Cool weather comfort

Dress: DIY from Colette Moneta pattern

Top: Tirelli

Tights: Sonse

Shoes: Comfortview

There’s something about winter that makes me crave comfort. Also summer. And spring. And autumn, I guess.

This layered outfit is – to the surprise of no one, I’m sure – a Very Comfortable Outfit. It’s snuggly and warm, and shapeless (but, like, the good kind of shapeless), and it’s basically been my unofficial uniform since the weather got cold.

I’ve been living in my Sonsee opaque tights rather than trousers this year. I’ve blogged about my undying love for Sonsee before. They’re a wonderful, local company founded in 2013 by the very lovely Vanessa, and since then they’ve gone from strength to strength. The success of Sonsee is in no small part down to the fact that their tights are – hands down – the most comfortable, long-wearing, stretchy tights I’ve ever, ever tried (and trust me: I’ve tried a lot.) You can read my original review here – It’s worth clicking through just to see me fitting both legs into one side of the tights… Sonsee is really stretchy, guys – and I just want to let you know: That pair of tights I’m wearing in that photo from 2013? I’m still wearing them.

In 2015 Vanessa appeared on the first Australian episode of Shark Tank, and won the support of entrepreneur Naomi Simson. It’s a partnership that’s allowed Sonsee to expand their product range into intimates and activewear, which allows me to live in my Sonsee tights in winter, and my Sonsee anti-chafing shorts in summer.

They’ve also had a bit of a brand refresh, and I’m really liking the elegant new packaging. Online orders come wrapped up like a present in a shiny gift box, which is a nice little addition for shoppers (plus you can save $10 off your first order by signing up to their mailing list).

Meanwhile. Have you ever just blown off an unfamiliar shop because you were sure they’d either be too expensive, or too small in size? It turns out I’ve been doing that with Tirelli, which has a fairly schmick and intimidating-looking shopfront in Melbourne Central. The windows are full of the kind of layered, architectural designs that I’ve been loving lately, but I was so sure their largest size would be a 12, and their prices would have an extra 0 at the end of them, that I’ve never been brave enough to go inside.

A couple of weeks ago I saw this reversible knit in the window, and thought maybe I’d just have a tiny squiz. I ended up being pleasantly surprised – Tirelli goes up to a size XXL, which is supposedly a 16, but the shapes and cuts actually work fine for curvier bodies. It reminds me a little of the kind of fashion coming out of Universal Standard, Elvi and Coverstory, and oh man: I’d love to see more of it in the shops, because that kind of voluminous stuff either works, or it really doesn’t, and you never know unless you try it on.

Necklace: FoxtailBoutique

Finally, feast your eyes and your fidgety fingers on my current favourite piece of jewellery. This faceted crystal spinner necklace was a self-gift from Etsy, and I adore it. The crystal spins freely with a little nudge, and I find myself twiddling with it non-stop whenever I wear it. It’s basically a classy, stylish, wearable fidget spinner.

 

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Stitchin’

  Top: Uniqlo, remixed

Sweater: Uniqlo

Jeans: Levi’s Plus

Shoes: Novo

What’s this? A new post, and not even six weeks after the last one?

It’s cold, grey, wet day in Melbourne today, and I’m procrastinating a few other jobs on my list by doing that embroidered collar tutorial that I promised you. Behold! the first DIY post I’ve done in over a year (the last one was that heart tee remix from the start of 2016, yikes!)

I got the idea for this shirt after seeing a photo of the wonderful Stephanie Beatriz (the actor who plays Det. Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn Nine-Nine) wearing a shirt with the words “fuck” and “off” embroidered on the collar. She pulls it off magnificently, but she’s about 193 levels of sass above me, so I thought I’d have a go and DIY myself something similar… but with a slightly less provocative catch phrase.

I chose “Feminist Killjoy” because, well, because I freaking love the phrase, and Stephanie Beatriz may be 193 levels of sass above me, but that doesn’t mean I have zero sass. I wore it and felt fierce and spent the whole day exchanging grins with women on the street and on public transport.

For the tutorial I’ve chosen a very Australian phrase: “Yeah, nah” (International readers – it means no. As opposed to “nah, yeah” which means yes).

For this project you just need a collared shirt, some embroidery thread, and a pencil or a disappearing ink fabric pen.

You can freehand the text straight onto the shirt, but my handwriting is atrocious so instead I used a font generator online and printed out the words to create a template to work from.

If you’re doing it this way the first thing you’ll have to do is position the template on the underside of the collar – make sure you’re using the correct word for each side, I feel like “Off Fuck” would have had a lot less impact!

Once you’re happy with the size and placement of the templates pin them in place (printed side to the fabric)

If you hold the collar up against the window you should be able to see the template through the fabric and you can trace the words on to the right side of the collar. I tend to do little dots, so the fabric doesn’t shift as I drag the pen around.

(Once you’ve got the template inscribed it’s worth going over it again on a flat surface.)

Embroidery floss is usually made up of six strands, which is probably too much for the kind of delicate work that you’re going to sew, so I cut a length and separate the threads so that the line that I sew will be made out of four strands.

Starting at the very beginning of one of the letters (and with the knot on the underside of the collar, but you guys probably could figure that out by yourselves) sew a stitch along the line of the template.

You’re going to be sewing a split-stitch, which is exactly what it sounds like. When you bring your needle back up from the underside, feed it halfway through the first stitch that you did.

Then the next stitch further along the line, and the next one halfway through the previous one. And so on, and so forth. You might have to make slightly smaller stitches around the tight curves.

And voila!

Super easy, and a really great way of fancying up a plain button-down shirt.

If you’re stumped for what to sew, here’s a couple of ideas I’m thinking of for next time:

  • Shine Bright
  • She Persisted
  • Read More
  • Love Thyself
  • Bite Me
  • What. Ever.

Any more ideas? Leave a comment!

 

 

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