deondergangvanmijnouders

Today I thought I’d show you how I exaggerated the Bettine Dress sleeve and bodice to put a summery twist on this Tilly & the Buttons Pattern! You might remember this dress I made for wearing to the ever gorgeous & lovely October wedding… it was a cool light (maybe pretend) linen fabric and super soft for the warm sunny weather back in Australia. When I posted the sleeves on Instagram , Abigail asked to see the pattern pieces, so here we go with my behind the scenes photo series! I loved sewing my first Tilly & the Buttons Bettine Dress over summer, it was very light in some rayon cotton fabric and comfortable on those hot days here in Shanghai. (I miss them so, it’s freezing right now!) And after picking up this very light linen (for the above dress) at the local fabric market, I just wanted something that wouldn’t be a full on kaftan but kinda like a kaftan. These gigantic purple & red flowers are just the best, and I didn’t want to cut them up! So, onto some ...

Moving to Shanghai last year has been quite inspiring for me, but also incredibly challenging. Learning a new language, leaving our friends and family and putting my radio career on hold for a bit; these and many other things are all contributing to the ups and downs of our new life in China. There are over 24 million people living in Shanghai, with around 150 000 foreigners (I think around this many in 2011… so maybe more now) and without speaking or reading Hanyu/Mandarin, you can float around in a little English speaking bubble by yourself. But earlier this year, I started hunting down other bloggers in Shanghai, and came across Line Fricke’s blog Shanghai Habits . I then got in touch after seeing her Instagram post about a Shanghai Blogging Group… and last week, we all joined together to help Line and her project partner Nando Fonseca launch their new project, the Shanghai Bloggers App . My blog, along with many other wonderful local bloggers, are all featured on the app, and there...