Adieu

Although I have only just returned to blogging etc. and have been trying to rejoin some of the "normal" things like sewing challenges, makeovers etc etc etc., this is probably going to be my last blog post for quite some time and definitely the last as Paperdoll Cabaret. It has been fun, but as I hinted in my last post, shit is getting REAL.
The truth is my Mum is dying, and it is going to happen soon. As I sit here writing this I can't help but think how our roles have changed. When I tucked her into bed tonight I said "Goodnight my little girl. I used to be your little girl and now you are mine."
No photos for this post.
I wish you all the very best.
Love and Light to you all.
Robyn x

Little Escapes

Hi!
When there is a bit too much "real" in real life, what's a girl to do? Why something frivolous and superficial of course! Time for a new look... I'm thinking sophisticated, classy and a little sexy with a slightly dark aesthetic. A tall order as I'm sure you'll agree when you see below :/
The current challenging issues in my life, particularly my Mum's rapidly declining health and the knowledge that there's nothing that can be done but to make her as comfortable as possible and be there for her, have taken their toll on the way I look and feel. I'm not really taking very good care of myself and although I'm showering and brushing my teeth and all those "necessary" things, that's about as far as it goes. I'm feeling blah and looking blah. Here are a couple of recent snaps to illustrate:

With my nephew Matt a few weeks back.

Last Saturday, yuck!

If I can turn it into a kind of project I can maybe stay on track. I'll journal the process. This is just something I need to do for myself, no other reason.

Another "just for me" thing is the Alternative Universe HSF Challenge. I'm pretty behind with this although I have drawn and cut out the pattern pieces. Hopefully I can meet the deadline.

I said I would give you a bit of background into the books that have inspired my piece for this challenge. To keep things really accurate I'm going to quote directly from www.crydee.com, the Raymond E Feist website. This is just a bit of an overview:

"The Empire Trilogy is a collaborative trilogy of political fantasy novels written by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. It traces the story of Mara of the Acoma's rise to power from a convent novitiate to the most powerful woman in the fictional world of Kelewan. These three books are contemporary to Feist's original Riftwar Saga  and features some crossover characters, mainly from 1982's Magician (Pug, the protagonist of Magician, appears twice in 1990's Servant of the Empire and once in 1992's Mistress of the Empire). Mara struggles to rule her family after her father and brother are killed in a trap by the Minwanabi, one of the most powerful families in the Empire and longtime enemies of the Acoma. Mara quickly learns how to play the Game of the Council with skill and challenges the binding traditions of her world."

Anyway, just a final note on my "Massive Makeover/New Look Challenge" I have made just a few (tentative) relevant purchases:

I know it will take a lot more than a bit of skin care and a lippie, but it's a start. 

and:

Wish me luck!

Till next time,

Robyn x

Me Again!

Hi!
It's been awhile huh? A lot has happened both good and bad since I last wrote. Best intentions and all... I have moved - not far away but living a very different lifestyle now. Pretty much EVERYTHING in my life has changed. I'll talk about some of those things bit by bit over the next posts.
This week I decided to bring back into my life a few of the things that I enjoyed doing "before" that I haven't kept up. Blogging is one of those things, hence the reanimation of this little blog. Another is sewing.
I started the year so full of ideas of what I was going to make, what challenges I was going to join. It all started well... Anyway, I will be taking part in the last few challenges of the HSF 2014 challenge.

I am (re)starting with Challenge #20 - Alternative Universe. I have chosen to make something that relates to a character Mara from a trilogy known as The Empire Series by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts. I read the series some years back. It is a kind of spinoff from the Magician series by Raymond Feist and is set in Kelewan, a place with a green sky. Weapons are made from hardened leather as metal is very scarce. Although we are definitely talking alternative universe, the authors drew on both Japanese and Hawaiian culture when shaping Kelewan. Loose, short, flimsy robes are worn, so I am choosing to make a kimono jacket. It will be based on a tutorial I found on www.elleapparelblog.com. Rather than hemming around the edges I am planning on making a bias binding from my fabric and using that. The fabric is not really "Kelewan-ese", but it does give a kitschy nod to Hawaii and will be useful and fun to wear in the summer. Here is the fabric:

It is rayon and I believe I may have shown this fabric before.

At this point I am planning on handsewing as much as possible, just because I love handsewing, but we'll see how that pans out in reality.

I'll do a few posts during construction I would like to give you some background on the books I am using as inspiration.

On a different note I went for a rehearsal this afternoon at a place I will be singing at on Saturday evening. I missed the turn and found myself heading up to North Brother Mountain. Because the road was narrow, windy and very steep, with a precarious drop on one side I wasn't able to turn back till I got to the top! The view however was worth the inconvenience:

It looks like a painting doesn't it? But it's real. When I left my rehearsal I had to wait for these guys to cross the road before I could drive off:

You can't quite see here, but one was a little bigger than the other and had a little mohawk. Very cute.

Till next time,

Robyn x

Getting Back On The Horse

Well I completely missed the deadline for the Sew For Victory 2014 challenge, and I have missed several Historical Sew Fortnightly 2014 challenges. I am a little annoyed with myself about this but to be fair I was unwell. Now I am well and truly on the mend it is time to get back into it.

I will be joining the HSF 2014 challenges #11 - The Politics of Fashion (due 15th June) and #13- Under $10 (due 14th July). I have both challenges planned and have already started to write a blog post on The Politics of Fashion.

I also think this will be fun:

It's a 1920s sewalong, which will start on 3rd June (the day I get back from my next Sydney trip) and will include underwear, dresses, wraps, hats and belts. I can't wait!

Till next time,

Robyn x

My Current DVD/TV Crushes

My three great DVD/TV crushes at the moment are Tony Hill, Sherlock Holmes and Phryne Fisher.

My Phryne Fisher crush is easy to explain - I want to BE her:

Found on Google Images. Isn't she lovely?! Phryne Fisher (played by Essie Davis)

She's intelligent, thinks on her feet, is a little eccentric, has the BEST wardrobe and a knack for getting involved in dangerous situations which she relishes. She is street savvy and can definitely look after herself. She is a true lady who counts among her good friends a couple of wharvies turned cabbies. For Phryne there are no class or cultural distinctions, Oh, and did I mention her wardrobe? ;) And to cap it all off she is also a bit naughty. Who wouldn't fall head over heels in love with Phryne?!

Regarding the two gents though, (Tony and Sherlock) I'm not quite sure what my crushes say about me psychologially :/ They are both heroes/antiheroes, and they are both highly intelligent, very eccentric, rather dysfunctional and socially inept, and I find them both utterly adorable and completely irresistable!!!

Tony Hill (played by Robson Green) - from Google Images

Sherlock Holmes (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) - found on Google Images)

See? And even these actors' real names are awesome.

If you haven't yet seen the series' that these characters inhabit , they are all available on DVD:

• Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries - (Phryne Fisher - 2 series so far)
• Wire In The Blood - (Tony Hill - 6 series - I haven't seen the 6th one yet)
• Sherlock - (Sherlock Holmes - 3 series so far) 

If you watch them I'll bet you'll fall in love with these characters too!

Robyn x

Hello!

Hi!
Just thought I'd say hello...nothing really exciting to post. Well I did have an MUA Haul to post about but I'm afraid I'm not feeling particularly creative or energetic right now.
It's getting colder here. I really shouldn't complain, Australia doesn't really get that cold, but I love being warm and tend to get very lazy and slug-like the cooler it gets here.
I may've posted about this but when it's cold, comfort and warmth are really my only two considerations when it comes to clothing so most Winters I blob around in whatever I lay my hands on that is warm and  comfy. This year I'm making sure I get my Winter clothes organised before it gets too cold for me to care. I'm aiming for comfort, warmth AND a decent aesthetic.
I've been reading Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. It's a great story, set in the US during the Great Depression and Prohibition at a time when Circuses travelled by rail. It is fictional, but some inspiration has been taken from actual events and characters in circus history and there is an archival photograph at the beginning of each chapter. "Running away to join the circus" sounds very romantic and exciting, and in some ways it really is, but overriding this is the fact that circus life was harsh and very brutal then. I wonder how that compares with modern circuses like Cirque du Soleil? I'd love to know. I think some research is in order.
Well, that's it from me for now. Here is a cheery photo for you. It's the photo of the day from Wikimedia Commons:

Till next time,
Robyn x

Weighed, Measured...You Know The Rest

Yes, it's get out the violins time... Well really it's total makeover time. When I say total makeover I mean ALL of me, not just the physical - although that's as good a place as any to start. I have officially hit "the BIG time" weight wise. I weighed in this morning at 80.2 kgs. I'm not even going to tell you what I discovered when I checked my measurements (blush with shame). Considering my cholesterol is crazy high and I'm still having testing to see why I keep getting chest pains, my weight needs to come down. Not to mention the fact that if I expand much more I will once again have to fork out for new clothes.
Here is a selfie I took this morning to remind myself of my starting point, not weight-wise, just physically in general:

Looking a bit ragged wouldn't you say?

As a way to track my progress (or lack of), I'm going to take a Saturday Selfie for the next little while.

I've also been having a bit of trouble creatively. I'm just not feeling it regarding singing and haven't really been practicing which is very unusual for me. I usually spend a few hours a day on practice. From tomorrow I'm going to set a timeframe and just practice for that time, even if it's only half an hour, and even if I'm "not feeling it".

Making things has become a problem too. Nothing is working out. I've been starting things, then having to unpick and unpull because I'm making the most ridiculous mistakes. So, to make sure I keep creating without too much stress on whether things will turn out, I'm starting a really basic crochet blanket. I'm just going to do squares in double crochet, and the end result will be something useful. Surely I can't go too wrong there?

Another thing is reading. I always have some book or another on the go, but right now I can't settle. I keep starting and stopping, try another, same thing again. Well today I have chosen a book "Water For Elephants". I'm going to read at least 1 Chapter per day and finish it.

I'm a little behind on my makeup course assignments. This week I'm going to submit the "Night Glamour" Q&A and practical. And get a start on the next module. AND I'm going to get my notes organised. This morning I ordered a "practice head" for makeup. It will be great for when I don't have any real, live models around and also when developing new products for Sukielektro.

Well, I guess that's it for now. 

Take care.

Till next time,

Robyn x

Shiver Me Timbers!

Hi!
Well I've had quite an odd couple of weeks, culminating in an appointment with a cardiologist this coming Tuesday :/ (more about that later).
Firstly about my trip to Sydney - I flew down (and back) in a turboprop!

The Rock 'n' Roll Markets didn't quite go according to plan. Rhiannon came down with a migraine on Saturday night. A full on, knock em down one. She vomited so much she ended up vomiting blood (sorry, perhaps a bit too much info!). I briefly thought about doing the markets on my own but she was so ill I didn't want to leave her. Thank goodness that by late Sunday she was feeling more human again.

I spent the week mostly relaxing, doing a bit of sewing and reading. Eddie, Rhiannon's gallant guard cat was there to keep me company through the days while Rhiannon was at work:

You can see by his expression he takes his job very seriously. And while on the subject of animals, this is Jersey, Erin's new lady's chihuahua (did I spell that right?)

Very cute and very tiny!

I'm not sure whether I mentioned or not, but I've started doing an on line makeup artist course with Erin Shaw Academy. With most modules, as well as answering a questionnaire you have to submit before and after photos of actual makeups. The module I've just completed is Day Look. Rhiannon was my model and here's the before and after pix:

During the week in Sydney I started getting pains in my chest and feeling very tired. I've had these pains occasionally before but they've never been quite as bad or stayed for so long. I kept it quiet while I was in Sydney and tried to keep it quiet once I got back home, but apparently I'm looking quite pale plus having to "have a little lie down" gave it away. I saw my doctor who did an ECG and got me in for an urgent appointment with a cardiologist (next Tuesday) as well as putting me on a few medications. I must admit I am pretty nervous about it, plus $250.00 payable on the day doesn't exactly thrill me. Hopefully though it will all prove to have been a bit of a storm in a teacup (fingers crossed)

Till next time,
Robyn x

All Packed And Ready To Go

I'm going to Sydney on Friday for a week. This time I'm flying down. I usually get the train which takes about 6 hours. The flight is only one hour and ten minutes. I couldn't afford to do this everytime I go down, since I do this every two months, to coincide with the Rock 'n' Roll Markets and I usually stay down for a week to catch up with my girls, but this time I'm treating myself!

My Fluff Mermaid Luggage Tag. Fluff have the cutest stuff!

I'm getting packing down to a fine art. I'm getting to know what I'm likely to use and what I'm not. I used to bring extra stuff "just in case", but these days I'm quite ruthless. I'm even able to keep my makeup bag to a reasonable size by deciding on a colour scheme for the week (this time it's smoky but subtle grey eyeshadow, with liner, mascara and lashes of course, and two shades of red lipstick). 

Something I always need, wherever I go is 1. Something to read. and 2. Something to make. This is one area that used to get out of hand. I used to take a choice of books, and whatever projects I was currently working on. This time I've got that under control too. My something to read arrived in the mail today:

Wartime Housewife by Biff Raven-Hill.

I've had a little peak and can't wait to get into it!

With my something to make I decided on something that was small in size that I could easily pick up and put down. When I make something, as pattern weights I usually use anything I can find (such as the Sally Hansen Hard As Nails bottle you'll see in the photos). I decided to make myself some pattern weights. I'm not sure what I will fill them with yet, probably lentils? But I'll do that after I get back. I had a fat quarter roll of fabric I bought ages ago because I liked the design. I decided to use that. I cut out 3"x3" squares. I'm not sure how many I have, but I used up the whole thing. I've packed it with a small pair of scissors, some thread and a little container with some pins and needles and I'm ready to go.

Note the Hard As Nails pattern weight.

My fat quarter's worth of squares.

Just a bit of trivia... before she was married my Mum was a milliner(ess?). She worked for a family business in Sydney. The company was Leutenegger. It looks like they are still in business after all these years!

When I come back I have quite a bit of sewing to do. My Sew For Victory blouse, my new Cruisin' Down The River blouse and matching hat for a start. I'll be able to use my new pattern weights. Yay!

Till next time,

Robyn x

HSF Challenge #7: Tops & Toes

I have to admit I haven't been able to keep up with these challenges. I'm gonna do my best to keep up and "get back into it".
This challenge for me is a fascinator I made earlier this year. It is "inspired by" rather than completely accurate, but here goes:
In Edwardian times fascinators were very decorative. Fashionable ladies sometimes had stuffed birds - male hummingbirds for those who could afford it, mounted on their hats. They used feathers, artificial flowers, waxed satin ribbons and tulle as embellishments.
My fascinator doesn't have a real stuffed hummingbird of course, but it is a hummingbird figurine. It is also decorated with feathers and tulle so it does tick a few boxes. I made the base from black felt and millinery wire sewn between the two layers to keep the round shape and I have sewn a comb onto the bottom. I had to glue the "hummingbird" on there was nothing to anchor on to sew it, but I did sew the feathers on.
This was another handmade project:

So, onto the nuts and bolts:

The Challenge: #7 Tops & Toes

Fabric: Felt and Tulle

Pattern: My own

Year: Edwardian Era

Notions: Thread, millinery wire, feathers, hummingbird figurine, comb, glue

Historical Accuracy: Hummingbird, tulle and feathers were all used on hats and fascinators during this period. My design is a lot more understated than many Edwardian designs, but I've tried to create an Edwardian feel

Hours to complete: Once again, not sure. I do much of my hand sewing in front of the telly and forget to take note of how long I spend

First worn: This was originally made for Etsy but I decided to keep it. I haven't worn it in public yet but I have a feeling that it will end up as part of a dance costume before too long!

Total cost: The little hummingbird cost around $5.00, but everything else I already had.

That's all for now, 

Till next time

Robyn x

Current Hand Sewing Project: Ex-Hire Dress Refashion.

Through the week on one of our frequent charity shop expeditions while keeping an eye out for a petticoat for me and a lacy top (also for me) Mum had an excellent find - a dress which had obviously been a hire bridesmaid's dress. Going by the style it looks to be late 70s/early 80s. It's magnolia colour satin and lace, and it was destined to become a petticoat and lacy top (admittedly it will need much alteration to fit me :/). I didn't think to take a picture of it before I cut it in half I'm afraid, but:

The top part of the dress which, when made bigger will be my new Cruisin' Down The River dance top.

The lace of the dress was in excellent condition, but the satin is a bit crinkly and misshapen I guess due to many cleanings and alterations, but it has a kind of fragile charm. I have chosen to hand sew mainly because of this.
So far, I have made the petticoat:

The casing for the petticoat. I tried to make my stitching as neat and even as I could.

The finished petticoat. I'm not really game enough to iron this. It's going to be worn next week under this:

I made these to wear too.

Rhiannon and I have made matching skirts for this Rock 'n' Roll & Alternative Market (6th April), except  her liquorice allsorts panels have a pink background. She has also had made black t shirts with "Sukielektro - Hand Made Makeup" on the front in hot pink. Yay us!!!

We have a couple new products to take along. Here's the labels for our new Stardust Body Powder:

There are two fragrances, Wahini and Lorelei, and contain cosmetic grade glitter to give a lovely "starglow".

Anyway I am off now to do some research on how to make the lacy top substantially bigger than it currently is. Wish me luck!

Till next time,
Robyn x

Sew For Victory 2.0 and Update

This is just a quick one to let you know I haven't fallen off the planet even though it's been a couple weeks (I think) since I posted here.
I haven't been idle though - I have been sewing dance costumes for 23rd March concert with Rhythm Revue. My Mum will be filming so I will hopefully have something that comes up YouTube-able. The costumes are done now, I'm just adding some extra sparkles here and there.
Tomorrow we are doing a St Patrick's Day show. I'm just in the singalong bit and handclapping, but it should be fun, except my dress is a bit of a squeeeeze :/ The lbs just keep creeping on I'm afraid...
I made my circle skirt and headscarf to wear at the next Rock 'n' Roll and Alternative Market on 7th April, and next week I will be working on some new Sukielektro products to take there. I've also cut out a couple more bits and pieces - another circle skirt in a lime-y green and some cigarette pants in purple to take to Sydney too. I will get photos up soon.
In the meantime, I will be doing this challenge. Not sure what I'm gonna make yet, but I want to make something that looks really authentic.


I also need to get back into this:

I've missed a few challenges by now, but I will get back into it soon.
Well that's about it for now.
Take care,
Robyn x

Tempus Fugit!

This last week or so has just flown! I'm in the middle of a tornado of activity, and still not sure which way is up.
Here's just a little snapshot of last week:
Dental and medical appointments on 4 days. 'nuff said about those.
Making dance costumes. Still going. Worrying about whether or not I will meet my deadline of 8th March.
Here's a partially completed dance skirt. Still more ruffles and sparkles to be added. The line of sewing you can see is where I'm also attaching a few ruffles to the inside of the skirt. That will be covered as I add more ruffle rows. The green is more lime-y green in real life.

Last Friday I sang a couple of songs at the Glasshouse in Port Macquarie. You can hear them here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJT74ouZRSo
I did radio last Sunday. Was pretty happy with my music. I always spend quite a lot of time preparing my shows so I'm always glad when it comes together well.
In the midst of all this I decided to just STOP and do something "just for me". I made myself a bangle of Malaysian Jade beads:

I think it's really pretty.
I'm not going to have anything completed for the HSF challenge this time. I will save that up and finish my lingerie set on one of the fortnights where the challenge is UFOs.
Well, that's about it for me for now. Back to the sewing machine for me.
Bye till next time
Robyn x
Btw I have discovered an excellent guitarist! His name is Estas Tonne. Check him out. He's a treat for both ears and eyes ;)

The Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge #3 - Pink

It seems like ages since I posted - I guess it has been about 10 days though. During my time in Sydney I didn't do Facebook or email at all! I felt I needed some time away from cyberspace, but now comes all the catching up.
Anyways, what I am posting about here is Challenge #3 (Pink) of The Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge. I decided to make something small as time was proving to be troublesome, getting ready for my trip etc. I almost dipped out of this one but I figured something small was better than nothing at all, so here it is:
My Shockingly Elsa Hair Flower:

According to Wikipedia and their entry on shades of pink:
"Shocking Pink is bold and intense..... It takes its name from the tone of pink used in the lettering on the box of the perfume called Shocking, designed by Leonor Fini for the Surrealist fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli in 1937. This in turn was inspired by the Tete de Belier (Ram's Head), a 17.27ct pink diamond from Cartier owned by the heiress Daisy Fellowes, who was one of Schiaparelli's best clients."
My pattern was based on examples and other patterns that I saw on the internet, particularly a design by Lorine Mason.

Working out the pattern and deciding how I wanted the pieces to go together was probably the most time consuming part of the project.

The centre of the flower could've been done more authentically. I used a bit of polyester wadding to fill out the centre bit, but there's heaps of other things I could've used that would've been more in keeping with the 1930s.
I handsewed the whole project once again - I find handsewing strangely hypnotic and relaxing and usually choose to handsew where I can.
For the backing I used a couple of small pieces of felt, cut in roughly an oval shape and pinked. The first layer was sewn on to the back of the flower to hold the whole thing together. I sewed the second layer onto the first layer and sewed a bobby pin on this one. Next time I would use an alligator clip as it would make it much easier to wrangle when attaching it to my head than the bobby pin proved to be.

Et voila (again):

Wrapping Up: 
The Challenge: PINK
Name: Shockingly Elsa Hair Flower
Fabric: Cotton and felt
Pattern: Drafted myself after looking at examples
Year: 1937
Notions: Thread, polyester wadding
Historical accuracy: Shocking Pink first made its appearance in 1937. Cotton was a fabric used. Polyester wadding - a big no.
Hours to complete: This only took a few hours - the most time consuming part being drawing up the pattern and deciding how to put the bits together.
First worn: Tranny Bingo at the Coopers Hotel, Newtown (NSW) 10th Feb 2014 - (a post coming up about that. We had lots of fun)
Cost - $0. I already had everything I used in my stash.

Well that's about it folks. I'll be posting through the week about my time in Sydney.
Till then, take care, have fun,
Robyn x

Hols!!!

I'm travelling down  to Sydney tomorrow, about 6 hours on the train. I'm not sure how often I will get to look at the interwebs, so I might not post until I come back on the 14th Feb (only away for a week).
On Saturday and Sunday (8th & 9th) Rhiannon and I have a stall here:Sydney Rock 'n' Roll & Alternative Market

It's going to be lots of fun. We'll be there with our makeup brand Sukielektro. 

Here's a gratuitous photo of our newest product:

Whisper Translucent Finishing Powder in Not-So-Shrinking-Violet. If you're around on either day come and say hi. We're on the same floor as the bands, Yay!.

I've been pretty busy this week hand sewing. It's not what I was intending, but I was doing some pattern testing for Parnuuna at www.bemygoth.com. The pattern and instructions as usual were great. It's just the fabric that I had (thrifted and bought in a rush) proved such a pain to handle that hand sewing was the only way I had any control over it. It's taken me the whole week. Here's the appliques I made for it:

With the Historical Sew Fortnightly I've made a very small item for Challenge #3- Pink. It's my Shockingly Elsa Hair Flower. I'll post about it when I get back, but this is what it looks like. The colour doesn't come through very well here. It looks kind of fluro, but in real life it's a shocking pink of course:

The only sewing I'm taking away with me is some fingerless gloves which I've cut out. It's really only for the train that I need stuff to do. I'm also taking a murder mystery book from an author I haven't read yet - Carola Dunn. It is one of the Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries. Set in the 1920s, it sounds like she may be a Phryne Fisher type character. We shall see. I adore Phryne so Daisy has some big boots (or should I say some kind of very fashionable footwear) to fill.

Anyway, that's it for me for now, at least until I get back. What are you up to next week?

Till next time,

Robyn :)