Viva La Liberty, my oversew entry, is made from a collection of shirts. The outfit is a memory palace of fabrics and stories of treasured items.

My family is big on narrative and epic stories.  Objects are given a history, to be recalled should anyone ask.  Locations on a road trip trigger stories of "The time when.."  Everything becoming a part of an intricate memory palace.  So it is natural that the pieces in Viva La Liberty have their own stories too.

This is the story of the pieces in Viva La Liberty.

A collection of Liberty shirts - 9 in total.  While most of the shirts were found in thrift shops, two were made by family members.  These shirts are a tangible evidence of women expressing themselves over the years through their craft and selection of fabrics.

Each shirt is carefully disassembled allowing the fabric to be reused and re-celebrated.  The seams, collars and cuffs are removed before being washed and pressed flat.  The tradition  of disassembling to wash, or reuse, is common with revered garments, such as kimono.
 The oldest shirt belonged to my Great Aunt. The handsewn name tag is testament that it was one of her favourites as it was packed with her when she moved to a nursing home.  During the disassembly of this shirt, the fabric proved too frail for this project. Only the label has been used in the oversewn garments.  The remainder of the fabric has been put aside for use in a creation more suited to it’s delicate state.

A Liberty skirt - This was originally a kit-set for the enthusiastic, but less confident home-sewer.  It came with shirred edging, buttonholes and buttons allowing the discerning woman to make their very own skirt, with minimal effort.
This skirt was given to me by my godmother after years of use.  My love of sewing has always been encouraged by family, though acts of generosity, such as this.  Given a tradition of frugality and love of fabric, this skirt could only be treasured and passed on.  Part of this garment’s story is told through patches concealing buttons that were sewn and resewn, as well as darker areas that were hidden in the deep hems of the original skirt.
A Liberty toddler’s dress - This small dress was passed to me by an Aunt because she thought I would treasure the fabric and “could do something with it”.  It had obviously been sewn at home, with loving hands, and was meant for a child who would only fit it for a brief moment.  Dresses like this illustrates how women have shown love by wrapping their children in the most precious fabrics.

A white linen shirt made by myself in 1993, in my earlier years of home-sewing. This shirt featured everything conformist about the 90’s from paua shell buttons, to copious amounts of billowing white linen. This shirt had been worn by myself, passed to my mother for wearing and then catalogued with those items “too good to throw out” at the back of every wardrobe.  Fortunately, the hand sewn name tag, saw the shirt to returned to me and reinvented in this outfit.  I took great delight in being able to rework my own sewing, as each piece of the shirt was unpicked, pockets removed and buttons put aside.  The newly created garments are both different from and reflective of, the original piece.

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.

Winter means winter coats.  I have been stitching away, with these coats just waiting for it to get cold enough to wear.  Of course, this doesn't mean that everything else the children wear is seasonally appropriate.  Check out those bare knees!!
The girls promptly told me that they are elf coats, not pixie coats.  Apparently, elves are cooler.  I think we can blame the Polar Express movie for that.  The girls are pretty excited about their coats either way.
 About the Pattern:
The pattern is Thadee by Citronille.  It has been shortened to allow for tree climbing and bike riding adventures.  I didn't realise you could get the patterns in english  and fumbled my way through the french (looking at the pictures really). I chose to line it with flannel to the hoods and body and vintage acetate to the sleeves.   I've also added some pockets into the side seams.  The buttons are vintage self covered dome buttons which found in an opshop.  I still haven't been able to find anyone who is currently making them as they are great for little fingers.

The fabric was bought at an auction in January.  The coral appears to have been a wool blanket once upon a time.  It was just an off cut when it came to me.  The blue is a thick woven coat wool.  You may see a little more of it over time as I ended up with a half bolt of it.

The pattern is simple to make and I would recommend it.  While it would be a whole lot faster to make without pockets or lining, the little details make it all the nicer for my little pixies elves.

Thrifting has been following a theme lately. There are some things that I already have and treasure, and then - I find more.  The second Mr Weeble is case and point.

Sometimes there is a fine line between treasuring and hoarding.  For now, I'd like to think I'm still on the treasured side.

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.

Then the thrifting - I found a breadmaker at a recent garage sale.  At $10 with a "it might not work" caveat I wasn't expecting much.  I found a copy of the manual online and 3 loaves of bread later, the bread maker has more than paid for itself.


Finally, the Christmas - With a surplus of quince meat, 3 pints to be precise,I'm on the lookout for recipes to use it up.  This braided loaf recipe was in the bread maker manual.  I had my fingers crossed behind my back expecting disaster but it was brilliant.  It tasted even better on day 2 and 3, which is a little unusual in my experience of home made bread.


Now I only have 2 1/2 pints of Quince Meat to go, any ideas?

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.

I may be many things, but a bird fancier I am not.  Instead I am content to admire these sweet and proper budgies.  I picked up the books from the local church fair for their illustrations.  

There's a certain poetry to the collective nouns of birds.  A chatter of budgies or even a chattering.  The canaries, I have been told, like to hang out in an aria or even an opera.  It has me wondering what names I would choose if given a chance to name, say, a group of collectors, sewers or thrifters? Given a weakness for simple alliteration I'm thinking perhaps a clutter of collectors, skein of sewers, and throng of thrifters.

One day I will concoct a dish that uses as many vintage utensils as I can find.  These two followed me home from the church fair.  This little grater was fantastic for grating hard cheddar for over our spaghetti*.  As for the baking molds, I have no idea.  They are not the little shells for madeleines or log like ginger gems.  It appears there are still novelty pastries out there for me to discover.

*The kids were stoked to use the grater, but rather disgusted when they tasted the strong cheese - I wish I had taken a photo to record the foul look I got.

Linking in with Opp Shop Show Off

Once upon a time souvenir spoons were proof that you had been there, done that.

I'm not so sure about now.  I haven't a wall or rack filled with glued on mementos.  I'm always on the look out for the ones with vintage enameled insigna.  Especially, it is from one any of the places we visited on our honeymoon. The rest, I keep and give to people when they return from theirs.


Linking in with Op Shop Show Off