It has been a while

It has been quite some time since I last blogged.  So much has happened.  The company I work part-time for merged to form a new organisation called Community Action Suffolk and we have been undergoing a re-structure. The management team has been in place for a couple of months now and as of this week staff are all in place so we now start the exciting phase of stepping forward and making this seed of an organisation grow.
All this excitement in my work life has meant that I have not had much time for sewing, so this has been put on hold a bit.
One high light back in the spring was being commissioned to make an Edwardian skirt for a lady who was going to the Beamish Museum with her vintage bicycle group and needed an an Edwardian skirt she could cycle around the museum all day in.  My skirt made the front cover of their cycle club magazine - The Veteran Cycle Club

And last week I filled an order for custom made petticoat for a lady who is having a Gold and Navy themed wedding.

I am hoping to get some more sewing done and create some new stock for my Etsy shop in the next few weeks - watch this space...

What will you wear on Christmas Day?

I have found myself thinking at last about myself this Christmas and what do I have to wear?  Back in days gone by, when my children were small I would have worn jeans, but I want to get back to who I am again.  I used to love making my own clothes, but was not able to find the time when my children were small.  I also love vintage clothes and have a huge collection of vintage patterns, so...

The Christmas present shopping is nearly finished.
The tree and decoration are up.
Food is planned and I will be getting in the food shop this weekend.
It is also my birthday soon.

I think I need something new.  I found some great Italian wool mix fabric on Ebay in red with small coloured bubbles all over it.  I plan to make a skirt for Christmas day and to wear at my birthday dinner this weekend.  I have a pattern from the 1950s which is flared / full circle style skirt.  The only thing is I don't have a zipper the right colour, so I think I will use poppers instead.

I hope I find the time to make the skirt.

Petticoat Jane and FrannB Designs

My daughter joined my petticoatjane shop www.etsy.com/shop/petticoatjane selling her unique designs. She has hand printed slogan t-shirts and dress with a hand printed skirt for sale. The hand printed skirt was made using leaves and plants from the garden. All made under her own logo FrannB Designs.  Why not check them all out or if you have a slogan you want on a t-shirt contact me via my etsy shop.


I have also sold the Swears & Wells Sailor Top in the last week from Petticoat Jane Vintage www.etsy.com/shop/petticoatjanevintage. I would still love to find out more about it though if anyone knows anything please leave me a comment.

What is the history behind these clothes?

Sometimes, you find vintage clothes and just long to know more about them.  This is what happened when I found this great sailors shirt and trousers.  These obviously have some age to them, They are by Swears & Wells. The buttons of the trousers have Swears & Wells stamped onto them.  The collar of the shirt is detachable The second picture shows the label inside the sailor top and the third some old Swears and Wells labels I found on the internet.  Apparently according to these labels they were an outfitters who produced girls and boys school uniform.  I have been wondering if this is a school uniform, but have not been able to find anything out on the internet or maybe Sea Scouts.  

This second sailor top that has 4-6 hand written inside and has a label with a crest and the words Nelson, Portsmouth in it.  This is in the same colours as the Swears & Wells shirt, but the second top (see fourth photo) does not have a detatchable colour.  Nelson Portsmouth also does not bring up anything on an internet search.  If anyone knows anything or has any information that would be fantastic.  The Nelson Portsmouth label is in the last photo.

The stitching on both these look to have been done on a hand sewing machine and they have been hand finished as the trimming is hand sewn.

I would love to be able to trace the history of these 2 uniforms.

The hotest day so far this year and I think I am losing my touch. I went to a carboot sale this morning and it was too hot to shop. I love hunting through all the stuff people have cleared out looking for that bargain, but not today. I did get some new fabric off a stall who has rolls upholstery fabric and 4 rolls of liberty print cottons. He wanted £4 a metre. My daughter and I chose 3 and discovered that he did not have a tape measure. He unwrapped the roll about 4 or 5 times and said that was a metre. I was not convinced, but my daughter doesn't like it when I complain so I help my tongue. Then proceeded to cut it with the bluntest sheers I have ever seen. My kids had sharper plastic scissors for paper when they were little. The guy would have been better off starting the cut and then ripping the fabric; it was painful watching him trying to use the scissors. When we got home I checked it by holding one end and stretching it across my chest and the piece we bought that was supposed to be 1 metre measured 1 yard on one side and just short of a metre on the other. My son got a tape measure out as he doesn't like my guestimate methods and I measured 36 inches on one side and 97 cm on the other. Mum's guestimate wins again;)He then decided to check all the others too. Despite the dodgy cutting and the guys obvious lack of metrication in his optical estimate measuring, I think we did ok. If I hadn't been so hot I think I would have spoken up and haggled more over the length of a metre and because of his lack of cutting skills. I probably won't get to use much myself as my daughter has plans for 2 pieces of the fabric. I will definitely get a blouse out of it though. I have a great wartime pattern that promises you can a blouse out of 1 yard of fabric. So I am off out into the garden on this wonderful hot and sunny British summers afternoon to start cutting out with proper sharp dressmakers scissors.

The Prom Dress Fiasco

Wow! After a very stressful day my daughter looks stunning. Today is prom day and the dress she designed and wanted to make was not finished; it needed flowers to be sewn to the train and the lace skirt trimmed to the correct length at the front. I had to work in the morning and half way through I got a panicky phone call - It had all gone wrong. The front of the dress was ruined and the lace was all cut wrong. I suggested added in the scalloped edged of the lace to hem at the front of the dress then no-one would know that anything had gone wrong. She was distraught, so I said that she was to leave it until I got home and I would fix it - no problem. I left work and arrived home at 1.30pm. There were three and a half hours to go before she had to go for prom photos. I carried out my suggestion and the remaining flowers were sewn to the front and all was finished with half an hour to spare to do her nails. Here is the dress.... In the morning she was talking of not going because everything went wrong, but thanks to mum's rescue plan, it all came out right and she had a great time.

Snow Time

The snow is here and my home made designer winter coat is falling to pieces. This is not good timing. It will take a while to take it to pieces to repair the detail and put in a new lining, which is what it needs. The actual fabric of the the coat is fine. My solution is to create a new coat. I am using a 1940’s pattern and some home spun Scottish fabric in green and grey checks. It will look great. I only hope it is going to be big enough for me as although I have made it bigger than the original, it still looks like it may be a tad tight. I will use the new coat once it is finished whilst I will take my old coat to pieces and rebuild it. Once my old coat is finished; new ribbons are sewn up the seams and the new lining is put in, then the 1940’s repro coat can be sold on Etsy in my shop Pettycoatjane.