I realized quite a while ago that while I have posted multiple photos of this dress on my instagram and made a video for it, I never actually posted all of the photos that we got in Banff! Since I have time on my hands now, I thought that this was a perfect time to catch up.
This dress was made from a beautiful quilting cotton with hints of gold in it, and I used a Patterns by Gertie sewing pattern for it, with a few adjustments for fit.

The wave dress is one of my favourite dresses that I have made myself, and one of the ones that I wear the most. It is from the same pattern that I made my Su Li-zhen dress with, and I love how comfortable it is in cotton. 
I loved the photo shoot a little bit less... not because of how it turned out (Banff is one of my favourite places to go, and I love the mountains in the background of these images), but because of how cold it was! This is obviously not the first time that I've worn a dress for warm weather during Canadian winters for pictures, but this one you can really tell thanks to the 'arms very close to my body at all times' pose that I used.

We go these photos at the same time as my Green Rococo era dress, just earlier in the day. 
Funnily enough, that last time that I was in Banff was just before everything happened with the pandemic, so it has been very nice going through these old images!

~K

We made it! This is my last details post of my eco couture collection that I designed, drafted, and sewed for the Future Oceans Fashion Show that was held in Victoria, BC on Canada Day (anyone sick of hearing about this event yet?).
If you want to read and see more about the event and the other garments that I created for it, you can check it out here.
For the sake of not repeating myself a million times and making each post longer than necessary, I'm going to assume that you know about Future Oceans and go straight into talking about the last two garments in my little collection.

The first dress I'm going to talk about today is the first dress that I actually created for the show. I designed all of the dresses in the winter, but I didn't start patterning or sewing any of them until May. 
I'm not sure if I was procrastinating or if my reasoning is solid, but I chose to avoid creating any patterns until I got the fabric in. I bought my fabric from a sustainable material brand that is run out of Canada, but it still took a bit for the fabric to arrive. It was insanely exciting when it did come in, and I was hit with lots of inspiration to pattern draft after I saw it. 
The 1960's dress was an easy pattern to make, which is why I started with it. I wanted to ease myself in a bit, and this was a great way to do it. It was also pretty simple to sew, since it's such a simple silhouette.

This dress is made out of organic cotton sateen (for the yoke. This is the same sateen I made the 1940's dress out of) with a sustainable linen. This linen is so floaty and wonderful to prance around in. The entire dress is lined, and it features pockets hidden in the side seams. The linen is hand stamped, like almost all of the other garments in my collection.
I was inspired by trapeze dresses from the 1960's. It was an added bonus that this shape of dress is very easy to fit to different shapes and sizes, so it was very easy to find models to fit it for the show and the photoshoot the next day.

I used to hate 1970's fashion. I can now admit that I absolutely love it now. Blame Wes Anderson.
Opposite of the 1960's dress, this is actually the last dress that I made for the show, and it was designed about 5 minutes before I made the pattern for it. The original collection was supposed to start at the 1930's and go to the 1960's, so this dress and the 1920's one were last minute additions when I realized that I had extra time and material on my hands.

This dress was quick, dirty, and fun to make. The drafting of the pattern was relatively easy and so was putting it together. Printing the pattern on it was tons of fun as well since I got my mom to make me a special stamp for it (my mom is the one who creates all of the stamps that I use to print my fabrics). The pattern is paisley and turtles in a coral on blue cotton gauze. I loved working with the fabric when I used it for the 1950's dress, and it takes fabric ink really nicely.

When I thought about making a dress inspired by the 1970's I was torn between making a maxi or a mini dress. The choice was made purely out of convenience in the end - I wanted it to have puffy sleeves, and if I wanted enough fabric to make that it had to be a mini.
I had so much fun making this dress, and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. 

Both of these dresses are currently for sale at the Future Oceans Boutique at the Victoria Bay Center and online at the Future Oceans website! You can order either one of these dresses or a skirt (check them out here) and get it made to your measurements!

Thank you for your support!
​~K

Last month I was lucky enough to be a part of the Future Oceans Fashion show, which was held at the Victoria International Marina in British Columbia on Canada Day. I had an amazing trip (which you can read more about here) and enjoyed working with Future Oceans so much.
Future Oceans is a company that focuses and Eco Friendly fashion, which is something that I am very passionate about. The fashion industry is a huge polluter, and knowing that made me lose some of my passion for my sewing. This opportunity came at the perfect time, and I loved the challenge of trying to make beautiful garments that are as eco friendly as possible.
I have some very exciting news about the next step with Future Oceans: I will be having 'Fashion on Demand' garments at the Future Oceans Boutique in the Victoria Bay Center through September! The Fashion On Demand will be four pieces that I will be making to measure for anyone who orders one.

Each garment was inspired by a different era and hand stamped by me. This first one was inspired by the 1920's, with a low waist and deep V back.

Garment number two was inspired by the 1930's. This also has a deep V back, as well as a gathered over skirt.

This was the only one that I didn't stamp, and was a bit of a last minute addition to the collection. This is inspired by a 1940's apron dress with a crossover back.

Inspired by the 1950's, this dress has a front button closure and a tiered, mid calf length skirt.

This is the first dress that I made for the show, and it's also the most comfortable one! I looked to the 1960's to design it, and it's finished with side seam pockets and is fully lined.

And the final garment in my Eco Couture line is this 1970's styled mini dress, complete with puffed sleeves.

This is just a sneak peak of each of the garments I made for the show, so keep tuned for more photos and information!
​~K

My summer has been pretty hectic (although thoroughly enjoyable), so this is the first time we have been able to go and do a photo shoot for the last project that I made for school. This is a cotton twill shirt dress that I designed, patterned, and created for a final project for one of my college classes this year.

After going to Victoria for the Future Oceans Fashion Show a few weeks ago (post about that here) I had a week back at home to get used to the idea of not having any important sewing projects for the rest of the summer before driving out to Kelowna, BC with my mom and sister. Kelowna is a beautiful city and we spent a few lovely days there, and I got tons of inspiration for a few new projects. After getting back, I've had a few more days to rest and tidy (my sewing room has been looking a little crazy). Today was kind of my last chance to do a photo shoot for a while since I have lazer eye surgery at the end of the week, and after recovering from that I will be driving out to Manitoba to see family. 

Anyway, some information about this dress: I was inspired by military styles as I so often am, but after making it I realized that it also looked a bit like a Safari dress. To go with that theme, we got photos at the zoo. I love animals, so this was a great place to do a quick photo shoot. 
As I mentioned earlier, it is made out of cotton twill with a tiny bit of stretch to it. It's a pretty simple design with short sleeves, slight gathering at the front shoulder for shaping, and an otherwise straight silhouette. The extra details are what I spent most of my time on when designing it. The dress has cuffs, a two piece collar, button placket, and breast pockets with flaps, box pleats, and top stitching.

I'm really pleased with how this dress turned out and you should be able to find it on my Etsy shop pretty soon.

Thanks for reading!

​~K

After much consideration and the realization that I have way too many clothes (the ability to make whatever clothing I desire really adds to that problem...), so I decided to do a huge update on my Etsy account. Going through the photos for each of these made me quite sad to be selling them, but there is no more room in my sewing room closet! I hope that they all go to good homes:) 
All of the basic information about the pieces are below the photos, and you can buy any of these, plus more, on my Etsy account here

Enjoy! If you are interested in purchasing any of these, they are up in my Etsy account here

~K

I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the 10 designers to create a small ready to wear collection and one art dress for a fashion show that will take place on Canada Day in Victoria, BC, at the Victoria International Marina.

I had so much fun coming up with the design ideas since I could do whatever era's and whatever styles I wanted to, as long as I used eco-friendly materials to make them. I am currently working on the ready to wear pieces and having a great deal of fun playing around with the materials and designs.

So far I have gotten all of my fabric through KenDor Textiles, which is a Canadian company that specializes in eco-friendly and sustainable fabrics. I have so far printed two of the fabrics, drafted two of the patterns, and cut out those two dresses so they are ready to be sewn together. Once I got my fabrics in, it has all been coming together pretty quickly!

I can't wait for the actual show so I can show everyone exactly what I have been working on, but for now here are some sneak peaks!
If you would like to hear more about V.I.M. Future Oceans, you can check out their website here, Instagram here, and their Facebook page here.

~K

I am a Huge Fan of Wes Anderson. From the first time that I saw Grand Budapest Hotel, I was completely hooked. I enjoy his deadpan sense of humour, the pastel colours, retro vibes, and quirky cinematography. I started watching the movies when I was about 14, and they have hugely influenced the way I dress and my sense of humour. I am a lover of the colours mustard and dusty rose, and every time I see any piece of clothing in a store that could be worn in one of his movies, I am sold. That also means that I am the proud owner of three of his movies (my three favourites: Grand Budapest, Darjeeling Limited, and Moonrise Kingdom), the record of the Darjeeling Limited Soundtrack, and both of the coffee table books that are available through Indigo. 

Because of this obsession (yes, I am aware that it is a slight obsession), I thought that a Moonrise Kingdom inspired photo shoot would be amazingly fun to set up. I was right! We gathered up my est retro props, drove into Calgary, and found an adorable green shop to get photos in front of. It was actually pretty freezing, but I loved all of the photos, so this post will be very long!

The dress is made out of a coral cotton with white top stitching. I started this dress almost a year ago, but with so many things happening in a pretty short amount of time, it got put to the side for a few months. It has been incredibly close to being complete for a few months now, with just the hem left to do! I finally finished the hem last week while watching (you guessed it!) a Wes Anderson film. We have been planning this photo shoot for months now, and it felt so good to get to do it!

Wes Anderson films are definitely my comfort movies. When I was in grade 10 and our house was broken into (something that was extremely upsetting to me, for some reason), I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel. At this point, I have seen every single one except for the first (Bottle Rocket). I love the quotes especially, and the reoccurring actors! It is so satisfying to know that Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman are going to be in the movie that you are about to watch. I am insanely excited for The French Dispatch to come out as well.

The area of Calgary where we got these photos is very close to Peters Drive In, and if you know the area, you will know that it is the best burger joint in the area. So, after getting all of the photos, we Had to pick up a burger. This was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday!

The props that I brought with me are from various sources- the beautiful vintage suitcase was a Christmas gift, and we got it from Iron Crow Antiques. The Nancy Drew novels are both original editions, and the camera was a gift from a friend quite a few years ago. I am very lucky to have all of these things just sitting around the house.

Are you a Wes Anderson fan as well? Which movie is your favourite?
I always find it interesting about who everyones favourite characters are as well, since so many people have such different reasons for their favourites!

Thank you for reading,

​~K

Edit: I caved and also bought the coffee table book for Isle of Dogs... expect to see more Wes Anderson inspired quirky things in the near future.

I started a 1960's ensemble almost a year ago, and was completely distracted by the beginning of school. After some issues with the lining and top stitching, I was not motivated to finish it. It has been sitting nicely on a chair in my sewing room until Christmas break, when it was finally finished and we got some lovely photos of it! 

This is from a Simplicity pattern from the 1960's, and I made it using coordinating quilting cottons. I think that this pattern looks so much like Barbie clothes from the 60's! I had so much fun wearing it around a new mall that is at the moment pretty empty. The mall had a pretty creepy feeling (it is massive, and only has a few stores in it so far), but I think the photos turned out perfectly! I mix of 1960's fashion and futuristic, Blade Runner style (at least, I think the photo's look a bit like the Blade Runner).

We got these photos on Boxing Day, and they were planned very last minute. We had such fun getting these though!

I am back in school for the second semester, so any extra sewing is on the back burner. I do have my final projects from semester one (a pair of pants and a skirt) which I am hoping to get photos of soon though, so keep your eyes peeled:)

Thanks for reading!
​~K

I love this time of the year. As someone who greatly enjoys cleaning and fresh starts, the New Year is always exciting. I also find it helps to look over the last year, to show myself how much I have accomplished. It always feels like not much happened until you look through your day planner or calendar. I ended up having a very busy year, and have another one planned! My apologies in advance - this is going to be a very long post!

I started off the year with an easy project- a cute little bee skirt. I look slightly miserable in some of the photos since I was battling an unnecessarily long cold, but I still wear this (and brought it to Germany with me!). 

After that, I had a bustle era obsession, and made a bustle cage and my Through the Looking Glass dress. We took photos of this dress in a blizzard (most of our photo shoots seem to be in terrible weather...), but I loved how it turned out! It is actually for sale in my Etsy here.

And started making a second bustle dress to go with the first... which is still not done (first goal for the New Year? Finish some of theses projects)

In March I went to Germany! I spent two weeks, starting in Berlin, and making my way over the Koln and then Hannover. I had an amazing time, got tons of inspiration, and met some of my family that lives there!

Once I got back to Canada, I finished quite a few things in a pretty short amount of time, starting with my Moth dress. We had a great day taking these photos in Inglewood, in Calgary.

My favourite photo shoot from the entire year! The Berlin Collection is so far some of the favourite garments I have ever made as well. I wear all of them, and the WW2 military style will always be my favourite. We were so lucky to ride in a vintage plane as well. This is up there with Germany on my best memories of the year list.

Lots of 50's styled things this year! After making my In the Mood for Love Dress and enjoying wearing it so much, I decided to make another one in a different fabric. 

I have always admired vintage corset covers. They are so delicate and detailed! So this summer I made myself one for underneath the (still unfinished) bustle dress I was working on. And it was perfect timing! I ended up being able to get photos at a Calgary Stampeded Pancake Breakfast.

The Mexico Collection was my Summer collection this year (can you believe it? 3 Collections in 1 year! I am quite proud of myself). We got fabulous pictures at Drumheller on a very hot day. 

In August we got new photos of my 1930's skirt at Heritage Park (one of my favourite places to go every summer), and made myself another dirndl. Dirndl's are one of my favourite garments, and I have so much fun making them. I also got 2 tattoos in August, which was lots of fun!

September was probably the craziest month of them all! Not only did I start school (I am taking Costume Cutting and Construction through the Olds College Calgary Campus), but I also was a Team Lead for MakeFashion. Last year was my first time doing MakeFashion, and I absolutely loved it. I was so excited to be a part of it again this year! I also started my Etsy account in September, as well as got photos of my Man From UNCLE dress. Plus, at the beginning of the month I released my Fall Collection, Crooked House, where I collaborated with 2 local businesses - DSign Step and Iron Crow Antiques. 

Thankfully, October calmed down a little bit and I only finished one garment- my 1950's romper, which is also up on my Etsy.

In November I actually finished two outfits, but I only have photos of my Canadian 1950's Shirt and Skirt. I also had lots of other things going on in October and November, which cut into some of my sewing and inspiration time. I got psychological testing done in November, and was finally diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I also turned 19 in November, and participated in the Natural Talent Alliance Model Walk

And finally December! I had some pretty big ups and downs this year, both with personal life and my sewing. I had some amazing opportunities and fantastic memories, such as going to Germany, flying in a plane from 1946, and taking part of MakeFashion again, just with my own design this time. I also spent a lot of time questioning exactly where I want to go in my future (which caused a lot of grief- I really like having a goal to work towards). December ended up being an amazingly calm end to the year. I finished my two final projects in school (a skirt and pair of pants that I will be getting photos of soon), and did a Peaky Blinder photo shoot to celebrate finishing my first semester of school. I also started working out again, and became a brand ambassador for Just Strong athletic wear! 
I also worked on a few things that I don't have photos of yet during the year (such as a 1960's coordinating coat and dress, and vest that I made for a gift, and a few other things), and I made a few patterns for a local athletic wear company, Intuitive.

To sum up the year in logistics: I sewed over 30 garments, released 3 collections, started school, and was in 11 newspaper articles. Not too shabby!
I am so excited for 2019!

​~K

I have a new item on my Etsy shop, so we decided to do a bit of a photo shoot for it.
If you are interested in buying this piece, you can get it here:)

We took these pictures at the Balzac Gas Station, which is a very cute, vintage styled gas station. I styled this romper with some Calvin Klein heels, a thin black belt, and Besame lipstick.

This is a mish-mash of a 1960's pant pattern, a 1950's shirt dress pattern, as well as adjustments that I have made to the two over the years. It is made from white cotton, with simple white buttons.

~K

I was recently gifted these amazing German pattern magazines from the 1950s, and they have proven to be not only great inspiration, but they have also helped me learn about pattern making!

I have been learning the basics of pattern making at school, and so far that has been one of my favourite classes! It  is so satisfying to make a garment that is exactly what you pictured and that fits you perfectly.

These magazines are called 'Beyer Mode', and they include tons of pictures of the possible garments that you could make, a horoscope page (there is nothing better than reading horoscopes from 60 or 70 years ago), as well as tips for sewing and taking care of your home. There are also sometimes recipes in a few of the magazines that I am very curious about! 

Here are some of my personal favourite pages from the magazines:

Which is your favourite? Do you prefer the fancy dresses or every day ones? Or the lingerie? 
I don't think that I have a single favourite in all of the issues, I want to make all of them!

​~K

I absolutely love the movie The Man From U.N.C.L.E. from 2015, and I especially love the costumes. The character Gaby, played by Alicia Vikander, has the best trendy 1960s outfits throughout the movie, along with fantastic hair and makeup. After seeing the movie a few times (like I said, I very much so enjoy this movie...), I decided that I needed to make myself a dress like hers. I ended up finding a fantastic vintage pattern by Simplicity, and decided to do a classic coloour block for this dress. I chose green and white because of this dress that she wore in the movie.

I also wanted to make this dress because of my growing interest in the Cold War. After going to Germany last year and seeing the Mauermuseum (at Checkpoint Charlie), I learnt so much more about the era after WW2, and it made me even more interested in not only the politics of the time, but also the fashion. I also recently found tons of olds family photos of my grandma in the 60's and 70's, and she wore so many beautiful dresses! My grandmother was very trendy, so she was always wearing the newest style! She has tons of photos in Go Go boots and mini skirts.

The Cold War is a very interesting (and scary) time, and I was especially interested in learning about the Berlin Wall. The Mauermuseum also has a fascinating history since it was actually set up very soon after the Wall was built. Founded by Dr Rainer Hildebrandt, he thought that it was important to talk about the non-violent fight for human rights. He chose to talk about that directly beside an affront to human rights. The museum grew as the Wall stayed up, and has been updated to include what happened after the Wall fell, as well as more recent genocides and affronts to human rights.

The museum has many artifacts such as cars, a hot air balloon, and a mini submarine, that show how hard people worked to get rid of the wall, and to get around (or through) it. Many people helped East Germans escape to the other side, and there are so many brilliant stories.

The building of the wall started on August 13th of 1961 by the GDR (German Democratic Republic, which is East Germany). The people living in the GDR  had been revolting for a long time. At the end of the WW2, the US, Britain, and the Sovient Union split Germany. The country was split into 3 zones with Berlin in the Soviet section. Berlin was also split into zones, with the US, UK, and France taking the West side of the city and Soviet troops controlling the East. When the tensions arose between the countries, the Soviets decided to block off the roads, rails, and water access to West Berlin. Starting in 1948, they hoped that the other countries would be forced to give their section to the Soviets. The response by the UK and US was to airlift food, fuel, and water into Berlin from airbases in Western Germany. At the height of the airlift, planes were landing every 45 seconds at the Templehof Airport. By 1949, they had won this crisis and the blockade was lifted. In 1953 the people of East Berlin had a revolt that was stopped with Soviet tanks. The Soviets struggled to keep their side of Germany because of their cruelty and lack of supplies (East Germany was starving).

Checkpoint Charlie is the most widely known checkpoint between East and West Germany. Many demonstrations were held there, and there were many successful escape attempts there. While the wall was up (between 1961 and 1989) more than 5000 people escaped across the Berlin Wall. The longer the wall was up, the harder it was to cross. One woman was smuggled out in the seat of her boyfriends vehicle (the cut a hole for her to sit literally inside the seat, and she almost suffocated in the small space). People also got through in speakers, over on hang gliders with a Trabant motor, with hot air balloons, as well as under in tunnels. The most successful break through was in a tunnel when 57 people made it through in two nights in 1964.

There were also many unsuccessful attempts, and many people died trying to get to West Germany. In 1962, a man named Peter Fechter bled to death. He was shot by Soviet guards and after 45 minutes of agony with no help, passed away beside the wall. This started a huge protest when onlookers could see and hear him, but were unable to help because he fell onto the wrong side of the wall.

I think that this is a hugely important part of history to learn about, especially since it is so close to us (the wall was only taken down on Novemeber 9, 1989). 

To learn more about the Wall and its history, the website for the Mauermuseum is here. You can also hear more about the Berlin Airlift through this website here. Some other movies and books about the era that I found very interesting are Bridge of Spies (with Tom Hanks), Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder, Wings of Desire (released in 1987), and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carre. If you have any more to add to the list, let me know!

~K

The photos are taken at the Wonderland Sculpture (which us locals call the Big Head... creative, I know) outside of the the Bow Building.

To see more photos of the finished collection, click here

The last two outfits of my Mexico Collection! The skirt is a light blue linen made using a 1930's pattern from simplicity. The shorts are a 1960's Vintage Vogue pattern made with the same linen as the skirt, and the corset cover that it is paired with is muslin and vintage lace (it has another post of it here). 

To see more photos from this collection, click here. Thank you for reading, and stick around for new projects coming soon! Plus, I am also almost done editing a video for this collection as well, so that will be up in the next few weeks.

Thanks for reading!

​~K

The bees skirt is made from quilting cotton and hand stamped with bees (more photos here), made using a Butterick pattern. The shorts and halter are made using a Simplicity pattern and quilting cotton.

One more post will be up soon of the last few pieces in my Mexico Collection!

~K