On my little holiday in Allansford, I dyed up some knit silk and some silky merino from the Beautiful Silks odds and ends department–much better fun than the remnants at a big chain store.
I had to do some creative work to find this entire garment from the pieces. In the end, I settled on silk sleeves and a silky merino body.
A friend agreed to take some pictures for me one day but she evidently couldn’t do anything about my embarrassment! And she offered the view that this top would work better if it were a little longer. She may well be right.
You can see I’ve got leaves running in one direction up my back and down the other… I just couldn’t get the pattern to fit any other way. And–I’ve enjoyed wearing this most of the winter.
Local & Bespoke 
I like this the way it is for workwear. Longer but not wider might look just a bit daggy…..And until I read the bit about the directions of the leaves I had not noticed! Very good outcome. Didn’t know Beautiful Silks had an “Odds and Ends” department but will look more closely at the website next time I put in an order! I have just done a five day workshop with India Flint and saw your beautiful socks on her feet!
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Thanks, Margaret. The www site always has a specials section, but I was actually in the warehouse noodling around while I was on holiday, which is a bit different! How wonderful to have 5 days learning from India and dedicated to stitching and dyeing (and poetry, no doubt). Glad to hear the socks are looking good and getting some wear.
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Ha…. the direction of the leaves is not noticeable. Even with you saying that they were different, I was hard pressed to find what you were talking about!
Lovely shirt!
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Thank you! I am enjoying it. No one has commented on the direction of those leaves and it isn’t troubling me, so I think you may be right. There are some things the maker notices and other people don’t. (well, not many of them, anyway!)
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they fall in all directions on the ground…and this looks fabulous!
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Thanks very much! I’m very happy with it, and I’m not troubled by the direction of the leaves… but you’re right. That’s how they fall!
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it’s beautiful! Looks lovely on…even though I’m not sure what “daggy” means, I don’t think it needs to be longer either.
: )
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Thanks so much! ‘Daggy’ means scruffy or unfashionable. It wasn’t until I was thinking over your question, with some raw wool soaking in the laundry, that I had a thought about the origin of this term. I hadn’t thought of it as an Australianism–but apparently it is slang originating in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. After colonisation, both countries became places of sheep farming, and ‘dags’ are a [specific] part of the fleece that you’d immediately remove if you planned to spin it. With more detail that may wrinkle your nose at http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=daggy
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Well! the things you learn. I’m chuckling into my morning coffee, thinking about “rattling” sheep…although I’d feel sorry for them too. Can’t be pleasant. Might be a good thing if the exact origins of the term disappear into the ether…it’s harsh!
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Sorry about inflicting that on you!! Good to hear there was a laugh in it!
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No worries. I love learning strange/obscure/new things like that, and I’m not the easily put off type….
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