Princess Polly and Motel Rocks rock my inspiration...

Hey guys, just checking in to show you my favourite new arrivals at Princess Polly and Motel Rocks...

Even though I don't like high necklines myself, because I think they can give an unflattering silhouette of women's breasts, I can see how this would work on a lot of girls. I wouldn't suggest wearing something like this if you had big breasts however, as the detail in the neckline would focus attention on this area. To me, this would be better as detail on the back of a neckline.

Loose shorts are in vogue at the moment, aren't they? Here is another pair I saw a while ago on Burdastyle. I think these look really cute from the front, but I can't say that I understand the attraction of this type of short from the back. If the ones I have seen around shopping centers are anything to go by, they tend to bunch up in little v's around your bum, making you look like you have a size XXXXXXXS bathing suit on underneath. I would love to be disproved though, as they do look very cute from the front, so if you can find any pictures which look flattering from all sides, (and not just on a wafer thin model), comment me!

Chiffon is another 'in' thing. I think this is chiffon... Well, anyway, I have a pattern that I think would work great as a maxi skirt in a sheer fabric like chiffon, so hopefully I'll get a chance to try that soon. I also love this ocean blue, it is so deep and romantic and whimsical. Like the dark older sister of Alice in Wonderland.

Does anyone else find capes incredibly hard to wear? They look so good on the skinny models plastered all over magazines, but on everybody else, it involves a whole lot of research. For example, will cropped capes make you look pregnant? Will longer ones make you look 4" tall? And what can you actually wear underneath them- because a cape does tend to steal the show.

I would love to be able to say that I had made this dress! However, I am planning to be inspired by the Lattice Dress I blogged about recently, and attempt something interesting and hard. I figure that this would be made of three separate pieces, the skirt, the twisted bra-ish top, and the neckline. Surely that wouldn't be too hard....

This on the other hand wouldn't be that hard, and could easily be made by opp shop finds. All you would need would be a T-shirt to turn into the stretch skirt, and an old tank top or a sheer skirt you could turn into the top. Some of the other Motel designs also feature lattice or crisscross backs, made by cutting strips of the fabric, finishing them, and then sewing them back onto the back in the desired crisscrossing pattern. Definitely worth trying, comment me if you already have.

This is another gorgeous feature neckline. I have no idea how you would make this one though! Another dress that wouldn't suit women with bigger breasts however, unless you wanted your cleavage to bulge through the sheer fabric. Which I have seen. It really isn't worth trying. Also, try to remember that anything with lines like this will probably create dents through any fat or tissue that presses against it. So if you do have big breasts, it will create something akin to a Visible Panty Line, through the vertical middle of your breast. Not very desirable.

I actually have a vintage dress similar in shape to this, except with a collar and buttons, that is waiting to be hemmed shorter. Dresses like this are great for women with small waists, especially with a belt to cinch you in even more. And that is, I am told the hourglass silhouette which men like best. On a side note, my dad has always maintained women dress better for other women, rather than to attract men. What do you think?

Princess Polly and Motel Rocks are great shopping websites which show a lot of unique and beautiful designs. ModCloth is also one to look at if you want something a little different, for inspiration, or if you have a lot of money to spend. However, I do find that ModCloth's lack of styling can make their clothing look a bit nanna-ish. I'm sure it would all look a whole lot better on. Personally, my favourite part of ModCloth is their shoe collection, they also have a good plus size range however. While you're there, check out the un-clothing parts of their site, like this book that is right on the top of my wishlist.

Well that is it for me tonight guys, I have to go and hem a skirt for my little sister. Hopefully I'll get back to posting actual projects soon!
helen xx

Pinch Punch First of the Month!

Before I start on my projects, I'd like to give a preview of a fantastic Burdastyle member. For those of you who don't know, Burdastyle is, as well as being the Burda website, an online community for people who sew. You can sign up for free, with your own user, wall for people to post on, and a list of the projects you create. When you create a project, you can upload pictures, information about fabric and notions, descriptions, and even instructions or PDF patterns so that other people can make the clothing too. There are search options to find patterns, (many for free), that you can download and print at home or in some cases that you can buy and have sent to you. All of the Burda patterns are also available from the site. It is an amazing resource, with a wide variety of people and sewing styles using the site, and I would highly recommend joining even if you spend 6 months (like me) just looking and not adding anything up of your own.
But on to the member I'd like to show you...atommique has posted 32 projects on Burdastyle to date, and the latest ones especially have caught my eye. I would love (and am going to try) to create her twist front maxi and lattice work dress as soon as I have finished sewing up the fabric I have at the moment. I love these dresses because they are both simplistic when it comes down to it- the silhouettes are well-known and have been used countless times before, they are both just one colour and have no patterns. This simplicity allows the details in them - the beautiful twist and structured lattice work - to really stand out and be accentuated. All together, it makes for two very wearable pieces of clothing. I also loved atommique's black high-waisted shorts and her faux leather zipper corset. I'll leave it to you to do some exploring on her profile though.
As for the rest of Burdastyle, get on there! Check out the blogs, search for techniques, trawl through other user's profiles. You are absolutely BOUND to find something handy or interesting, no matter what your level of sewing expertise is. Go for it!

Now, onto my day. Today, I decided I would share some cooking with you. I love to cook, but usually only cupcakes or cheesecakes, because I find them easy, people enjoy them, and there are a lot of things you can do with them. So today me and my boy decided to cook Cafe Calypso Cupcakes. We used a recipe from the book "Cupcakes and Muffins", which was the collectors edition by R&R publishing house, (here is an image of the cover). My mother actually got this book as a present from a lovely woman we know, and I think that it is just awesome. Not that awesome is a particularly eloquent word, but the cupcakes are just that. Among the cakes in the book there are Coffee Muds, Double Lemon Cupcakes (which look like they've had an egg dropped on them), Peach Melba Muffins, and Lemon Sour Cream Butter Cupcakes. They all sound and look delicious, as ours were when they came out.
Here are some pictures;

 The cupcakes were basically coffee and rum flavour, with a coffee icing simply made from butter and icing sugar. They were delish though! I would post more on the recipe, but unfortunately it is under copyright. So buy the book for yourself! :p

Last post I also said I would talk about the Alannah Hill Factory Outlet store in Fitzroy. On the ground level, this store simply looks like any normal factory outlet- with piles and piles of clothing, messy and covering every available surface, and all ridiculously cheap. However, go up the towering stairs to your right, and then head to the far right corner of that level, and you will find shelves of Alannah Hill fabric at also ridiculously cheap prices. When I was there last week, there was even a waft of fabric that had thousands and thousands of feathers hand sewn onto it, in every shade of the rainbow. It was beautiful, but not yet priced and probably a bit over the top for anything I would be creating. I wish I had bought it though, it was stunning. There was also plenty of wool knits, in a range of colours, cotton prints, stripey stretch knits, patterned chiffon and silk, and any manner of other beautiful fabric. These pictures of what I bought do not begin to express the variety of beauty you can pay for at the Alannah Hill Outlet;

But please go and check the store out, because I only bought boring things! Both of these, if I remember correctly, were priced at $5 a meter, and they are pretty good quality fabric, (as far as I can tell anyway).

Just before I go, here is one last link. IroIroCrafts, which I just discovered, is a very cool blog with some interesting design journeys on it. Have a little look around, as I plan to write about knitting next!

helenxx