Allsorts shirt

Several weeks ago, my father in law called upon me to put to use my long neglected seamstress and pattern cutting skills to use and to make him a shirt for his upcoming holiday away with friends...
...the only catch was, he wanted one that was as garish as possible!

...he has strange tastes like that...after all this is the man who is happy with wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt with clashingly bright yellow sponge bob shorts, neon socks and sandals....yeah...!

Originally I wanted to make him a goth-tastic black printed shirt adorned with cartoon skulls and roses but the hubby decided his father would look far more...ehem...fetching in the below allsorts fabric....

 Cute isnt it?

 maybe not fitting for a man's shirt....

 

 I bought a Simplicity pattern in a standard men's business shirt as they sold out of all the other patterns (doh!) but this didnt put me off, I knew it would put to use my old pattern designing skills.
I simply altered the pattern to the look I wanted (loose fitting Hawaii five-O style I was thinking!) and began assembling it all...

It came together really nicely and quickly and I was so happy to see my skills come back to me and my confidence shot up, especially when I only had to unpick the collar once! I even for the first time managed to use the buttonhole foot for my machine and it came together beautifully!
I added the quirky touch of having different shapes, colours and sized buttons which worked well with the allsorted sweets print!

Ta-dah!
What you think?! Garish isnt it?!
Think he's happy?!

I'm so proud of how my altered pattern came together so well and the long forgotten seamstress years bygone came back to me and my hands were before long, pinning, tucking and pressing and where things were not looking right, I called upon my experiences to baste stitch, hem and tuck until all was right!

I now want to sew more clothes!

Think I can get away with making more shirts like these and selling them on Etsy?!

Have you made clothes? What have you made?

Birdie Love
xxx

Smocking

Hi!
I recenly had the priviledge to visit a small smocking exhibit, where despite the small space, it was packed with so many wonderful pieces of fabrics and clothing that I couldn't get all the photos I wanted as the place was packed and I was jostling elbows with the people next to me all hell bent on getting snapshots as well!

I admire and simply envious of those who possess the skill and the patience to sew embroidery and smocking details like these. I know its something I will hope to learn one day but damn...don't you feel a bit slightest intimidated?!

Some of the details is just mind-blowing!

The little dress and cap alone is worth a closer look, all stitched from the early part of the 20th century! How amazing!

You really do get lost admiring these tiny stitches and details...i really wish I was allowed closer but sadly I could not!

I'm in love with this sample book!
tiny little clothes stitched with tiny examples of stitches...i'm in awe!
Its a nice reminder to break thngs down into small pieces...you can't smock a dress if you are a beginner but you can smock a tiny little sleeve or dress sample!

...reminds me to build back up my portfolio...*gulps*

Can you do smocking? What do you think?

Birdie Love

xxx

vintage browsing

I recently went on another trip to Ashburton, purely to get me out the house and visit the wonderful shops there. most of these pictures were taken of a beautiful vintage shop that is also part tea shop and held some of the prettiest things there you could find of which I took pictures. This'll hopefully give you a clue of the wonderful goodies there was on show and all at reasonable prices too!


Whilst browsing, outside came the noise of a marching band and from the window I caught sight of these weirdly and wonderfully dressed people in medieval costume!

What are they doing?
Where are they going?
Well I later found out and it makes for a veeeeery interesting blog post for later date, where you get to see an old and ancient british custom I and others know very little about that Ashburton is the only town that still practises it today!

I'm hoping to keep posting, I will admit I'm finding it very hard to do so at the moment as my depression is so bad and morale is low. I'm just taking things slowly and doing what i can so bear with me.

Birdie love.
xxx

some more crafty piccys

Look at the coloursof the dyes melting on the ice as we tried for the first time Ice-dying. the method apparently lets the dye spreads into wonderful patterns as the ice melts. I havent seen my fabric piece yet but should be interesting to see the end result!

feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions!

I'm so tired at the moment but i hope to get enough energy to put up a good blog update soon so bear with me!

Birdie love

xxx

Just call me a spinster...

On sunday, we ventured into the deepest rural part of cornwall to this lovely house in some small, unknown area, down a country lane overgrown with summer weeds. It really is a property tucked away out of sight and with the sun brilliantly shining, the mood was great especially as I was joined by good friends, my even greater friend and my baby godson.

Out in the bright courtyard was a spinning wheel that originally came from new zealand, pulled out so us newbies get a chance later on to give it ...well...a spin!

By the front door were two buckets containing the dregs of whatever natural dying products we were dying with that day. One was a mystery wood chip that was a mystery colour and the other was onion skins that left fabrics golden yellow in colour.

They have been boiling outside in large boilers since the crack of dawn and emitted er..."wonderful" smells...!

We dyed fabrics, I taught a lesson in glossing as a transfer medium to fabrics and under the bright sun, we spun. I watched the smooth settling rhythm the experienced spinners settled into, feeding the wool into the spool and teasing and straightening  the wool as well. 

And then it was my go, sometimes I went too fast and sometimes too slow but eventually I settled into a tempo where I could just about feed the wool, teasing it out straight and controlling the pedal all at the same time and at one point all four of my limbs were doing their own thing!

I can see why people love doing it and the peacefulness people get from it but my inexperienced caused me to be rather tense and even as i write this now, my back hurts from sitting hunched over the wheel, scared to go wrong despite what the elders said reassuring me that its ok to make mistakes!

 

 

I might not be able to do spinning...but tea and cakes in the sun? That I can do!

Tea in a typically english countryside summer garden, surrounded by lovely flowers...perfeck!

 

The grounds of the place was massive and I will share more with you later on as well as my session teaching which was recieved and went down very well with the others!

it was a great day in the country on a rare sunny day in rainy England!

With my Godson Henry, watching his mummy in the garden messing around with Ice dyes! He was a great sparkling cherry on top of what was a great day!

What did you do this weekend just gone? Hope it was a good one for you!

Birdie Love!

xxx

tactile textile

images of this coming seasons' A/W fabrics/clothing I took.

Prada Menswear A/W 2012 - oh we love you!

I have a secret admiration and love for menswear, it plays off womanswear alot more than people are aware and give it appreciation for. I also feel that menswear is fustratingly lacking in choice and styles and every season there is only one high street take for menswear and if you dont like it or more commonly dont fit into the ideal of the collection (ie. You're too broad in the shoulders, thighs or italian cut just doesnt suit you at all.) then you're stuck.

I love working on menswear and playing with tailoring, fabric choices and the general overall feel for the garment. Menswear is straightforward, smart and simple and there is no room for mistakes - simply put...you can't hide a design flaw or a bad cut. To work in menswear requires a longer length of service before you can "graduate" unlike womanswear. You have to strip everything back to basics and keep things simple then build upon it once you learn the basics.

I always love, love, LOVE the Ford  -Tom Ford that is. Even throughout college watching his rise to power and collections becoming stuff of pure gold I as well as many in the fashion circuit respected his vision and his works. He dressed the simple lady and made her in a goddess and stripped the man back to his masculine roots and showcased his physique to being everything a man is. (Polo shirts that are fitted and cut to fit and emphasise the body not hang loose as if to hide it.)

SInce Ford, I havent gotten excited by the menwear scene for a long time and it appears no one esle has either...until now.

I am seriously loving the Prada Fall 2012 menswear collection! And it doesn't hurt that for its advertisement campaign they landed some excellent actors. And what I like the most? they are showcasing the collection on male models/actors from different age groups, that says fashion isnt just aimed at the youth, and to be honest this collection was all about the gentleman, something only the more maturer male could uphold!

 

 Helloooo Mr Oldman! I'm loving the contrast of the youthful Jamie Bell on the Left with the older, somewhat self confident and rougish Gary Oldman on the right!

 

 I'm liking the double-breasted  waistcoats and cut away details at the shoulders and sleeves. Doesnt this just scream "steam punk" with its quirky accessories and modern-victorian vibe?

 

Loving the glasses - perfect homage to Oldman's earlier role in Bram Stoker's Dracula with those glasses!

 

 This is appearing to be a rather slick and stylish advertising campaign and even I just want some of their suits dammit!

 

I show the close up of William Defoe on the right so you can see the style of smart-ass prints they are working with this year... 

All Images take from http://www.prada.com/en/advertising-campaign-fw12/man-print-campaign

 "A parody of male power," Miuccia declared backstage. The power was palpable. That giant carpeted red square (which in itself seemed like a conscious echo) felt like the flooring in a conference hall in one of the palaces where cabals of diplomats and military men once met to decide the world's fate at a turning point in history. The formality of the collection offered exactly the sort of clothes you could imagine them wearing: double-breasted suits buttoned high, astrakhan-collar coats, pinstriped jackets with a flower in the buttonhole. The men who wore such things would surely have valets, a point that was made clear when models stripped to the kind of crisp white cotton underwear that an Edwardian gentleman's gentleman would have recognized.

But this wasn't simple sartorial historicism. Remember, this was a parody of power. So nothing was as it seemed. Formal clothes were actually cut from denim; what appeared from afar as wool barathea or mohair was really cotton. Look closely at the ornate, baroque patterning on shirts and you'd see rows of American football helmets or feathered Native American headdresses. Tailored topcoats woven in jacquard looked more like silk bathrobes. And the formal white-tie neckgear was a mock turtle on a tee. An awful lot of ingenious thought had gone into making a statement about the emptiness of dressing to impress, while, at the same time, producing clothes that will entice men to do exactly that. 
- Taken from  http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2012MEN-PRADA/


For me this is a visually inspiring collection and one I hope will trickle down to the highstreet well enough and still hold onto its rich detailing and attention to the small quirks that makes the pieces work. Victoriana/edwardian and indeed period style always resurfaces each winter, every year without fail and this time teamed with a steam-punk edge to it and a "devil may care attitude" and a humourish twist makes the whole collection just work.
I am also very interested to see how it affects womens wear, such is the power of this collection. Prada's womens wear have gone for a completely different take featuring 60's style, geometric patterns and heavy embellishment - shame as this for me is nothing new and is always a guarenteed feature every autumn/winter collection. If they had maybe done a collection in a similar vein as the menswear, it would have oozed with slickness and style whilst given something new to the crowd who would have clamoured for the edginess of it all!

Please feel free to check out Prada's collection and watch the video here  http://www.prada.com/en/advertising-campaign-fw12/man-print-campaign

Birdie fashiony love to you all!

xxx