Floral monster March

I've finished making a batch of soft toys from vintage Heals, William Morris and Laura Ashley printed fabric remnants. These are destined for two new shops; Taylor-Jones & Son in the seaside town of Deal in Kent (follow them on Twitter) and another soon-to-be-opening shop in Worthing's lovely Warwick Street area – more about this one very soon.

Eye Couture: Stylish Dress Book - Tunic F

I can't resist the temptation to badly pun my way through this post, even though this demonstrates a lack of vision and a distinctly lowbrow approach to the medium. If you think my sentences can't get any cornea, read on.

Ikea's Vännerna Titta fabric designed by Julia Bernholtz and Helena Svensson could be described as being easy on the eye. It's a nod to Man Ray's Surrealist masterpiece Tears, and a wink to the 1960s pop art of Warhol and Lichtenstein. Ikea (Eye-kea?) only sells this fabric in pre-cut 3 metre lengths and though it's designed as a curtain fabric I thought it was too good to hide away indoors so made a rather eye-catching frock out of it instead.
 

Turning to the Stylish Dress Book for a sewing pattern, dress F "Tunic dress with split sleeves" seemed perfect. I lengthened the hem by 5cms so that it looks more like a futuristic tabard – the fabric demands it!

I love the sharp A-line shape it has in this slightly stiff cotton and can't wait to wear the dress out and about, especially if I make it up to London for the Man Ray show at National Portrait Gallery this Easter holiday.

Nothing finer than Brighton Charleston

Twelve days ago I stubbed the middle toe on my left foot while rushing to get my daughter's bath ready before bedtime. It was a pathetic injury but hurt so much that I couldn't put any pressure on it at all, had to cycle my child to school instead of walking for the next few days, and could only hobble around the house. I applied Arnica religiously and watched as the bruised swollen toe became a bruised swollen foot before fading a little and hurting less. By the eleventh day I was confident I could put both feet through the paces of a Charleston dance class...

The morning of Graeme and Amanda's Solo Charleston Workshop I gently squeezed my feet into the only shoes I have without a grippy sole (a flat smooth sole is recommended for Charleston) and excitedly set off for Brighton.  Meeting Wukulele Harriet on the train as arranged, we arrived in Brighton early enough to fuel ourselves with excellent coffee at Small Batch Seven Dials, then headed for the dance venue upstairs at Good Companions pub. It was a packed and mixed class – male and female dancers, first timers (like me) and regulars.

The dance was broken down into manageable stages and we marvelled at how effortlessly Graeme demonstrated each sequence to us. We also admired his fabulous swing pants and co-respondent shoes! The enthusiasm in the room was infectious and an hour and a half flew by. The great thing about the Charleston is it's a dance you can improvise to, and make your own – when in doubt I remembered to smile and made with the jazz hands. Watch the short films below to see the results of our morning workshop.

I left the class elated and buzzing with joy and didn't notice my throbbing foot until I got to Western Road (en route to buy bobbins). I limped on regardless and just couldn't stop grinning for the rest of the day. Luckily lots of people smiled back!
 

 

Visit Lindy Hoppers if you'd like to Charleston dance in Brighton too.

Couture and Biscuits: The Stylish Dress Book

Browsing the blogosphere I chanced upon Karyn Valino's Make Something site and her review of Japanese dress books. I'd not come across these before so was thrilled to read about the existence of books full of sewing patterns for simple, chic garments I'd love to wear. Inspired by Karyn's blog I tracked down an English translated edition of Yoshiko Tsukiori's Stylish Dress Book: Wear With Freedom. The book cost just under £12 and with 26 sewing patterns included it's incredibly good value for money, especially compared to the cost of individual sewing patterns (in the UK you can expect to pay between £5.00 and £15.00 per pattern).

Stylish Dress Book: Wear With Freedom (volume 1 in this series) is a beautiful object in itself with high production values. It contains gorgeous photographs of all the garments worn by an ethereal young woman looking by turns thoughtful, worried, frail, then a little happier holding a plate of biscuits*, followed by a numbered list of instructions for each pattern with clear step-by-step illustrations. At the back of the book is an envelope containing three folded large double sided pattern sheets. At first glance these were intimidating but with good light, tracing paper, pencil, ruler and concentration the patterns are straightforward to trace out – just don't forget to add your seam allowances afterwards!

I decided on pattern T (a pretty smock) and found drafting the pattern, cutting and making up my first dress from the book actually easier than following many other commercial sewing patterns which often have baffling instructions. The simple numbered list and diagrams were a pleasure to follow. I used a recently purchased piece of fabric called Red Folklore from the Isso Ecco & Heart collection by Lecien Japan. It's a cotton/hemp blend printed with apples, birds and plants in vivid, bold colours. For the contrast neck and sleeve trim I used a favourite piece of lime green/hot pink spotted cotton by Michael Miller. 

It's a colourful dress and I'm so pleased with the shape and loose fitting style - my ideal kind of garment! Three other Stylish Dress Books are lined up for UK publication this year: Simple Smocks, Dresses and Tops is out on 6th May, 23 Stylish Outfits from 6 Simple Patterns on 5th August and Daily Use Dresses, Blouses and Pants on 3rd September. I've a feeling I'm going to buy them all but in the meantime have already started drafting a second dress from volume 1...

*The biscuit recipe is also included in the book!