New Rescue Dog ! that's my excuse for my dusty blog ....

Let's blow a little dust of this eh??

Ok been a while but I've been busy.

Back in February we adopted a lovely hound from the fabulous people at the Blue Cross!  he is a lovely chap but was terribly thin. So I had a couple of months off from doing much work whilst I concentrated on feeding him up and training him. His name is MAJOR TOM - or Tom for short, he is a lurcher (with a good deal of greyhound in him ! maybe some staffie/collie in the mix too?)

As you can see he has developed beautifully :)

He came to us healthy, neutered, chipped, vaccinated and with a trusting,  happy personally - just thin and in need of a comfy, warm place. he has since been back to visit his Blue Cross friends and from his waggy tail it was clear he had formed a real bond with then during his stay. He is a lovely chap - obedient ( except for when he see cats/rabbits/squirrels - they flip his CRAZY switch, sighthounds like him do have a high prey drive!) , gentle and my how wonderfully he looks when he runs! He has even won a best trick prize at a local show !

If you are thinking of getting a dog PLEASE consider a rescue .... don't assume you are getting a dog with 'issues' many are simply unlucky or have had to have been given up by caring owners due to changes in their circumstances. We do not know Tom's history other then being found as an unchipped stray but we have yet to see any behaviour issues or signs of abuse.

So... what with a couple of hours of walks a day we have been busy - but as he sleeps about 16 hrs a day as well he's no bother!!! sighthound types are notoriously lazy once they find a comfy spot .

Also I have been making stuff for him - his coats, his beds and even his toys and food LOL . I had A LOT of interest when he was wearing his coats earlier this Spring and I think I will be offering these as custom makes soon WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!

(BTW do you like his smart collar ? - made locally by a super lady called Fleur - she has a shop on Etsy called The Artful Lurcher )


Better sign off.... I need to walk the dog...XXX!

I've been making clothes from curtains again ....

So I've been hoarding this curtain fabric for a while now ... lush isn't it !

FINALLY I decided to get on an make something for an event at which I had a stall. It usually takes something like this with a deadline to make me get on with a project! I must say I was pretty pleased with how it turn out and I got lots of lovely comments.

The dress was adapted from a combination of a couple of pattern and the cape pattern was from Sew Vera Venus  found on a great resource called The Vintage Pattern Files 

( Edit: Since making this cape I've had lots of requests to make more - however the pattern is not one I created so I asked the lovely Jeanne of Sew Vera Venus  if I could use it to make some to sell on and she has very kindly given me permission. A very charming and talented lady - I do urge you to check out her site. Contact me if you would like a cape in one of my vintage fabric! )


NOT SHOWN: With it I had a vintage leather handbag and green suede 40s style shoes - the latter came from Hotter shoes who surprisingly do some lovely comfortable styles that work really well with a vintage look!

The outfit was finished with a red hat I commisioned from the talented Sophie at Imogen's Imagination 


( photos courtesy of my lovely friend Sheila of Sheuniquevintage )

Want to make the Great British Sewing Bee 50s wrap dress - hints and tips !

Firstly this was indeed a fun dress to make - and having made it yes I think I could happily run another up in a couple of hours.....and I intend to do so maybe with some design tweaks too!

As I am a fairly rubinesque size 16 and no longer in the first flush of youth , small waisted/big skirt designs are not always the MOST flattering look for me but the wrap/high waist design did seem to do me a few favours - OH seemed to approve anyway! 

I'm not going to do a step by step guide - you'll need the pattern for that - Butterick B4790 - BUT I am going to pass on what I hope will be some useful advice which might help you end up with a dress you'll be happy with .

1. This design comes up SMALL on the waist in my opinion. Measure your waist and use that to determine the size you need against the ACTUAL pattern piece - do not be surprised if you go up a couple of  sizes from your size in a modern garment. This is quite often the case in vintage patterns - even reissued ones. Unhelpfully the pattern has NO info' relating size to body measurements on the back of the packet! SO be careful f you can get into modern, often stretch'y size 16 jeans you ain't necessarily gonna get into a size 16 version of this dress !!

2. Choose a fabric with some body to it - by that I mean stiffness. A floppy fabric will not give you that nice 'sticky out ' 50s shape to the skirt or show that bodice shape as well. I used a heavier weight cotton - ( a rather nice find in a charity shop - grey plaid on on side, red on the other). I think this would be a knock out in raw/curtain weight silk / silk mix as well.

3. You might think you can put a net petticoat under that skirt - sorry nope - the under skirt/front is a closer fit than you might realise . HOWEVER I think it entirely possible to alter the pattern to have the underskirt as a fuller/lace/netted petticoat. I might have a go at this sometime!

4. Bias binding point 1 - 9 metres should be enough if you follow pattern exactly. I however wanted bias binding on overskirt hem and I didn't bother bias binding sides and hem ( where I used lace instead) of the underskirt. For this modification to the pattern I used 10.5 metres.

5. Bias binding point 2 - I would suggest using a fabric/bias binding combination where your fabric is stiffer/has more body that your bias binding. If you use a softer/thinner fabric with a coarser bias binding I think you could risk a twist in those front edges - which you want to keep nice and straight !

6. Bust darts ! I made this up , tried it on and bust darts tips were at least an inch higher that where they should be. OK - this MAY be just me LOL ! BUT remember this pattern was styled to 1950s undergarments and they tended to haul your 'ladies' up quite high and make 'em pointy . So unless you do the FULL vintage look with period appropriate bra/corsetry you may have to adjust the bust dart slightly .

I hope these tips help you out - I would certainly make this again and I look forward to wearing it when the weather gets just a bit warmer!

( BTW - The red comes over the shoulder more on my dress as I tweaked it to have some red showing on the front shoulder - If you follow the pattern exactly and use two contracting fabrics you won't get the same effect as on my dress )

EDIT:My estimated size info' on waist measurements. Max waist size, assuming front edges should meet and allowing 1 inch for narrow hem on back seam.

Size 22 - 35 inches
Size 20 - 33 inches
Size 18 - 31 inches
Size 16 - 29 inches

I have based this on actual pattern measurement from my size 16 -22  pattern . 

A bit addicted to making things with this 60s pattern

With it being a lovely hot summer and with holidays coming up I've been making some things for myself with some vintage fabrics from my stash.

This pattern has been perfect ! suits me and pretty easy too - also great when trying to 'stretch' a small amount of fabric to get a complete garment as the panels in it make mixing fabrics very easy.

SO far I've made myself 4 dresses and 3 tops ( only one shown) with this reissued Simplicity pattern so it has proved to be great value for money :)

If you want to venture into making your own vintage style clothes I'd recommend this one. You will need to know how to insert a zip but there are lots of great online tutorials showing a variety of techniques.

I have adapted it slightly to use bias binding ( in some cases bought but often bias binding I have made) as I like the contrast.

You might be interested to know that the green/white one is made from charity shop/gifted table clothes - total cost with zip was less that ten  pounds!

A bit more dress making from Vintage Fabric

I got this GORGEOUS red fabric from a very nice chap at Lou Lou's vintage fair in Cheltenham recently and there was JUST enough to make a skirt

As you can see I sadly had to run the pattern across the drop waistband because that was the only way I could cut it but it's OK I think.

I will point out a bit that I learnt from the Great British Sewing Bee - can you see where I can understitched the lining VERY close to the seam?  Yes it IS worth doing and it makes the top edge of the skirt waistband line beautfully flat. I've picking up useful tips every week form that show!

This skirt had it's first outing on Friday when I went out to dinner with friends :) 

Well I think there's nothing wrong with a homemade pressie !

So a dear friend had one of those 'milestone' birthdays coming up and had also admired a bold green and white dress I had made and worn on New Years Eve.

Aha! I thought ... now there's an idea... and then I found the perfect vintage fabric... SO her colours.

A few hours sewing  and this was the result! it was a good job she was considerably slimmer than me otherwise I'm not so sure she would even have received it.

A couple of friends - armed with a sample of the fabric - also bought the most devine and perfectly matched jewellery from 'Made' in Cirencester, so we were able to give her a fully co-ordinated outfit

Now this gift didn't cost many £££'s but there's not many ( any ?) out there like it :)

Cuteness OVERLOAD! - baby bib and bootees sets from vintage fabrics

Oh my WORD these are so cute !

I've really enjoyed making these from some of my vintage fabric - the bootees are sized to fit 3.6 month old little uns, fully lined, NO raw seams with elasticated backs. The bibs are reversable and have a velcro fastening. They are £15 plus £3 P&P.

I have a little Bootee Giveaway running on my facebook page  - and I will select a winner when I get to 500 page likes - all you need to do is comment on FACEBOOK and share that giveaway link . Teh ones I'm giving away are the red bootees top middle :

I haven't listed any of these in my online shops yet as I am taking them to a few fairs first but if you do want a set  you can buy via contacting me here or on facebook.

Here's a close up of my favorite!  its  another set I've just finished

Yes ... still wearing 'curtains' ....

  Well not STRICTLY true! ... however a few year ago I bought 19 m of this lush gold/silver/brown leaves on black silk dupion. I think I paid about £160 on ebay ? It was intended for some full length curtains for our bedroom ...

Which  , yes ,  I did indeed make.. but since then I've been making clothes with it too! you can see the curtains and the 1st dress ( vintage vogue pattern) I made with it here ....

I've recently pulled this roll of fabric out again, and I have a couple of formal dinners coming up. So I've made a full length dress , teaming this fabric with some fabric my OH bought back from India for me. This was from an adapted '60s vintage pattern. I have also made a full length - almost circlar - lined black skirt. This last item is perhaps my favorite - fabulously 'swishy' and glamourous !

I think so far I've made that £160 outlay work pretty hard !

What's next ? I think I have enough left for a 50s swing coat ... watch this space ... ( but you may have a long wait .. i've been doing A LOT of sewing recently! )

Aren't People LOVELY ! some of my Favorite folks

I have been delighted by some recent gifts and prizes by some super people who I have met here in cyberspace and I thought I'd share their kindness with you :)

1. A talented Etsy 'Craftyfolk' team mate thought of me when she came across some fabric and kindly sent it off to me. I recieved it today and it's LOVELY ... xxx

SO MANY THANKS! to the fabulous 'FloNightingale' ! she has a great Etsy shop FloNightingale - here's my fav item in her shop - it makes me smile :)  ( click on link for the shop ) ...be expecting something in the post 'Flo' x...

2. I had a fab little gift from LauraMillen too ( click on link for her shop ) - a cute heart pendent ! I had sent her some of my tiny vintage fabric shops thinking she could do something with them.... and so she did! her resin jewellery incorprating vintage fabric is very sweet . Here's the pendent next to one of my bunting flags .... THANKS xx

3. A couple of weeks ago I won a competition on facebook run by the fabulous Holly of H.E.R. Vintage . One of the prizes were these sunglasses .. and I have worn them constantly ever since ! ta Holly - if you like vintage clothing pop over to her facebook page ( click on the H.E.R vintage link above)

4. And a final belated thankyou to Janet of VintageGirlUK ( stunning range of vintage patterns ! ) - we had a lovely chat a few weeks ago when she bought over some fabric she was clearing out and I have been busy this week making up some skirts for the summer from it ... CHEERS M'DEAR !

P.S. a while ago I bought some super fabric from a lovely lady on Ebay and used it to make curtains for our hallway . She had a little reluctrantly decided to parted with it but I thought she'd like to know it had found a good home so I sent her to the link to this blog ref: purple hallway post and she was pleased to see it being used. Anyway yesterday I recieved a surprise parcel from the kind Heather -thanks very much Honey :) LOVE it ALL !

Vintage'd up

I took my Mum to a Vintage Tea party organised recently by Lavinia's Tea Party http://www.laviniasteaparty.com/ and featuring fabulous Burlesque Artiste Dulcie Demure https://www.facebook.com/DDBurlesque?sk=wall ( I'd forgotten about the that element of the tea party but Mum thought she was fab...). Very fun afternoon!

Mum's in a dress I made from vintage fabric and I'm in a skirt made from some Sandersons curtain fabric called 'Primitif'.

Off for tea and cake ....!

Went to a lovely vintage tea party as a birthday celebration for Sheila, a marvellous lady who runs a little Vintage shop called SheUnique in Cirencester. She a very elegant lady and had asked we 'dress to impress' . I made myself this skirt and top ( adapted from vintage patterns) and teamed it with my favorite original 50s hat/gloves/bag/beads. It was a lovely afternoon with a ridiculously large number of muffins and fabulous outfits!

My latest projects !

Well I'm in the middle of a couple of sewing projects , some for me and some for sale.


I've cut out this dress but can't seem to find the time to sew it together! It's one of Vogue's reissued vintage patterns and the fabric is a real vintage one, sort of a crepe. Really lovely! I'm looking for some maroon suiting fabric for the coat but I'll alter it to give it a swing back and make it much shorter - to go with a lovely vintage hat I bought recently.







I also bought this fabric recently - there's enough for 4 cushions - 2 to keep and 2 t0 to sell!

A Dress I made!

Well this is my entry for the Vintage Vogue competition. The fabric came from a bolt of silk that I bought for curtains/cushions for my new bedroom. It was so stunning when it arrived - and there was so much that I had to make a dress too! ( this is a 5m 'New Look' Dior style dress). This was made specifically for a 40s/50s event here in Cirencester and caused quite a stir ! the organiser contacted me later and said I MUST enter it for the competition. Although I love it I'm not sure it stands much of a chance because I think they prefer interpretations of their patterns for this particular comp and this is just tailored to me and the sleeves shortened. Anyway worth a go - what do you think?

The hat was bought locally, is original and in superb condition - for only £10. The bag I made also and I will be listing custom makes in this fabric and others in my shops over the next few weeks.