Yesterday I went to a massive flea market here in Barcelona called Encants (where I previously picked up the amazing vintage hand-painted buttons), with a sewing friend of mine who was on a mission to score some supplies from the haberdashery stalls. I was only going to keep her company but ended up getting in a frenzy at one stall that specialised underwear elastic, lace and buttons. The stall was lorded over by an incredibly ancient lady who was in possession of a wonderfully crumpled face and sharp wit. After my initial button-induced buzz subsided I noticed that the lady was chatting to a heavily pregnant woman who was browsing. The old lady asked the pregnant woman when she was due, to which the woman replied ‘Tuesday’ (well, ‘Martes’ actually, but you get the idea). The old lady then proceeded to raise the question of whether the woman had been sewing babies’ clothes in preparation, and the woman replied that no, she hadn’t had the time. The old lady then exclaimed ‘You do know they come out naked, don’t you?!’. Fantastic! I laughed for about ten minutes.  

Later on back at my flat, after retelling the exchange to my boyfriend, I was reminded of the section in my Make Do and Mend book about preparing for a new baby. I’m not speaking from personal experience, but the arrival of a new baby seems overwhelming enough, without the added difficulties that living within a time of rationing would throw your way in the UK during the Second World War. I imagine a lot of community spirited ‘chipping in’ went on to help provide the necessities for a new baby. However, if a growing family still found itself unprepared, the Government had some advice regarding what could apparently be omitted from traditional preparations and the most efficient methods to produce what couldn’t.

The advice includes simultaneously making babies’ clothes from ‘as little material as possible’ as well as in styles that are able to be worn for ‘longer than he would have worn his first clothes in peace-time’. Such extra considerations would certainly force an expectant mother to be more thoughtful and creative than most seamstresses would need to be today. The Government leaflet offers suggestions for styles which could have an extended lifespan, for example by adding deep hems and tucks that could be unpicked and the garment let out as the baby got bigger. What these leaflets show me, more than anything, is how the rationing and restrictions forced the effected populations to experience privations in almost every single aspect of day to day life, in ways that today we would difficultly to perceive. Life was undeniably tough, and it is humbling to realise how good we have it these days.

Speaking of these days, making clothing and toys for babies and children is of course another great way to use up some of the smaller pieces of fabric in your stash. This super cute skirt (image found here) is a great combination of a little fabric and a healthy dose of imagination.

I’m a wee bit obsessed with the scallop detail with this Du Barry dress on ebay. Even though it looks to have been shortened considerably, I’d still buy it in an instant if I could fit into its 24 inch waist (ha!).

But I can still be inspired by it. Check out the rows and rows of scallops on this beauty! I’d love to see what the inside of this dress looks like.

Normally, I can break down those wonderful vintage details into something fairly simple, but I do believe taking on something like this would be firmly in the advanced category, if only for the amount of time it would take.

As you may already be aware, recently I’ve been thinking alot about sewing with my existing stash of fabric rather than buying more, and I’ve been trying to encourage others to do the same. Tackling the larger pieces of 2 metres-plus is proving easy enough, but so much of my stash seems to be comprised of smaller lengths and nice largish scraps. I’ve been thinking of ways sewers can use these stash-fillers in garment making projects and I plan to share some ideas with you over a series of posts.

Taking a look at some garments I had previously made I remembered two ways you could use smaller pieces of fabric to create a fun contrast. Skirt and trouser facings, or inner waistbands depending on the style, look much more interesting when made from a sweet check or ditsy print. This works best when you’re sure it won’t peak out and become visible from the outside. Similarly, pocket bags can be made from an alternative fabric. It’s often better to use a lighter weight fabric rather than the main outer fabric for pocket bags anyway, so why not use something cute? As long as you create a facing for the pocket mouth in the main outer fabric, the rest of the pocket can be as crazy as you fancy!

As I’m sure you are aware, these kinds of contrasts can often be found in manufactured garments, but usually only in more expensive lines, as cheaper clothing producers cut costs as much as possible by avoiding costly unnecessary internal details like this. With all the love, time and effort that goes into sewing clothes by hand, why not take an extra step to make your creation even more different and special?  What I love the most about contrast internal details, like nicely finished seams, is the buzz I get when put the garment on and I see them. They are a pretty secret added just for my enjoyment, with no practical purpose other than to make me smile! Have you used contrast fabric as a ’secret’ detail before? I would love to hear how.

Ooh la la. This navy dress from salvagelife is really lovely.

I really love how the taffeta contrasts with the crepe of the dress, the way the leaves fan out from the waistline, and how all the appliques are fairly flat so they don’t add bulk at the waist. Anyone have any ideas on how you would create those leaves? I like the look of them!

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about fabrics stashes. Of all the beautiful and useful pieces of fabric that I, and probably every sewer everywhere, have stashed away somewhere not realising its potential whilst I (we) have been continuing to make trips to the fabric shop to harvest yet more.

I like to think that, these days, I am able to avoid buying a lot of the unnecessary things that I know I was guilty of in the past. One of the ways I keep this consumption in check is by following the Wardrobe Refashion pledge to make and upcycle any new additions to my wardrobe, instead of buying cheap and badly made mass-manufactured items. However I fear I have merely transferred my shopping addiction from the purchase of cheap and virtually disposable clothes to the acquisition of a fabric mountain!

I don’t want to be a hoarder and at this time cannot afford to be (both in terms of money and space), so I have set myself a challenge, complete with cute logo! The Stash Bustin’ challenge is to use only pieces from my fabric collection in forthcoming sewing projects as far as possible, only visiting the fabric store to pick up interfacings, linings and such that are needed to complete a project. However, I’m not going to be too hard on myself if I slip and buy a new piece of fabric before the entirety of my stash has been busted. If you yourself recognise a need to pare down your stash and are interested in joining me in the Stash Bustin’ crusade as some fantastic seamstresses already have, I’d love to hear from you and you are welcome to use the logo on your own blog, instructions for how to apply it can be found here.

Some Stash Busters have decided to implement a ‘one in four rule’: purchasing one new piece of fabric for a project for every three projects completed with stash fabric. Others are implementing the Stash Bustin’ challenge as a positive part of a wider attempt to dramatically cut their expenditure for a given period. Whatever the motivation, there can be no denying the benefits of unearthing your (sometimes forgotten) fabric treasures and allowing inspiration to strike in regards to how they could be utilised. Maybe you might end up with a collated stash as beautiful and inspiration-filled as Amy Honey’s pictured at the top of this post, or maybe something a little less dazzling, but still very much full of potential, like the medium-light weight pile from my stash pictured above! So, dear sewers, are you in?!

You know I love those vintage surface details. They often look so luxurious, but when you break them down, they’re not hard to do. Often they involve making some bias tape, cording, or piping and sewing it on in an ingenious way.

But this one looks even easier than most! At first glance, it looks to be made with ric-rac. Upon closer inspection, I’m not 100% sure that it’s ric-rac, and not some other trim sewn in a wave pattern. But nevertheless, it would certainly work in ric-rac, don’t you think?

I’ve always thought ric-rac looked so cutesy, but this is actually quite elegant. The deep stormy blue color helps too. I just think this vine pattern is really amazing.

The original vintage dress was found on Ebay from the lovely Mill Street Vintage.

I found this dress at one of my favorite vintage shops, Dear Golden. I’ll admit that the color isn’t for me (and I adore pink), but those pockets!

I’m completely enamored with the stitched bows. I captured a close up shot for you. I’m not an embroidery expert, but it looks to me like some kind of heavy coarse thread. I suppose you’d stitch the outline of the bow, then fill it in with the loops. Very very pretty.

What are sewing blogs for if not to share our triumphs and tribulations? If you follow my personal blog, you may have seen a skirt (pictured above) I made back in April 2009. It was a simple A-line shape made in red poly-cotton twill. I carefully cut out some shapes from scraps of my mum’s curtains and applied them to the skirt with a zigzag stitch. A simple and effective way to turn a ‘meh’ garment into a ‘wow’ garment I thought. Job done.

Except that was not the end of the story. These lace panels soon began to rip after a couple of wears, even before I considered laundering the skirt. As the rips got worse, I eventually had to come out of the self-denial that it still looked ok. I really did love this skirt and the acceptance came only after a polite and timely observational remark from my boyfriend! The only thing to do was to unpick them and apply a different form of decoration. I was pretty gutted as I loved the effect of the delicate silhouetted shapes against strong background. Recently I have been day-dreaming of trying something similar again. However, I refuse to be burnt a second time! This time I’m on the hunt for lace appliqués that should stand up to both wear and washing better than my DIY version did. Let me share with you some of the most special lace appliqués you can pick up on etsy:

Imagine this cute pair of hearts applied to the shoulders of a jacket or blouse, on patch pockets or even the curved yoke of the Ceylon dress.

How stunning would this neck piece look on the simplest navy or black shift dress?

For something even more whimsical, these black butterflies would look enchanting fluttering across a dress such as the Eclair or Chantilly made in a pale shade.

I’m not too sure quite what I would do with these incredible cream medallions, but I think it would involve red.

Once again, I think this bouquet applique would work best of the world’s least fussy dress to avoid any residual bridal vibe.

And last but not least, my own personal favourite, love birds! Have fun with these, fellow sewers, but please leave one of the sets of birds for me! How would you use this type of decoration?

Pictures is a collection of photographs by Tim Walker, perhaps my favorite modern fashion photographer. It’s a large tome that includes a huge array of his brilliant work and, perhaps even more fascinating, glimpses into his artistic process.

Readers of British Vogue are, I’m sure, familiar with Tim Walker’s work. His photo are distinctly romantic and striking, often making use of outdoor locations or big elaborate sets. What I love best about his work is that each photo seems to capture a certain theatricality, like a tiny play condensed into a single moment. They’re unapologetically staged and totally unreal, but the characters he creates are so compelling. That seems to me the heart of fashion, in a way.

I also loved looking into his sketchbooks and seeing the formulations of ideas and inspiration.

I had a hard time picking my favorites as I flipped through the book, so here are a whole bunch.

{ Tim Walker Pictures on Amazon }

I just came across this really pretty dress on Etsy. I really love vintage dresses like this: simple, but with eye-catching details. This dress even has pockets!

Alas, it is a bit small for me, but take a look at that neckline for inspiration! It looks like two rows of fabric-covered cording are appliqued at the neckline and armholes, forming that lovely geometric pattern. Adorable! You could definitely add something like this to a dress you’re making, or even an existing simple dress!