As a great lover of a vintage swimsuit, when I found out that Palais Galliera’s latest Fashion on the Move exhibition included a section dedicated to vintage swimwear, I planned a short trip. A few photos of the swimwear – and related ephemera – included in the exhibition, are below. Fan, 1920-25. Catalogue, 1939. Catalogue, […]
Vintage Swimwear at Palais Galliera Read More »
As a teenager, I was an avid reader of 90s teen magazines (Bliss and Sugar) and was fascinated when one issue (bizarrely, as it certainly wasn’t a regular feature) included a pattern for a, presumably crochet, string bikini. I didn’t knit or crochet at the time, but the idea of that bikini stayed with me
Knitted Swimsuit from a Vintage Pattern Read More »
The last time we stayed in Prague, I made a first visit to Textile Mountain fabric shop, which specialises in deadstock fabrics. One of the fabrics I purchased had a label attached, noting that the fabric was likely from 1948, and was leftover stock following a family fabric shop (U Krupickun) being nationalised. I decided
Vintage Sleeveless Top (Blackmore 9106) Read More »
McCall’s M7154 1930s reproduction dress pattern is one of the most involved sewing projects I’ve completed. I sewed the dress back in 2017 to wear to my brother’s wedding. You can read the original blog post here. I hadn’t worn the dress since the wedding as the long train at the back makes it impractical for
Floral McCall’s M7154 in a Field Read More »
A few months ago, a vintage fashion Instagrammer I follow posted a picture of herself in a ear warmer she had made and I decided I had to have one. I made a search on Ravelry (ear warmer? head warmer? headband?) and managed to stumble on a free pattern by Julie Bierlein for the Portsmouth
Two Knitted Skating Hats Read More »
This is my third and final blog post about my outfit for the Refashioners 2018, which was inspired by Dior’s Bar suit, focusing on the process of refashioning a hat. A number of hats were paired with the Bar suit when it was shown in the 50s, and in photographs since, but I wanted to
Dior Bar Suit – Hat Refashion Read More »
I wanted to go into more detail on the process of creating a Bar suit jacket as part of my contribution to The Refashioners 2018. As mentioned previously, my starting point was a second-hand men’s suit jacket purchased in a local charity shop. The jacket appealed as it seemed to be a nice quality, and
Dior Bar Suit – Jacket Refashion Read More »
When I saw that the theme of the Refashioners this year was ‘Inspired By’, there was only ever one garment I was going to make. I love visiting fashion exhibitions and have lots of fashion reference books, and there are brands (Biba) and decades (30s-40s) that I’m fascinated by, but there are only two actual
Dior Bar Suit for The Refashioners 2018 Read More »
So here’s a dress that was long in the planning! Two years ago, my brother James announced his wedding. Not long before that, McCall’s had released M7154, a 1930s reproduction pattern. I loved M7154 on release and when the wedding was announced thought it was the perfect excuse to try the pattern. Despite having two years advance warning
Floral Velvet Wedding M7154 Read More »
I’m very excited to be sharing my contribution to the Big Vintage Sew-along blogger tour today. Are you taking part? McCall’s have selected twenty McCall’s/Vogue/Butterick vintage patterns, and are donating money from the sale of those patterns to The Eve Appeal gynaecological cancer charity. There’s also a series of events taking place, including an afternoon tea
V2401 for the Big Vintage Sew-along Read More »