Bauhaus Self-Draft Kimono

The extraordinary colourful fabric I used to make this self-draft kimono was found in my local fabric shop. It's lawn cotton and I think is by Peter Horton Fabrics, however I there is no imprint on the selvedge and I can't find it on the Peter Horton Fabrics website. The pattern looks very much like Liberty's iconic Bauhaus furnishing fabric designed in 1972 by Collier Campbell. 

Both this and Collier Campbell's fabric are undoubtedly influenced by Gunta Stölzl's complex tapestry Schlitzgobelin Rot-Grün (Red-Green Slit Tapestry). Stölzl was a German textile artist who played a fundamental role in the development of the Bauhaus school’s weaving workshop. She was head of the faculty from 1925-1931 and developed it to become one of the school’s most successful facilities. Stölzl applied ideas from modern art and mathematics to her practice and set a precedent for industrial weaving and dyeing in the late 1920s. 

Bauhaus Women by Ulrike Müller

Gunta Stölzl 1897-1983

Stölzl drafted a great many sketches in preparation for
her weaving, tapestries and wall hangings

My simple kimono pattern is self-drafted by measuring and tracing around a favourite well worn and washed H&M kimono. 

Pinterest has dozens of simple self-draft kimono pins (some of which claim to take 30 minutes to make) which are useful as a guide, but I found this Madebyaya video most instructive.

The border panel is cut from patched together pieces of Japanese indigo cotton fabric, left over from making this Gather One-Piece dress.

My finished kimono cover-up is simple, colourful and a perfectly clashes with all my printed dresses.

Gudrun Sjödén's Patchwork Perfection

The stand-out piece from Gudrun Sjödén's Spring 2016 collection is her Murano knitted cardigan coat. The Murano is a sensation in all colourways but the lupine with its tones of blue and turquoise makes me want to jump for joy.

The coat is made up of different patterned patches of knitted linen/cotton fabric cut into diagonals and squares and is expertly crafted and assembled. As with all Gudrun Sjödén clothes the colours have been carefully matched with her previous collections and it goes with everything in my wardrobe.

Gudrun's Spring collection is full of strong colours and prints so it was an unusual choice for me to choose a pair of Myller leggings in black. Black is not a colour I normally wear but the graphic surface print of flowers, dots and dashes in shades of grey and cream looks stunning. Of course I then had to buy the same leggings in cyclamen and china blue colours. They all work well with the Murano coat and give a lift to my old familiar handmade clothes too, refreshing my wardrobe in tune with spring.

In the Spring/Summer catalogue you can also see the results of the Gudrun Sjödén stripes photo shoot I took part in last July in Stockholm. It's a thrill to see these pictures published, a great reminder of a wonderful day spent with lovely people and an experience I'll never forget.

By the way, if you haven't already, you must see my friend Myf Tristram's ace sketch diary of our Stockholm trip, and I can't resist sharing Gudrun's video of the shoot below. Happy days for colourful women!

A second year of sewing my own clothes

It's time I documented my second year of making my own clothes. This year there was no outright self-imposed ban on buying new or second hand clothes, so I have been lucky to acquire a few more beautiful Gudrun Sjödén pieces, as well as purchasing some needed socks and knickers.

The original year-long-experiment which began in May 2013 has remained habit changing and sewing my own is a regular part of my weekly routine. Between 17th May 2014 and 31st May 2015 I sewed a lot of dresses, a few tops, had a summertime flurry of trouser making, and made three beautiful coats.

The Wiksten Tova was my 'discovery' staple sewing pattern this year, and the one I've made most of (current Tova count is six). My second favourite repeatedly sewn pattern is the Lisette Portfolio dress Kerry Green most generously sent me in January (I made three). I must also mention its sister-pattern the lovely Liesl & Co Cappuccino dress (four more of these now hanging in my wardrobe). The 'outsider lovely surprise pattern' was Scarlet et Marguerite's Baba Yaga dress.

Garment Of The Sewing Year: Burda 7072 Quilted Coat

My favourite garment of the year is the one that took the most work, a quilted Burda 7072 coat. Worth every frustrating second of fiddling to get the under-arm seams right!

The round-up photo above doesn't include everything I made, and not all of it was blogged – there are at least three more holiday dresses and six pairs of baggy trousers not included here. I may try to slow down production in the coming year, but can't see myself stopping as I love the act of sewing and the self expression of wearing handmade clothes. I wear something I've made myself every day of the year.

I am however, a little less keen to continue photographing and blogging my makes (and my gurning face) so am not sure if there'll be a third year with a round-up like this. In part I think joining Instagram has removed some of the urge to blog. So much social media, so little time.

For now though, it is a pleasure to present the line up of clothes sewn in my second sew-my-own year.

Trouserathon, July 2014

The Hemingway Cappuccino Dress

Did I need an excuse to make another Cappuccino dress? I'm blaming the hot early summer weather we've been enjoying and these gorgeous pink and green fabrics from Hemingway Design.  I spied them in Brighton's Ditto Fabrics and had a hard time choosing between the delicious range of colours in Hemingway Design's vintage-inspired collection of cotton poplins. The yellow Wonky Maze print was tempting and the duck-egg Texture and Twigs fabrics divine, but I snapped up some Tulip in both green and pink varieties. It has clusters of small tulip flowers on a background that looks like it's been hand drawn with felt-tip pens.

It's surprising that Gerardine and Wayne Hemingway haven't produced fabrics for dressmaking before – I still think wistfully about the brown and beige retro print carpet bag I bought from Red or Dead's Covent Garden shop a quarter of a century ago. Their textile range for Makower is superb quality and an absolute gift to dressmakers, buy a metre or two if you can!

These photographs really don't do the colours justice, the green is bright and much more vivid in real life. However I've been wearing the Hemingway Cappuccino dress as much as I can to make sure as many people as possible benefit from seeing this fantastic fabric.

The year I stopped buying clothes and sewed myself a new wardrobe

A year ago I publicly pledged to give up buying clothes for a year, a move prompted by finding this article in a newspaper left on a train and by the Rana Plaza clothing factory disaster. My rule was no new clothes, shoes, underwear, hosiery and no 'new' second hand or vintage purchases. Basically to STOP buying! If I wanted new stuff then I had to make it myself.

The clothes I made between 16th May 2013 and 16th May 2014

The first few weeks were strange. Like most people if I'm told I can't do something I want to do it even more so I positively craved the smell of clothing shops and the thrill and discovery of trying on new (or second hand/new) clothes.

When passing clothes shops in town I felt a pang of longing. So much so that I started completely avoiding them and this included going to cafés near clothing shops. Saturdays had often been my day for a bike ride to a destination where I could browse shops and drink coffee. To adjust to not-clothes-buying I changed my routine so that I was just doing the bike ride part with the destination being a museum or gallery, or a remote spot outdoors. Then the dressmaking bug really set in and Saturday mornings are now set aside solely for sewing for myself and my daughter while listening to Sounds of The Sixties - afternoons we're currently rehearsing for Worthing Community Play.

Five months into the challenge Gudrun Sjödén invited me to become an ambassador for the brand, a role which would involve no obligation on my part but would give me the opportunity to sometimes try out their products. I mulled this over and consulted friends for their opinion as I wasn't sure if it was a conflict of interest with my 'no buying new clothes' declaration. As a long-time Gudrun Sjödén fan and an erstwhile customer with several of her designs in my wardrobe already, I found it impossible to say no. However, when I have been lucky enough to chose one of Gudrun's garments to write about and wear I've picked things I couldn't make myself (due to lack of skills and equipment) like this raincoat.

I can happily report that the experiment has been thoroughly habit-changing for me. A year on, the smell of clothes shops repels me and now that I'm free to spend my birthday money have found that nothing fits as well or looks as good as handmade. I can't see myself ever going back to buying dresses from the high street and pledge to try to only buy new clothing when my own clothes (knickers, socks) are beyond repair, and then only if I can't make it myself. The days of scooping up three cheap tops from Primark for an instant fashion fix are over.

An unexpected development in my year of giving up clothes shopping is that my wardrobe has GROWN! It's now full of beautiful, bright handmade clothes in fabrics I've chosen in combinations of my own design. I wear at least one garment I've sewn myself every single day and feel this is the ultimate form of self expression.

#insideout Fashion Revolution Day: handmade dress by Ivy Arch

Today is one year since the Rana Plaza clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed killing over 1000 people. They lost their lives while working in appalling conditions to produce the cheap and accessible clothing that fills stores in every high street in Britain. This horrific event motivated me to stop buying clothes and attempt to make or make do with what I already have, so last May I embarked on a year of sewing my own clothes, a journey that has led me into the wonderful world of dressmakers who blog.

Three of them, Abby (Things for Boys), Celina (Petit à Petit and Family) and Laura (Behind the Hedgerow) have invited fellow blogging sewists to join in with a handmade take on Fashion Revolution Day's #insideout campaign. This global fashion movement marks the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster by encouraging us all to start asking "Who made my clothes?". With mass production and the desire for increasingly cheap clothing we have lost connection with the clothes we wear. The gesture of wearing one garment inside out will encourage conversation and hopefully raise awareness that the fashion industry needs to continue a process of change.

My #handmadeinsideout garment is a favourite sew – Anna Maria Horner's Painted Portrait Dress. This is a sleeveless version made in three different Carolyn Gavin cotton fabrics from the Gorgeous Village collection. I've lined the front skirt and entire back panel with a grey floral print lightweight cotton as it makes the dress hang better and crumple less (this one had barely a crease in it after a two and a half hours of train travel during the Easter holiday). Painted Portrait dresses always have a lined front and back yoke which has to be slip stitch finished by hand, so the dress combines modern overlocking finishing techniques and good old hand sewing. The armhole under seam is finished with homemade bias binding. I'm wearing an old well worn striped blue top inside out underneath.

Painted Portrait dress worn #insideout

Homemade bias binding finishes the armhole

I actually quite like the look of this dress worn #insideout...

#insideout Back view, lined with grey floral cotton

Painted Portrait dress in Carolyn Gavin fabric - right side out at last. With pockets!

Visit Fashion Revolution for more information on the campaign and search Twitter #insideout and #handmadeinsideout to find more handmade insideout makes.

Cobbler Controversy: Straight Stitch Apron Dress Book

For some time I've been searching for the perfect apron dress sewing pattern, so when I saw that fellow Etsyan Pomadour24 was selling copies of a Yoshiko Tsukiori sewing book full of apron dresses the fact that it's only available in Japanese didn't put me off. 

The book includes 28 designs to sew. There are bib aprons, pinafores dresses, cobbler aprons and tabards, some bungalow aprons (these have sleeves cut in one piece with the body of the dress, a bit like a t-shirt). There's even a design for a loose cropped 'smock' blouse. 

I would wear every garment in this book but the standout design was No. 5: Jumper Skirt Apron. That's 'jumper' as in the American word for pinafore not a sweater dress (Wikipedia explain all here). However, I'd describe this dress as a cobbler because it fastens with ties – I challenge you to correct me!

The book has no actual sewing patterns enclosed, you have to draft up your own pattern from diagrams, just like in Tsukiori's Easy Cute Straight Stitch Sewing. It's so liberating to work in this way and the diagrams are super easy to follow with numbers indicating which seam to sew next. 

As it was my first attempt with this sewing pattern I used a budget black and white checked material bought for a song from the fabric stall at Worthing market. It's very light and drapey so this is definitely going to be a summer apron dress. 

I really love the rectangular shape of the garment and the way it drapes when tied – it feels like wearing origami. I've bought some heavier weight fabric to make another one of these, though I also have designs on No. 24: Wrapping One-Piece Dress...

A new ambassador for Gudrun Sjödén

I first saw Gudrun Sjödén's clothing in an advertisement in The Guardian some 10 or 11 years ago. The picture showed a handsome woman cutting an elegant silhouette wearing a printed button-front tunic over long layered skirts. The colours were autumnal; greens, ochre and grey-blues, and the print looked like scattered autumn leaves. It was love at first sight. I sent off a postcard requesting a catalogue (these were the days before home broadband internet connections) and my relationship with the Gudrun Sjödén brand began.

    The clothes looked beautiful with their rich fabrics and bold prints – exactly what I ideally wanted to wear but thought out of reach for me at the time. However, I loved studying the styling in the catalogue's sublime photographs which showed me Gudrun's colourful world. I didn't buy anything for a year or so, continuing to be locked into fast fashion purchasing and not quite adjusted to the idea of sustainable, lasting fashion. When I could resist no longer my first purchase was in one of their winter sales – a soft quilted printed cotton grey jacket (it remains a favourite today and still gets compliments every time I wear it). I was hooked on the quality and craftsmanship and from then on have afforded myself one judicious new Gudrun Sjödén garment a year, supplemented by some great Gudrun Ebay finds. Her clothes are well made and designed to be washed and worn – good quality lasts.

Celebrating 10 years of wearing Gudrun Sjodén's designs!

My appreciation for all things Gudrun Sjödén continues to grow. I visited her store in Malmö, Sweden (a heavenly experience) and eagerly welcomed the arrival of her first UK boutique, joining fans from all over the country in travelling to London for the store opening last year. I was over the moon to win the “Most Colourful Woman in London” competition.

And now I'm giddy with excitement to have been invited to join Gudrun's band of brand ambassadors – women all over the globe who in their own way represent the brand at a grassroots level. It's a huge compliment to be asked and I'm only too happy to continue talking, writing about, wearing her clothes, using her fabrics and generally cheerleading for the company. Pretty much business as usual then at Ivy Arch, but with an added colourful spring in my step! 

To explore Gudrun Sjödén's green world visit www.gudrunsjoden.com

The Berlin Macaroon Dress: Simplicity pattern 2363

 
This patisserie design fabric was a surprise find at Brighton's Fabric Land and cost £4.75 a metre. It's a heavy cotton printed with vintage cake recipe illustrations and is available in two colourways: there's a pale pink and cream Paris Macaroon version, and this one, the Berlin version with strong greens and blues on a beige background.

 

Undaunted by the hideous illustration on the cover of Simplicity 2363 sewing pattern, I decided to use the fabric to make dress D. The cut of the bodice reminds me of Anna Maria Horner's gorgeous Painted Portrait Dress – a pattern I've dithered about buying as it's not available for sale in the UK (the price of international postage makes it a very expensive purchase for a single pattern). Simplicity 2363 will have to do for the time being.

The Simplicity pattern was straightforward to follow, I'd say the sizing is generous. The finished frock has a roomy fit, more like a tunic than the fitted dress on the illustrated packet but it's so comfortable to wear I think I'd probably make the same size if I use the pattern again. The fabric has a linen/canvas feel and is a little crumply after wearing it for the day but I've decided this adds to its olde worlde charm!

I intend to wear it to visit Cocoa Patisserie which has the most delicious display of macaroons in the window. I hope I won't be mistaken for the menu. 

The Good, the Fab and the Snuggly: Stylish Dress Book 2 - Dress D

Design D: Box Dress with Boat Neck from Stylish Dress Book 2 is a contender for my favourite Japanese sewing pattern ever. I like it so much I've made three of these dresses (and counting). It's a simple slightly A-line t-shirt shaped tunic with useful front pockets. The underarm seam is curved and the finished garment is roomy and elegant. When I first saw a picture of it on the book's front cover I wanted to squeal with delight. It's rather Cos but you won't have to wait for one of their sales to afford it (or until next May if you've stopped buying clothes).

The dress takes a couple of hours to make and here it is in three different fabrics. The red one (above) a 'Super Java Print' Hollandis heavy cotton. I hung onto this material after parting with this ukulele tote bag and had enough for a tunic. The bold geometric yellow/blue print (below) is a wax print fine cotton from Worthing's Wednesday market. It's printed slightly off-register and so was reduced to £2 a metre. Intended as a beach cover-up, the finished frock is so spectacular I'll wear it everywhere.

The final blue longer-sleeved fleece version I made to wear when camping. I lengthened the sleeves and cut the neckline higher to keep me warm on a cool summer's evening. It's soft and snuggly and reminds me of a Cornish fisherman's smock.