VINTAGE HEAVEN 12th Nov 2016 !!! at Cirencester in the Cotswolds

Once again I have a stall at Vintage Heaven!!!

It is pretty much the only event I do because it is EASILY the best round here.

Why ?

- It's for two great charities - Paternoster School in Cirencester and JDRF( the type 1 diabetes charity)
- It is a STRICTLY vintage and eco charity - no new stock allowed unless from a eco or freetrade source, and the organisers do ask stallholders to remove anything that doesn't stock to this standard
- It has a fabulous selection of stalls with great items and lovely stallholders
 - It is at a super venue, there is a fabulous café and a beautifully stocked organic shop.

.... and my friend Emma organises it and it is just down the road from me , we visit this café/shop regularly.

This was all  my stall last year





It's just outside Cirencester and all the details are at Vintage Heaven at The Organic Farm Shop

I'm also taking lots of vintage fabric 'y things , crockery and small furniture items - now I do hope there won't be any bickering over this sweet sewing box! ?

( I am also taking I'm taking a LOAD of my clearance things on Folksy see above - so LOTS of under £10 items just in time for Christmas shopping eh? )

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!

A New Kitchen with actual NEW things for a change....albeit still a bit RETRO!

Now if you follow this blog you will by now know that I am very keen on a bit of vintage/recycling/upcyling. This applied to my so called 'temporary' kitchen 7- 8 yrs old. We  used Ikea Varde freestanding units because we'd had them before and they are ACE. Some from ebay, one as a sale/second and a couple new. We sourced a sink from ebay and reused all kinds of beech worksurfaces - all different height! and we reused exiting appliences .  It cost us about £1400 in total.

And jolly nice it was too! .... but my slightly dodgy back demanded a higher oven ( when it's bad I have had to kneel down to get stuff out of oven and lift up on to counter ! NOT GOOD!)  and I had a 25 yr savings plan to play with so....

We are working on a new kitchen !!!

This is the progress so far - I am awaiting granite ( whoop!) worktops and then my builder ( and good friend ) will be back to do lots of inventive carpentry finishing touches. We have no working sink in the kitchen yet and no hob BUT we do have a utility sink and a working dishwasher and new oven so not slumming it by any means . I STILL have more painting to do !

Upcycling is still a feature to some extent - one Ikea Varde unit remains in place and will get a blue paint job. Two other Varde units and some shelving has  moved to the shed to form a work table/area. Several other kitchen items have been popped onto ebay to continue to serve elsewhere :) Kitchen bits! 

I will name check all our suppliers when I post a final update when it is finished - but they have ALL been excellent so far.  I will also cover what inspired the colour choices ... hint: that car boot £1 vintage wallpaper that you can spot on right!

I have a deadline of the 25th Sept as I am hosting a Macmillan Coffee morning but I think we will make it....

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 )

Studio update - nearly there !

A quick update!

The roof is on and the next step is putting the windows and doors in .

And my quest for recycled furniture continues ....  the trolley was £2 from a carboot BUT may end up in my kitchen ... and the map chest was £90 , it had a date ot 1969 stamped inside :)

Lots of furniture renovations to do!

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 . 

AMAZING VINTAGE BARKCLOTH COLLECTION - for sale

Ok I'm having a little clearout


Do YOU like vintage barkcloth fabric ?
Do you like a bargain ?
Would you like to add to your vintage stash WITHOUT slogging  through charity shops/car boots/ebay listings ? ?

CHECK THIS OUT !

Head over to my WittyDawn Facebook Page for details of how to make a bid for this lot -

There's enough fabric in this lot to make the fronts of a LEAST 17 40cm cushions....

January SALE ! - 30% off in my Etsy and Folksy shops!

Better check it out folks!

EVERYTHING is 30% off when you use code 30OFFWITTYDAWN in either my :

ETSY WittyDawnUK shop

OR

Folksy WittyDawn shop

For example - Mice will be reduced from £9 to only £6.30








 Owls will be reduced from £19 to only £13. 30




My popular BOHO bags would drop in price to around £17.50 !

And it would be a great time to get some new cushions for your home in time for Spring!

Remember I make everything from Vintage and thus eco friendly , recycled fabric - good for the planet and great for a unique look too.

Do you like Vintage, Retro, Midcentury Homewares - check this out!

There's only SO much fabulous ceramic delights I can fit on my shelves and in my cupboards ... so time to move some on to new homes....

Check out my Etsy shop for a selection - just like these fabulous things !

OPEN AGAIN!

Hi all !

Well after being away to help out with a bit of post op. care and TLC I am open again :)

As I have had to cancel a few fairs due to this family commitmant I am a little stock 'rich' so there's a pretty good sale section in my Folksy shop - why not pop over for a look ?

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!

Unique ? YES, Rare Vintage Fabric ? YES, HOURS of work ? Yes ... cheap ? erm...NOOOO

So if you put hours of work into finding, matching, cutting, sewing something however much joy you get from that process ( and I do love doing all that ) how expensive should it be ?

Pricing is always a dilemma I think! however... these beautiful vintage fabric quilts have to be priced to reflect the work and care that I put into them so ,no , they will not be cheap I am afraid.

If it's made of hexies like this... then each one has been hand cut and then hand sewn together ! it takes HOURS ! My more expensive quilts also tend to feature hand quilting and finishing too.

Even without fabric sourcing overheads ( you cannot just pop into a shop an order them, and once you DO find a fabulous vintage fabric it then requires laundering, ironing and so on) each of these a particular quilts takes 30 to 40 hours to put together. Factor in the rarity value of some of my fabric - some of the Heals and Boras vintage fabrics used are in themselves expensive - and you get to a not inconsiderable price !


The ones below are £225 to £275

However the results are lovely ...and they are genuine heirlooms I feel :)



I will have some slightly cheaper ones - basically where they require less handsewing/finishing. However they are all still made made of vintage fabrics . This blue/red/orange/olive one is in production at the moment and will probably be circa £150 to £200 depending on the final finish regarding wadding - at the moment it is a generous single bed size but it could be extended to a double size at additional cost. I must admit though I'm going to be VERY tempted to keep this one ...!

( it rather suits my family/dining room !)
 

PS SEE look how nice it looks on my dining room table !

More Thrifted Vintage Furniture

OMG how I LOVE this.

As it was a tad 'out there' I did feel I should show it to OH before I bought it though - however as usual he totally gets the idea and thought it was pretty fabulous . So for a massive £25 we bought it...

SLIGHT problem , he went to collect it and arrived back rather shamefaced ... one of the glass doors dropped out whilst being loaded to the car ...opps

However I do still love it, looks great in our bedroom and I'm sure we can get another glass door made ...meh... it's not like we paid a massive amount for it :)

PS. the mirror was another local charity shop buy - I think I paid about £8 for it - they look pretty good together I think :)

Some recent 'treats' for me :)

Now at the mo' I am developing some nw products for the shop and TRYING not to invest in more fabric .

However that doesn't mean I can't treat myself to some Vintage goodies for me , here's a few recent'ish buys

Some jewellery ! I've become a bit addicted to clip earring having been shown how to wear them without pain - Gently pull your earlobe taut away from your head and clip the earing right up close to your head - where your earlobe joins your head. So basically the cilp is not on the fattest part of your earlobe . You can then wear them all day !

I'm not so much into 'chinzy' china - but I did need lots of cake stands back in the Autumn for a Macmillan coffee morning so I made a few like this one - much more my style really.

I was also thrilled to get this tray recently in Pat Albecks 'Daisy Chain' design - one of my favorite designs and I have many fabric/colours of this one.

January SALE !

Opps ... forgot to say ! SALE !

Sale on in AudreysCat Folksy ... lots or fab stuff ... AudreysCatSale

 

 

AND 20% off EVERYTHING in my Etsy shop using coupon code JANSALEAUDREYSCAT ...

check it out  here  .. my Boho bags are a particularly good bargain at that price ... BUT only on until end of January so don't hang about :)

I'm also doing a 'one a day' fabric destash on facebook check out my Audreyscat page

Here's a preview of fabrics to be sold

New in 2014 - new shop, new sewing machine, new products!

Hi all , lots of new stuff in the pipeline...

Slowly putting together a new shop to feature new products ... bringing together my arty skills and my sewing.

A NEW DIRECTION! 
Witty Dawn - Over Christmas I worked on a new logo and other design ideas - it may be a while b4 you see the products however ! I wanted a name and logo that was more specific to me - and so it's  a play on my name Dawn Witt and a character modelling one of my fav vintage hats . I'd like to hear what you think! My Etsy shop has moved to this name and I have a new - as yet unstocked shop on Folksy

AudreysCat - still going strong and with a good Christmas behind me :)  This shop also enabled me to be featured both in House Beautiful and in my local paper so it's NOT disappearing! but over time will be more specifically focused on vintage cushions/ bags and offering a wide range of custom options. AudreysCat will mainly be on Folksy - it's original home from  May 2010! - it's is a Folksy featured shop, with over 300 sales now. You'll probably  be see my AudreysCat artwork being developed  in my WittyDawn shop too!( sorry for the copywrite statement all over it but it has already been used without my permission once! ( ref:  http://audreyscat.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/copying )

AND SOME NEW KIT TOO....
As part of this new venture I felt I need a sewing machine to match my ambitions - some of the preceeds from my beloved AudreysCat shop have been set aside to buy a new sewing machine! so I'm setting aside some time to play with this and to develop my ideas. I'm not getting rid of my old, basic Brother machine though - just semi retired for now, but it's been brilliant ! However this is my new toy...

AND A NEW PLACE TO PLAY ? ...
My growing business means I have taken over the house rather TOO much. Plans area are afoot to move into a garden studio ... hopefully....

A Vintage Hunters Guide to Cirencester

I am lucky to live in the pretty Cotswolds town of Cirencester. It's not a large town but it has an interesting mix of indepent shops and great places to eat.

For quite a small town we are pretty well able to cater for the vintage hunter if you know where to go! not to mention about 13 charity shops - well run with good quality stock too. For example we have bought many bits of funiture from the Sue Ryder shop ( near the town center Tesco )  - like this display cabinet.

SO vintage fans if you want to visit Cirencester here's a few places you might like to check out !

• Sheila at SheUnique . Although Sheila has closed her shop now she is still involved in many local vintage events and also provides vintage makeup and hairstyle makeovers - very much in demand for weddings and hen dos! her facebook page is here  https://www.facebook.com/sheuniquevintage.cirencester?fref=ts&ref=br_tf.
• For 20 century Furniture you need to head out of town to the Love Lane Business park to Mark Parrish's place. A treasure trove of great funiture ( that chair in the photo above came from there as have several other pieces of our furniture) here's a  selection of Mark Parrish's items. If you want to see what he has make sure you contact him first to arrange an appoinment !
• In the Market place there is a great antiques center with a coffee shop , The .Cirencester Antiques Centre people are very helpful and there's a great range of items. Open Mon to Sat.
• Every Friday 9 - 3 pm we have a great Antiques Market in the Corn Hall in the Market place directly opposite the Cirencester Anitiques Center
• If you have a nice bit of furniture that you'd like repainting to get that Shabby Chic look head out of town towards Stratton on the Gloucester Road / Cheltenham Road junction to the Lavender House Interiors and Coffee Shop  . The ladies there do a great job renovating old furniture AND you'll get a great coffee too AND they usually have one or two items from me!
• We also have  Lavinia's Tea Party  based in Stratton. Amongst other things they can hire out vintage tea sets for wedding and hen dos - very pretty things.  
• I noticed last week  that the little Jewellery shop Joli Beau run by Nicole near the Post Office had a cabinet FULL of the most devine vintage jewellery so I'd advise you to check that out! 
• There is often a lovely lady selling vintage clothes on a stall in the market place, and my friend Carole https://www.facebook.com/vintageupcycling often has a stall in the Corn Hall.  
• For General shopping info here's a good site Cirencester Shopping 

 and OF COURSE if you want to see a great range of vintage fabric for fabulous cushions , bags and other homewares contact me for an appointment - I'll put the kettle on !  I am based in Stratton - a mile outside of Cirencester Town Center - as well !

Events

 'Vintage and Artisan Fair'

 At the Corn Hall, GL7 2NY  Cirencester Sun 29th April 10 - 4pm . Organiser : Augusta Wreay 07970859703 - I believe some stall slots are still available. Lots of other shops. pubs and cafe's are open on a Sunday in Cirencester so you can make a day of it!

'Vintage Heaven' 
At the Organic Farm shop  Now Being planned for next Autumn, pencilled in for 15th Nov 2nd 2014 .
It was such good fun last time and Emma / Hilary did a great job organising it - lots of charity money raised too. Details to follow nearer the time !

'Cirencester Toy and Train Fair'

Organised by Ronnie Rocket , who also has toy stall each week in the Corn Hall Antiques Market each Friday. Details are here http://www.cirencestertoyfair.com/ . I think the next one is on August 2014 . The last one had about 40 stalls so it's worth a trip if you are a toy / train collector .

I do LOVE a vintage fabric washing line

It occured to me that I really don't mind washing when the result is a pretty washing line.

I then relised that I have a LOT of pictures of washing on my line! so what the heck lets share 'em

 

This is becoming something of an obsession - this morning I found myself considered the order in  which I arranged my washing on the line to get the best photo.... OPPS!