Friday 2 July 2010

summer dress on a winter's day

It is a cold winter's day here where I live, one hours drive north of Sydney on the east coast of Australia. The temperature reached a high of 14 degrees Celsius. I know you Northern Hemisphere folk must be laughing at the notion of that being a cold day, but it has been grey & threatening to rain all day. It may sound all very bleak, but alas the wattle tree is flowering at my front door & all is screaming out golden & sunny in my view.

I just love wattle with it's cute little fluffy balls of yellow & it's tiny weenie buds ready to burst. It really does cheer me up & bring a lot of life (bees & native birds) into the garden this time of year. All that yellow provides a great backdrop on which to hang one of my latest dresses that I have designed & made. It's a little girls (size 3) summer dress in a light weight flocked voile.

I have been working on a few pieces for a handicraft project to be initiated in Afghanistan by a wonderful charity named Mahboba's Promise. They will be taking my designs & samples along with those of a couple of close friends of mine over to Afghanistan where Mahboba has set up schools, orphanages for children & refuges & a workroom for Afghan war widows. The idea is for the women to sew & embroider garments & home ware pieces to allow them to be financially self sufficient & to maintain their traditional handicraft skills. It is only early days for this project & it will be a steep learning curve for all involved.
One of the friends of which I am working with on the Mahbobas Handicraft Project is Jane of Focalpoint Home. Jane has just started her own blog Focalpoint Home & I would love you to pay her a visit & offer a little encouragement , even advice if you wish. Jane is super clever...a trained Interior designer & florist (her beautiful work above) & she now has a successful business importing gorgeous pieces from Tunisia. Go Janey!!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

ahhhh! it`s THE dress for summer!!!!wonderful!

Kate said...

That is the most gorgeous dress I have seen in ages and ages. Really! Oh how I wish it was the season for wearing such a dress. Have a wonderful weekend. X

Heidi said...

I love the dress and I will pop over and check out your your friends blog, your always working on such amazing things!!

fabriquefantastique said...

Glad I found this blog from the other side of the world.

fabriquefantastique said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Scented Sweetpeas said...

Gorgeous dress - really beautiful!

emma said...

leah, that dress is fantastic! You're such a clever girl. This new project sounds really wonderful, I'll be looking forward to hearing more about it. I stood underneath a wattle tree in enmore the other night and inhaled it's heady scent. I don't have one in my garden, but I think I'm going to have to plant one now!!

Bobo Bun said...

I've finally caught up with you.

You're right we might chuckle up here as 14 degrees is balmy in the UK, although at the moment we're sweltering at 30 with no air con in sight. Can't moan though as it only lasts for a few days.

Bet you're enjoying being involved in the Afghan project.

Lisa x

Anonymous said...

hello friend :)
I wanted to reply on my blog ,but it`s not working (?)..thank you for the lovely feedback. what`s so clever about them ;)? by the way,my daughter lea said she would wear the purple dress all the time ha ha...and she is 12 (meaning,she is more into the avril lavigne look right now)!have a good weekend!w

WinnibriggsHouse said...

I love the little dress, its beautiful, and what a tremendous project to be involved in. I wish everyone the best of luck with it.
Jenny

deux chiens et un garcon said...

wow I love opposite colours and yellow and purple are fantastic. Very clever and such a great cause. Our wattle is not quite in full bloom yet. Bit slow down here at the bottam of the valley.

Cilipus said...

What a beautiful dress !!
Love the color and the romantic style.
Here we have summervacation, so it doesn´t sound so tempting with 14 degrees.
Have a nice day!!
Cecilie

Claire (ethel loves fred) said...

Very cute dress, love the yoke!

Cathie said...

wow!! that is the sweetest dress and the colour..amazing!

rahel said...

Lovely dress- I really like the colour!