Monday, April 19, 2010

A Cup of Rooibos

Hi everyone. Thank you for all your lovely well wishes regarding my injury. And we definitely see eye-to-eye regarding the evil tram person.

A quick injury update before I get into the sewing talk. 

My neck is slowly getting better. I went back to work today, and was relatively pain-free until about 2.30pm when I had some spasms in my shoulder. I have another osteopath appt on Wednesday arvo, so lets hope things hold out until then. 

To make matters worse, however, I am sick again. This time in my sinuses. I am kind of wondering if the last two colds I have had have actually been my sinuses playing up. This is a pretty distressing issue for me, as just before I completed my PhD (so about 14 months ago), I had a sinus operation to fix my chronic sinusitis. There is always a risk the operation will have to be repeated, or will not work, so I am going through a pretty nail-biting stage of wondering what is going to happen. I have been sick in this way now 3 times in 3 months. Something is clearly going on. I've also had an infected gland that I've only just finished taking antibiotics for. I am sooooooo tired from it all. All I want to do is crawl under the blankets and sleep. Truthfully, I am feeling a bit down about it all. 

Anyway, enough whinging on my behalf. I hope you all had lovely weekends. The sun was shining (for once) here in Melbourne, and we took advantage of it. Yesterday we had a big lunch at our house for Michael's 30th birthday. It was heaps of fun! And it was the perfect time to christen my lovely new Rooibos dress:


What do you think? This is another Colette pattern (I think this is my favourite so far - it definitely came together the easiest). The only alteration I made was to lengthen the hem by 7cm.

The material is some cotton polka dot I bought from etsy. The contrasting material is white homespun cotton. All in, this dress cost me about $15. One of the least expensive I've made in some time. It is a nice pattern to sew, with some cute details. Like the little collar:


The back has a rounded neckline (I got a little sunburnt yesterday and have a matching burn line):


I am thinking of making another one almost straight away of some dark red cotton sateen I have in my stash (the colour was called 'Hotdog' - hopefully I won't look like one in it). I have a 30th birthday of two friends to go to soon, and think a red Rooibos would suit well. 

What are your thoughts? A red Rooibos, or can you envision the dark red sateen in another pattern? Please let me know what you think!! I need sewing help!!



13 comments:

  1. Love the polka dots! I loved that pattern too. I'm sorry you are feeling poorly; I know how it is to have chronic sinus problems!

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  2. I love it- I too feel Colette patterns are so well-drafted. Great dress on you and love your haircut!

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  3. Such a pretty dress! The neckline is fabulous, and I really like your choice of fabric.
    I do hope you're beginning to recover, sounds like you've had your fair share of nasties (enough) lately!
    Hm, for the party... well either the Rooibos or another Jenny, I think that too would look great in a red sateen, and it's a bit more party:ish!

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  4. Cute dress! I think it will look fabulous in red! Hope you feel better soon!

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  5. Very cute! Sorry to hear about your ailments, hope you're feeling better soon x

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  6. Gee you have had a rough ride! Sit in the sun and feel better soon.

    Lovely dress - a red one would be cute!

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  7. What a darling version of this dress! Great job. It's one my favorite interpretations of Rooibos that I've come across.

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  8. Oh I love the dress! Absolutely darling and you look so great in polka dots. I have to say that I've seen alot of versions of this dress and yours is the first where the neckline doesn't look funky but is perfect! Beautiful job!

    I'm so sorry to hear you are sick. I really hope that you get well soon. My best thought vibes are going out to you!

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  9. Really lovely dress! Love the polka dots.

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  10. Hi everyone,

    Thanks for such lovely comments!

    The osteopath today said I am not getting over my sinus issues cos my neck is so jammed up - the natural flow of toxins has been stopped.

    So hopefully it will clear up from his visit. The sun also definitely helps!

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  11. It looks great in polka dots with the white collar!
    I think it would look great in red too!

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  12. I don't know how I missed this post! The dress is FANTASTIC...I absolutely adore that color!

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