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 [...]
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 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 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 [...]
This is what a costume-sewing day at Progress Theatre looks like. On the floor is Louise, making a start on Door’s costume. Standing at the back is Laura (Door), working on the Angel’s costume. Pam is running up monks’ robes on the overlocker, and Liz (Old Bailey) is painstakingly hand-sewing feathers onto her own costume. [...]
Posted in photos on Nov 7th, 2011
I’ve been so excruciatingly busy during these past few weeks that I haven’t had time to blog, tweet or do anything that wasn’t work. That state of affairs is ongoing, but we did manage to grab a couple of days in Brighton for our wedding anniversary. I’m hoping that things will calm down enough for [...]
I know you’ve seen this one before, but I just wanted to show you Simplicity 2172 in its completed state. After the Wild Boy’s Ball I removed the feather collar, and added the sleeves. I decided to leave off the shoulder flanges and the ruffly bits because they’re not to my taste and I wanted [...]
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 [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on May 27th, 2011
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 [...]