Queens & Quilts

The lovely Lena from The Vintage Guide to London and Style High Club has been ever so kind to let me be one of her Queens of Vintage

Thank you Lena for featuring me!

Take a pop over the to the Queens of Vintage site to see all the other lovely Queens and Kings of this wonderful community of vintage lovers

In other news, I can finally show of the little quilt I made for my friends Baby!

I made it double sided with 2 prints, as I wasn't sure of the colour scheme of the baby room. I used geo giraffe and chevron ikat both from Spoonflower (where else?) and I added some bias around the edges. I initially started quilting the layers together with 10cm rows of stitching, but I changed it to 5cm when it wasn't giving me that “quilted” look

Quilting when you think about it is pretty easy – There are more complicated and decorative techniques out there with patchwork and so on, but if you can do a running stitch you can make a basic quilt. This one is just a sandwich of fabric, batting and fabric so there are no overly complicated techniques involved. Give it a go if you like!

The future Mama and Papa! See how they glow!

And now back to our scheduled programming – the next project begins!

Take Care!
Cat 

Opp Shopping on a cloud

I often forget to post photos of my opp shopping and by the time I remember, the time has passed and its pointless, but I remembered today, so would you like to see my goodies?

After going to the dentist for a filling (boo!) I decided I deserved a present. Shopping while coming off anesthetic can be funny. I kept touching my numb face like some kind of weirdo, and finding silly little things that I would stare at for a bit before realising that its just crap and I would never buy that on a normal day. 

What I did manage to find with my head in the clouds were these...

In my garden I have a few plants already budding waiting for spring, but they never get very big so this little bud vase will fit them nicely. Lucy's recent post on her dresser table featured little glass bowls as jewellery/ make up storage and I spotted this little bowl which I think will handy for my rings and such

The single (sigh) dinner plate is important to me. As a minor ceramics fan I saw the name on this and knew straight away that I should buy it. The design is by Kathie Winkle who did work for Broadstone ceramics in the 60s and 70s. I also have a ceramic jar by from Kathie Winkle which currently stores my marigold seeds.

You can read more about Broadhurst here

I don't often have much luck with patterns at opp shops - they're usually 80s to 90s patterns which are never all that attractive. These 3 lovely ladies were waiting for me patiently today. 
Misses dress Style 1118 (1975), Jumper and shirt Simplicity 3157 (no year, I'd say early 60's) and Skirt Style 2405 (1978)
Style 1118 is particularly handy as I have been looking for a slim fit bodice dress like this for awhile 

A few fabric bits. A lovely paisley pillow case, light blue chiffon, lace and a navy silk sash

The below piece is a huge table cloth that I am considering turning into a dress. The fabric has a big design in the middle, which spreads out over the table cloth. I kinda hate it when people chop up vintage sheet sets to make clothing and leave the pillow cases as orphans (like the one above) so I'm a little unsure if I should chop up the table cloth - but I don't imagine using it for anything else and it doesn't come with matching place mats or anything.  
Do you often have silly dilemmas like this as a sewer? 

Pretty ok hoard for today. I didn't want to hang around digging for too long as I had to go pick up my repaired sewing machine.

I hope your weekend is going well so far! And remember - shop carefully while coming off anesthetic!

Cat xo 

Sew! A needle pulling thread!

Why hello!

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my two dresses, you're all so very kind! I'm hoping I'll eventually be able to use my sewing skills in a non-selfish way one day, perhaps by making things to sell, teaching or sewing for others. But we will have to see what the future holds!

For now, like this illustration below, I am hand quilting a blanket for a gift. I know there are a lot of quilting devotees out there and I'm probably not doing it the traditional way, but sometimes its nice to take a break and try something else. I don't want to ruin the surprise as I know the receiver reads my blog, so I'll save photos for later. 

Source

What kind of projects, creative or otherwise, are you working on at the moment? 

Cat xo

An ode to “The Party”- In the form of a dress

Have you ever seen the Peter Sellers movie "The Party"? It's a slapstick comedy set at the party of a Hollywood director. What starts out as a sophisticated dinner party soon turns into an overblown rave with drunk waiters, pools turned into giant bubble baths and a painted baby elephant!

It's rather fun and good for a giggle on a Saturday afternoon while sewing.

When making this dress I was reminded of this movie. The bright pink and purple would be perfect for a party dress! The little orange dots in the fabric go well with gold jewellery and overall it has a rather frivolous feel to it.

See Emily play

Oh my how the past 2 weeks have flown! So many things keeping one occupied and exhausted but I always make the time to sew!

I have made 2 dresses recently, but I only have one edited and ready for show today

Stockings from Modcloth, Shoes - opp shopped 

Mondays with Marianne

Hello Lovelies! 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was very busy – getting my hair dyed, record shopping, having lovely dinner dates with the boy and joining my friends for a crafternoon on Sunday. My dear friend is pregnant and is not too far away from popping, so we were making decorations and favors for the belly blessing. Normally you would have a baby shower but being the modern gal she is it’s a party for everyone, even the boys get to come and bless the belly.

I have of course been sewing and have something ready to photograph but must wait for the daylight on the weekend! These short daylight hours really bother me…

I've also been trying my hand at quilting and have been working on some gifts for the baby. I’ll show the photos later on as I don’t want to spoil the surprise for my friend.

Otherwise I've been reading two biographies at once – Eric Clapton’s and Marianne Faithfull’s.

Eric Clapton

Marianne Faithfull

I've got a sudden desire to read biographies lately, even ones I've already read and listening to a mixture of Cream, Marianne Faithfull and The Stones. When reading biographies, I like to also listen to music – usually to the one they are talking about at that moment. It helps cement the story and puts me in the moment.

Do you sometimes do the same when reading a book?

I’ll leave you for now to enjoy your Monday with some lovely Marianne in the movie Made in U.S.A

Cat xo

60s fashion elements - The Bishop Sleeve

Some of the things about 60s clothing tend to catch my eye when trawling through Pinterest or Tumblr. Certain elements that you begin to notice as integral parts to the look that was being worn by the Dolly Birds and Dandies of the time

In this set of blog posts, I want to explore the different elements of clothing that we often associate with or were popular in the 60s

I'll try to explain the construction of these elements and show some examples of these styles

There are many features that became popular in the 60s - most of which already existed in some form and were adapted for modern youth wear, or were invented from scratch through the genius of designers like Mary Quant or André Courrèges

This week we are going to have a look at Bishop Sleeves. Read onto the end for a little tutorial.