a lesson learnt ...

It's a sad day for Babettopolis!

I wanted to treat myself to a new head of sky blue hair - I was under the impression the sky's the limit (excuse the half-hearted pun!) in hairdressing!

I was encouraged to try a test strand instead.. fair enough.
I was also informed that light blue is absolutely out of the question for my hair type.

So I opted for grey .. why not?! I love the colour on everything else..

Unsurprisingly, the bleaching process stopped at canary yellow when it should have made it to dirty platinum.. so the grey dye turned out looking BLACK! I turned full circle .. I have a full head of same old same old BLACK hair with an (as yet) camouflage 'charcoal black' strand that'll turn a dirty army green as the dye washes out.

*I has a sad and I must excuse myself for promising my immediate relatives and friends that I'll have something special for them next time we met.
I must also start looking into non synthetic wig options :/ .. or a life.

Babette says 'thanks'!

Ten days have passed already.. ten days from Patches-the special Christmas Market.. a mini (on the grand scale of things) fulfilling success. Must thank organizers, visitors and buyers alike. I loved every smile and every smirk, they were all well deserved..

Loved setting up beneath Our Lady's aluminium shrine with fake ponsiettas and a dead candle, loved the soup and the cupcakes, and speaking with people who care or are well on their way towards caring about such crafts. Also loved having some very unexpected buyers by the stall.. a day full of surprises.

It took me a full ten days to get back to a 'normal' routine where I can fit in a warm drink in between work and more work.. ten days to finalize most of the orders in time for christmas, meet up with people who reserved stuff, plan a meal for 8 hungry relatives, bid my 'students' a temporary farwell and ..breathe.. at last.

So in a sentence.. Patches was good.. actually.. better than anticipated.

*Note to self: do something about the bloody lighting next time round!

Here's me looking all suspicious at a sneaky camera lens. With that look on my face I'm surprised anyone stopped to look at the stuff at all.

Today marks the beginning of the Christmas recess.. days I've planned down to a T..with sewing , sewing and more sewing .. I missed it in the run up for the market .. I also mssed sketching ideas for future projects in my notebook. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about a shoe collection ... would have sketched it down quickly on toilet paper but we were running low ... (withdrawal symptoms!?)
So I come back home to two surprises and I immediately sense that my holidays are off to a good start. A beloved great aunt sends this low waisted floral dress and lacy 'pink' confection of a skirt with my mum. I'm lucky enough to have her exact size from some 30 years ago, so all's good!

Although I've always been of the opinion that the cheapest buy is the most rewarding; I was admittedly forced to reconsider this belief a few days ago. I made an exception last Tuesday. I bought something exceeding my usual average budget of 5 euro (max.) ... being without a salary for so long has made me immune to the pleasure of shopping.. nowadays I only accompany friends on shopping ventures to scrutinize hems and closures for details, looking all dodgy like a friend from hell.. ''tut tut what a badly lined coat''.. ''tissss.. setghaw imqar jaqtaw il keffa dritta!''

Last Tuesday I spent a handsome sum (for someone who sews) for something absolutely beautiful from 'blush & panic' and only felt a little remorse. I felt like I was conducting a social experiment.. I was re-introducing myself to money-spending civilisation.. this cannot be anything but a short stint at it.. I tried it again today but drove absolutely no pleasure from trawling the capital's streets..

SO I'm taking it as a sign that this 'early 40s' dress was made to be mine .. and although neither this photo nor myself could ever do it as much justice as it's original owner, I still think it's a dress that could see me well into my 50s provided I retain the same size (implausible to say the least! but we pray, if only for the sake of this dress)

So a dress and a book about the history of dance are to be my wage-baptizing treats to self. Oh and regular Indian take-out because that, unlike the rest, is a necessity.

Off to work on a project that's coming along nicely.. just realizing that this pink and grey theme is acquiring a fan base, it's attractive in a practical but fun way.. I love grey.. but I guess I've already said that a couple more times.

It's a promise! and it's grey!

Here again with some thoughts I deemed newsworthy.. or better still.. I'm actually overjoyed with the finishing on a skirt. Still smoking hot!

This, however, is the skirt which set it all off.


A simple grey pencil skirt which many seemed to have fallen in love with. 3 wanted a copy. But I promised I wouldn't repeat an item when I first started this 'sewing thing'... The following grey skirt is what I adapted for a certain lady.. part satiny, part matte and the bow is removable (on her request) to use separately as a brooch in the coming winter.. that yoke gives me such joy!

... and just because this post has, in the process, taken on a grey tinge (a tinge I greatly approve of).. here is an old cardigan I was asked to 're-furbish' for a friend. We turned it into a 'lady' fitting cardi from a grandpa cardi-GAN and added red glass buttons and a cute (are they ever not?) collar.

I love grey.. it looks wonderful on every material.. from the richest velvets to cisp and plain cotton..

cue.. Babettopolis uniforms!