(handmade IKEA fabric dress, Mossimo Long Leather Gloves, H&M belt, Metro7 snakeskin print platform pumps)To subject y’all to entirely non-fashion-related babbling drivel for a little bit…
One of the things that we were so psyched about when we moved from Honolulu to Oregon 2 years ago was…drumroll please….
Ikea within driving distance.
Yes, I know it’s sad and bourgeosie. Or strident middle-class desperation. Whatever. In Hawaii, the furniture available at most furniture stores is utter crap and ridiculously, ridiculously overpriced. And either teak (endangered…weighing a thousand pounds…um, no thanks) or wicker (infested with bugs, “island-style casual”…blech.) Nothing modern, nothing clean and streamlined…unless we wanted to pay thousands of dollars at Natuzzi or Z Design or somewhere. We lived in a beautiful condominium with cardboard boxes and junky mismatched stuff from Wal-Mart and cabinets from Home Depot.
Until we came to Oregon, finally visited Ikea, and were in heaven. Seriously, for the amount that you have to pay to furnish a home beautifully in a contemporary style in the islands…it would be cheaper to fly to the mainland, stock up at Ikea, and ship everything to Hawaii instead! Ikea could even raise their prices by 20% and still undercut what’s available in Honolulu by hundreds of dollars. Ikea people, take note!
But I digress. I love the textile patterns available in their fabric department; they’re so cool, so clean and uncomplicated. I must admit I went on a bit of a spree in the textiles department, picking myself up 2 yds of Patricia printed fabric last time I visited the mecca of Swedish design watered down for the average consumer palate.
And I made myself a dress.
The fabric is stiff and 100% cotton, so it doesn’t lend itself well to anything but structured clothing, IMHO. I had to line the dress in poly satin since the fabric is really too rough to sit against the skin.
I wanted structured sheath dress with a little twist, so I chose Vogue pattern V1068 (dress on upper left). I had to make multiple alterations on the dress once made since of course the top part didn’t fit like the pattern said it would. I hate store-bought patterns. I thought the neckline was a little bit interesting. Not earth-shattering, but interesting.
I’m also working on a little removable puff-peplum for this dress…it won’t be done before the leaves start to decay, so I wanted to get these shots first. And a clutch handbag where I’m shading in the flowers with a fabric marker in various tones of gray…should be cool.
I’ve left the garden in this atrocious state for more than a week, reasoning that I wanted to do a photoshoot on top of all those beautiful Japanese Maple leaves before I rake them up. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
I had a little Marilyn Monroe moment there with the elbow-length gloves…from Target, can you believe it?!
Now I’m off to rake me some leaves!
xoxox
Carly
Since I’m not about to go and plunk down 40 pounds (about $73 U.S.) for 
Carly J. Cais
