Earlier this year I had the pleasure of creating a dress for this stunning bride, Katie. I wanted to share the dress with you the moment it was finished by obviously that isn’t possible with wedding dresses as it would be a disaster to let anyone see the dress too soon. I’m glad I waited until now as last week a handful of pictures from the actual wedding day arrived in my inbox! I was on a skiing holiday with friends back in January when Katie first got in touch… “I’m getting married in July (this year) and am just not finding THE dress out there, despite my searching many, many bridal shops. I’m keen to go down the route of having my dress made from scratch to make it totally my own. I have an idea of my perfect dress in mind…” Our journey started with an initial consultation when we talked... read more
What a fabulous event! As you walk through the gates you are greeted with a fine and varied array of gorgeous food outlets. Quirky little vans and trailers selling everything from fresh spicy Pakora, to herbal teas, gluten free goodies and my personal favourite, a mobile Prosecco van. And I must say this is the most appealing dashboard I’ve ever seen… Despite the overcast weather what struck me was how colourful the whole event was. Everywhere you looked there were glorious colours and ladies nose down in a craft project. Here is Stuart from The Great British Sewing Bee giving a demonstration on making a corsage… Giant knitting… Needle felted animals… Hand painted flowers for cake decorating… As you might expect, men were somewhat in the minority but we found this chap selling the most beautiful hand forged scissors… I was particularly impressed by the nifty buttonhole scissors and purchased... read more
What a glorious day at Goodwood revival on Sunday! Me and my man dressed up in our vintage garb (I decided against the dress from last week’s post, It was too darn hot!), and strolled out for a day of motor racing and merriment at Goodwood’s famous race track in West Sussex. We all dressed up for the occasion, some more reluctantly than others. Champagne picnic for breakfast? Don’t mind if I do. We wandered past shoe-shiners… We visited the beach… and met a fortune teller… Then took a donkey ride…. And saw photo opportunities too good to miss… Which would you have been, a mod… or a rocker? An opportunity to top-up the lippy. We stumbled across this corner of Americana with a converted Airstream trailer with a Rock and Roll band that you just couldn’t stand still to. I’d loved to have joined in with the dancing but theses... read more
I love wearing vintage clothes but it’s not always practical for daily life. They are often too delicate or fragile, and can often be difficult to launder so don’t stand up to the requirements of everyday wear and tear. The other problem for many of us with wearing vintage is that gals were shorter and thinner back then. In addition to their smaller frames ladies would usually wear foundation garments to give them a defined waist and curvier silhouette. Even as a UK 10 I struggle to find dresses from the early 20th century that fit properly, without resorting to this kind of thing… If you simply can’t find vintage clothes to fit then why not cheat and make your own? There are some fantastic patterns available, here is one of my favourites from Simplicity… I made it in a wool/viscose mix from Ditto and used some scraps of red... read more
I recently purchased a walking foot for my sewing machine. Without being over dramatic IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE! There are certain materials that can render even an experienced dressmaker to a gibbering wreck, reaching for the nearest bucket of gin (I love the idea that you might just happen to have one lying around for emergencies). For me this material has always been leather, but armed with my new foot last week I merrily set about the task of making myself a leather jacket. It has been so much fun and so successful that I thought I’d make a little clutch bag from the left over leather, and share with you so you can have a go for yourself. First of all, decide on the size of you bag. The bag is designed to be turned down twice much as you might fold a paper bag containing sandwiches or a chunk of cake. Draw... read more
