Friday Feature Feline - Shiro

So today's featured feline goes to Shiro neoko (meaning white cat in Japanese). A 9 year old cat living in Japan who has become an internet sensation for his super relaxed attitude that allows various items like hats, lettuce leaves and mandarins to be placed on his head and paws. I especially love his oversized head and perpetually smiling face. 

He has a favourite plastic basket he sleeps in and likes snuggles with his other feline friends. The blog is great to browse through just to look at the changing Japanese countryside back drop (though you're really there to mostly look at cute cat pictures).

Favourite Fabric Stores

I've been furiously hoarding fabric in the past year in case the great fabric drought arrives so here are my favourites haunts and what I got from them.

The Remnant Warehouse

494 Botany Road, Alexandria NSW 

(02) 9698 7855 

‎My absolute favourite place to buy fabric. They have large tubs at the front of their shop which contain various 2-3 metre remnantswhich are sold for around $3-4 per metre. On the right day you can get some stunning silks and soft jerseys. 

In the store itself they also sell a great range of silks, cotton, jersey by the metre. Where they really shine is quilting fabric which fills up a whole wall and there are some really cute prints you certainly wouldn't find at Spotlight. 

They do a small range of haberdashery and hold classes there (I've never been but have always been meaning to enrol). Every few months they have awesome sales where they have 25% normal fabric and 50% remnants but when you find a good remnant it's best just to snap it up right away. Currently they're also doing 'buy one remnant roll and get one free' on Tuesdays.

Remnant silks for $3 per metre.

The Fabric Cave

78 Belmore St, Ryde NSW (enter via Porter St). 

02 8878 3353

I only stumbled upon this place by accident on  the tessuti blog but got really excited about it. This place is like Vinnies in concept but only sell fabric and haberdashery. People donate their fabric and bits and bobs and they resell them for $3 per metre with all funds going to charity. 

It's a great little shop and it makes you feel good for shopping there! Being as random as it is you really have to spend a good few hours sifting through a wall of fabric to find something you like but the place is run by some very tidy and nice elderly women (and one gentleman from what I saw) so at least that makes it easier. 

They also have patterns for 50c a piece which again requires some sifting but they have some cool retro pieces (refer to my blouse post which I got from this place). The only negatives is that this place only opens on Mondays and Fridays from 9.30-2pm and as usual, with any second hand place there's a musty smell to everything in the shop.

A surprise every time with fabric selections. To the right is a lovely silk vintage piece that is amazing!

Cabramatta

This is not actually a store but a suburb in Southwest Sydney with a large Asian based community. In the centre Cabramatta on John St and Park Rd you will found a cluster of six or seven fabric stores that sell a great range of fabrics for around $2-$10 per metre.

The best thing is that there is so much to choose from and you can find some really pretty and up-to-date prints. But you're going to have to do a bit of work for it because all of the fabrics are all squished together in vertical piles with little aisle room to move about so it's not the most comfortable of experiences. Everyone speaks English and shopkeepers will offer you a pretty good price anyway so I really only haggle if I intend on buying in bulk. 

Spoonflower

This website is the answer to that inner longing for fabric covered in whimsical woodland creatures that you can never actually find in fabric stores. It's an online American based store that allows you to design your own print or select one from hundreds of already uploaded prints from other designers, choose what material you want it printed on and then have it posted to you. 

It's risky because it may not turn out exactly that way you want but you can pay a minimal fee to have them send you fabric swatches so you can get a feel of the fabric. I couldn't be bothered to do this and just bought a variety of fabrics in different prints to see which I'd like best. 

My favourite is the Silk Crepe de Chine (centre) but at $38 per yard (a bit less than a metre) it is a bit pricey. My least favourite was the Organic Cotton Sateen (furthest right) which I found too glossy and a bit cheap looking. It's not the cheapest way to get fabric (don't forget about postage costs as well!) but it's perfect for when you want to make a really special piece with something very specific in mind.

The middle print is my favourite and I'm building up my confidence to finally make it into a pretty blouse.

Tessuti

A place to go if you're a bit more advanced than what I am at the moment so I've always been too intimidated to actually buy anything from here. Both the Sydney and Chatswood stores have an OK range with really good quality fabrics but you're certainly paying for it with an average of $30-$50 per metre. The blog is pretty good though for tips and inspiration.

The Fabric Store

I've only been in this store twice and have never bought anything from it. Even during one of their 'sales', fabric still averaged around $20 per metre and the range wasn't really that great. 

Lincraft and Spotlight. 

A general all rounder for fabric and haberdashery. These places average around $10-$20 per metre though do not really have good choice of quality fabric. But they are convenient and do cover all your basics like zips, threads and buttons. I bought my first Toyota sewing machine for $150 from Lincraft during a sale.

Ebay

Ok so everyone knows about ebay but there's a lot junk on ebay you have sift through to find good fabric and more often than not, the nice pieces are just as expensive as buying it in a store. You can get lucky though. I found this super gorgeous dress on Modcloth which had little songbirds on it. After much googling I eventually found a lovely ebayer who had one precious yard which she sold to me for $5! I've only got enough material to have one shot at making this dress so I've been to apprehensive thus far to try. One day...

Future project.

Current state.

Vietnam

OK so this one is a bit unrealistic but I'll share with you my experience anyway in case you are heading that way any time soon. I found some really prints in Ho Chi Minh city for $2.50 per metre. There are specific areas that only sell one type of product so its great when you're looking for fabric that all the stalls are in the one province. I did get a bit of 'variety anxiety' at first just looking at walls and walls of fabrics but eventually just got down to business - picked a stall which had some cute prints and just bought three metres of everything. Buying similar printed fabric in Australia would have been ten times as expensive so I really tried to make the most of it. I also bought some unbelievably cheap zips and thread while I was there. I will never pay $4 for a zip again.

Cats and stripes and spots...oh my!

Asospiration!

So everyone I know is buying from asos, from my boyfriend, to his little sister. It's affordable, trendy and has free shipping. Well during one of my many perusals I found THIS dress by 'Boutique by Jaeger'. 

So whilst looking for nice, cheap dresses I naturally gravitate to the $300 one that's not on sale. Of course. Even though it looked something way beyond my skills as a seamstress my desire to have this dress motivated me to give it a go. 

Without a pattern it's hard to gauge just from looking at a 2D image of a dress where to actually start, but I just broke it down into components that were familiar to me. It also helps to get as many angles of the dress as you can so you can really see how it's put together.

The bottom was just a pleated skirt. Easy enough. The top took two attempts with my first go failing due my own laziness with wanting to just have one layer of the blue sewn together with the white. Doing it this way allowed no room for error and the whole thing ended up looking really skewed. I really needed to make the two blue parts separately, which would then sit on the white top. Then it was just the front panel and back straps. I made my own buttons using a simple button kit. 

Whilst experimenting it was really important to press all the folds down neatly and pin it all  afterwards to make sure all the components will sit nicely and prevent future grief of having to unpick seams and re-do it later. 

My biggest tip is to have patience and only attempt to do small bits at a time so you never feel rushed. It helps to have lots of extra fabric so if you make a mistake you can learn from it and start again. So with further ado, here's the final product.

Sew a dress, save a penny

In my early 20's I used to be big on spending. If I saw a  $300 dress that I liked I'd think about it for 20 whole seconds and then it'd be in a pretty plastic bag on the way back to my place.  Eventually I'd get a bit bored and buy another one. Leading to dress number one finding a sad, lonely corner in my cupboard until I got sick of looking at it and sold it for $40 on ebay. 

A cautionary tale.

Now this was a vicious cycle that went on for 3 years until I then moved to warehouse sales where I'd find that skirt I longed for 4 months ago at half price. I made a vow never  to buy anything full price again because everything goes on sale eventually. Missyconfidential was a great site for upcoming warehouse sales. I was onto something good for awhile but I still had the issue of feeling like I was wasting time and effort buying and then selling clothes I no longer liked or didn't quite fit well. This went on for another 4 years. 

But there's a happy ending to my 'confessions of a shopaholic' like story. A year ago I decided to try sewing and got myself a basic beginners Toyota (yes they don't just do cars folks!) sewing machine at Lincraft on sale for $150. Now, I only go shopping to browse my favourite stores for inspiration but also use internet shopping sites as a source of future sewing project ideas. Modcloth is my absolute favourite place to browse online for it's retro chic styles which are sourced from a lot of smaller fashion designers like Miss Patina and Dahlia fashion. If shipping to  Australia wasn't so expensive I'd be in real danger of falling off the fashion wagon.

I stuck to things I could make easily like pleated skirts and simple tops at first but then was able to move on to silk blouses and dresses. Now when I go out and see something I like, I think to myself, I could make that. And if I get sick of it, well it only cost me $5 to make it anyway so now I can use all those saved up pennies on better things - like a monthly relaxing massage. 

Having a blouse-y moment

Making a blouse can seem tricky. It's not just a rectangle with two ends put together like a skirt is. There are a few more technical aspects to it. The collar, the buttonholes and worst of all - the sleeves.

Now, I usually sew free-style (without a pattern). I think this allows a bit more creativity (though some of it may be laziness on my part to go out and find an appropriate pattern. Sometimes this works out well and I get to make something really unique. Other times, it's a lot of wasted time and effort trialling certain things that don't work.

Back to the blouse...this is something that may just be beyond my skills to figure out. Luckily I bought this pattern from the fabric cave in Ryde for 50c. Like Vinnies but for sewing folks with all profits going to charity. Considering the average cost of a pattern costs $10, this was a steal. 

I pretty much stuck to the pattern with the only adjustment being changing the collar to a peter pan style and adding a polka dot fabric to the backing of the buttons for a bit of a fun (even though you don't really see it). It took me a week and most of that was trying to hem the curved sleeves (straight lines are so much easier). This took several attempts. I'm a bit in love with this top from it's flutter sleeves to the cute collar to the contrast colours. It's new age fun with a vintage feel! 

It's hidden polka dot fun!

The front - note the peter pan collar. 

Flutter sleeves - for light breezy days.

The top part of the blouse that connects the sleeves, front and back is called the 'yoke'

Oh the zoomanity!

A funky restaurant in Surry Hills - The Winery  is known for its excellent jugs of sangria and psychadelic décor. On one wall there are framed portraits of woodland creatures looking very distinguished in peacoats and vintage style hats. Like what you expect to see in an old English manor housing a family of squirrels. Delightful right?  

Well the first place to find anything with a vintage feel, especially involving woodland creatures is Etsy. Lo and behold I found Berkley Illustration. 

A self taught illustrator based in Portland, Oregon who specialises in just that.  Though he doesn't just limit himself to adorable woodland creatures with names like 'Dr Lawrence Witherspoon' and 'Dr Delbert Bronwyn'. He also draws sharks, dinosaurs and other unexpected creatures, all in refined clothing of course. 

So if you'd like your wall to display a more adorable family tree, have a go with these. I got my frames for $5 each from Typo and they really carry through the theme.

Amelie came, she saw, she conquered.

So Amelie is a clinic cat which means she is legally owned by the clinic. She spends her days having free range of the clinic, walking up to hospital dogs and cats and saying hello, finding the softest spot in the clinic to rest her head and ferreting food from where ever she could.

Over the recent Christmas holidays I felt bad that Amelie would spend it by herself alone in her cage so I decided to take her home to my apartment. Most cats don't adjust well to big changes and if taken to a new environment will probably hide for 2 to 3 days under the couch or bed until they feel safe enough to come out and explore.

However, Amelie is a very confident cat and in fact became super affectionate towards anyone who came near in our place. She does have a crazy loud meow which she only reserves when she's hungry so I was sure to keep her well fed so my neighbours wouldn't catch onto our feline house guest. She was a duck to water and seemed to enjoy the change in scenery. Here are a couple of things she got up to.