easily distracted by shiny things…
Posted in charity shops, knickers!, shopping on Feb 19th, 2013
On Saturday morning I went to a local antique shop, looking for a wooden hand that I could use to display gloves. (As you do.) I didn’t find one, but I did find four lovely pieces of vintage underwear that I snapped up with great glee! First out of the basket was this petticoat. It’s [...]
Here I am, showing my underwear to the internet again. Please excuse the glimpse of my horrid garden beyond, I’m far more embarrassed about you seeing that than I am about showing you my knickers! These started off life as a teddy, but I made a mistake while I was applying the elastic to the [...]
Posted in charity, charity shops, fabric, knickers!, museums, sewing, shopping, volunteering on Jan 21st, 2013
I had intended to spend this morning sewing, but the temperature in the Shed soon put paid to that. It took an hour and a half for the little heater to force its way into double figures. Brrr! I think this is perhaps the only disadvantage of working in a Shed in the garden – [...]
Posted in dresses, inspiration, knickers!, sewing, shopping on Jan 8th, 2013
Well, it’s taken me almost five years to find it, but here it is – my vintage dress pattern holy grail, in the form of Simplicity 2184. Raglan sleeves. Short and long sleeve options. FRENCH CUFFS. Convertible collar. In a size that I don’t have to re-draft too much. HALLELUIA! All I need to do [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Remember the black silk knickers I made back in January? Well, they were gratefully received, but unfortunately they turned out not to fit terribly well. So, despite the best efforts of both my sewing machine and my overlocker (which I think are both overdue for a service), I made another pair. I made some changes [...]
Today I have been mostly trying to remember my technical drawing lessons, and drafting a pattern for french knickers. This pair are made from spotty jersey (t-shirt weight), with frilly legs and an elasticated waist. They’re quite high-waisted, they should come up to your bellybutton, pretty much. They’re designed to be a close fit to [...]
This is the fourth and final bra from the Structured Lingerie short course at the London College of Fashion. It’s made from a pattern that I drafted from one of my own bras, which sadly had to be sacrificed for the occasion. Each of us had to unpick a bra in our own size, writing down the [...]