Month: August 2011

Summer sandals

I might have splashed out a little bit on some new sandals for the summer. These are Think! Schlapfa Clogs, bought from Shoon. They were in the sale… and then you could buy a second pair of sale shoes for half price, so I thought I might as well have both colours! I’ve actually been looking for a plain black pair of these for several years but I’ve never managed to grab a pair in my size, and they never seem to be reduced to a price I can afford, so I’ve just kept on wearing my ancient ones and hoping they wouldn’t fall to bits.

I’ve had my old pair since at least 2004, and I’ve worn them ever such a lot. Because they have anatomically-shaped footbeds I don’t need to squash my orthotics into them, and I can wear them all day without ending up with achey feet. They’re so comfortable, and although it’ll take a while for the new ones to mould to the shape of my feet they do feel pretty good already.

Think! bring out new colours of these sandals every year, but usually they’re blues or greens or something else that doesn’t really go with my wardrobe. As it turns out almost everything I’m wearing at the moment is either grey or pink, so this sale couldn’t have been better timed! I’m not going to throw out my old pair just yet either. They’re plain pink (extremely grubby) suede, but I’ve got a bottle of shoe dye, so I’m going to attempt to dye them black and see whether I can make them last a little bit longer.

If these two new pairs last me as long as my trusty old pink ones, I won’t have to go shopping for sandals again until 2018! Please remind me of this next summer, when I tell you that I’ve got nothing to wear…

Paradise Wildlife Park

A couple of weeks ago we went to Paradise Wildlife Park.

My photos are here.

Thanks to a special offer pointed out to us by a friend, we had tickets for a “Monkey Tour”, which turned out to be absolutely brilliant.

We got to meet ruffed lemurs, who were very laid back, and like to be tickled under the arms. Also they were keen on sunbathing, and when something startles them they’re VERY LOUD. We got to feed dried apricots to golden-cheeked gibbons, who were very appreciative, and have very soft little hands. We were given a guided tour of the littlest primates (tamarins and marmosets, mostly), some of whom shared an enclosure with the world’s happiest sloth (bless him!) and a little armadillo. SO CUTE. Steve, the Head of Primates, suggested that we might like to smell the armadillo, so we did. He smelled a little bit like cheesy crisps. Adorable.

The last part of the tour was to go in and actually feed the ring-tailed lemurs, which was AWESOME. As long as you’ve got food, they’re quite happy to leap all over you and scoff it out of your hands. They don’t like to be stroked, but you inevitably touch them, and they’re so soft. A baby lemur held onto my thumb with both of his little hands. Awwww. I was very sad when we ran out of banana and the lemurs lost interest in us.

We also saw the most evil emu in the world ever, some Mara, who look like a very odd cross between a little deer and a massive guinea pig, and a lynx who reminded us of Skycarrots‘ cat. Oh, and we learned that reindeer antlers are soft, gibbons can kill you (which is why we fed them through the bars), and squirrel monkeys are evil.

Paradise was a fabulous place. Brilliantly geared up for kids, but not in a boring-for-adults kind of a way. I very heartily recommend it.

Fifteen silk buttons

Fifteen Silk Buttons

These are fifteen silk-covered buttons, waiting to take their place on a waistcoat to match the pirate shirt. They have to wait until I’ve made all the buttonholes by hand. This could take some time…

Pirate Shirt

Scot's Pirate Shirt

This is Simplicity 4923, in white cotton lawn. I only made two pattern alterations to this one – I shortened the front facing, and made buttonholes in the cuffs so that they can be fastened with cufflinks.

And the last pair…

Diane's earth-toned shoes

Here they are, the final pair of prototype shoes. Made in earth-toned colours, as requested, this is a very heavily interfaced crepe-de-chine. The lining’s a gorgeous bright orange, and the copper coloured ribbons are a perfect match.

I’ve started getting some feedback from my shoe testers, which has thankfully been pretty consistent. It looks as though there are a couple of changes I need to make to the basic pattern, but once that’s done I can feel a few more pairs of shoes coming on.

Dennis the Menace Shoes

Dott's Dennis Shoes

I think this might be my favourite pair of the prototype shoes. Plain black toes, big red ribbons… but who’s that hiding inside…?

Dott's Dennis Shoes

Ooh, it’s Dennis the Menace!

Stripes

And to complete the effect, red and black stripes around the heel.

Hopefully these are smart enough to wear for work (perhaps with black ribbons rather than bright red) with a little bit of sneaky silliness hidden away on the inside!

Purple Organic Cotton Shoes

Laura's Purple Organic shoes

Laura requested that her shoes be a plain, dark colour, such as purple or red. This picture doesn’t really show the depth of colour in this lovely purple organic cotton. I used the same fabric inside and out, and was lucky enough to find a ribbon that matched almost exactly.

Silk Rose

Silk rose

I made this little silk rose a while ago, but forgot to take a photo to show you. It’s backed onto a magnet, so you can wear it as a buttonhole on a smart jacket without making pin holes. Now I’ve seen this larger-than-life picture I think I might add a silk-covered button in the centre, just as an extra little finishing touch.

Alterations

Alice's tunic top

I don’t usually take on alterations – one of the reasons I started offering sewing lessons was so that I could teach other people to make their own. But these small changes rescued two lovely garments from being abandoned, so I couldn’t resist helping out a friend.

The tunic above had a ridiculously wide neck that A. could actually have climbed out of, which wasn’t exactly ideal. We decided it would be better as an off-the-shoulder top with some nice wide straps, so all I had to do was make the straps and sew them on. 45 minutes later, a brand new summer top. Marvellous.

Anna Scholz silk robe

This is a gorgeous Anna Scholz silk robe. It fastened with two ties at the front edge, but that meant it didn’t cross over at all, making it more than a little revealing! I shortened the ties, unpicked the stitching and used the fabric to cover four buttons. (Two on the outside, two on the inside.) The remaining ends of the ties were turned into loops.

Ta-da! Two quick and easy alterations that have made two unwearable garments wearable again.