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A Victorian Sailor Suit for The Just Cause
With only five weeks to go until Worthing's Victorian Community Play The Just Cause opens, here are some photos of the sailor suit I made for my daughter to wear – she plays the part of a poor boy...
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Pottery Print dress: Colette Peony
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }You're only 45 once, so I thought the occasion merited a special birthday dress. The fabric came first, bought on holiday last month at Rainbows in Ventnor on the Isle of...
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The year I stopped buying clothes and sewed myself a new wardrobe
A year ago I publicly pledged to give up buying clothes for a year, a move prompted by finding this article in a newspaper left on a train and by the Rana Plaza clothing factory disaster. My rule was...
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The Tortoise Zip-It Girls' Dress
The cute curved pockets on Make It Perfect's Zip-It dress made it impossible to resist – two clicks and I'd purchased and downloaded a copy. I reasoned there was a very good chance my daughter would...
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Basic Black (in Colour): Tiered Over-blouse C
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }A:link { }Basic Black is the soon-to-be-released English edition of Sato Watanabe's classic dressmaking book. As a person who loves Japanese clothing design but never wears...
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Along the banks of the River Adur
Last Wednesday was the gloomiest, chilliest day of May's half-term holiday but that didn't stop us wrapping up warm and going for walk along the banks of River Adur with good friends and their adorable...
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Plain Sailing - Liesl & Co Cappuccino Dress
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }The red Cappuccino dress I made in April has really come into its own as a garment I love to wear every day. It's so comfortable, the deep pockets practical and the sleeves...
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The Just Cause: taking part in Worthing Community Play
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cOn Saturday I'll be donning my homemade Victorian outfit, tying a bonnet tightly under my chin and fixing my face with a stern glare to join a cast of some 200 fishwives,...
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Grand Futurist Concert of Noises
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm;P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }On Sunday I went to the Grand Futurist Concert of Noises at London's Science Museum, an event held by Resonance FM to mark the centenary of the...
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Take Two Ticket to Ride Dresses: Simplicity 2363
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }A:link { }Brighton's budget fabric emporium Fabric Land has come up trumps again with Ticket to Ride another great in-house print design. I recommend a visit to one of their...
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The Hemingway Cappuccino Dress
Did I need an excuse to make another Cappuccino dress? I'm blaming the hot early summer weather we've been enjoying and these gorgeous pink and green fabrics from Hemingway Design. I spied them in...
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Hello Tokyo Quilt and Cushions
Hello Tokyo is Sydney designer Lisa Tilse (The Red Thread)'s first range of fabric, produced by Robert Kaufman. The range features Japanese Kokeshi dolls, kawaii cats, stylised flowers, spots and...
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Stylish Dress Book Revisited: Seaside Smock B
It's some 16 months since I discovered Stylish Dress Book the title that set me off on what has become a dressmaking odyssey. I've recommended the book to friends and acquaintances many times since and...
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Teville Gate in the Summertime
Teville Gate is one of the great mysteries of Worthing. A vast derelict space right in the centre of town, it's the first sight you see when arriving from Worthing's central train station. No one can...
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Baggy Trousers: McCall's M6514
Slouchy, loose-fit harem style pants are everywhere right now and they got me thinking of a beloved pair of peg-leg paisley cotton trousers I wore in the 1980s. They were homemade from fabric bought at...
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WW1 Centenary: Poppies and Produce in Beach House Park
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }Worthing's Beach House Park is an ideal place for quiet contemplation at any time of year. Monday 4thAugust is the centenary of the start of the First World War and to...
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Window Dressing: Harriet's Curtains - Stylish Dress Book, Y
Harriet is a friend with an eye for print and pattern. We share an enthusiasm for novelty fabrics (see the Garden Gnome Party Dress I made for her daughter) and I was delighted when she kindly gave me...
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Save The Elephant with Gudrun Sjödén!
Every year more than 35,000 elephants are killed for their ivory. If the ivory trade continues at this rate the largest land mammal on our planet will be extinct within 10 years. Inspired by the plight...
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Amy Butler Cameo dress: Simplicity 2363
I spend entire evenings mooning over fabric shop websites and a recurring destination is Eclectic Maker's Going, Going Gone page of top quality fabric sale bargains. Spying a selection of Amy Butler...
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Postcard from the Moselle Valley
The rolling hillside banks along Germany's Moselle are covered in vineyards – hundreds and thousands of terraced rows of neatly planted vines rising up to the sky all the way along the sides of the...
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