Beached Starfish of Worthing

December 28, 2013, 2:05 am

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On Boxing Day we found dozens of starfish washed up on the beach at Splashpoint, east of Worthing Pier. The bodies of beached dead sea creatures stretched all along the coast heading eastwards – reportedly all the way to Shoreham-by-Sea. These were casualties of stormy weather of recent days.

We found crabs, remains of large fish, many glutinous molluscs and scores of sea sponges all churned up and spread out along the beach on a carpet of purple sea weed, broken shells and blue-grey pepples. A colourful, sorry sight.

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Hotchpotch Painted Portrait Dress

January 4, 2014, 6:06 am

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In the spirit of using up leftovers after Christmas I decided to make another Painted Portrait Dress with remnant pieces of fabric from some of last year's projects. 

These are all Japanese cottons - some I'd used to make Christmas presents and others are offcuts from clothes I've made like this Japanese one-piece. This time I tried making the sleeveless version of the Painted Portrait but couldn't resist adding those fantastic roomy pockets again. 

Anna Maria Horner's sewing pattern is ideal for using up smaller pieces of fabric – the patchwork front yoke looks so beautiful (and it's very easy to sew). I predict that there'll be many more patchwork dresses appearing in my wardrobe in 2014! 

Stormy Sunday in Worthing

January 5, 2014, 12:22 pm

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Yesterday's high Spring Tide saw the sea lashing Marine Parade and pelting Worthing's promenade with shingle, driftwood and seaweed. This afternoon the weather seemed calm enough for us to attempt a seaside walk at low tide so we dressed for the occasion in warm woolly layers, raincapes and waterproof boots.

Even as the tide went out great waves crashed ashore and huge swathes of sea foam lapped in as far as the beach shelters on the prom. Worthing Pier reopened today (after being closed for the past few stormy days) but we felt safer heading across the road to Macaris for hot chocolate and waffles.

Green Cocoon Coat: Easy, Cute, Straight Stitch Sewing

January 13, 2014, 1:16 pm

≫ Next: Worthing Fog and Fishing Nets

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It was love at first sight. The Square Coat is the fourth design I've sewn from Japanese minimalist sewing book Easy Cute Straight Stitch Sewing. 

The garment is made up of three big rectangles of fabric for the body, two small rectangles for the sleeves and two tiny square pockets, much like this dress but with a front opening. The book shows the Square Coat made up in a fine woven wool fabric with raw frayed edge front, neck and arm seams (no facings). There is no front fastening, the coat is shown secured with a simple pin.

I used a stiff double sided green/blue felted fleecy synthetic fabric bought for a song from Fabricland, Brighton and added some embroidered floral braid for Tyrolean folk effect.

I turned over a narrow hem to finish the centre front, neckline and sleeves as it looked too accidental (i.e. awful) in this fabric when left as a raw edge, then added bright blue metal poppers for an easy and secure front fastening – essential when living on the windy south coast of England!

My favourite thing about the coat is the contrast between the vast boxy shape of it and these tiny square front pockets. I used a fancy zigzag machine stitch to edge the pockets.

I love the finished coat and can see this design working in many different weight fabrics. It's another simple Japanese pattern that I think I'll make again and again.

Worthing Fog and Fishing Nets

January 21, 2014, 3:47 pm

≫ Next: Perfectly Pear Shaped: Simplicity 1800 - Amazing Fit Dress

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Worthing woke up in a thick layer of fog this morning. Visibility was just five metres ahead and made for an eerily still and silent walk through the park to school. 

Down at the seafront the foggy cloud was even more dense but gradually brightened without dissipating as a luminous white ball of sun rose higher in the sky.

  
Shades of oyster, lavender and grey were only broken by the sight of colourful rags of fishing nets and rope wrapped around the steel girders beneath the pier. Worthing Pier had been yarn bombed by the sea!

Perfectly Pear Shaped: Simplicity 1800 - Amazing Fit Dress

January 27, 2014, 3:36 pm

≫ Next: With Patience and Love: Yoko Saito Log Cabin Bag

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This one was a challenge. My Christmas present of an adjustable tailor's dummy got me thinking I should have a go at making something a bit more fitted than usual. So, inspired by Laura Fisher's beautiful version of this dress, I took a chance on Simplicity's 1800 pattern from their Amazing Fit range. 

Promises to fit all shapes and sizes

I'm so glad I thoroughly Googled this one before starting out and am eternally grateful to the clever blogging women (at Lizzy House, Binenstich, Pretty Grievances and of course Behind The Hedgerow) who'd already tried and tested this pattern and divulged what did and didn't work. I therefore dispensed with some of the instructions regarding initially sewing it inside out and went straight into sewing the finished dress. I also (as usual) decided to cut the back panel as one piece without a zip.

Fabric choice: a superb piece of Dutch wax print cotton – an Ebay win!

My first cause for alarm was discovering that according to Simplicity's measurements my bust should be cut out in size 10 pattern pieces, my waist in size 12 and my hips a generous size 16! I didn't have confidence that cobbling these three sizes together would produce a fitting garment but noting that the design allows for 10cm ease in the hips, lopped that 10cm off my hip measurement and decided to cut out the hips and waist in a size 12, keep the bust at size 10 (an easier configuration to fit together) while crossing my fingers that my real hips would fit into the skirt.

Meet the mannequin: My adjusted dressmakers dummy - now with hips and paunch

When fitting the garment to my pear-shaped mannequin I had to take a further 5cms out from the bust area. This means that the curved lines running through the bust seam and down through the edge of the pocket finishing on the hip don't perfectly match up. At this point I'm past caring.

Seam discrepancy. Ouch

I'm left to conclude that while promising to fit all shapes and sizes, this dress isn't really designed for the pear shaped woman. Constructing it to fit my figure was so fiddly and the written instructions were so confusing that I kept losing momentum and abandoning the project. Only the desire not to waste this gorgeous fabric kept me going...

Simplicity 1800: not a bad fit after all

Incredibly all the effort paid off and yes, I am amazed™ to find that the finished dress fits. My only reservation with the frock's appearance is that the wide open and deep neckline leaves me feeling too exposed – I prefer to be more covered up.  Other than that, I think in the pictures at least it looks quite good... but I'm not quite sure I'll be rushing to make another.

With Patience and Love: Yoko Saito Log Cabin Bag

February 14, 2014, 3:55 pm

≫ Next: Flowers in the Rain: Gudrun Sjödén Kamelia raincoat

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Japanese Quilting Piece by Piece is an enchanting book of quilt artist Yoko Saito's patchwork designs for bags, pouches, cushions and more. It explores traditional patchwork techniques of log cabin, hexagons, baskets and stars and the exquisite projects in this book all look like love-worn heirlooms passed down through generations. There's a wealth of information and techniques to try but the outstanding project for me was the cover design log cabin bag – I had to make one!

Saito's colour palette is muted – Japanese neutrals that draw you in and invite you to examine nuances of colour and texture. She suggests using the wrong side of a piece of material to tone down the strength of colour or pattern. I struggled with this part. I decided to use a selection of offcuts of some Japanese printed cottons. I love the prints and textures of these fabrics and intended to use them on their reverse side but couldn't quite bring myself to embrace taupe, so instead turned them mainly to their right sides, with a few slices of reversed pieces and some tiny squares of jewel-bright 1960s cotton. However, the beauty of this book is that it encourages you to experiment with each project, to improvise and make the bag your own, so artistic licence with the colour palette excused...

This was my first piece of improv quilting and I found making the bag a slow and meditative process. First I cut out 200 rectangles to assemble the patchwork blocks needed, then spent blissful hours sewing the shapes together. The process for making the rest of the bag was familiar as I've made many quilted, padded gig bags before but assembling and constructing my fabric in this way was new to me and something I want to do more of.

My finished bag lacks the precision and refinement of Saito's own, but I absolutely love what I've produced. The bag is small but sturdy, incredibly tactile and seems to have a spirit and character of its own. 

Flowers in the Rain: Gudrun Sjödén Kamelia raincoat

February 20, 2014, 5:02 pm

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Last Saturday I headed for the wonderfully colourful Gudrun Sjödén Monmouth Street store, excited to get to see the new Spring 2014 collection in person.Sjödén's spring collection is strong on print design and a must-see for any fellow fashion fabric addict. There are graphic and naïve pattern motifs inspired by Nordic artists Tove Jansson, Vera Nilsson and Siri Derkert; Pre-Raphaelite organic floral patterns embellished with embroidery and smock stitching; bold colourful earthy prints inspired by women pioneers and the rich colours of Sub-Saharan Africa. These fantastic fabrics have been cut into beautiful, functional and wearable designs – don't take my word for it, go and see them yourself! Perhaps the most perfectly practical of all Gudrun's garments this season (and essential given the current wet weather) is the Kameliaraincoat. As brand ambassador I'm lucky enough to get to road test this garment and am keen to share my findings.

Gudrun Sjödén Kamelia raincoat and Chilli eco-cotton shawl

The Kamelia raincoat features a floral print on a soft organic cotton fabric – it has a smooth 'brushed' to the touch texture which is backed on the inside with a water-repellent material in a deep orange colour. It's a lightweight garment with a generous hood secured by drawstring and toggles, has a popper fastening centre front and two generous front pockets. It's available in three colourways. 

Deciding which colour to pick took me a good half hour of trying them all on and much musing. At first my eye was drawn to the 'dala red' but I eventually to decided leave my Schiaparellipink hued comfort zone and venture into 'neutral' territory. There aren't many fashion designers that could get me to look twice at what is essentially a beige mac, but then Gudrun Sjödén does neutrals like no-one else. The 'dark neutral' has a burst of citrus light, bright orange in the trailing flower design with a dot of magenta that completely transforms the surface of the garment. I decided that the colour tones were a good match for my greying brown hair and the coat felt simply sumptuous to wear.

I've worn the Kamelia raincoat every day for the past six days and it has kept me dry in cold pouring rain, cool in warm windy drizzle, has endured a two and a half hour train journey on a packed train (from which it emerged uncrumpled) and today was christened by a seagull on Brighton beach (easily dab cleaned with water and a tissue)! The hood stays up and keeps my ears warm in strong winds but importantly still gives good visibility when turning my head to cross the road. The medium sized coat is roomy enough to wear with two jumpers underneath but with its A-line shape also hangs beautifully if I wear it over a dress. It's a coat that's too good to keep just for rainy days. 

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Cobbler Controversy: Straight Stitch Apron Dress Book

March 4, 2014, 4:23 pm

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For some time I've been searching for the perfect apron dress sewing pattern, so when I saw that fellow Etsyan Pomadour24was selling copies of a Yoshiko Tsukiori sewing book full of apron dresses the fact that it's only available in Japanese didn't put me off. 

The book includes 28 designs to sew. There are bib aprons, pinafores dresses, cobbler aprons and tabards, some bungalow aprons (these have sleeves cut in one piece with the body of the dress, a bit like a t-shirt). There's even a design for a loose cropped 'smock' blouse. 

I would wear every garment in this book but the standout design was No. 5: Jumper Skirt Apron. That's 'jumper' as in the American word for pinafore not a sweater dress (Wikipedia explain all here). However, I'd describe this dress as a cobbler because it fastens with ties – I challenge you to correct me!

The book has no actual sewing patterns enclosed, you have to draft up your own pattern from diagrams, just like in Tsukiori's Easy Cute Straight Stitch Sewing. It's so liberating to work in this way and the diagrams are super easy to follow with numbers indicating which seam to sew next. 

As it was my first attempt with this sewing pattern I used a budget black and white checked material bought for a song from the fabric stall at Worthing market. It's very light and drapey so this is definitely going to be a summer apron dress. 

I really love the rectangular shape of the garment and the way it drapes when tied – it feels like wearing origami. I've bought some heavier weight fabric to make another one of these, though I also have designs on No. 24: Wrapping One-Piece Dress...

Foliate Heads and Art in Ruins: John Piper's textiles

March 18, 2014, 3:40 am

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Artist Textiles at London's Fashion and Textile Museum is an essential exhibition for any vintage fabric addict. Over 200 textile designs for fashion and home furnishings are on display, including pieces by Salvador Dali, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. There are exquisite illustrated fabrics by Saul Steinberg, colour pop prints by Zandra Rhodes, an angular line doodled fabric by Henry Moore and some stunning fabrics and furnishings by Eduardo Paolozzi and Nigel Henderson.
     There is so much to see that one visit really isn't enough to take it all in, and there's much too much to cover in a single blog post, so I'm sharing with you the work that excited me the most: John Piper's painterly screenprints.

Foliate Head fabric by John Piper, produced by David Whitehead Ltd in 1954.   This is based on Piper's stained glass window design of the folkloric figure The Green Man

John Egerton Christmas Piper was a 20th century painter of architecture, landscape and abstract compositions. He is famous for his work as war artist (for his paintings of bombed buildings and ruins). He was also a writer, prolific photographer, etcher, printmaker, a designer for theatre and of stained-glass windows and in later years began making ceramics. 
     In the mid 1950s Piper designed a series of screen-printed textiles for David Whitehead & Sons Ltd, a company renowned for producing contemporary printed fabrics for the mass-market. In 1960 British fabric and wallpaper manufacturer Arthur Sanderson & Sons commissioned Piper to produce five textile designs as part of their 1960 centenary celebrations.
     Piper's fabrics have all the detail and tone of his paintings and really glow with life. To see so many great examples of his textiles at this show was simply thrilling! 

Chiesa De La Salute - screen printed fabric panel by John Piper, 1960

Northern Cathedral by John Piper - screen print circa 1960

Fawley by John Piper

ARTIST TEXTILES: Picasso to Warhol is at The Fashion and Textile Museum until 17th May 2014. Following record demand for tickets themuseum will open on Sundays from 6 April. Visit their website for information.

A Victorian costume drama for The Just Cause

March 31, 2014, 3:00 pm

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Making this outfit has taken up most of my evenings for the past three weeks. It's my costume for Worthing's Community Play,The Just Cause. The play is a Victorian romance in which the town's famous large-scale Skeleton Army riot of the 1880s is re-enacted. Exciting stuff! The Just Cause has been two years in development with a team of historians and genealogists researching lives of people who lived in 1880s Worthing. The cast comprises over 100 locals of all ages and from all walks of life and most of us are making or adapting and customising shop-bought clothing into our Victorian costumes.

I have the part of a Temperance Woman – these were usually 'upper' working class people motivated to improve the welfare of ordinary working women, many of whom were victims of domestic violence fuelled by drink. As a working class woman my clothes should be plain, in dull, natural looking fabrics and worn without jewellery or fancy embellishments. With this in mind I bought ten metres of seersucker beige fabric with a narrow blue and grey stripe from Worthing market's fabric stall and 7 meters of lining material. The fabric was cheap at £2 a metre and seemed the right weight and colour for a Victorian summer outfit (the play takes place in June). Searching for sewing patterns on Etsy, I found Simplicity E.S.P. 6073 – a 1980s Victorian style skirt and jacket. The jacket looked about the right cut and I've added an extension panel to the lower back so that it fits over a bustle. I made the skirt longer than the sewing pattern with more gathering in the back. 

The weirdest part of making the costume was constructing the bustle. Using Kristina Meister's guide as a starting point, I made mine from a cushion insert attached to a piece of elastic. I've added a sliding fastener to the front for a bit of extendable comfort! It's surprisingly light to wear but does feel like a strange appendage. I then made an over-skirt to cover the bustle by draping fabric around my tailor's mannequin and tacking it in place by hand. Both skirt and overskirt have a simple elasticated waist – hoping all that elastic won't get too itchy on a summer's day.

 

I'm not sure that the jacket's sleeve is 100% accurate for 1880s England as I think the puff-effect sleeve came in a decade later (before becoming a full-blown leg-of-mutton affair) but am hoping the play's costume designer allows me to get away with this! Don't think I can face unpicking and redoing the sleeve - too many hours spent sewing beige already.

 

Historically accurate or not, I'm amazed by how well it's turned out. Next I have to finish my daughter's costume (she plays the part of a thief) and work out how to make a Victorian hat for myself. However, may just have to run up another colourful summer dress for light relief first...

Performances of The Just Cause take place at Christ Church, Worthing on 14th, 21st and 28th June 2014. VisitWorthing Community Playfor more information and follow us on twitter.

Make Mine a Cappuccino - the new improved Lisette Portfolio dress

April 6, 2014, 1:15 am

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The Lisette Portfolio Dress and Tunic (Simplicity 2245) is an internet sensation. Like many other dressmakers I discovered it via Pinterest long after it had been taken out of print. Of course knowing it was not available made me want to sew it even more but I baulked at the £45 (or more) prices second hand copies were fetching on eBay. I wrote to Simplicity beseeching them to reprint it or sell me an old tattered copy, but to no avail. Then I wrote to Oliver + S (creators of Lisette sewing patterns) who said they were in the process of remaking and improving the pattern and would add me to the mailing list announcing when the new version was available.

     Happily a new re-drafted version, the Cappuccino Dress is now released by Oliver + S as a Liesl + Co digital download and will (fingers crossed) be published as a paper pattern in the autumn. Of course I couldn't wait until then, so bought the PDF and slowly printed out all 59 pages then carefully cellotaped the sewing pattern together and cut out all the pieces. Cursing as I worked (my printer had jumbled up the pages) I'm relieved to let you know it really was worth going to all the time and trouble it took to assemble and cut out this pattern.

With warmer days approaching I decided to use a bright red, orange and pink African wax print cotton fabric bought on eBay in the depths of winter (which I'd been saving for a very special sewing pattern). It's the boldest fabric I've worked with for some time (the antidote to that beige Temperance dress) and is printed with outsize roller skates, huge electric fans, sphinxes, geometric patterns and eyes. 

The Cappuccino dress is a joy to make. The sewing pattern download comes with detailed written instructions and clear diagrams. The sizing is American but full measurements are listed, so I cut mine out in a combination of US size 6 for the top half widening out to a US size 10 at the waist and hips. There had been some concern among fellow small-chested sewers that the new V-neck version of this dress wouldn't be as flattering on us as the higher scoop-necked Portfolio dress. While I can't compare it to a Portolio (not having made one) I can report that the Cappuccino's V-front sits fairly high, is modest and pretty with no cleavage (or lack of) bared and the dress fits well across my tiny shoulders. I love the kimono-like sleeves and the curved front pockets. The Cappuccino is a hit!

Seeking Occupants of Interplanetary Craft at Earthship Brighton

April 13, 2014, 12:00 am

≫ Next: Laurel Fever! Two Colette Laurel Dresses

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It's been a beautiful sunny week in Sussex, a fine start to the school holidays and a complete contrast to last year's bitter Easter holiday weather. On Wednesday we travelled by train to Stanmer Park, a nature reserve with open downland and woods on the edge of Brighton. Our event horizon was Earthship Brighton a sustainable 'green' building constructed using waste car tyres, wine bottles and recycled materials. It's the first Earthship to be built in England and has been designed to provide its own heat, electricity, water and food. Our walk there took us through wide open spaces, blossom heavy orchards and through the grounds of Stanmer Manor where we stopped for a picnic. Continuing uphill we passed allotments, a forest of roughly carved wooden faces (with eyes that followed us) and getting warmer, reached Stanmer Community Farm.

The Earthship was closed but we explored the outside of this intriguing building and its grounds which resemble a glorious eco-friendly Teletubby Land. Heading back downhill we sensibly took a detour to Stanmer Park Tearooms and refuelled with tea and cake before hiking back to Falmer Station.

Laurel Fever! Two Colette Laurel Dresses

April 17, 2014, 2:41 pm

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The Colette Laurel is one of those sewing patterns that has you itching to make a second before you've even finished sewing the first. Having seen dozens of lovely versions of this dress blogged (including at Caught On a Whim, Pins and Needles and Fancy Tiger Crafts) I had two fabrics specifically set aside for Laurel dresses long before the paper pattern arrived in the post.

The Laurel is labelled beginner-friendly and it's very easy to make once you've worked out which size to cut. I found the garment measurements to be quite a roomy fit so cut out a US size 6 for the top, widening to a size 8 at the hips and flared the skirt out slightly with a bit more of an A-line shape at the hem. I added 3cms to the length of the sleeves so that without frill they finish just below my elbow rather than just above (more flattering to my middle-aged elbow-sag).

Colette Laurel #1 in Anna Griffin 'Honoka' fabric. Cuffs and trim in 'My Folklore' by Lecien Japan

On both dresses I added the gently puffy gathered cuffs from Version 3 as well as the patch pockets from Version 2. As usual I dispensed with a zip, cutting the back of the dress from one piece of fabric without a centre back seam. The dresses fit easily over my head and shoulders (a benefit of being a pear shaped human). Without a zip the Laurel has the fuss-free feel of a tunic, but with more of a streamlined 1960s shape than many of my other homemade frocks. Laurel à gogo!

Colette Laurel #2 in Under Water from Cloud 9 Fabrics 'Across The Pond' collection

Happy Edible Easter!

April 20, 2014, 1:30 am

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Easter Sunday has fallen late this year putting in appearance right at the end of the school holidays. However, it still managed to catch us a little short having just returned from a few days away on the Isle of Wight. Fortunately the recipes in my daughter's Usborne Easter Cooking book can be whipped up quickly and we spent a messy teatime yesterday making edible Easter gifts. It's amazing what you can do with a packet of marzipan, some food colouring and a box of cornflakes...

Wishing you a very happy Easter!

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#insideout Fashion Revolution Day: handmade dress by Ivy Arch

April 24, 2014, 1:00 am

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Today is one year since the Rana Plaza clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed killing over 1000 people. They lost their lives while working in appalling conditions to produce the cheap and accessible clothing that fills stores in every high street in Britain. This horrific event motivated me to stop buying clothes and attempt to make or make do with what I already have, so last May I embarked on a year of sewing my own clothes, a journey that has led me into the wonderful world of dressmakers who blog.

Three of them, Abby (Things for Boys), Celina (Petit à Petit and Family) and Laura (Behind the Hedgerow) have invited fellow blogging sewists to join in with a handmade take on Fashion Revolution Day's #insideout campaign. This global fashion movement marks the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster by encouraging us all to start asking "Who made my clothes?". With mass production and the desire for increasingly cheap clothing we have lost connection with the clothes we wear. The gesture of wearing one garment inside out will encourage conversation and hopefully raise awareness that the fashion industry needs to continue a process of change.

My #handmadeinsideout garment is a favourite sew – Anna Maria Horner's Painted Portrait Dress. This is a sleeveless version made in three different Carolyn Gavin cotton fabrics from the Gorgeous Village collection. I've lined the front skirt and entire back panel with a grey floral print lightweight cotton as it makes the dress hang better and crumple less (this one had barely a crease in it after a two and a half hours of train travel during the Easter holiday). Painted Portrait dresses always have a lined front and back yoke which has to be slip stitch finished by hand, so the dress combines modern overlocking finishing techniques and good old hand sewing. The armhole under seam is finished with homemade bias binding. I'm wearing an old well worn striped blue top inside out underneath.

Painted Portrait dress worn #insideout

Homemade bias binding finishes the armhole

I actually quite like the look of this dress worn #insideout...

#insideout Back view, lined with grey floral cotton

Painted Portrait dress in Carolyn Gavin fabric - right side out at last. With pockets!

VisitFashion Revolutionfor more information on the campaign and search Twitter#insideoutand#handmadeinsideoutto find more handmade insideout makes.

Fashion Revolution Day: Gudrun Sjödén worn #insideout

April 24, 2014, 4:51 am

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Fashion Revolution Day asks us to consider the labour behind the label and I'm showing my support for ethical fashion today by wearing and showing you what Gudrun Sjödén's beautiful clothes look like worn inside out.

Beautiful on the inside: Gudrun Sjödén dress #insideout

As a consumer it's important to know your brand and take responsibility for where and how the clothes you are wearing have been made. This is why I feel 'safe' wearing Gudrun Sjödén clothing.

     As well as producing clothes along their own rigorous guidelines to ensure they are both sustainable and functional, it is good to know that since 2001 Gudrun Sjödén have had a strict Code of Conduct with their suppliers requiring them to fulfil criteria set out in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation's rights at work conventions. This covers everything from a demand for fair wages, reasonable working hours and environmental safety for workers, to a ban on discrimination, punishments and child labour. The brand is keen to develop long term relationships with its suppliers and 80% of Gudrun Sjödén's current suppliers have worked with them for over a decade.

Gudrun Sjödén kimono jacket - the embroidery and quilting looks exquisite on the inside too

I'm proud to wear Gudrun Sjödén's clothes and be an ambassador for the brand. Her well made garments last for years. I wear at least one Gudrun Sjödén garment every day, for work, to run about with my daughter in the park and at the seafront, while gardening and while cycling along the beach. They have survived stress, spillages and repeated washing! Gudrun encourages her customers to shop for garments sparingly, choose carefully and dress in an environmentally friendly way and it's reassuring to know that her clothes have been produced with accountability and concern for the people who made them. 

Read more about Gudrun's environmental policies here. Fashion Revolution Day continues with events all day today, asking "Who Made Your Clothes?" 

Gudrun Sjödén worn right side out!

Dinosaur Junior: Girls Style Book - dress H (modified)

May 1, 2014, 3:09 am

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Catching sight of my yellow Colette Laurel dress my daughter begged me to make one just the same for her. It's the first time she's expressed envy at a piece of clothing I've worn, and even more remarkable as her current preferred items of clothing are two long sleeved boys tops (one with a medley of dinosaurs, the other a sea monster theme) and two pairs of H&M knee length boys shorts (one orange, one beige, both with lots of 'useful' pockets). I figured then that I should seize the moment and quickly make her a similar dress. Mindful that it may well end up neglected on a hanger in the back of her wardrobe along with the other dresses, skirts and kimonos I've sewn for her, I chose a boldy printed Michael Miller Dino Roars fabric that I knew she'd love to wear, and teamed it with the Lecien folklore cotton left over from my Laurel dress to use for the trim.

Making this dress gave me the opportunity to try out one of the patterns in Yoshiko Tsukiori's Girls Style Book - a collection of 24 pretty sewing patterns for girls aged 2-10. Unfortunately my daughter at 9 is towards the end of the size range for this book and as mentioned isn't currently a fan of more traditional styles of girls clothing. However, the book would be an investment for a dressmaker with younger girls to sew for and includes many lovely easy-to-sew designs.

Looking for something like the Colette Laurel, Dress H caught my eye with its nice clean lines and gentle A-line shape so I traced off the pattern in child size 10 for my tall girl and lengthened the sleeves to make it look Laurel-like. I cut the back out of a single piece of fabric, omitting the centre back seam so that the dress goes on over the head - I measured her head circumference before doing this to ensure it would slip on easily.

To recreate the winning Laurel effect I added a single patch pocket to the front (the right size to hold a couple of plastic dinosaur figurines) and made a ruffle cuff to finish the sleeve. I had just enough Lecien folklore fabric to make bias binding to edge the neckline. When fitting the dress was a bit too wide for my daughter's narrow shoulders so I added shoulder darts for a better fit. The dress body and cuffs are lined with a dotty cotton (again left over from my Laurel).

Dinosaur details: patch pocket, contrast bias binding, shoulder darts, ruffle cuff

The finished dress looks beautiful and is a real hit with my juniorpaleontologist! She wears it as a mini-dress with her green mock dinosaur skin socks, or as a tunic with leggings for playing in the park. It's a roomy easy fit which makes it perfect for climbing trees and swinging from monkey bars and hopefully will fit her through the next growth spurt and a beyond...

Telephones and Clocks: new lavender bags in the Ivy Arch shop!

May 2, 2014, 3:25 am

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These printed retro telephone and clock lavender bags are on sale in the Ivy Arch shop! They're made using fabric from Kokka's Ruby Star collection (designed by Melody Miller) featuring telephones in shades of blue, green and pink, and clocks in olive green and rust. Handmade by me, I've backed them with polka dot cotton fabric and stuffed them with highly fragrant dried lavender flowers from Provence.

To buy or for more information visit the Ivy Arch Etsy shop.

Postcard from the Isle of Wight

May 8, 2014, 5:09 am

≫ Next: A Victorian Sailor Suit for The Just Cause

≪ Previous: Telephones and Clocks: new lavender bags in the Ivy Arch shop!

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This drizzly day in Worthing seems an apt time to post a few pictures from the Isle of Wight. We traveled to the largest island of England two weeks ago (though it already seems much longer) by train and ferry. 
 

The journey took two and a half hours in total and couldn't have been smoother. There's a direct train from Worthing to Portsmouth where the ferry terminal is reached by walking down a ramp inside the train station. The ferry ride was an all too brief 20 minutes and an absolute joy on a bright sunny day – we felt like we were going abroad! From Ryde Pier Head we hopped onto the Island Line railway (comprising old stock London Underground trains) for a scenic route down the eastern side of the island to the Victorian seaside resort of Shanklin - our destination. 

A few days on the island transported us back to a 1970s vision of England. We walked along the under cliff from Shanklin to Sandown – a sleepy resort in April – had an excellent cup of tea at Harrigan's seafront café and gift shop where my daughter was dazzled by the plethora of figurines and trinkets on sale (and I succumbed to a souvenir tea towel) then trekked on past boarded up buildings and neglected playgrounds to Dinosaur Isle. 

A trip into Ryde showed us glimpses of previous Victorian splendour in a town mostly in decline, a complete contrast to lovely Ventnor with its dozens of restaurants and cafés, wealth of excellent second hand clothing and book shops and the wonderful Rainbows fabric and craft shop – haberdashery heaven.

  
At Ventnor Haven we took a stunning coastal tour with Lucy and Sean Strevens of Cheetah Marinein a boat they'd impressively designed and built themselves. They kindly let my 9 year old drive the boat back at high speed – thrilling experience of a lifetime for her and a terrifying but amazing one for me! My favourite adventure of the holiday was a ramble up and around Shanklin Chine, resplendent with fabulous flora and waterfalls. We must return soon.