The Red Carpet Rolls On...

So yesterday's post was dedicated to the standout sirens of the Academy Awards, and all the girls in the office had a good "ooh" and "aah" over some of the lovely frocks.

But you, my dear reader, know that on the arm of every well heeled woman is an equally splendidly groomed man (or as you'll see below, on the arm of another man). So I decided it was time to honour the best dressed blokes!

But first, David Beckham.

Can we cut out Tom Cruise and put me in there?

Insert your own caption here. Mine sounded a bit like "unff", followed by exclamations of "not fair!"


I was a little overwhelmed by all the tuxedos so we've whittled our Best Dressed selection down to the Boys in Blue. 

Midnight & Navy were the standout trend for the Blokes - click for a closer look

 (L-R)
Tom Ford wearing, well, Tom Ford.
Gerard Butler in Ferragamo
Bradley Cooper in YSL
Zachary Quinto and JC Chandor in almost matching YSL
Christopher Plummer (easily the biggest gentleman on the planet) in a vintage velvet tux

We're not going to leave the blokes out of the sewing stakes either. Want to replicate those gorgeous Velvet tuxedo jackets?

The Pattern:
Vogue Mens V2383:

Please don't make the white one. PLEASE I BEG YOU.

The Fabric:

100% Cotton Velveteen

100% Cotton Velveteen, 112cm,$14.95m

*TIP: When sewing with velveteen or other pile fabrics such as velvet and corduroy, make sure the nap (pile) is going in the same direction for all of your pattern pieces - otherwise sleeves or other parts may appear a different colour to the rest of your garment.

We'd love to see what you create!
I'm going back to look at David Beckham now.

xoxo
The Insider

Rolling out the Red Carpet

If there was an Oscars ceremony for the sewing world, Dad reckons the statue would be modelled on him (though after having hot chips for lunch, I'm not sure he's quite a svelte as old Oscar).

All the glitz and glamour is going to my head! Some of last night's Oscar frocks were seriously sparkly! I think we all agreed here in the office that last night was a winner in the glamour stakes.

SHINY.

But it was the Old Hollywood glamour that really got our attention. Got me thinking - which of these gorgeous looks could we make ourselves (don't say none, I know you're more clever than that!).
Dora, Elle and Shoshana took to the pattern books and they've come up with two of our Oscar favourites that you could whip up for your very own awards ceremony!

Natalie Portman in Vintage Christian Dior

Polka dots! On the red carpet! Amazing. This classic and simple frock is a sure fire winner in any colour but come on, who can resist?

The Pattern:

McCall's M6029

Use pieces 2, 6 & 10 of McCall's "Create It" Mix and Match patterns to create this. You may want to extend the skirt ever so slightly to add a train.

The Fabric:

I'm going dotty.

FiFi Yarn Dyed Spot Taffeta, 140cm, from $24.95/m


Penelope Cruz in Armani Prive

Positively Princess-like!

 Penelope is well documented for going a little OTT when a gown is concerned, but this Armani number is an absolute standout. And the slate blue is my favourite thing today!

The Pattern:

Vogue Vintage V1094

Who can resist a vintage Vogue? This 1955 design V1094 is the perfect amount of GLAM. Use option B for a full-length skirt.

The Fabric:

Icon Strech Satin-Back Crepe, Icon Chiffon

Icon Strech Satin Back Crepe (base) 114cm, $$9.95/m
Icon Chiffon (overlay) 114cm, $9.95/m


Right, get sewing! I expect these ready in time for next year's Oscars...

No more rain

It's Monday morning in Melbourne and it's raining. Surprise! Afer an almost-40 degree weekend, today is torrential downpour. So typical. Power lines are down, everyone's running late, I forgot to wear socks...
DISASTER.

To brighten up your morning, Ryan Gosling talking about craft.
(need I say more?)

Eugh. Swoon.

From Handmade Ryan Gosling
I know this blog is old news but gosh, he makes our morning better!

Also, Madame M directed me to this absolute gem:

She's got a nose for it.

Maddie The Coonhound! Ahhhh the world's most beautiful dog, standing on things.
It's that easy.

And then, on the W&W Facebook page this morning I discovered this:

Pretty much the coolest kids ever, right? Big ups to Spotlight customer Sarah of Sarah T Handmade for dressing her kids up this weekend. Show her some Facebook love!


Monday-itis, solved.

xoxo The Insider

From the desk of...

 For our special friday behind the scenes peek we've bought you some I-spy moments from around our office.

The Insider's Inspiration Wall

  This is where it all happens, the nerve centre of the buying team...

Testing out a new machine

...and it's probably nowhere near as glamorous as you think it might be.

Bunny keeps Shoshana sane

Always important to remember our heritage!

Keeping up to date with the latest patterns

Our treasured antiqe Singer machine

 

 

Wall o'thread

Quality and colour samples

I can't show you too much... don't want to give away our trade secrets ;) Needless to say it's a hard working, busy (and often a little messy) space full of creativity.

Take this weekend to get out of the office and get creative - then share it with us! Leave us a comment or a post on Facebook.


Have a great weekend! xoxo The Insider

Pretty Little Thing

Last week we bought you a No Sew Pro in the shape of some very cute Jumbo Motifs. Continuing on the theme of gorgeous things for tots, a Spotlight Facebook friend caught our eye today - Kelly at Pretty Little Thing!

Kelly creates beautiful children's garments with some amazing applique skills - her Monkey Tshirt had us all going gaga!

Such a creative idea for scraps from your stash... I need to find another baby to buy these for!

Why don't you share your weekend project plans with us?

Check out her Kelly's online store here

Lisette has Landed!

Whoa!
We're super excited to be introducing an Australian first to our Spotlight stores.

Once a designer for top international fashion brands, Liesl Gibson now heads up her own company Lisel + Co. and is bringing her distinctive fabrics and patterns exclusively to Spotlight!

Landing in stores this week, we will be stocking a huge range of Lisette fabrics in Poplin, Cotton Lawn, Cotton Twill & Cotton Sateen - ideal for a huge range of your favourite sewing projects.

Lisette Printed Cotton Sateen, 109cm wide, 100% Cotton

Lisette Printed Cotton Poplin , 109cm wide, 100% Cotton

The prints and colours are just beautiful - and would suit so many great projects! The colours also co-ordinate with our fantastic Cotton Broadcloth, Plain Cotton Lawn and Plain Cotton Drill - already in stores.
We're offering 20% off the Entire Range of Lisette Fabrics from Wednesday 22nd February until Sunday 11th March at all Spotlight Stores!
 

Lisette Printed Cotton Twill, 114cm wide, 100% Cotton

Lisette Printed Cotton Lawn, 109cm wide, 100% Cotton

Best yet, Lisel has teamed up with Simplicity to bring you an exclusive range of garment patterns - designed espeically to be made with your Lisette fabrics! There are both Ladies' and Girls' patterns available.
 

Lisette & Little Lisette for Simplicity Patterns

We're offering 50% off the Entire Range of Lisette and Little Lasette Patterns from Wednesday 22nd February until Sunday 11th March at all Spotlight Stores!

Look out in your nearest Spotlight store for these beautiful fabrics- as well as some very inspirational ideas of garments you can make yourself - we'd love to hear about your plans, leave us a comment!

Stay tuned this week on the blog because we'll be giving away some lovely Lisette gift packs.

And the winner is...

In the interest of fairness (and because I'm easily swayed by a funny pun or a cute picture of a cat) we've decided to pick our Daisy Mae stash winner at random.

So lucky number 10 is our winner- and it's Kuka from Krafty Kuka!

Congratulations Kuka, we will email you directly to organise sending out your Daisy Mae stash.

Thankyou to everyone who entered! Stay tuned because we'll have another fabulous giveaway very soon.

No Sew Pro: I see a motif!

There's a bit of a baby boom happening here in the office (don't worry, none of the W&W team are preggers... as far as we know...)! With one of the girls finishing up today and ready to pop any second, we've all been talking about ideal baby gifts.
But you, my dear reader, I'm sure knows that the best gifts are the ones we made, with love.

No bones about it, I can't sew a stitch. I can however, iron.
And that's why we love Jumbo Motifs!

How easy is that?!

Our new range of Jumbo Motifs are the easiest way to quickly add some fun to any basic garments to make a fun and personal gift. Add some creative stitching or beading and voila! Instant keepsake.

Click for a close up

I recently got together with a few friends to decorate little onsies for a girlfriend having a baby. The beauty of these motifs is that they are gorgeous on both little boys and girls!

These aren't the ones I prepared earlier!

Click for a close up

They're also great for kids blankets and towels.

How adorable are these Babuskhas?

Hoodie Towels are the best for little seaside friends

Jumbo 'Make It' Motifs, $12.99/pack
In store from Feb 24th

Don't forget to leave a comment HERE to win yourself a stash of Daisy Mae by Denyse Schmidt fabric!

Daisy Mae Madness Continues

While you're all going gaga for Daisy Mae over here at our DS giveaway, don't forget that the full range hits stores next week!
To celebrate the launch we've created a beautiful free project for you to take home and put your gorgeous new fabric to work.

Our Daisy Mae Zig Zag design!

 As you can see, it's a beautifully simple design that could be adapted to use all of your favourite fabrics.

 

Pick up your free project sheet in store! We'd love to see the results once you've finished...

Don't forget to leave a comment HERE to win yourself a stash of Daisy Mae fabric!

Daisy Mae Giveaway!

Ohmygoodness! It's inappropriate fabric love here in the office! Daisy Mae by Denise Schmidt lands in stores next week, and you could be the first to get your hands on it!

Comment on this post and tell us why you love Daisy Mae at your Spotlight Store - and we'll pick a lucky winner to receive a stack of Daisy Mae Fabric!

That's right. Daisy Mae. To your door. It's that easy!


Get commenting... entries close Midnight (EDST) Sunday 19th February. Available to entrants in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore only.

Commenting is now CLOSED. We'll be announcing a winner soon! Stay tuned.

Sew Iconic

This week marked the sad passing of music icon Whitney Houston (insert joke about needing a Bodyguard here).
It's interesting that she has the name of a place in her surname because...

...Got your passport ready?

Click "read more" to find out...

Great Hair Day

The hairstylists of South Melbourne have had their hands full this week - with two of us getting hair cuts (and the rest having bad hair days) - so I thought it might be time to put some faces hairstyles to the names you hear on the blog so often!

Let's visit our favourite 1960's hairstyles for a game of "getting to know you"... (click "read more" to continue)

Red Hot Gingham

As you've probably noticed, I get a bit excited when people use our Spotlight fabrics for their projects and then blog about them! The buying team also get a bit hyper when fabrics cross over from one department to the other.
This week's "innapropriate fabric love" comes from Rita at Red Pepper Quilts, who has gone a bit gaga over our beautiful cotton gingham!

100% Cotton Gingham, available from Spotlight

While Shoshana assures me that gingham is strictly for her to wear and not to be shared with "sticky fingered quilters", I reckon that Rita has done an amazing job of quilting up a beauty!

Love the mix of vintage stash fabrics and bright Gingham!

No longer for tea towels, gingham is hot!

We're all about exploring new uses for traditional fabrics here - and I'm sure with all the beautiful things we have dropping in over the season even the purists will be persuaded to try something new.

Have you created a fun project out of a fabric usually reserved for something else? Tell us about it!
And don't forget to check out some more of Rita's projects at Red Pepper Quilts!