Back From A Break

You may or may not have noticed that I've been a little absent around these parts for the past week or so. Well fear not, posts are being lined up as we speak!
I decided to take a little break from the blog due to me preparing for a vintage car show that I had a stall at.
I was busy replacing zippers and buttons, and re-hemming dresses all last week, which was very dull. Mainly because it wasn't going to be me wearing them!

Anyway, the car show happened on 19th May, and was a roaring success! I had such a blast that I think I'm going to be going back for the Christmas market they hold in December.
There aren't a huge amount of photos floating around as I was slammed from start to finish and didn't get to take many.
My husband managed to take a couple on his phone which I will be stealing at a later date, but to those of you who are curious I managed to find a couple of 'official' photos that were taken by the organisers and are available to buy (along with photos of all the cars featured) here.
I'm probably not allowed to do this, but here are a couple featuring my stall.

Here is me wearing my 1970's polka dot dress, I've got the most unflattering facial expression going on mainly because the man standing next to me (John Madejski) insisted on scanning the tattoos on my arms.

After asking my mother-in-law who he was, he's apparantly the wealthy owner of Reading F.C & the Madejski Stadium situated in Reading also.

And speaking of my mother-in-law who helped me set up & run the stall, this is Sarah and Mr Madejski.

And here's a brief view of my stall overall! My lovely husband made my awesome posters, which I absolutely love!

Later this week I hope to have some photos of my finished Butterick dress, as I'm planning on wearing it this weekend.

And finally.....it's my birthday tomorrow!! My birthday is my favourite day of the year, more so than Christmas! So i'll share what sewing goodies I'm gifted with later in the week also.

Hope you've all had a fab past week/weekend! 





My Red Dress

Throughout the week I've been putting together the bodice of this pattern:

I know, I know, it's from 1987 and belongs on Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman'. I had every intention of seeing this through making minor changes along the way to attempt at 'modernizing' it (excluding shoulder pads, shortening the length etc...)  but somewhere between sewing the facings & putting the sleeves together I lost interest. It happens. 

This is as far as I got (sleeves are pinned on), I've already adjusted the armhole to try and get rid of the extra amount there for ridiculous shoulder pads, but it still doesn't look right to me? 

So in an attempt to have not completely wasted my time with this material, i'm using the cut skirt pieces and spare fabric I have left to make this..

I've already made this once here so I know I'm going to love it & get lots of wear from it.

So far half the bodice is done and I'm hopeful that I should have this finished this weekend.

In other news - I ventured out on my own to the next village along from me today, as I discovered there was a fabric shop on the small high street! As excited as I was, I was a little disappointed with the fabric range. They seemed to concentrate more on the home furnishings/curtain making side of fabric rather than dressmaking, however it should come in useful for the essentials. As I wandered along I dipped in and out of the standard charity shops that you get in UK, and wondered in amazement (and let out a small squeal of delight!) when right at the back of one stood a bookshelf FULL of vintage patterns!

JACKPOT!

After sifting through the atrocious 80's/90's patterns I found 2 (in my size) that were hard to say no to at just £1 each.

First up is Vogue 5308 from 1961 - a super cute shift dress shape with princess seams and a box pleated skirt. This was missing one piece however, but it was only the belt facing which isn't hard to replace. This will be perfect for a work dress in either a stiff cotton blend or even wool for the winter?

Then I have Style 4151 from 1973. How amazing does View 2 (Blue Dress) look? I'm a little bit in love with this design, and the instructions look super easy! (famous last words). 

This is going to be perfect for making some summer dresses in some cute cotton prints, or in synthetics like rayon.

I also bought this on Ebay this week

Simplicity 5645 from 1964. How cute are these variations?

I saw this and knew it should be mine!

So now I need to dig around my stash and start deciding what to make with what! 

I've been slowly turning my sewing room into a useable space, trying to de-clutter as much as I can.

I now have a somewhat clear workspace

A place to hang my vintage clothing

To store my jars of buttons

My fabric stash

My dressform, and my art supplies.

There are more things that I want to do with this room (time and money depending) in order to get it looking how I really want, but I have to bear in mind that this room is also supposed to function as a spare room for visitors!

Until next time!

Kenwood at Goodwood Revival 2011

The big weekend finally arrived!!

Although Kenwood were hard at work since Thursday, I didn't arrive at Goodwood myself until Sunday where I finally got to see my dresses being worn by someone other than my dress form!

 Ta Da!

I'm totally blowing my own trumpet here, but how great do they look?!

I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out, and all the girls looked amazing in them.

I felt such a great sense of achievement when I saw them all.

The Kenwood stall itself was a revolving kitchen (half 1940's & half 1960's) which featured cooking demonstrations by the chefs behind Sorted. As well as a little exhibition showing you Kenwood machines through the years, and a stage where you could get your photo taken in a vintage kitchen.

As well as Kenwood's Stall there was also pop up shops from Tesco (who took you back to the 1960's, where you could buy products in their original packaging)

Also a Vivien of Holloway Shop, A Delonghi coffee bar, a marquee dedicated to the family orientated Butlins Entertaiment (featuring a great jive band), Glam Cabs, Bunny Girls, as well as countless stalls selling clothing, artwork, and other merchandise.

I restrained myself and only bought some quirky tea towels and a kitchen pinny from the charming men in the DuPenny stall.

All in all (despite the on/off rain) it was a lovely day.

I highly recommend Goowood Revival to anyone who enjoys dressing up and has an interest in vintage cars, this was my 3rd year going, and every year I've enjoyed it more!