I Love London Markets

Recycling

As a way of saving a few pennies, I have been doing a little recycling recently...

Exhibit A: I dug out an old Primark vest that had been buried into the deep dark corners of my wardrobe-evidence in itself that it wasn't getting any wear. I decided to turn it into a simple crop top by using a dress I have with the same neckline. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of this in it's previous form, but here it is in it's completed glory!

Exhibit B: I was browsing the amazing charity shops that Clapham High Street have on offer, one day before work and this fabric caught my eye. Upon further inspection, I discovered that it was a pair of wide leg trousers. I wasn't sure about the garment itself, but loved the fabric so much that I decided to go ahead and purchase in trousers anyway (a whole £4!) in the hope that I can make something from the fabric.

So, i went home and unpicked every single seam as carefully as I possibly could, making sure no fabric goes to waste. I knew that ideally, I wanted to make a summer dress from the fabric-ambitious considering the limitations on fabric!

I used a button down skirt that I had at home as the pattern for the bottom (it JUST about squeezed on!) and then used a vintage shirt pattern as a rough guide for the top. Luckily it all worked out fine in the end-it just about buttons up and it is pretty short, but I love it! I've already worn it several times-it's so incredibly comfortable!

Quickies

Typically when I'm illustrating, I find it super easy to get completely absorbed in what I'm doing-both in a good way and a bad way. It's obviously great to be really into a piece of work or drawing that you're working on, but on the flip side, it's real easy to lose an objective eye and get bogged down with too much detail. As I am the queen of this, I thought the solution to my problem could lie in a doing a 'quickie illustration' every week. I've given myself a time period of 1-3 hours to create a simple illustration of anything at all! Here's the first two...I seem to have opted for the same structure for them! I don't know if I will carry this on every week, or mix it up, but we shall see!

Come Get Your Hotdogs!

A dude selling hotdogs on Bourbon Street, New Orleans.

Tools of the Trade

Can you guess the trade?

NY Resolution So Far...

So I thought I would give a little update on how I'm doing on my New Year's Resolution (or should I say challenge?) of making my clothes and not buying. And in a nut shell...it's going great! I feel like I've been making at a consistent pace, changing up the difficulty of garments I've been making, and types of fabric. The best thing I've got out of it so far (apart from a fabulous new wardrobe ofcourse!) is confidence in my own abilities. I feel like my dressmaking has come along leaps and bounds!

As I've been posting mainly photos of garments alone, I thought I would post pictures of my clothes in action. It's all well and good seeing a garment on a hanger, but it's supposed to go on a person and that's how you really know it fits! So here goes....

1.) Tartan Coco Jacket (and fur scarf!)

2.) Wool crepe trousers and mustard blouse (both Burda patterns)

3.) 'Joan Dress' (and there's the fur scarf again!)

4.) Aztec skirt (just about!)

...And many more!

I feel like this is the start of something new. When I took my dressmaking vow in January, I wasn't confident that I would be stick to it, but now I'm wondering why I didn't do it sooner. Making your own clothes is so satisfying! With every project I complete, somehow my mental list of 'to makes' gets longer, so there'll be plenty more to come!

My Mustard Blouse

Earlier this week my boss had a clear out of the fabrics she had hoarded over the years and I was assigned the job of packaging them up as remnants for the shop. Ofcourse, I couldn't do this without having first dibs on any fabrics I wanted to add to my personal collection at home. One of these was this lovely sheer mustard fabric-a blouse waiting to be made. And a fabric it became!

The blouse is based on a top from my BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook. I didn't want the bottom to flair out, as in the original pattern, because I know I'l be tucking it into all of my high waited shorts and skirts. Instead of having the waist go in, I simplified the pattern so that it went straight down. Easy! Well, not really. It was my first experience with such a light fabric, so it was challenging to say the least! 

I got there in the end though, and the best part was I got to use one of my vintage buttons that had been sitting in my drawer for years for the top of the blouse! Again, this wasn't featured in the original design, just an extra touch I thought I would add. Hope you like!