Tea Parties, Light, and Making Things

Here is the third (and last) shoot I did with the gorgeous Jazz when she stayed over. The first photo was taken by my mum, the photos of Jazz by me, and the photo of me was taken by Jazz. All the photos are un-edited. You can see the first shoot here and the second shoot here.
Jazz is wearing a dress that was previously owned by my grandma, the faux pearl bracelet and vintage watch are from a charity shop, as are the vintage shoes and silk scarf. The necklace (and glass bead pendant) was made by my mum.
As for me, I'm wearing a vintage watch (something that I wear on a regular basis for some reason, it's purely for decoration, as it doesn't work - which is very awkward if someone asks you the time!) And the dress was from a charity shop, it had big yellow plastic buttons on it, but I removed them, lace was added, and then I sewed on different buttons (still need to add the fourth button, and then a ribbon bow.)

The yellow dress was just one of the many things that are stacked up on benches and next to the sewing machines. With promises of being shortened, lace added, made to fit, dyed, or being turned into something else. I might come across a pair of shorts that I like and there would be the "I'll just make something similar."
It's quite hard to get on top of it - the piles of clothes, folds of material, large collections of doilies, ribbons, and buttons.
There is so much that I want to up-cycle, make from scratch or using some of the gorgeous vintage Vogue patterns my mum has collected. I found an amazing 70s Karl Lagerfeld pattern for a beautiful shirt, that was the most stunning cut with gorgeous sleeves - but is way beyond my skill level. I have to accept that for now it's just making Pyjama bottoms and cheesecloth shorts for the summer. It's hard to have patience - for both sewing something and just keeping practice until I'll finally be able to make more complex things.
I've found that while some things in sewing are quite laborious, others are meditative, and some lead to a lot of cursing, frustration, and wanting to kick something. A result that I'm happy with gives a feeling of accomplishment and prompts so much motivation to create more. Although of course, if you sew something and make a big mistake..well, cue more cursing and wanting to kick something.
Something far less frustrating is dying (clothes and fabrics, of course.) It's actually quite fun, mixing the dyes, putting it on, squeezing and scrunching. I've been getting some great colour results, especially from a pair of socks that I dyed orange, and the silk dress Jazz wears in this shoot was dyed teal (it looks great, and perfect for summer.)

Big thanks to Jazz for being my willing model, and to my mum for helping us with the tea party set-up (and taking the first shot.)