Oooooo... Fabrics...

Yep. I bought fabric.

So I was rooting through the off-cut bin (I start many a sentence with that phrase), and what should I come across but two meters of black Ponte. Fancy that! So, obviously I bought it and promptly left the shop. Actually, in reality, it was probably at least 45 minutes later and £30 lighter that I finally left the shop with my exciting selection of off-cuts. And a zip.

Rolls & Rems, just off Holloway Road (http://rollsandrems.com/), turned out to be quite the little gem, much to my delight the off-cuts weren't so much leftovers as they were genuine I-can-actually-use-this sized bits of fabric. Hence why I left with three good sized, nice quality bits of material. Though goodness knows what I'll use the other two bits for, speculatively buying fabrics has gotten me into the state I'm in now; i.e. massive hoards of stuff in every available storage space. Ah well...

I haven't ACTUALLY made any progress on the dress pattern, it's still stubbornly refusing to take itself off the stand and be magically ready to use, but I now have fabric I can toile with and a zip to stick in the back. Can't be bad.

New Year; new start. Another one...

So, with a recently broken leg and everyone's New Year's resolutions ringing in my ears I figured now was the time to remember my Blogger password and get back on that draping horse.

Looking back at my last post, I did actually succeed with the intersecting darts exercise but failed to post the pictures and now can't find them. Yay me. But I have something a little more interesting to post about today.

You know when you find a dress in a shop that looks beautiful on the hanger, but when you put it on it's a little akin to squeezing sausage meat into a skin? Yep, me too. I tried on such a dress at one of my favourite high street shops a while ago and despite the awful fit, I couldn't get the beautiful design out of my head. So, thought I, why not have a go at draping it yourself?
Turned out not to be such a horrible idea. My stand was already padded and having learnt how to intersect darts I just kinda, well, did it.

I love being all excited about a project, pity that for me the excitement fizzles out pretty quickly and leaves me with a vague guilt about the unfinished work. This has been on the stand for a number of months now and I think now is the time to test the pattern with a toile.

Right now...

Okay, not RIGHT now, but this weekend surely. In the store it was made from a heavy-weight Jersey, (which after a quick peruse on google convinced me it was a Ponte, probably a Cotton/Polyester blend) and had no fastenings - hence the sausage meat metaphor.
After draping it in Calico I've decided that even though I like it in a more structured fabric, that the darting over the bust will probably lend itself better to a fabric with a stretch. Like Ponte. Oh, those clever garment technicians... Unless, maybe if I cut the whole thing on the bias and put in a zip. Eeek.

The fact that I have Calico here and don't have any Jersey will probably mean, as usual, I will do it the hard way.

xx

Padding the stand. Creatively (haphazardly).

I just found this photo....

Now this is what I call a 'creatively' padded stand. It's what happens when you realise you don't quite have enough wadding. Maybe I should have had that glass of wine afterwards... I think I set the bra pads a little far apart, but they are sat snugly on the contour of the stand so I think it may be just that I need to shimmy them over a little.

I have yet to be proved wrong that "it'll do" is a valid method for home sewing. Maybe that's why I'm not a couturier.

xx

So. I'm not going to start this post with "my my, how long it's been since my last post..." because that's kind of obvious, that was July and now it's November. I'll just sum up the last few months by saying a lot has changed and leave it at that.

Now, to the actual point. I started this blog for one reason and have, as yet, failed to deliver on my "mission statement" (pah!) but I plan to change that and so it starts now. Right now.... ooo, look a pretty birdy.....

Back to the original dilemma; where to start? I have in front of me Draping for Apparel Design by Helen Joseph-Armstrong. Flicking through the pages reminds me of the enthusiasm with which I bought it, I had high hopes which then I promptly forgot as life took over, as it always seems to. This time I am promising myself that something will come of it!
I guess padding the stand comes first and since I have a party to go to in December I think I'll pad it out to my own measurements (eeek!). What is it about taking your own measurements that is so cringey...

Once I've padded out the stand I think I'll have a go at "Intersecting Darts" (pg85 of Draping for Apparel Design). It's been a while since I've actually done any draping and it's quite a simple theory, yet one I've no experience of. Seems it'll be a useful thing to get down though, because the example given in the book implies that as a maker you can use this technique within a suitable design to enable the correct fit with no obvious seams. "Wow!" I hear you gasp! Well, maybe it's no ground-breaking realisation, but as I say; a useful technique to master.

TTFN xx

One post per month?!

And here I am. It's funny how no matter how often I try, once a month seems to be the frequency of which I'm able to produce anything worth reading. I apparently lead a pretty sad life. Ha!

Despite spending a large portion of my time recently stood in front of an ironing board (see above re: 'sad life'), I made time to put myself and my sister outfits together for the Blitz party this weekend held at Shoreditch Studio's. As previously mentioned; I love the fashion of the 1940's and 50's so I had a lot of fun doing so... Neither one of us could afford to buy vintage or hire costumes and in the end I think both outfits came to no more than £40. Bargain! I made my own trousers and bought a blouse from a charity shop in Camden, the rest I had at home. My sister had left it somewhat to the last minute and we spent a good part of the day shopping for her stuff. Skirt and blouse from a charity shop, shoes from New Look and seamed tights from TKMaxx. Just goes to show you don't have to spend a lot to look good, and whilst accompanying my sister outside for a cigarette we are told "You are sooooo Shoreditch". I'm not sure if that's a compliment, but I take it to mean we looked acceptably pretentious for the occasion. As always, when alcohol is involved, some cheesy photo's emerge...

Making up the trousers was very easy, trousers are pretty simple. Well, these were anyways; no pockets, no pleats, just the basic shape. I wasn't altogether happy with the final fit, they creased a bit across the front and puffed out slightly too much for my liking over the hips, but as my sister quite rightly pointed out; no one but me noticed. For a quick job though, I was pleased.

I've been considering taking a course. I'm not entirely sure in what, but I know that my brain needs a workout and I am apparently not able to do it without some sort of outside influence, so my project for the next few weeks is to research whats about. It seems like an absolute waste to have all my equipment sat at home not being used, especially since agonising over it for such a long time. Every time I go to a craft fair/vintage stall/market/boutique clothes shop, I stand there and think why aren't I doing this myself?! And I'm yet to figure out the answer to that question. I need to find my inspiration. Watch this space.

x

I'm not all that good at this...

I honestly can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! As my title suggests; I don't think I'm very good at this...
In my defense, I've been pretty damn busy. First distraction was West End Eurovision. The show that I work for put forward an amazing entry. Costumes were designed by Amy Dixon, a fellow dresser and we studded and hot-stoned as if our lives depended on it...

Believe it or not it takes a lot of work to make them look that naked.

Second distraction, one which I had much more involvement with, was a little one-off show in London's West End called Jest End. Written and directed by the estimable Garry Lake and designed by another fellow dresser Katherine Watt it was the most fun I've had working on a sunday for a very very long time! I assisted Kat with the preparation, the making, the dress rehearsal and dressing the show. Brilliant fun. I also assisted with the after show drinking. A most important task.
And right now I'm doing a couple weeks worth of Maintainance calls for a couple of small shows. Not thrilling, copious amounts of ironing. Not fun, but paid. Unfortunately needs must. Ergh.


But moving on - I have a project! Not exactly mannequin-based and not entirely non-frivilous, it takes the form of The Blitz Party, D Day special, 4th June. Make my outfit you say? Well, go on then...
I love the 1940's style, my instinct (as always) was to make a dress, but I think I'm gonna take a different approach and go with trousers, blouse and perhaps a gorgeous little cardi. After a little research I realised that ladies in trousers werent all that common until 1944...

"In Britain during the Second World War, because of the rationing of clothing, many women took to wearing their husbands' civilian clothes, including their trousers, to work while their husbands were away from home serving in the armed forces... As this practice of wearing trousers became more widespread and as the men's clothing wore out, replacements were needed. By the summer of 1944, it was reported that sales of women's trousers were five times more than they had been in the previous year."

Good Ole' Wikipedia.

But I just love the look, so I'm going to do it. It's still technically correct... Uh huh...

Having just spontainiously having a section of my head shaved at my last trip to the hairdressers(!) I think Victory rolls might be a little out of my reach, but as per usual I'm hoping a book will come to my rescue. Style Me Vintage by Belinda Hay is a gorgeous looking book and is currently in my Amazon shopping basket awaiting purchase.

I drafted a basic trouser block in my "break" at work yesterday (ahem) so all that remains is to adapt and put together a toile. I'm undecided as to whether to make or buy a blouse, Camden market is beckoning... But maybe I'll make the blouse and buy the cardigan. Acceptable compromise?!
Next step is fabrics, for me the most stressful aspect as it usually entails fighting my way through hundreds of irritatingly slow walking people on the streets of London. However one perk of working the the evenings is everyone else is working in the day, so a trip to Shepherds Bush may be on the cards for the next few weeks.


Brilliant.

xxx

A fairly belated second entry...

Ok, so, it took me a month to part with the money. I think it's a sign of the times that a girl can't spend a few hundred quid on something she wants without the anxiety and near crippling feeling of wrong-ness as the sales assistant pokes your card into the machine and asks for your pin number. After all, it's only a small amount, little more that a weeks wage, and it's not like I bought something entirely frivolous like a pair of stupidly high shoes that i'll never wear... 

Can you hear the vague plea for approval in there? Yeah, me too, but bugger it, I love it and I don't care. 

I figure since the budget was announced this week and prices are flying sky-high with no sign of coming down again that I should equip myself with enough stuff to keep me entertained at home when in 6months time I cant afford to leave the house. Which brings me to recent purchase number two; Tomoko Nakamichi's 'Pattern Magic 2', a snip on Amazon at £12.97. I must admit I am more taken with the first book; it seems to me to have more practical applications, but there's still a few bits in the new one i'm looking forward to having a go at.

So the first question I need to ask myself is: where to start?! Do I start again at the beginning, basic bodice, dart manipulation, correct fit... or do I throw myself into something more advanced that i'm likely to get wrong, but will more than likely at least keep my attention through a whole project. I must admit I'm leaning toward the latter option. I guess first things first though, I should tidy my desk, dust off my machine and make room in my London-sized bedroom for my sparkly new purchase. I'm calling her Milly, Milly the mannequin and the box that she came in is almost the same size as me and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it.

x