I was lucky enough to get a message about collaborating from LAL Couture, a company that makes custom sized and handmade lingerie. It was very difficult to chose which sets I wanted (all of them are stunning, and have such a vintage vibe to them!), and I am so thrilled with the two that I picked. 
The first set that I got is the Diane Pajama Set, and the second set is the Susan Lingerie Set

It was so exciting to get these in the mail, and they are so beautifully made! The materials that were used are high quality and feel amazing on the skin.
​I also had so much fun getting photos of them, since they both have such a retro look to them.

~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

The day has finally come that I can talk about the Future Oceans fashion show and the pieces I made for it! I have been waiting as patiently as possible to show what I've been working on, and I am so excited to show the pictures that I have from this weekend.
There were some incredible photographers at the event as well that I will be showing photos from as soon as I am able to.

Before I talk about my designs at the time that I spent in Victoria, I want to talk about the reason for this show. Future Oceans partnered with the Victoria International Marina (where the show was held), Natural Talent Alliance, and the Ocean Legacy Foundation. The point of the show was to give a platform to ocean conservation in the fashion industry. The fashion industry is the second largest polluter, and by bringing attention to it and giving people an alternative we are taking the first step to turning the Fashion Industry into something that is more earth friendly and thoughtful.
Learning about how terrible the fashion industry is on the environment was making me lose my faith in something that I really love. Being a part of this helped me get excited about it again.
I hope that this show will help in getting people and brands to think twice before choosing certain fabrics

The event started on Canada Day with the ribbon cutting for the Victoria International Marina. There was live music, performances by the Nanaimo Contemporary Ballet, and the fashion show.
We had so many incredible people working together to make this a reality!

I created 6 Eco Couture pieces inspired by different eras and 1 Art Dress. The Art Dress was created from garbage that was fished from the ocean. The Eco Couture pieces are all created from eco friendly fabrics from KenDor Textiles, a Canadian company that specializes in environmentally and socially responsible fabrics.

I will wait to talk about the design process of each of my pieces for when the photos come back and you can actually see them in detail (all of these photos are just from my phone), but for now, here are some travel pics! 

I was in Victoria for 3 crazy, hectic days that were filled with fittings and photo shoots. The first day I spent almost entirely at the Marina (which is a stunning building) getting ready for the show. We had an amazing lunch at Spinnakers (Canada's first microbrewery), and spent the rest of the day planning and prepping. 

We were housed in the most amazing Bed and Breakfast called Abbeymoore Manor. It's an old house with beautiful rooms, the best breakfast I've ever had, and really friendly staff. 

The next day that I was there was Canada Day, meaning the day of the fashion show! I've been working on this for 6 months, so it was like a dream to be there. 
Luckily enough, the designers weren't needed until noon so I had all morning to myself. I ended up going for a walk to the Craigdarroch Castle, which was a 5 minute walk away. The castle was built in 1890 by Robert Dunsmuir, who passed away before it was finished. His wife, Joan, lived there until her death in 1908. During WW1 it was used as a military hospital, and after that it was used as a College, Conservatory, School Board, and now a museum.

We were able to use a beautiful yacht, the Ascente, as our backstage. They were extremely generous with us and the space was the nicest backstage that I have ever worked in. This was definitely a trip of a lifetime.

The last day that I was there was photo shoot day! And boy, did we have some really incredible places to take pictures in. While a group of people went to get photos at the ocean, I went with another group to the Government House. I can not wait to get all of the photos back from the 2nd because not only are the photographers fantastic, but the locations were some of the prettiest places I've been to since Germany. 
The last location of the day was Hatley Castle, which some of you may recognize from movies such as X Men and Deadpool. Everyone here was also so accommodating for us and we were able to go everywhere on the extensive grounds to get photos. 
If you aren't from Canada, you might not understand how exciting it is to find 2 castles, but in Canada it is very rare to have such old and beautiful architecture. 

I can't wait to show you my pieces in better detail, but in the meantime I hope you enjoyed a bit of a behind the scenes of my time for the Future Oceans Fashion Show!

~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

For the next one in my Umbrella Academy series is The Handler! The Handler is very different in the comics than in the show. She has a fabulous 1950's style in the show, with a fascinator, fingerless gloves, and a beautiful A-Line coat. I immediately fell in love with her costume, hair, and makeup when I first watched the show, and I have the urge to make her dress.

Underneath the coat, I wore my pencil dress from last years little Fall Collection (photos here), and the rest are all pieces that I had in my closet already. The coat is from Reitmans, the fascinator I have had for a few years, and the gloves were hand made (not by me). I ended up wearing this little outfit to the Comic Expo in our area since I liked wearing it so much, and I love The Handlers personality.

~K

Netflix recently released Season 1 of The Umbrella Academy, a TV show based off of comics by Gerard Way (from the band My Chemical Romance) and Gabriel Ba. I immediately loved everything about the show after watching about 2 minutes of it. The music is fantastic, the set design is beautiful, and I absolutely love the characters.
If you haven't heard of The Umbrella Academy, it is about 7 kids who were all born on the same day and have different 'super powers', and have been adopted by an eccentric billionaire to be superheros. The show is set when they are all adults and have left the Academy that he set up, and talks about their dysfunctional family.

I am a sucker for stories about dysfunctional families, so this show was right up my alley. I also love the retro style that pops through that is mixed with a bit of steampunk vibes.

After watching the show many times and reading the comics, I have decided to do each of my favourite characters. I just recently (as in a few days ago) finished my courses, so I wanted to do something that was just for fun! I also had a dress that I finished sewing a few months ago that I never got photos of, so I decided to do a bit of a Grace cosplay. Grace is the kids 'mom', a robot created by the billionaire who adopted them. In the show, she has the most fabulous 1950's dresses.

I thought that the pattern on the fabric of this dress was very fitting for Grace since it has sewing pattern pieces on it. This was made from a Vintage Vogue pattern and is a wrap dress with a V back and patch pockets.

~K

I have always enjoyed stopping in Nanton, Alberta as a kid when we were in the area. They are a tiny town with the best antique stores, and my favourite has always been Sentimental Journey Antiques. They are connected to Iron Crow, which is where I got my photos for last years Fall collection.

The building has a very interesting history- it was first opened in 1909 as a hardware store. The upper story was used as a meeting and social hall for different groups in Nanton. It changed hands in 1935, and the new owner added more items in the store and converted the top story into apartments. Pretty quickly after that, the building was used for officers residence during World War Two - there was an aircrew training base close by.

I have always fantasized about living in one of the beautiful upstairs apartments, and learning about its use during the war made me love the quaint rooms even more. I still daydream about where I would put all of my furniture in the apartments if I were lucky enough to live there. We took all of our photos in our favourite rooms in the building upstairs.

The clothing that I am wearing in these photos are the lower torso garments that I made last semester in school. The pants are a 1940's inspired pair of trousers with a yoke, pockets, and front pleats. The skirt is a faux-wrap with a side zipper and a pocket on the other side. It is fully lined with a brown striped lining. Both of the garments are made using %100 wool.

I did not make any of the tops that I am wearing, all of them except for one are from Aerie (and they are all incredibly soft and comfortable). The WAC shirt is from a fundraiser for the SoCal WAC's.

~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

In my Looking Back at 2018 post, I talked a little bit about some things that I wanted to do in the new year. I thought that it would be fun for me to write about some of the things I want to do, and some of the things that I am excited for in 2019!

The goal that I mentioned in that post was finishing some of the projects that I started last year- the biggest of those being a few historical costumes! I have the posts written for them, and I have large chunks of each project done, I just lost the enthusiasm to actually finish it... I am hoping to finish off these ones this summer (I am giving myself some slack during school, since I drop most hobbies during the semester). 

Another goal of mine is to read more! I have been reading a lot more recently, but I went through a bit of a hump last summer when I wasn't really interested in anything. I am hoping to keep up my fascination with everything this year and learn lots of new things and read lots of new books.

I also am hoping to take a few classes outside of my college courses. As much as I enjoy sewing, sometimes doing it all day every day can lead to a bit of a burn out. I have decided that learning something different might help break things up a bit, and I have never regret taking more classes before!

Other than my goals for the year, I also have a few things that I am getting very excited about that will be happening this year. The first (and most exciting for me) is that I am looking into going to Greece with a friend this summer! After going to Mexico and Germany in the past few years, I have definitely caught the travel bug, and there are so many places that I want to go. Greece has always been close to the top of my list, so I can't wait to cross it out.

I am also getting quite excited about my training goals. I started working out during the first semester, and it has helped me manage my stress. My goal is to get stronger (especially my very weak upper body), and I have had a friend help me out with this goal! I am very excited to see some progress, and it has been fun to be a Brand Ambassador for Just Strong as well, to help me keep determined.

The last thing that I am very excited for this year is how far I will get in my program through the college! I am currently taking a 2 year Costume Cutting and Construction major through Olds College, and by the end of the year I will be 3/4 of the way done! I can't believe how fast the first semester went, and how much I learned in such a short amount of time. I think this year will fly by.

My mom has always had a word of the year that she tries to follow throughout the year. I don't normally join her, but I decided to chose a word for the coming up year. After looking through the thesaurus for quite a while, I decided on the word Fortitude. I love that it sounds strong, but its more than that. It is about not giving up, keeping your determination. 
​Do you chose a word of the year? What is yours this year?

~K

PS= The shirt I am wearing in these photos are from Just Strong, the company that I recently became a Brand Ambassador for! You can purchase anything off of the website with my code, FUNKKATH10 and get 10% off. I do get a small commission with purchases with my code, and that money will go toward my college. Thank you so much for your support!

I had a bit of a sewing frenzy last weekend, and ended up finishing not one, but two garments in the two days. I was finally able to use a lovely pattern that I got by Patterns by Gertie. The fabric is from Michaels. I decided that this ensemble was very wintery, so we made our way to Big Hill Springs National Park (which is not far from where I live) to take photos.

Even though there was lots of snow on the ground, it was a lovely day with warm sunshine and no wind, so it was not difficult to stand there in a skirt without a coat (although, my feet were pretty frozen by the end). I am lucky to live in an area with so many different landscapes! It makes finding places for photo shoots very easy.

The blouse is a wrap blouse from the same pattern as the skirt. I chose a plaid flannel to make it, since I have been running out of warm and pretty shirts to wear to school lately. The skirt is the sweetest cotton print, with animals on it. It ended up being very Canadian! I think this skirt will be worn on Canada Day this summer.

I have been wearing a ton of 50's styled outfits lately, so I have already worn these pieces out. The skirt needs to be taken in slightly (you can't really see in the photos, but it will be a quick fix), but other than that I am thrilled with how it turned out!

~K

I have been having fun trying out different things lately! Some of them have to do with sewing- such as new techniques for finishing, learning how to make a pattern from scratch, and learning how to draw proper technical drawings to send to factories. I have also been trying out things that are a little bit out of my comfort zone. Last week, Natural Talent Alliance held a model walk not far from my house, so I decided to try out.

Natural Talent Alliance is a local partnership of artists in the area where I live. There are photographers, dancers, designers, models, visual artists, and many other professionals who are a part of the NTA. I was lucky enough to meet the people who run it through MakeFashion. I was pretty nervous to try out, but I ended up having a fantastic time!

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

As you already know if you have read my blog for a little bit, I was a Team Lead in MakeFashion this year. The setup this year was very different from last since the show was a part of Beakerhead. It was a little chilly (I felt very bad for the models!) but it ended up being absolutely incredible, and I am so thrilled with how it turned out!

If you would like to learn more about what my dress was about and see some construction photos, you see that here

There were so many amazing designs, and you can check some of those out here.

Check out MakeFashion for more photos and videos of this years show!

~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.