Colour saturation

I love this - an article about five New Yorkers who each wear only one colour, all the time. I couldn't do it myself - there are too many colours I love to be able to restrict myself to one - but I love the pictures of the blue and grey women's wardrobes, there's an obsessive kind of beauty to a cupboard with only one colour in it.

I wonder what colour I would wear if I were to? If it could be a wide-ish definition of one colour, I'd pick green, because it seems like there are more kinds of green than there are other colours. But if it had to be one specific shade and tone, I'd pick a deep greeny blue, a peacock blue.

Sewing things

Spotted on the utterly fab wardrobe_remix flickr group, a woman wearing the Butterick retro wrap dress I'm currently obsessing about (this one), and looking great. I must make it.

I bought three patterns on Saturday (this, this and this) - the first one I have almost finished making up in a beautiful purple print jersey remnant I had lying around, and the second I have cut out in a deep red cotton mix, inspired by the Marc Jacobs dress I posted about before.

Of course, in the week I actually make two dresses, it's typical that I've lost my camera...

Ahoy there

Having spent a happy weekend sewing and watching Anchors Aweigh on the laptop, I've conceived a desire for a pair of navy matelot trousers. Seriously very cute indeed (the trousers, but also Mr Kelly).

Two things I'd like to make

The one on the left is Marc by Marc Jacobs (I think spring/summer 2008); the one on the right is Michael Kors (fall/winter 2008). I love the deep red of the Marc Jacobs, and the shape is one of my favourites: an a-line skirt coming from a high fitted waist. The flared sleeves are beautiful too, and I love the detailing: the panels of the bodice and the little collar.

The cloudy pattern of the Michael Kors dress is lovely, and the way it ties at the front (or is it just a decorative bow?) makes me wonder whether one could make a variation on this dress in a similar pattern? I used to have a bit of sari fabric in a cloudy grey which would be perfect, but I don't have that any more - but I'm sure I could find something similar.

Objects of desire - fantasy version

How beautiful are those shoes? I love that deep bright orange. Mariella Burani, but I can't remember where I found the picture.

Objects of desire: t-bar shoes

Aren't these shoes lovely? But a three-inch heel? They're day shoes! Who wants to wear a three inch heel all day? The single thing that would improve my shopping experience would be if shoes were available with different heel sizes. I can just about wear a three inch heel, but it's exhausting. I'd much rather two inches, or two and a half. Grr.

Objects of desire

How beautiful is this dress, courtesy of GoFugYourself? I love that print on the skirt.

Black pinafore dress cont.

Photos! Terrible photos, but still. I've put in all the darts, sewn the centre front and centre back seams, and pinned the side seams: I'm going to have to take out the extra inch I gave myself on the hips, which is a pain,but not as much of a pain as it would have been if I'd needed the extra inch and been squeezing it out of the seam allowances. You can see from the picture of the bodice how neat my curved neckline facing seams are!

Ongoing project - black pinafore dress

I've now lined the bodice of the black wool pinafore dress, and done two of the eight darts in the skirt. Very pleased with my neat curved seams - I only had to rip and resew three inches where the lining went wonky. Tonight I should finish the rest of the darts. Photos then.

Shameless cadging

Shameless cadging has got me five metres of emerald green wool crepe, as well as a variety of wonderful other stuff (I've been visiting my grandma).

• a huge skein of dark red wool yarn, which I am going to use to knit armwarmers and a cowly-snoody thing
• a jumper's worth of gorgeous cobalt blue yarn
• some purply twill cotton in a slightly weird floral print
• a few baby knitting patterns (for a friend's expected offspring)
• two lovely 70s skirt patterns and a sundress pattern
• enough denim for a long skirt, or a short pinafore dress

I also picked up a wonderful string of enormous, shiny, black wooden beads in a charity shop, as well as some slips (charity shops are so brilliant for slips).

Now I need a pattern for a smart dress to make with the green crepe: it's expensive stuff, so I will be making a muslin first. I'm considering maybe a smart winter dress with a bolero, for winter weddings, although I'm always a bit dubious about green for weddings - it's supposed to be unlucky. Not that I believe that, but suppose the bride's parents happen to be horribly superstitious? But this is very lovely and suitable for the fabric, I think.