I'VE GOTTA FEELING.......

Cue for a song, I know, but I do believe it's gonna be a good night, as I'm out for dinner with some lovely friends and am really looking forward to it, so here's my ouutifit for the evening.

Bought these fabulous jeans from Karen Millen last year, and I love them, as they're really tight, but have a nice little boot cut, without being too much!

And then there's my lovely Revolution blouse, that I bought last year, and have only worn once so far, so it's about time I started wearing it! Was thinking that if it's cold, I may wear the spoiler under it, but I'm not sure yet........

I love these shoes which I recently bought from Zara. Took them to Oslo with me, then realised just how far I'd be walking - from Sonia Henies Plass to Aker Brygge, so resorted to the Belstaff boots instead, which were much more comfortable! LOL

But even tho they are 'majorly' high, they are comfortable, due to the the fact they don't have any mad buckles or stitching across the foot area!

So a few pretty accessories added to the mix - and a first 'outing' for my new scarf, and I'm good to go.......just need to find a bag to go with it all - no doubt I'll resort to my usual one then! ;-)

Ha en God Helg alle sammen!

Its Eurovision time, so another mad night out watching the contest with friends - who will you be suporting?..........

Klem!

Mxx

It's fun to make something a little more 'special'!

Well it's been a hectic but fun week for me, sewing to my hearts content and sourcing fabrics and lace, so I really have been a busy bee indeed! And as I'm sitting here now, catching my breath, I thought I would show you something I was working on today.

A friend emailed me the other day (a man, can you believe it? This one buys the most amazing shoes and bags for his wife - so no, he's not gay! LOL) to say that Blue Lawn were having an Odd Molly sale - well of course, I knew that, already been to the site and purchased something, but nevertheless, I thought it was kind of him to tell me!

For those of you who don't know this site, it's UK based and very reputatble, as I have purchased a number of items from them over the years, so it's worth a visit, especially right now......


http://www.bluelawn.co.uk/


So then, this is what I bought - the pale blue Appeateaser dress. I already have the chalk version and have, shall we say, 'embellished' it, as it's gorgeously pretty, but I just didn't like the nylon lace on the bottom, so needless to say, I already had a piece of lace set aside for it!




And this time I thought it was appropriate to add a piece of lovely white cotton lace to match the white embidery and I think it just makes it a little more special.

And my trademark little bows, just adds the finishing touch!

Looking forward to wearing this one over the weekend - weather permitting, as it's freezing here today and the forecast is not looking good! :-(

I hope this little posting inspires you to have a go at enhancing something you own, that perhaps just needs that little extra 'something'

It's fun and whatever you embellish will be unique to you!



Klem!



Mxx

FIELDS OF LACE SCARF PERHAPS?.......

Well I made a scarf made from scraps which was one of my very first postings last year, and I liked it, but having made it double the fabric, it never sat right. Anyhow, it's been bugging me for the past few weeks, so this morning, I decided to unpick it and take my favourite pieces out and start again - and this is what I've come up with!

I used the pieces from the old kaftan and the Zara babydoll top again, and the rest are just scraps - of material, lace, you name it, it's here! There were some tiny scraps of lace that were just about wide enough! This time the scarf is not lined, so it's nice and light.

The only thing that's new is the lace around the edging - and I've had that for over a year!

I believe it's the prettiest thing I've ever made - didn't finish it till 4pm today!

Definitely a Fields of Lace Scarf for sure - I can't wait to wear it!






Klem!





Mxx

UPDATE - SVENSKA TUNIC

As a few of you have asked about this one, I did a size check on it, and it's actually a size 2 and not between 1 and 2 - in fact, it's quite a generous size 2!




Hope you're having as sunny a day as this tunic looks!





Klem!







Mxx

HAPPY NASJONALDAG!

Happy National Day to all the Norwegians reading my blog!

Last year's was memorable, what with Alexander Rybak winning the Eurovision Song Contest the day before! He was being interviewed at Akker Bryge on 2 May when I was having my last ice cream before heading back home. Don't know if it was for the Yohan film, but I guess it was more than likely for the Eurovision!

Well it's not looking like I'll be attending the Eurovision on 29th May, but I will most certainly be watching it with my friends that's for sure, as we have a party planned! And no, sadly, Morten Harket will not be playing any part in it this year (tho his daughter Tomine almost did!) as he will be singing to his heart's content at a concert in Trier in Germany!

The graduating class from the Norwegian equivalent of high school - known as russ - has its own celebration on May 17, staying up all night and making the rounds through the community. They are easily recognized by their distinctive overalls, which tradition dictates that they wear from the 1st to the 17th of May without interruption (except when sleeping), and without washing it. They also have cars, vans or buses, which are painted the same colour as their overalls! On the 17th of May (the final day of the festivities) they are also recognizable by their caps (russelue), which resemble student caps, and which also match the color of the overall.

So let the fun times commence on Karl Johans Gate -Skal for Norge!

Mange Klem!

Mxx

5 CONTINENTS & AND A SWEET GIRL FROM OSLO

And a very Good Morning to everyone! Hope you're all having a wonderful Sunday!

Yes, I was rather a busy bee last week, creating these new designs and working on a few other bits and pieces. Once I get an idea in my head and I transfer it to paper, well I have to get the process under way or else I can't sleep! LOL

So here's two of latest 'creations' Hope you like them........

* HEIDI TUNIC* (And there are 5 Continents not 4!)

Heidi is my nickname (well one of them!) as I this is what one of my ski instructor friends calls me as I always wear my hair in plaits ! One year it caused a lot of confustion with a German lady who joined our group who actually was called Heidi and couldn't understand why Klaus called me this whilst it wasn't my real name - she kept telling me that she was the 'real Heidi' - and I agreed with her - after all, she wasn't someone I wanted to argue with! LOL. However, by the end of the week, she herself had 'christened' me by the name so all was well!

Anyway, I digress - where was I?.........

Oh yes, the dress! Does it seem familiar to any of you out there?

Well the sleeves are a bit different, but basically this dress is made out of scrap material - with the exception of the bodice and the main part of the sleeves. That material I bought in London on my last visit and trust me, it wasn't cheap, but it is very pretty! All the other materials were left over from other items I've recently made - like my Grandma used to say, if you think an item has a purpose and can be used again - you should keep it! I have the biggest bag of scrap materials you've ever seen and it comes out very often! In fact, I think I love creating something out of the scraps more than I do the original material - it gives me a real sense of achievement!

Yes, it even has grosgrain ties on it!

I love how the cream lace that was originally bought to adorn my chalk Native blouse but didn't work as it wasn't delicate enough, has worked here -it looks lovely with the pink broderie anglais fabric!

And then there was another variation on a theme........

* ASTRID TUNIC *

This is named in honour of my lovely friend who lives in Oslo! I've always honoured my friends by naming my creations after them, but up to now, it's normally been my knitwear, so I'm making a start with my clothing instead!

Once again, with the exception of a metre of white broderie anglais material, the rest are scraps! I've used the last of the white cutwork fabric from London on the front of the bodice and the very last scrap of embroidered material used on my white FOL for the edges of the sleeves - and that's it, absolutely none left now! :-(

I even managed to find silk knot cufflinks yesterday so that it looks like one of the original tunics, however, I've changed the sleeve, and made the skirt a little longer to my own taste.

Must ask Astrid to drop by!

Wishing you all a lovely day!

Klem!

Mxx

SOMETHING VINTAGE - Item for sale!

I think it's about time this pretty little blouse found a home where it can be worn and loved!

I bought it back in 2007 and was soo desperate to have it, that I compromised and bought a size 2, however, about a month after, I managed to find a size 1 and bought that also!

Thing is, this pretty little one has only been worn and laundered once, and has sat in my Odd Molly wardrobe as I couldn't bear to part with it, but truth be told, it's rather pointless to deprive someone of the abilty to own this stunningly pretty little blouse, so I'm offering it for sale here first - if there are no offers by this time next week, I will advertise it for sale on Ebay and then post the link here - just in case someone misses it!



But I'd much rather it went to a deserving 'Odd Molly' devotee!

If you're interested, contact me here! You won't be disapointed, as the cross stitch embroidery is stunning!

Klem!

Mxx

ANOTHER BOUDOIR WRAP......

Think I could make these in my sleep now, but here's my latest version......

I've made the bottom of the sleeves a bit differently this time, as I had this pretty broderie anglais trim that I purchased from John Lewis a while back but didn't know what to use it on, and I think it worked really well here. The ribbon broderie anglais eyelet trim was purchased in Grimstad a few years back and so I'm happy that I've managed to use it on this tunic. There's about 80com of the main trim on each sleeve, making them very full, but this adds to the look, then the white ribbon gathers it in even more, and provides the finishing touch!

Looking forward to wearing this one with my white FOL 'homage' - that is, when I've got a tan! ;-)




Ha en god helg!




Klem!




Mxx

Never again...........

Well I may be persuaded but not for a while that's for sure! One thing I know is that I have been rather busy of late burning the midnight oil with sewing projects, as you can see here, which keeps me out of mischief at the very least!

So here's the next version of a FOL I've come up with.........

As is usual for me, I wanted to make a few adjustments to the original tunic and after recently purchasing a Berry Dress in Powder, I liked the front frilly piece and the back enclosure, and so I decided to add them here.

I like the way the front turned out...........

For those of you who know the Berry Dress, the back view of my tunic is very similar - just need to find a pretty matching button now!

I kept to the original method of attaching the double layered skirt, but added a lace trim to the top of the skirt - having not seen the oringal for a while, I'm thinking it was just overlocked - perhaps someone can enlighten me on this?

I love the lace on the bottom of the tunic and bought this on Ebay. I was amazed that even though I used what was a lightweight lawn material for this project, that it was still a lot heavier than that used in my Berry Dress!

Not a tagline perhaps, but something to brighten your day.........

Klem!

Mxx

Grace Kelly at the V&A, London

Beautiful Grace Kelly has always been my style icon - perhaps in part, due to the fact that I'm ever soo distantly related to her on my Mom's side of the family - and I do mean distant! The story goes in Ireland that if your name's Kelly and you're from County Mayo, then you must be related - or that's how it was portrayed in the press back in 1956 when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco!

Last Tuesday, I got the opportunity to visit the V&A Museum's exhibition of her clothes, which I have wanted to see for many, many years, but have never been lucky enough. As it was, the wedding dress was not on show, as it's still in the museum in Monaco and is far too delicate to be moved I guess - shame, as I would really love to see it - must take a jolly there methinks!

It was wonderful to see so many 'Gracie devotees' in one room, and I met a lot of lovely women, both young and old, who all had their favourite dresses and we spent much time discussing them as we walked around. For those who may be interested in attending, it's running till 26th September so you have plenty of time to pop along and I can highly recommend it!

For more details, go to.........


www.vam.ac.uk/tickets or call 020 7942 2211



Here's just a sample of the wonderful outfits I saw on my visit........enjoy!




This is a gown that Grace wore in the Pre-Wedding Ball scene in the film 'High Society'. I've always loved this dress, but couldn't believe just how beautiful it was close up! It's a pinky/grey silk chiffon, heavily embroidered and it is soo very delicate - not only that, the waist is absolutely tiny !





This is the two piece that Grace wore to her Civil Ceremony before the big day. It's so beautiful as you can see in the next photo......



The colour is a rose beige, very similar in fact to the lovely Odd Molly powder shade, and is a colour that Grace wore a lot of, and with her colouring, you can see why! It's absolutely beautiful, and one of my favourites on the day, as it was one of the costumes I was hoping to see.




And then there was the Oscar dress - and coat actually, but I don't have a photo to hand right now.......



This pale blue heavy satin ensemble is a delight and the construction of the gown was amazing! It's a shame that the display unit this one was in didn't have a mirrored background like some of them, as the detailing is in the back of the dress -however, I did have this picture in a book......




Stunning don't you think?

And then there was this dress - from the 70's I believe. I don't have a phtograph of her wearing it, but will attempt to find one, suffice to say, this dress was simply stunning in real life!




All of the photographs are from various reference books I have, as we were not allowed to take any photos' which was a real shame! And there were soo many of them, but as I don't have close ups it's been difficult to add more at this point - however, I do have some more books up in my craft room, so I will have a root through there and may do a Part 2 blogpost.

For those of you who don't know the wedding dress, here it is.......





Wasn't she so beautiful? I love this photo of her!





The detailling of the dress from the back is simply stunning! In fact, I think I will do another blogpost purely on this dress alone, as I have a fabulous book on the subject!

And to finish (for now!) one of my favourite photo's of her.......pure Grace Kelly style! I used to dress like her all the time when I was working - until I found the Odd Molly style -and that won me over! LOL




Klem!



Mxx

Pen Ting (Pretty Things!)

Good Morning everyone! Hope you all had a lovely May Day celebration wherever you were!

As for me, well I spent mine in Oslo - but wished I'd known prior to booking my trip, that all the shops would be closed on that day, as I'd clear forgotten about this -doh! ;-) So with that, on arriving on Friday afternoon, I had to hotfoot it from my hotel down Karl Johans Gate in order to pick up some important supplies and have a quick look in Eger and Kiman. I did manage to pick up a pretty pale powder Remix blouse, but everything else I coveted was not in my size - and then obviously, didn't have the luxury of time to go shopping on Saturday, as I was back home on Sunday - major bummer I know! To cap it all, I ended up with food poisoning on Saturday and so didn't get out of bed till around 5pm - but I was absolutely determined that regardless, I was going to have dinner in Lofoten Restaurant - and it was well worth dragging myself there - even if I was a little out of it, as the food was divine!

One of these days I will manage to fit an island trip in on my travels to Oslo, and with the shops being closed, this was my ideal time, but sadly not this jaunt!

I did manage to find some lovely lace in Panduro, but I just couldn't spend as much time in there as I would have liked, as I could have purchased a lot more trust me!

Anyhow, before I headed off there, I recently finished a boudoir ensemble that I'd started last year for myself (the babydoll) which never got finished till recently, when I managed to purchase the appropriate coloured lace to finish the wrap. That's a problem for me, in that not being a mass producer of garments, I can't negotiate good prices or have available to me, some of the wonderful pieces of lace and embroidered cotton material that the likes of Odd Molly and Andersen and Lauth use in their beautiful clothes. If you've never heard of the Icelandic designers, I hotly recommend you check out their blog http://andersenlauthdesignstudio.blogspot.com/ as it's an interesting insight to their work and how they produce a collection - I loved reading it yesterday!

And here's the pretty little babydoll dress I started last year. The pale turquoise and baby pink colours work so well together! I decided to panel the bottom of the dress, so that I could add some lace in there, then finish it off with pink embroidered trim, which was difficult to come by.

The top of the dress is elasticated and stretches to fit. I added the pink satin ribbon over the elasticated panelling, to make the ribbon look prettier!

The back of the dress has lingerie style straps so they are also adjustable and fit in with the style of the dress.

And here's the wrapover. I decided to keep the sleeves a little shorter than I usually do, and I think it worked out nicely on this one!

The dress is a little longer than the wrap, which shows off the edging making them work well together. They look great together over a pair of white jeans or on their own around the pool or at the beach when you want a pretty cover up!

Looking forward to some warm weather so that I can wear this pretty little lot - I love the detailing and can't stop looking at them as I pass by........

Ha en god dag alle!

Klem

Mxx