easily distracted by shiny things…
Posted in re-enactment, sewing, tops on May 22nd, 2012
This is Paul at Chepstow Castle, part of Waltz on the Wye 2012. Despite being May, the weather was absolutely freezing, so he hijacked my new Clapotis for most of the weekend. But what was he hunting with his camera, high up in the remains of the castle? Why, the Kraken, of course! When he [...]
It was my niece’s first birthday last week, so of course I wanted to make her a little party dress! I was very tempted to make something very floofy and over the top, but given that her primary means of locomotion is crawling at high speed, I decided it made more sense to sew something [...]
Posted in crafty things, embroidery on May 15th, 2012
My parents have been clearing out the loft before they move house, and my Mum had vaguely mentioned a box of embroidery transfers. Turns out that the box is about the size of a ream of paper, and crammed absolutely full! Most of the transfers are from the 1930s and 1940s, with a few from [...]
After years of buying only sample pieces from organiccotton.biz, I finally got around to ordering some yardage. The skirt above is a blend of organic cotton and bamboo, and it’s beautifully soft and drapey. I don’t believe most of the claims about bamboo fabric having practically magical anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. The plant material (which does [...]
Posted in bags, culture, inspiration, shopping on Apr 18th, 2012
Posted in sewing on Apr 17th, 2012
Yuk. I think it might be time to clean the iron, and fit the new ironing board cover. This is what happens when you use a lot of synthetic fabrics and iron-on interfacing. Things melt and stick, and you’re left with a mess. That’s why I usually buy the cheapest iron I can possibly find, [...]
No, I haven’t been sewing upholstery or lampshades. But I did find myself in need of a curved sewing needle today, and I knew I had a packet somewhere. I hadn’t realised that they’d be older than I am! They’re in perfect condition, and they were just what I needed to sew through multiple layers [...]
Posted in costume, crafty things, sewing on Apr 3rd, 2012
This is what reminded me that I hadn’t shown you the silk steampunk outfit – I finally found the time to make one of the accessories to go with it! In our original sketches, we’d talked about a beaded silk collar and matching wrist cuffs. I haven’t made those yet (I’ve run out of gold [...]
This is a costume that I made for a friend, way back last October for a Hallowe’en event. She already had a corset and a mask, so they dictated the copper, gold and brown accent colours. The ivory silk had a previous incarnation as her wedding dress. The slightly distressed texture is a result of [...]
Posted in crafty things, sewing on Mar 29th, 2012
This, in the centre, is that holiest of grails: organic cotton sewing thread. Not only that, but it’s available to purchase in the UK! This is something that I’ve been trying to track down for a long time. It seemed ridiculous to be sewing organic cotton fabric with polyester thread (right), and in fact I [...]