Month: May 2011

The Moon and the Hare

The Moon and the Hare

If you’ve been reading this blog for a very long time, you might recognise The Moon and the Hare. One of the first posts I wrote was about a t-shirt alteration featuring this print. I actually bought the t-shirt back in 2000 or 2001, the first time my paths crossed with the clog dancers. They were having an all-day event, and I had a stall selling velvet waistcoats and silver jewellery. I think I bought more than I sold that day, including this t-shirt.

I bought it from Hedingham Fair, rather optimistically in a children’s size, and when I eventually outgrew it I was rather upset. So I was really pleased to run across their stall at Chippenham, and find a t-shirt with the same print! This time I bought it in a men’s XXL, and spent a rainy Bank Holiday transforming it into a little tunic dress.

I started by removing the neckband and sleeves, and separating the shoulder seams. I then used an existing t-shirt to trace a new shape for the shoulders, armholes and neck. I used the old baggy sleeves to make new fitted ones, but thanks to a slight lapse in concentration I managed to sew the first one into place inside out. Using the overlocker. Oops. If I’d unpicked it the edges would have been a mess, and if I’d cut it out the sleeve would have been too small to go back in again… so I made an executive decision to go without sleeves. I copied another t-shirt and finished off the armhole and neck edges by simply turning the edges to the outside, stitching them in place, and letting them curl. I liked this effect, so I chopped off the original hem of the t-shirt and stretched it out until that curled too.

So there you have it – a new t-shirt becomes a new dress. Simple!

Falling in love with a concertina.

Wheatstone English Concertina

This is my lovely Wheatstone concertina. I bought it about a year ago, and have been playing it a little bit ever since. I don’t normally post about music very much, because this is supposed to be a sewing and knitting and generally crafty blog, but summer’s clog dancing season, so I might mention it from time to time.

Last week I went to a workshop at the Museum of English Rural Life, given by Karen Tweed, who’s an accordion player. I felt slightly awkward, being one of only three people to turn up with an instrument that wasn’t an accordion, but I had great fun. The workshop was slightly too difficult for my current level of skill but it pushed me to play more quickly than I’ve done before, and that’s definitely helped my practice since. After the workshop there was a concert by Hilary James and Simon Mayor, and then a wonderfully inspiring performance by Karen.

I came home absolutely smitten with the accordion, and the ability to carry practically an entire orchestra around with you in one handy box. I recently borrowed a tiny 12-bass accordion from a friend, although I haven’t yet managed to learn to play, well, anything. I can’t cope with trying to do so many things at the same time! Piano on one side, buttons on the other, notes and chords, bellows in the middle, plus reading the music… it all seems a bit much.

This weekend I went to Chippenham Folk Festival with Aldbrickham. I had a little look in the musical instrument tent, as you do, and accidentally fell in love with a new concertina, made by Marcus Music.

Marcus makes brand new hand crafted concertinas, and they’re absolutely beautiful. I’d previously been looking at antique ones because the general consensus seems to be that most modern concertinas are mass-produced and not very good, but these were hand-made and absolutely stunning. He makes a 37-button English concertina with wooden ends and seven-fold bellows. (Mine’s a four-fold.) I had a little play and it felt absolutely lovely. The buttons are slightly closer together than on my own instrument, which makes it a little bit easier on my small hands. The bellows are really smooth and free, and it makes a much louder sound than my Wheatstone without being at all honky or squeaky. My concertina’s a 48-key, so I’d have to be absolutely certain I wasn’t going to miss the extra notes, but I think if I’m still playing the concertina in a year’s time (which I plan to be!), I might have to invest in one of these.

This morning I did as much practice as my poor old thumbs could stand, and really enjoyed it. I’m still very much a beginner, so I’m at the stage where making any kind of progress at all is really satisfying. But even though I’m no virtuoso, there are some problems with my current concertina which are making a new one seem very tempting. It has a leak that needs repairing, and the bellows are very stiff, which is why it makes my thumbs hurt after a while.

I could send my current concertina off to Marcus and have the bellows repaired or replaced. He could proably also replace the missing leather from the finger plates. But with an antique instrument, I don’t know whether it’s a good idea to replace something as fundamental as the bellows. Does it become a different instrument then? Does it lose its value if the original bellows are missing? Or does that not matter, as long as it becomes playable again and I no longer need to sell it? I don’t know.

Either way, I can’t afford to buy a new concertina right now. So, I’ll keep learning to play the one I’ve got, and I’ll keep saving up for a better one, and I’ll see how things go.

Pintucks and ruffles

Pinktucks and ruffles

This is just a little sneaky peek at something I’m working on at the moment. It’s a costume for Aldbrickham Clog & Step Dancers. I play recorder and concertina for them, and I’m helping out a friend who needs a new blouse.

We wear roughly Edwardian costumes, based on the working clothes worn in the countryside until about 1914. I’m putting this one together based on a Renaissance pattern, a steampunk-Victorian pattern, measurements taken from two existing blouses, and a bit of imagination!

What’s with all the underwear?

I was chatting to a friend who reads my blog posts when they pop up on Facebook, and he wanted to know why I’d been making such a lot of underwear recently.

There are two reasons, really. When my latest work contract came to an end, I thought that making simple little knickers would be a good way of using up some of the smaller pieces in my fabric stash. This has turned out to be far more complicated than I’d thought (don’t things always?) because of my apparent inability to draft a knicker pattern that I actually like. Once I’ve got that part sorted out I’ll be good to go, but there’s going to be a lot of trial and error along the way.

This ties neatly into the other reason I wanted to make my own underwear – I can’t find anything that fits. In my goth clubbing days I used to wear corsets, but because I’m so short-waisted they didn’t fit properly. So I decided to make my own. The same goes for bras – despite being allegedly an “industry standard” size, it’s painfully apparent that there’s no such thing. I don’t think I’ve ever worn a bra that’s actually fitted me well and been comfortable.

But, despite my overwhelming desire to be comfortable, I don’t want to head into my forties in boring old underwear! And when I went window-shopping online to see what else was out there, I discovered that most people’s idea of glamorous underwear is either horrid thongs and scratchy lace, or vintage-inspired pieces based on shapewear. And to be honest, I’m not really interested in being squished into someone else’s idea of a mythical “ideal” shape – I’d much rather wear something that fits the shape I actually happen to be.

So, I’m trying to design some underwear that fills a few important criteria:

  • MUST be comfortable!
  • Preferably made from a natural fibre
  • Pretty and luxurious without being scratchy or squashy
  • Can be worn everyday, rather than saved for “best”

I’m nowhere near there yet, but that’s what I’m working on, and why!

Regency Summer

Today I would like to both praise and curse my friend Rhona, for being an extremely bad influence.

At the beginning of July I’m going to London for a three-day weekend with friends. Being London, and being July, I expect it to be excruciatingly hot and stuffy. (It’ll probably rain now.) In order to try and stay as comfortable as possible in the heat, I’d bought two patterns for sundresses – a 50s-ish halter neck, and a gathered maxi dress. I have absolutely miles of cotton shirting (mostly vertical stripes in various shades of pink and purple), plus all the organic cottons, so I figured these would be ideal. Long and floaty, nice and cool, and I could make little bolero jackets to go over the top to avoid sunburn.

And then Rhona started talking about making a very lightweight Regency-style dress to wear on her summer holiday. And then there were links to patterns, and fabric. And now there’s a fabric-shopping trip planned, and I want a Regency-style dress too!

So I’m looking at Simplicity 4055, mostly because I have a card from my local fabric shop for a free Simplicity pattern. (Hoorah for free!) And then I started wondering about Regency underwear (as you do), and discovered that there used to be a matching underwear pattern, but it’s out of print. And then I discovered that both patterns are actually by Sense and Sensibility, and I can buy the matching underwear pattern after all.

And then I started thinking about layers, and asymmetric hems, and combining lovely organic fabrics with stuff that’s been languishing in my stash, and about the visual ridiculousness of wearing a Regency-style dress with a half-shaved head and Doc Martens… and that’s something I really want to do! So, when I start wandering about looking like a somewhat punk Jane Austen, you only have Rhona to blame.

Cupcake Knickers

Cupcake shorts

I thought these might be an improvement on the teeny-tiny strawberry shorts, but they’re not.

They’re bunchy between the legs, the satin bias tape is stiff and horrible, and the elastic’s all rolled up inside the casing. Very disappointing. I was hoping that these would work in the organic cottons, which are a similar weight to quilting cotton, but now I’m not sure.

However, I remain hopeful that if I actually decide to be brave enough to try these out in a lighter fabric, I should get a better impression of what they’re actually going to be like. Next time I might add a seam down the front and back, so I can cut them on the bias. I think that would look pretty in a nice washed silk dupion.

I definitely want to make these from woven fabrics, and I really want them to be floaty and pretty, not stiff like cotton boxer shorts. What I really want is to make them out of silk, but because silk is expensive I have a mental block about using it to make prototype garments, many of which are going to be unwearable.

Thankfully a friend of a friend gave us the name of a shop in London that sells silks from £2.50 a metre – if you don’t mind buying ten metres at a time. So even after you add in the cost of getting to London, that’s still most definitely a bargain!

I think it might be time to splash out on some more appropriate fabric, so that I can make as many prototypes as I need to without worrying about the cost.

Strawberry Shorts

Strawberry knickers

I’m afraid it’s all underwear around here at the moment! I’m in the middle of working on a couple of larger projects (an Edwardian-ish blouse and the prototype shoes), so these are little things than I can make when I don’t have time to get stuck in to something else.

These are made from the same block as the last pair, with a few alterations to the pattern. I slashed the front and back pieces from waist to hem, and spread the sections apart by an inch at each slash. This gave them a lot more volume at the leg, for a more skirt-like feel.

Once again the fabric’s a bit stiff, especially with the bound edges, and the waist is a little bit low, especially at the back. But they’re very comfortable under jeans, despite the width in the leg, so I want to use this pattern to make a silky pair and see how they come out.

More Prototype Pants

Skulls & roses knicker-shorts

I made these over the weekend, despite the best efforts of my sewing machine and overlocker. I don’t know why both of my machines are still playing up, but it’s driving me mad. The top thread keeps snapping on the overlocker every time I come to sew across a seam, and my ordinary machine has taken an exception to sewing elastic. It doesn’t want to feed evenly, which makes the stitching look terrible.

Anyway. I drafted the pattern as per the instructions in the book, and then I sewed the knickers, and then I tried them on, and now I know what I want to change before I make the next pair. Which is almost everything. Mostly to get around the problems of my machinery, rather than anything much to do with the knickers themselves.

They have elastic around the waist but not around the legs, because I wanted something that was in between ordinary pants and french knickers. Now I can’t decide whether I actually like them or not, because they’re neither one thing nor the other.

I might have to wear them a few times and see how they go.

Fairysteps Elder Handbag


Photo © Fairysteps

Look what the postman very kindly delivered to me this week! It’s a lovely new handbag, courtesy of Fairysteps.

In living proof that social media can really work for small businesses, I spotted this on Ren’s Facebook page, saw that this pink “dragon” leather was limited stock, and snapped it up immediately!

It’s going to be a replacement for my big pink Mulberry bag. I bought that back in 2007 and have barely used it since because the straps are precisely the wrong length. I’ll be giving it a bit of a polish, and popping it on Ebay, where hopefully I’ll be able to get back pretty much what I paid for it. (Thankfully Mulberry bags seem to hold their value very well – limited edition colours even more so.)

This new bag’s quite a bit smaller (you can’t quite squeeze an A4 pad inside), but it fits my giant diary and my little netbook – although not both at once. The front pocket is big enough for my phone, iPod and other assorted bits and bobs, and I can’t cram in so much stuff that it makes the bag too heavy to carry. Perfect!

I absolutely adore the clever closure – there’s something very satisfying about squishing the smooth wooden bead through the little gap in the leather. The raw edges on the front flap are so soft and tactile, I can’t stop stroking them. The first time I went out with this bag, everybody wanted to touch it. And smell it. There’s something so lovely about the smell of new leather.

Now I just need to decide which to buy next.. matching shoes, or a matching purse!

Impolite Beetle

Stag Beetle

Walking home yesterday evening, this female stag beetle crossed my path. When I stopped to take a photo, she stuck her tongue out at me. How rude!