McCall 3857: The "Kathmandu Valley Blouse"

Oh boy! I've just returned from an amazing trip to Nepal.  Unlike most of my trips, this one was mostly pleasure (with just a small amount of work thrown in).  

Our friends took us to explore the city of Bhaktapur ("Place of devotees"), an ancient Newar city in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley.  It was pouring when we arrived (which is great, as it's needed) so we climbed the stairs to a great teahouse with a 360 degree view and waited it out. You can see the teahouse as the second building in the foreground.  The sky clear after an hour and we were able to visit several Temples.

Here's a look up at the teahouse:

I made the blouse from McCall 3857 specifically for the trip.  I had this AMAZING 1940s fabric in my stash. I had bought the fabric several years back in the Vancouver Antique Mall and was waiting for just the right pattern to use it.  I combed through my 1940 McCall patterns and settled on this adorable blouse and jumper pattern (I will definitely make the jumper later).

I paired the new blouse with my 1940 McCall 3606 skirt (the "Collegiate Skirt") and am posing in front of the Bhairavnath Temple:

The fabric is so amazing.  Here are some close-up photos of the rich yellow colour.  I also had the PERFECT white matching flower buttons in my stash.  Don't you just love it when sewing projects come together with the perfect matching elements?

The blouse features a set-in collar, gathered sleeves and two tucks in the bodice waist front and back to create a very wearable silhouette.  The blouse also has small cuffs of matching fabric.

There's quite a bit of evidence of the destruction in several buildings due to the recent earthquake in 2015.  We were glad to see many of the Temples still standing but several are down or severely damaged.  The beams in the photos below are there to prevent further cracks and to provide a bit of support to the standing structures.

The most spectacular part of our visit to Bhaktapur was climbing up to the Nyatapola Temple, the tallest temple in the Kathmandu Valley. The steps were a bit scary and I'm really surprised the Temple did not sustain major damage from the earthquake.  The statues lining the stairs were absolutely break taking.  

Nepal is known for many handicrafts, including pottery.  We had the chance to visit a local potter's shop and see him in action making various teapots, cups and incense and candle holders.

We enjoyed walking around and taking in all the sights and sounds of this lovely town.

What an amazing trip!  We so enjoyed everything--and I'm so glad I finished this blouse before we left!

Have you been to Nepal? Is it on your wish list?

1940 Around the World: Nepal

     Nepal

The next stop on our global 1940 tour is Nepal.  The Kingdom of Nepal declared war on Germany on 4 September 1939 and became involved in fighting in Burma against the Japanese in 1941.

I found the following photo of Bhaktapur, one of the three main kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley:

Photo credit: Explore Himalaya.com

The following photo is also from 1940 and shows a late 30s car being carried to the city because of the lack of accessible roads.  

Photocredit: http://imgur.com/uJNm3W8

I love the following two photos because they are so different from one another.  The first one shows a medical tent handling an outbreak of cholera, the second photo shows a group of men posing for a photograph--both are from 1940.

Photo credit: ECS.com Nepal

Photo credit: LostLightProject.com

Have you ever been to Nepal?

Edinburgh Cherry Blossoms and the "Collegiate Skirt"

Oh, I just love this time of year in Edinburgh!  Spring has sprung and the cherry blossoms are in bloom.

This park is called 'the Meadows' and has three pathways, all lined with Cherry Blossom trees.  It makes walking through the park such a delight with so much colour and fragrance!

I'm wearing my me-made skirt from McCall 3606, otherwise known as the 'Collegiate Christmas Skirt'.  I've paired this with a tartan blazer from my absolute favourite Scottish company, Ness.  I seriously own a dozen of their blazers--definitely wardrobe staples for me (and I especially like it when they have matching shoes and bags--swoon!)

The weather has been amazing as well.  Every time it is sunny, locals joke that it will be our only day of summer! haha. Well, we've had a good 10 days of warm sunshine this year so far--so it looks promising for summer (fingers crossed!)

I mean, how could it not be sunny with such beautiful trees?

Are you enjoying the spring blooms (or Autumn colours) where you are?

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park and the "Clackett Cantina" Dress

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

On my recent trip to Malaysia, I visited the Kuala Lumpur bird park.  Oh my gosh, this place is amazing.  It's a large open air aviary with lots of different kinds of birds and beautiful vegetation.  The tropical birds were my absolute favourite and I was super excited to actually get to interact with the birds!

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

I wore my me-made 1940 dress that was made using my McCall 3684 pattern. This dress is affectionately called "the Clackett Cantina dress" as I made it in celebration of Roisin's, aka Dolly Clackett's wedding.  I thought the printed fabric was perfectly inspired by her.  Though I bet she would have had the perfect bird fabric dress for such an outing!  

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

The fabric is a nicely draping rayon and the dress features front gathers and a bloused back also with gathers:

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

There were lots of different types of birds in the park.  My favourites were the tropical and brightly coloured birds and the regal white cranes:

Photos credit: Peter from Flytographer

Bwaaaa...how cool is this photo?  These guys were just hanging out and I slowly crept in to contemplate alongside them.  They are so regal:

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

I absolutely love this dress.  It has one of the few v-necklines from my 1940 patterns (most of the patterns from this year feature what they call the "jewellery neckline" which is a neckline that goes up to the collarbone to show off your necklaces).  I also really love the sleeves and the length of the dress (which I made just below the knees).

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

There were other friendly critters at the bird park besides birds....check out this Koi fish pond:

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

The bird park was so relaxing and because I went on a Monday morning, there was hardly anyone there!  There were paths throughout the park, including one that led to a waterfall:

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

I worked with Peter from Flytographer who took these fabulous photos.  In case you missed my last post, Flytographer is this really cool start-up company that connects you with local photographers so that you can capture your vacation memories (or your me-made outfits OR BOTH! hahaha).  Isn't Peter an amazing photographer??
  

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

My last favourite photos are of me and this guy--we were totally in tune:

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

SO much fun!  Have you ever seen amazing tropical birds?

McCall 3603: "The Malaysian Sun Dress"

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

I'm so excited to share my latest 1940 McCall make with you all!  I barely sewed this one up before heading off to a business trip in Malaysia.  And I'm so happy I did because the setting is just perfect for this adorable 1940 wrap dress.

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

Introducing McCall 3603, a wrap-dress that is simply tied on with a small button closure at the upper back.  The waist tie fits through a small slot on the bodice right which allows you to completely wrap the dress without any closures.

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

The Summer 1940 McCall Fashion Book says this about the two patterns featured on the main front pages:

Two dresses with plenty of space for the sun to work on.  The first has a lovely evening-gown top and jacket to hide it when necessary.  The striped on is the new wrapped sun-dress. Put it on pinafore style, wrap it over and tie to fit.

I made the dress out of a cotton polka dot fabric, which suited the lightweight and breezy feel of the dress.  I also made a matching head scarf:

Photo credits: Peter from Flytographer

The McCall Fashion Book goes onto to talk more about the pattern:

McCall 3603. The wrapped sun-dress is the most talked about one, and this is it. Open all the way down the back, wrapped over and tied.  There are pockets right and left.

Prior to my trip, I did some online research about photographers in the Kuala Lumpur area.  I really wanted to do more than just stay in the meeting rooms on this trip and of course, get some photos of my new me-made dress!  I also don't usually travel with my tripod and would feel very awkward taking photos of myself and David wasn't coming along on this trip.

Flytographer to the rescue.  Oh my gosh, I LOVE this start-up concept.  Basically, Flytographer teams up with photographers across all major cities globally and provides photography packages to capture your holiday moments.  BRILLIANT!  It's great because they pick the best photographers and do all the leg work of coordinating.  I got to pick the locations for the photos and I picked the old buildings that I highlighted in yesterday's post around Merdeka Square.  My photographer, Peter (who splits his time between Kuala Lumpur and Budapest), was simply amazing. He made me feel very comfortable and took the most amazing photos.

I'm a huge fan now and plan to book some photographs whenever possible on my trips!  I'd much rather have amazing photos that capture the spirit of the place and my me-made adventures rather than spend the money on souvenirs!  Yippee...

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

This adorable ad for pinking shears also shows McCall 3603 in the popular stripes pattern from 1940:

Overall, I am quite pleased with the dress. It's a perfect summer staple and nice for traveling.

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

And one can never have enough polka dots in their wardrobe!  I love the navy blue with the tiny dots as it's subtle but still colourful:

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

The buildings around Merdeka Square were absolutely stunning.  I love the Mughal architectural influences.  It was the shapes of the windows that originally drew me to capturing the photos near these buildings:

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

I just love this photo with the National Textile Museum (the striped building) in the back:

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

I think this photo captures it well--I LOVE KL!  So much fun!  Thanks to Peter and Liss from Flytographer for showing me some of the sights and capturing it so beautifully!

Photo credit: Peter from Flytographer

I hope to use this pattern again in the not-so-distant future! It's so versatile and fun!