Zebra print 'Lula' skirt looks like the first skirt I made...

The very skirt I made was in year 9 in high school. The year was 1987 and my friend Kendra and I needed something to wear to the Bon Jovi concert (Slippery When Wet tour).

We made zebra print skirts out of poly/cotton jersey that I think we bought from the fabric department at Coles in the Melbourne CBD, which is now a Target store.

The skirts were basically a hemmed tube with elastic in the top to hold them up. We wore fishnet stockings, matching pointy toed ankle boots and I think matching Bon Jovi tees on top.

Fast forward to 2010 and my urge to make clothing inspired by my formative sewing years keeps getting greater and greater.

The 'Lula' mini skirt is a new style. It is generally 42cm long from waist to hem and is sometimes lined and sometimes unlined depending in the fabric.

This one is lined in 100% viscose and made from 100% cotton corduroy. The wales are very fine, giving the skirt are nice texture. It has darts in the front and back and an invisible zip closure in the centre back.

If you would like a bit of metal influence in your life, you can buy this limited edition 'Lula' from here.

Oh and if you want to see where Kendra & I got the inspiration to wear matching outfits, watch the Cinderella video for their song 'Shake Me' below:

Blog Love from Perth!

This is another short blog post as there is a little person asking me to build a train track with them.

The gorgeous ladies from Studio Bomba have a side project called Mitchell & Dent, they make beautiful stationary and artworks. Please check out their online store here.

Oh and as my star sign is Cancer, it's only natural that this is my favorite print!

Thank you Leah and Angie for your blog love last week, I really appreciate it! x

Thank you for the shout out Paula!

Here is an interview with Paula Delley shot early last year.

If you are interested in buying a leopard print skirt like one she is wearing in the interview, send me a message!

Jennifer's wedding dress and the 1930's heirloom lace

When Jennifer and I had our first meeting, all was going well. Jennifer wanted a 'non-wedding dress' made from 100% Silk Dupion using a 1950's inspired pattern. "And I would like to incorporate this piece of lace that belonged to my great grandmother, it's been in our family for years and it's very, very old".

I instantly got stage fright and I must admit, went into a little panic. As I composed Jen's quote I worked out the best way that we could get the most out of the piece and after the quote was approved, Jen set out to have the lace professionally cleaned and dated.

The National Gallery dated the lace as early 1930's, which made me feel a little more relaxed as I would have felt a little nervous cutting anything that was from the year 18-something.

We agreed to a simple design and let the lace be the main focus of the dress. The silk was purchased at Tessuti in Melbourne and I wish that you could see the true colour of it in the photo, it is divine! I bought the 100% Viscose lining from Harvey's in the Nicolas building and used a heavier lightweight woven interfacing (that sounds strange, I know) for the bodice.

I gathered a rectangle piece of the lace onto the midriff to ensure that we got the maximum use of the piece, the invisible zip was inserted into the side seam.

Jen wore a very cool pair of black and gold metallic snakeskin stilettos and accessorised the dress with an antique brooch.

To see the backview of the dress click here.

Thank you so much for making me a part of your special day Jen! x

Alexander McQueen, RIP

When I woke to the news that fashion designer, Alexander McQueen had committed suicide I thought it was another cruel online hoax.

Sadly though, it is not a hoax and very true. Although the fashion industry will acknowledge that it lost one it's heros, what breaks my heart the most is that there is a group of people out there who's lives changed forever today.

I lost two friends through suicide in the 1990's and not a day goes by that my heart doesn't break. It's a strange sort of pain, you can feel it coming from a distance and within seconds, the sadness washes over your whole body and grips at your heart and then after what feels like a long time, but may only be a few seconds, it passes and life goes on.

If you feel that you cannot go on, suicide is not the solution, there is help and there truly is light (and life) at the end of the tunnel. Australian residents have access to a service called Beyond Blue, if you are not an Australian resident and you feel depressed or that you are finding it hard to live, contact your GP and ask for help.

Valentine's Day sale...

Just a quick note to let you know that all love-themed items in my store are reduced until February the 15th.

Take a look here.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, check out Pilgrim Lee's blog for some cute Valentine's Day goodness here.

"May I have straps with that dress please?"

The answer is YES. Well, in most cases. When Sean wanted to buy his gorgeous girlfriend Yani a Peta Pledger dress for her birthday, the one request he had was that she did'nt want a strapless dress.

Yani chose the Antique Pink Hawaiian Bark Cloth 'Lucky Diamonds' dress and I made it with removable straps.

For an additional fee of AUD$10, I can turn any of my strapless dress designs into a dress with button on-removable straps.

And remember that all custom made dresses have the option of sewn in or removable straps, providing the design allows for it.