Pic Monkey is really cool ... look at my collages

I have finally got the hang of using Pic Monkey!  YAY!  Although I use a computer all day, my area of expertise is word processing or spreadsheets, and picture software is a mystery to me.  

Left: Vintage brooch home-made from a button, dress-making pins, glass bugle and seed beads, sequins, pearl beads, and iridescent gems which could have come from a necklace originally, $5 Trademe; Top Right: vintage tapestry purse $4 Butterflies Hospice Shop, Bottom Right vintage ceramic pendant $5 Trademe

I managed a quick dash to Toffs in the weekend and again I found some treasure in the $2 section:

Top Left: Mambo Hawaiian Loud Shirt with awesome roses pattern; Bottom Left, Pringle pleated skirt
Top Right and Bottom Left: labels for the skirt and shirt.

Alas, the pleated skirt does not fit me, despite me holding it up against me in the shop, and assuming that I MUST be able to fit a 42 inch hip.  But no. It did not fit around the waist GRRRRRH.  I am getting increasingly infuriated with buying kilts which don't fit me.  Perhaps I am not the right shape????  

Left:  Vintage 1970s maxi skirt - originally a dress and very badly altered by an amateur sewer to a skirt.  Right: the find of the year, a World jacket from Winter 2007.  It fits.  Its awesome.  I love it.

The pink skirt was originally a dress which had been butchered into a skirt for someone with a waist as small (or is that large) as my thigh.  However, I could see that there was sufficient fabric to make a decent skirt even if I did chop off 10 centimetres.  So, when I got home I immediately set to work with my Quick-unpick and removed the offending poorly made waist band in preparation for making something more substantial this weekend.  The World jacket needs nothing other than a steam - I have been hanging it in the bathroom daily to assist the wrinkles to fall out.  If only that worked with skin wrinkles.....

My colleagues are used to me returning from my lunchtime hunting from op-shops with items which make them gasp in surprise or sometimes grimace in horror.  However, I was not prepared for the outpouring of adoration which was released when I came back from the St V de Paul one day with this: 

Vintage maxi dress $4.  It has an ugly zip from throat to groin but is shaped beautifully through the bodice.

It reminds me of a Victorian dress - perhaps a revival style from the 1970s?  Its home-made and the fabric is very soft and might be a cotton blend.  Anyway, the ugly belt does nothing to conceal the zip and will not be used.  This vision of loveliness is to be converted, Dear Readers to my outfit for the Steampunk Ball later this year.  

I intend to punkify it with a black lace-up cinch waist belt and a few other items including my black top-hat.  The sleeves are spectacular but I intend to shorten them to yield sufficient fabric to make a dickey - or something similar - to conceal the awful zip. I have some white fabric and white lace and think that I can whizz up something on my trusty Husky.

So now I am able to monkey-ise my photos I think I will be posting more collages - the added bonus is that they upload really quickly.  I have another project I want to tell you about but that will have to wait.  Hope you have all had a fabulous Friday.