29 July 2010

Some recent bespoke work

From time to time, I make pairs of jeans for people according to their specifications. Here are a couple of my latest projects.

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These are a girls jean in a stretch denim, with a couple of pleats on the front and slit pockets on the back.

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The pleats look cool I think. They also make the jeans more roomy and comfortable.

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I used polka dot material for the pockets, which was the customer's idea. I like it!

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These are a fellow's jean, a much more technical design than what I usually do. Quite an interesting process.

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I used a vertical yoke on the back and included flex points for the knees, so the jeans bunch up less when in action mode.

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The front pockets have some amazing chunky Riri zippers (thanks James!), with the ends finished Barbour style.

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The back pockets join into the vertical yoke and I used a new tan leather label I had made up as a sample.

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27 July 2010

Recent adventures documented

From the looks of this shot, I was somehow able to gain pictorial access to the depths of hell (or a burning house full of devilishly happy people) this past week.

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Your eyes deceive you! Dave Quirk did a special performance of the show he's taking to the Edinburgh Comedy Festival at this 'crazy' venue in South Melbourne, The Butterfly Club.

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I enjoyed it very much. It was a greatest hits of sorts, combining material from his shows over the past few years, plus some new gems.

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Dave has been working away at this comedy lark for some time now. It's great to see the development of his confidence and onstage persona, whilst retaining the rakish charm and disarming honesty that make him such great company.

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Here's Callum taunting Sam with his skateboard. Remember these things Sam?

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It really is quite a strange place. Callum observed it's almost exactly like his house.

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Jason also seemed quite at home.

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On a separate occasion, we gathered to wish Tim a happy birthday and bon voyage as he prepared for his European odyssey.

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There was a feel-good documentary playing about a woman who had a severe stroke soon after becoming engaged to her man. The somewhat shocking footage was only reinforced by the pub setting.

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Speaking of shocking, we paid a visit to the warehouse over the weekend. I handed over camera duties to Sam, who delivered his usual tasteful contemporary art angle on proceedings.

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This shot was taken mere milliseconds before a particularly painful tumble, the ramifications of which I am still very much in the midst of.

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Jason unveiled this new, seemingly impossible move during a heated game of SKATE (scientology rules).

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Duncan has had over 30 photos printed in the Photograffiti section of Thrasher. Not many people can say that!

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Sometimes I wonder if Sam is making up this whole broken leg thing.

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It was Romy's birthday dinner party on Saturday. My lord there was some delicious food on offer.

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She was presented with a really nice pot.

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Rosie decorated the box post unwrapping

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And drove us home, with skill and panache on both counts.

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12 July 2010

Wellington part 2

New Zealand has many wonders to marvel at, many of them culinary or related to Rosie. Consider, for instance, Sam and the self-serve tap beer at bottle shops.

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This was a splendid family dinner for Rosie's birthday at a nice old French restaurant down the road.

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I ordered snails! They tasted like mushrooms. The first one was mentally difficult, but the rest were very enjoyable, what with all the garlic and butter.

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We hit the road to visit Rosie's mum Helen, under extremely wintry conditions. Apparently, the ocean was to my immediate right, but I couldn't see it. We drove through some completely nuts hills, like playing a really scary video game for way too long, on the most difficult setting.

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Helen lives and runs a beautiful old house/cottage/barn/huge estate type thing where people have weddings and such, in the Wairarapa.

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Rosie enjoying the non-molting coats of poodles Bailey and Vespa.

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In a nearby town, I spotted another of Scottie's business interests in NZ, complete with ace signwriting and a genuine smoke-house out the back.

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Did a bit of op-shopping, to amusing if not overly fruitful results - I was hoping for a cheap SwanDri jacket. I did, however, manage to find the most unusual magazine ever published.

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And a genuine old portable trouser press that an urban dandy would kill for.

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Saw this outstanding skatepark while desperately searching for a toilet.

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Awesome.

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Showing my unbridaled love for kiwis.

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In repeatedly thwarted attempts at skateboarding with 11 year olds, I got about two minutes in at this seemingly computer-renedered rollerblade haven in Napier before it started raining again. Trivia sidenote, apparently Dave Crabb built the vert ramp. You remember him.

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Next stop: Rosie's auntie Sue's place. She has a great Bengal cat called Ted.

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Man, we drank a lot that night.

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Cousin Alice and Aunty Sally. Needless to say, all of Rosie's clan share her mastery of a good gag.

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I was introduced to perhaps the sharpest exponent of this finely honed wit: Nanna Joan.

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Stopped briefly at another wet and difficult skatepark (though I'm sure it's a lot of fun with softer wheels without a red wine hangover)

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Next stop: Kerry's farm in the Hawkes Bay.

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A few of Rosie's best friends had gathered at this amazing animal haven.

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After dropping a watermelon off a shed roof so the pigs could eat it, then eating like pigs ourselves, we played some poker. Emma had a special claw for gathering her winnings.

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Twister! I made up some shit about having a sore knee to get out of playing.

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The next morning, there was a beautiful frost.

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As the sun warmed up, only the shade remained frosty.

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Mono and Marty, Kerry's worthy sidekicks.

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Andy and Jen.

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The beautiful farmhouse.

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They keep pigs, horses, ducks, chooks, pheasants and of course, sheep!

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This is literally a view of their backyard. Holy crap!

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We went for a walk around the backyard.

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Delicious, freezing water.

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A strange swampy forest - the native flora of NZ is really quite different to Australia.

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Emma's gumboots were lowtops, so Kerry transported her across the swampy bits.

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She wisely chose to squelch through this bit rather than accept my offer of assistance.

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It is a beautiful place, wish we could have stayed longer. But we had to head back to town.

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We visited the Norsewear outlet in Norsewood, to purchase some awesome socks like Edmund Hillary used to kick around in.

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Stopped in at another op-shop, with similarly amusing results.

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A genuinely frown-inducing icecream. Black Doris plum and Creme Fraiche, so delicious!

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Rosie's selection: fig and honey, and the best coffee icecream I've encountered in all my years.

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We polished it all off with a lovely pizza dinner prepared by Sam.

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And now we're back! Tess is loving it.

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