Blue 1970's dress refashion

This is another refashion that I did from my 3.50 euro bargain op shop find. I really wanted to make some sweet little dresses for the summer holidays so I shaped the bodice on the dressmaking doll and created this super simple silhouette. It worked a treat when we were in the heat in the south of France. It also worked well in this stormy Berlin summer.... as you can see in these photos.     

I shaped the bodice on my dressmaking doll and attached a gathered skirt section to create the dress. 

Photos: Michael Dooney

A dreary summer in the north

So the Olympics started today! I am so looking forward to watching heaps of different events. Though I am glad that we are seeing them from a far. Earlier in the month we spent some time in England and Scotland. London was already quite full with tourists for the games and the traffic was bad. So if you are in London have fun at the games and good luck getting around town!

The UK weather was pretty miserable and unfortunately Berlin has not been much better. I commend anyone who can put up with months and months of sad weather.

How do you survive through long periods of cold temperatures, overcast skies and shortish, dark days? I survive by blogging, being creative (sewing, screen printing) socializing and most importantly exercising! 

A sad Berlin summer day

Haggis pie. Not my favourite Scottish treat

YUM! Cider!

A bargain piece?

This skirt is another 3.50 euro bargain. It is difficult to find good value vintage pieces in Berlin. 

I bought this at HUMANA, but have recently discovered that HUMANA is a bit of a sham organisation. When buying a Humana piece of clothing the profits do not go the struggling communities. Rather the communities receive all of the left over clothes that Humana doesn't want, which is a problem in itself. These companies just dump their unwanted waste. It gets more and more difficult to try and do the right thing. 

Don't you think? 

Photos: Michael Dooney

A 60's style vintage refashion

                   BEFORE:                       AFTER:

                          3.50 euro second hand skirt       Little 60's inspired dress  

This is by far my favourite refashion to date. It was initially a skirt which I found  in a second hand store for 3.50 euros. It started as a skirt and I transformed it into a dress..... luckily I had just enough fabric. I feel like it is a little too short, but I suppose that it makes it feel even more 60's like.
 

1. The first stage of the refashioning process involves deconstructing the garment.

2. The second stage involved using a shoulder princess seam bodice pattern, and a mini skirt pattern (which were self drafted). I carefully guesstimated the positioning of the pattern onto the fabric, as I had very little room for error (hence the shortness of the skirt). Then cut and sewed it all. 

Construction of the garment:

BODICE - Shoulder Princess Line bodice  

SKIRT - mini skirt with darts

LINING -both bodice and skirt yellow fabric lining
Photos: Michael Dooney

Berlin Fashion week

If you have walked through the streets of Mitte, Berlin in the past week, you may have noticed that there are a heap of very fashionable people about (..... well more then usual). It is of course Berlin Fashion week. I am never very excited by these events as unfortunately it is really just an industry event. There are not too many events open to the public... but there are a few! Particularly those by independent designers.

Yesterday Michael and I made our way to the Helsinki fresh exhibition. I really found that it was an inspiring exhibition with a bunch of unique designs. They were also presented very well.

 

Jenni Alava

 

 I really loved how anttiasplund displayed his romantic style garment. I love this dress!

 Avant-garde mens wear designs by Dusty.

 I really liked the fabric designs from jatuli.

I just love the knitwear designs from Jenni Alava

I particularly like her knitted dresses! Really great designs

We also visited the 'Fashion Road Dialog über Grenzen hinweg' which show cased a number of designs by designers from across the globe.

 Kristine Avetisyan, Armenia & Pavel Ivancic, Czech Republic

Kristine Avetisyan, Armenia & Pavel Ivancic, Czech Republic

Stay tuned for more Berlin Fashion week posts!:)

MUSIC: Fusion!

For the past few years we have been lucky enough to attend the five day electronic music festival, FUSION!. Ever year is jam packed full of fantastic music, dancing, bad & good weather as well as general good times. This years highlights were The go team!, Superflu and the chicks on speed,  dj set (yes they were dj-ing, but they put on an energetic set!). I have added a few clips below.

FUSION 2012 Highlights!

SUPERFLU: Germany

The Go Team!: UK

 Chicks on Speed: multinational group