aka R’acquel

NM website development has certainly taken a toll on my blogging ability of late, but it’s been great to get the bulk of this work completed. Have also been busy sewing and the collection is beginning to develop rather nicely.

I keep getting caught out by needing the extra zipper here and there - which is quite a hassle where i live because it requires a fair bit of travel to get things. Made a divergence in style by working on a sheath dress last night - but yeah, i can’t progress further without an invisible zipper! I have another 4 pieces lined up, then it will be time to go fabric hunting again. Looking forward to the day that i can hop on a plane and buy direct from a manufacturer overseas.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bah. So hard to keep-in-touch via blog world at the moment. Funnily enough, my attempt to blog tonight merely generated a good excuse for me to work productive even further, which is great! Making effort on my life long dream every single day, however big or small!

Postcards of my work in the last few days…

I name each piece in Turkish first… as a means to upgrade my redundant vocabulary that hasn’t received much exercise since i was 4yo. More reasons & “story” behind it all, but that’s for some other place, some other time.

I guess it’s going well. I’m starting to get crafty with the engineering of the pattern making and am enjoying the slow journey of modifications starting to do more adventurous and crazier things with time.

Sold my first dress last week. Made enough profit to cover the cost of materials three times over but it’s hardly paid for my time. I’m not “over the moon” - it’s just that first small modest start thing for me - my first potential word-of-mouth contact, my first piece of work out there that will be parading as it’s own billboard in Ireland somewhere, so who knows what might happen if i can sell another one. Content that i’ve climbed one rung up from the very bottom of it all for now!

Like, I’m working my butt off and still enjoying it. ;D

Read the rest of this entry »

I haven’t had the time to keep in touch online lately. So busy with my hands - sewing …a lot and i’m not stopping with it either.

Had an old client contact me the other night. The call wasn’t a very pleasant one for me. Had formally resigned a year ago. Last contact was 8 months ago. A major drama going on for them. I’m hardly responsible, nor can i do anything about it either. All archived copies of work were handed over to them and yet this phone call was asking if i could “check” my own archives at home - spanning a DECADE ago. Wtf?! Quite a tall call when we only need to hold onto tax records for 5 years.

Made me reflect on why the hell I’ve kept it all and how it would’ve been nice to have had the ability to say;

“Sorry. Can’t help you. Threw it all out!” *clunk*

Just managed to toss the contents of my entire portfolio tonight. There’s a whole stack of CDs i’ll also need to review - an entire album of them. Perhaps i can render the stack down further by transfering CDs over to DVD format - but hey, do i really have the spare time to spare for that? Another tackle for another time - but so far, it’s been rather cathartic to throw some of the stuff out now.

I’ve comitted myself to action towards my new path every single day now.

Here’s hoping that life rewards action, with time.

Read the rest of this entry »

I seriously hope that this photo isn’t as as risque as some of Mrs.Lifecruiser’s delightful tongue-in-cheek treats, but i am in the mood to put on a good show!

So! Can anyone guess which country this piece of handiwork was inspired from on the cyber cruise? Here is an extreme close-up so that you can take a better look at it! *lol*

Ah well. I guess i’ll keep it a secret until i finish working on my next piece. This cruise has certainly taken things to a whole new level for me over here, that’s for sure! ;D

Thanking YOU & YOU for the inspiration ;D

Read the rest of this entry »

I set myself the goal of trying to keep my kitchen tidy for 30 days way back in October last year. The experience certainly changed my habits to a fair degree, and if you want to indulge the long journey - you can follow it up over here at NM.

What happened around February was that I had the tidy kitchen routine down pat fairly well, so it was time for a new goal - to get out of bed at 5am in the morning for 30 days. That too was a really incredible experience, which shifted my body clock forward by about 2-4 hours, turning me into a morning person when i’ve naturally been such a night owl for the last 3 decades of my life.

My husband thought the getting out of bed at 5am routine was really draconian - but it pans out that being draconian seems to work well. I’ve now set myself the draconian goal of trying to keep the entire house clean for 30 days.

It is too hard to keep everything clean 100% everyday, so i have a smaller goal embeded into it to atleast have most of the house in good condition once a week, so i’m using the TIT to check in.

This morning, i woke up to this….

With so many clean mugs to choose from, it was very enjoyable to make the morning coffee whilst half asleep. The other night, i was facing this corner of the living room that was in a state of work in progress…

The laundry was packed away, another load on the run - and i also had to work on my son’s new giant snake. His occupational therapist recommended that we considered the use of heavy weights to help his body “settle” & calm down, so i have plans to stuff it with heavy filling of somekind.

I managed to achieve this the next day. Sorted through another 2 rounds of laundry and the basic construction of the snake was completed. I haven’t measured the creature yet, but i suspect that he’s longer than 3 metres atm!

This too was stressing me a fair bit for a while since my husband’s return from the Blue Mountains Folk Festival for his business Oz Whistles. It was one of the first things i tackled today during my journey of trying to get the entire house in relatively respectable shape by the end of today.

…and this is pretty much what i enjoyed tonight, by being able to eat dinner at the table again with my husband & son.

The house is in pretty good shape atm, so I’m feeling pleased with my efforts as there were no “guests” involved to motivate me. I am rather tired atm and look forward to sleeping soon tho!

I have another unconventional project that I’ve chosen to take up in my life which is pursuing my long lost love for taking up fashion design. It was one of those really strong callings that entered into my heart during my early teens - but one of those things where my parents didn’t exactly encourage as a serious career because they were affraid that i would never make any money out of it.

I haven’t exactly quit my day job in graphic design, but as i’m now predominantly working for my husband without pay - it’s not really something that gives me as much of a lift as it has for me to take up the sewing of formal garments in the last 2 weeks.

SPECIAL OFFER!
I’m currently in search of material from around the world, as the fabric stores here haven’t been able to provide me with enough inspiration. I have a very special offer to anyone from around the world who could help me out by making a custom-tailored outfit (of your own style & choice)based on your own measurements, in exchange for double up on the material. I have a strong passion in designing for “other-bodied” women and would like to use this experience to sharpen up my skills on custom-tailoring outfits for the individual. Please visit my R’acquel!’s Boutique post to for more details if you’re interested in taking up the offer.

For a snapshot of my first preliminary pieces, you can find some living in my suitcase that i had to pack for the crazy & amazing Cyber Cruise adventure that i’ve had my head stuck into lately. I have a crazy hat to design for my son’s Easter Hat Parade at his school in April, so although i probably won’t be able to finish it by tomorrow, i’ll be posting the draft for the Crazy Hat Parade anyway.

Happy tackling until next time!

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a conceptual draft of an original piece i’m working on for a dear friend, who’s body has very voluptuous curves and she also faces the challenge of having one leg bigger than the other (so this makes the journey of finding pants that fit well on her really difficult!). The goal of this project is to model an elegant evening dress based on the Disney character known as “Ursula” from “The Little Mermaid” movie. As you can probably gather, i have a particular passion in designing for “other-bodied” figures that live outside of the conventional norms you see parading down the catwalks on TV all the time!

In Search of Fine Fabrics From Around the World!
My chief problem here in Australia, is being able to source good quality material that’s original & refreshing. As we’re located in the Asia Pacific, a lot of fabric is imported from Asia. It’s not that Asia isn’t capable of producing nice fabric, not at all - but sourcing it the shops *here* - well, what else can i say but the collections can be fairly mundane & boring so i’m keen to source nice fabrics from around the world! Moving out of Sydney hasn’t helped me either, as gaining access to the material stores here is equally difficult due to transport issues. A long term dream would be to travel the world to source the finest yarns, but for now - the dream remains a distant goal until life finds a way of sourcing the funds for travel overseas.

As i’m currently stranded on this continent, maybe there’s a way i can still travel the world in a virtual way and still be able to source nice material from around the world!

The Offer!
I would like to offer the construction of a tailored, custom-fitted outfit for anyone, for the exchange of 2x the material it requires to get the job done, and a photograph of yourself wearing the garment through a post on your blog online when the garment arrives. You get the garment, while i can get the opportunity to receive fabrics from around the world by using the leftover material to make other unique & original pieces. I’ll also take photos & link to your blog as i proceed with the journey of making something for you too.

So - does the deal sound fair? Interested? If so, then please start shopping for your desired garment by browsing the online Burda Main Collection and search for something you like! If you can source the pattern where you live (in English), that would be great - but if not, i can see if i can find it here.

Initial details required:

This offer is open for both men & women!

I’m very passionate about the use of ergonomics in my design work, so I highly value the end result of a good fit with great comfort and look forward to the challenge of getting the detailed measurements to create something that will fit well on you!

If you’re interested in taking up this offer, please feel free to comment, let others know about this, or send a direct email to mrs_smith @ akaracquel dot com with the details!

I can still probably manage some special alterations to match something you’d like from another photo if the design is close to an existing pattern I can find, so feel free to forward any pictures to me by email if you’d like me to review if it’s possible!

Mrs.Lifecruiser has helped to me get my knickers into a twist with this Big Cruise, so thank goodness that i don’t wear g-strings as i’m sure something could get accidentally sliced up down there with all this panic! So much for headless chickens. Imagine one with chopped giblets!

I have to pack my suitcases for the big cruise so it’s time to go hunting… here I go!

SUITCASE CONTENTS

Read the rest of this entry »