M Shed

For those of you that live in Bristol, you may know that last weekend saw the opening of a new museum -The M Shed- showcasing some of the cities history. We were lucky enough to be invited to the opening and in amongst the old double decker bus, hot air balloons and musical memorabilia (I still have a bee in my bonnet that Roni Size wasn't mentioned once!)  there was the sweetest Victorian wedding dress;

Victorian Wedding Dress

There was also some "Jazz" under skirts which I loved and may well have to recreate ;

And finally, in relation to vintage clothes, a mod homage to the 60's with possibly the best moped jumper in I've ever seen!

Knitted Moped Jumper

We had a really nostalgic morning, if you're ever on the water front I recommend popping in. You'll also get to see this fab mural that me and my son loved, I mean who wouldn't love a Dinosaur made of the city they live in!;

How to put a dart back into a pattern

Now I know this weeks post is not for everyone but I wanted to show haw easy it was to put a dart back into a pattern if you're trying to copy a garment you've already got that has them in.
The top that i'm currently working on for a client is one she loves so much that she wants it made in different fabrics (and I will post pics once it's finished). Once I have the pattern I can make it for her again and again, so it makes sense to do the pattern properly.

Stage one is very simple - draw around the seams and edges of your garment as closely as possible making sure you mark on where the darts start and finish. Then look at the inside and measure how wide the dart needs to be;

Fold in half and redraw making any uneven edges even and levelling lines up to match (You need to keep hold of this pattern for a bit later on);

This is how to add the dart: Draw the dart line in that you have copied from your existing pattern. Then draw a line from the end of that dart up into the neck line (or any other edge that you wish depending on how confident you are feeling);

Cut along the original dart line and then fold along the new line you have made, opening the dart up to the width it needs to be (mine is 4 cm);

Your dart is now back in your pattern but the neck line has changed.
What you need to do is redraw the bottom half of the pattern from the under arm down and the neck line down including your new dart. Then place your original pattern on top matching up the under arm and neck point and draw on the original neckline and shoulder;

 

This is your final pattern piece;

 

 To summarise;
1. Draw around the top you want to make, measuring the width of the dart.
2. Fold it in half and redraw it marking on your dart line and a line to open up your dart.
3. Open up the dart by folding into the neck.
4. Redraw the bottom of the pattern with the dart in using the original pattern to redraw the neck line.
5. Finished

 

I really hope I haven't made this sound too complicated (all feedback welcome!).
xkt

wedding inspiration from...

... a garden centre! Inspiration for wedding reception design can strike at any time so it is essential you always have some kind of camera on you (these pictures are all courtesy of my lovely husbands new phone).
Due to the recent royal wedding and current high street trends, red white and blue is pretty popular at the moment and in my mind a good staple colour theme to work with. I really love the grass on the roof with the cascading ivy, almost looking like natural bunting, whilst the potted geraniums really pop ( and also make excellent favours, which can reduce cost and cleaning up time);

I was amazed to see these ribbon laced trainers hiding amongst the pets and the garden furniture but I really liked the idea;

Now as a rule i like to work with real flowers and natural accessories for no other reason than they're beautiful, but there is something about a pompom on a stick that i just can't resist!

I think it just goes to show that ideas for your wedding theme can pop up in the most unlikely of places
xkt

YMCA photoshoot

One of my favourite places to browse on a wet afternoon has got to be the YMCA furniture store in St.Catherines Parade, Bedminster. It is packed to the gills with retro furniture and it is ridiculously cheap, so cheap in fact that we are onto our 3rd 70's side board! Every time we go we can't help picking up something (i'm sure i'll do a blog on our furniture bargins at some point in the near future). Apparently no one wants 'old style' furniture any more but some one with a little bit of money and some business savvy could totally make a very comfortable living from selling on some of their more wonderful pieces.

So seeing as the YMCA is full of beautiful retro furniture I thought I would take advantage of Ra, the managers, good nature and style up some outfits in the window - having turned it into an open plan living space. And seeing as I collect vintage clothes from a variety of eras, I thought it might be fun to give them a bit of an airing.

60's had to be tiger print nylon and the 70's really had to be flares and sideboards;

 

 

 

 

60's nylon

70's flares and side board

When it came to the 80's the blak lace Madonna dress (it was very nearly a batwing and neon leg warmers

80's lace - all that's missing is the crimping!

90's is quite dear to my heart as I was a teenager then so I really felt I should show how it really was when grunge was king;

And finally, that dull decade the 00's. I know not everything about it was dull fashion wise but with the growth of "budget fashion" and with more people than ever hitting the high streets for quick fashion fixes I can't really pin my finger on anything decade defining, so I thought I would keep it really simple;

"Normal Naughties"

If you ever have a spare afternoon or saturday morning and you're in the area I really can't recommend the YMCA enough, it truly is a vintage furniture treasure trove.
x