It is amazing to be transported via AirAsia from the Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur in less than one day – and now be posting from Bukit Bintang.

People here are so helpful and it is great to catch up with family – my brother Professor Tony Capon, Wendy and boys Will and Hugh.

It is exciting to find I will be able to catch the last day of Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week at Pavilion tomorrow! That will an enlightening experience, as is the shopping immersion which KL offers with all the high fashion brands seemingly on every corner. Such a contrast to the way I live and shop in Brisbane! 

Meanwhile, the upcycled creations from our Biloela workshop continue to provide Sew it Again material. Sew 172 was created by Gwen from several circa-1990s garments not being worn as they were but made from quality cottons. These included a button-up shirt and skirt made from flying-duck-printed cotton chambray and a long, bottle-green denim skirt with purple button front. Gwen liked the green skirt but it was now too tight for comfort. She sacrificed the duck-print skirt and created insert panels from it to extend the circumference of the green one in a creative way. This was achieved by cutting the skirt lengthwise (including across the waistband) either side of the buttoned front (leaving about 2cm on one side and the other 4cm so as not too even and matchy-matchy).  By layering fabric of random sizes to make the insert panels, the final product looks more like it was ‘meant to be’. She also added two angled pockets make from a similar-tone corduroy offcut as creative features to further de-contrive the insert panels. Gwen then changed the long-sleeved, dropped shoulder duck-print shirt into a sleeveless vest. The curved shirt hemline morphed into a straight bottom by cutting off the longer front and back, sewing it upside down into the gap in-between then re-hemming straight around the bottom – making sure the hemline was the same length where the buttons meet at the front. Gwen then cut off the sleeves, trimmed the armholes to her preferred shape (by trying on and pinning) and neatened the edges.   The rest of the duck-print skirt and the sleeves are now put aside for another upcycled project, another day.