to the idea of treasures under domes.  I found a little match box house hiding under a crystal glass (you can see it if you squint).  I just couldn't resist playing with lego trees and a sugar bowl.