All sewing. All the time

It'll be another big year for my dolly couture boutique, where I'll be having stalls at 3 more Blythe Conventions (last year was Rome, Paris and London). 

First up is Blythe Con Europe in Berlin at the end of June. I'm beyond excited for this one as it's only several weeks away and I've never been to Berlin. Blythe Conventions are the perfect excuse to visit a new country as well as hook up with like-minded dolly folk. One of my favourite things is to meet people I've known online for years for the first time. It's always like meeting an old friend and this one promises to be great with some collectors attending whom I've always wanted to meet like Stellina and Chu Things, as well as meeting up with all my usual dolly friends whom I've known and loved for a long time.

 Second is BlytheCon UK in Manchester. This marks the third BlytheCon event in the UK with this one promising to be great as each year they get better and better. Here is my blog entry about BlytheCon UK  back 2010 which was my first true Blythe convention. After years of attending smaller doll meetups, the convention experience was so different and overwhelming but in a wonderful way.

For the uninitiated, here are my flickrsets from the past two BlytheCon's in the UK:

BlytheCon UK 2011 flickrset

BlytheCon UK 2010 flickrset 

 My stall at BlytheCon UK 2011

And third (fingers crossed!) Le Jour B in Paris. I say fingers crossed as no official announcement has been made for this year's event, but the minute it is, I'll be signing up as I really enjoyed last year. The organisers were so hospitable and created such a great event, not to mention the wonderful French Blythe crowd who were great to meet in person.

For a sneaky peak here is my flickrset for Le Jour B

Le Jour B stall vendors and organisers. PHOTO BY EZEKIELLE

So here is a work-in-progress sampling of what I've been creating for my BC Europe stall: I call it dolly couture as confectionary because my obsession with gold accents has led me to finding new ways to incorporate it into the my work. Gold glitter tulle and gold net layering feel like spun sugar and of course my ubiquitous use of gold lamé ribbon to trim everything feels almost good enough to eat. My aesthetic is most definitely retro, but I hope I'm bringing something new to it. 

 

So yes, it's all sewing, all the time, that is to say, when I'm not wearing my other hats (mummy, wife, art director and occasional half marathon runner). I often think I cram too much into my slightly mental life, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

JASSIE OUT.

Doing it properly

I was supremely lucky to attend a sewing workshop with the über talented Momolita.

My own sewing skillz are entirely a combination of what my mother passed on to me and what I've made up by observing the detailed construction of human-sized garments as well as adapting basic sewing patterns. It was amazing to learn from someone who has taken doll sewing to a whole new level.

Momolita's techniques for pattern templates and creating curved seams with gathers totally blew me away. I also learnt where I was going wrong on a number of my own techniques, that, while still provided an adequate finish, didn't have the super-professional finish I always strive for.

Momolita and her awesome Juki machine lugged all the way from Japan

The Love Jacket, which was probably the most difficult thing I've ever attempted has most definitely given me a renewed confidence to try harder and more complicated pieces.

Momoko, should take her workshop worldwide as I just know that everyone in the dolly community would jump at the chance to be tutored by her.

PHOTO BY: MOMOKO KOMORI

JASSIE OUT

Happy New Year

Genuinely the slowest moving blog on the Internet, and yet the stats show that there is significant traffic, visiting. It's only polite that I update with a post.

So the new year has kicked off with my The Troj's birthday. His 9th in fact. Somebody press pause please. I sometimes want to freeze my kids in time. The incarnation of them now will never exist again. It's not that I don't want them to grow up, I'll just miss this version of them when it's gone.

Happy Birthday my darling boy.

Sewing Machine.

That would be me. And entirely by hand. For the longest time I've had an ongoing love affair with metallics and hot pink, and it most certainly shows in my first real "collection" in 3 years!

 

If you are partial to the little plastic princess known as Blythe and feel the need to spoil her, you can find my dolly couture at my Etsy. Clearly, with my first collection in 3 years, I update my etsy about as often as this blog, but well, you know, I'm working on that ;)

Jassie out

all my friends are online #5 – Pinterest

Apparently women like pretty things. I may be trivializing the true worth of Pinterest, but you only need to take a quick peek around to see that its abundant with a whole lotta pretty. I'm barely surprised that just about everyone following me on Pinterest is female. Pinterest, is like a more accessible, less elite, version of Ffffound. But nonethless useful and relevant bookmarking website that is packed full of inspiring imagery.

In the 6 months I've been on Pinterest, I've seen its popularity grow and grow, and started to notice more of my online fraterati converge from the four corners of my online interests to join Pinterest. You can follow moi or if you are new to Pinterest, I recommend following Joy Cho. With 38 moodboards and over 32,000 followers, that woman is a machine when it comes to posting, and everything she posts is gold.

Jassie out