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.

Valentine's day

Valentine's day is coming up fast and this year is a leap year.  Tradition says that on a leap year the lady can ask her lover or boyfriend to marry her, but must wear a red petticoat when she does this.  I plan to make a few red petticoats to list in my Etsy shop for the ladies out there planning to pop the question this year.  If you would like a pettycoat made for you.  Go to my etsy shop www.etsy.com/shops/pettycoatjane and convo me with your size and whether you want a 50's style net petticoat or the traditional red Flannel style petticoat.  The price of the petticoats is around £20

Prom Shoes

Today I am trying to sort out a problem.  First I will give the background:-
My daughter had a very definite idea of what she wanted her prom shoes to look like.  We went to London and trudged around the shops even a great shop in Carnaby Street which had some wild and wonderful shoes, but they were not quite right.  We ended up in Harrods and there were some shoes at half price there, but not in her size.
I suggested that she design and make her own.  She has designed them, we have found the shoe to use as a base and have mirrors, gems and chains to decorate them with.  The problem is sticking the mirrors and gems to the shoes.  My daughter has said no to Evostick because it is yellowy coloured when it has dried and super glue did not work.
I need advice.  If anyone reads this and has any ideas or experiences to share, please post them here.

Prom

Wow! I did not know prom was such a big deal.  My daughter has decided that she wants to make her own dress.  Having seen the price of prom dresses I am really pleased about this.   She will design it and I will find the patterns that will enable us to make.  It will be a great mother daughter project.
Prom seems almost like a wedding apparently you need to have hair, make-up and nails all done and looking perfect.  There was nothing like this when I was in high school.  Times are a changing.
After Christmas I will make up a couple of prom dresses to put in my Etsy Shop - Pettycoatjane.

Pettycoat Jane

I have decided I need to take control at home.  As I work full-time I need more help around the house and then I will get time to do the things I love eg. making retro clothes.  I need a new wardrobe and want some good quality clothes for a change that I don't have to sew up the seams of after a few times of wearing them.
Here is a nightdress and robe that I made recently. It is a copy of one that my mum bought me for my honeymoon in 1986.

This is like one I made for myself when I went into hospital recently.   It did the trick.  It made me feel better and everyone loved it.  I wanted to see if there was a market in making these nightdresses for others.  It is for sale on my Etsy Shop www.etsy.com/shop/pettycash

Taking Control

Life is uncertain these days.  I have 2 jobs.  One working for Romany Theatre Company as Project Co-Ordinator and one for ICVS as Membership and Office Administrator, but neither are safe.  Both are working in the charity sector so we are reliant on funding and grants which are harder and harder to win these days.  I have decided not to leave it in the hands of fate and have started my etsy shop - Pettycoatjane.  If you have seen my shop you will know that my aim is to make clothes and sell them.  At the moment due to a lack of time I am selling vintage clothes.
Somehow, I don't seem to find time to sew much.  First I have to fight for space with everyone else in my family.  I need a whole table to cut the pattern out from the fabric.
Then there are the time constraints and family demands - All the fun of motherhood.
Having said this.  I have taken the first steps to taking control of my life.

How It All Started...

With the prospect of going into hospital to have a major operation looming, I went to a leaving do for my colleague at Romany Theatre Company, Daniela.  As we all sat talking about the end of the project we were working on we all discussed what we would do next.  When it came to my turn, I said I would like to make my hobby of making retro clothes from vintage patterns into a business.  This is something that I had never really thought about seriously before, but often thought of in an 'Oh wouldn't it be nice if' sense.
I have no formal sewing or design training and felt this idea would always remain a pipe dream.

Daniela mentioned Etsy as a means of starting up a business and it got me thinking.  I decided that whilst recuperating I could start to set up a little business on Etsy and see where this takes me.

The Operation took place at the end of June and at the beginning of July I started to make my plans a reality and opened my Etsy Shop with just 4 items.  Over the next couple of weeks I researched shop policies and wrote my own.

Week 3 and I am now allowed to do more walking, so Hubby took me to a Carboot Sale where I purchased some vintage clothes for my shop.  I also found a great charity shop locally that had some nice vintage items including a tennis dress which I bought.  I cleaned the best bits that I bought and listed them.  As I listed, I discovered a tiny label in the tennis dress in the shoulder which said Teddy Tinling.  This became my first Etsy sale and it sold with 24 hours of being listed. Carboot Sales have proved a good place to find stock and I have been to a few more since then and got more stock

The idea for my shop was that I would make vintage clothes and sell these, but this has proved troublesome.  The problem is that everyone wants to use the dining room table.  So sewing time is limited.  Therefore my shop which is supposed to sell things I have made and a few genuine vintage items has become a shop selling vintage items with a few things I have made. Therefore my next job is to re-write my profile for my shop to reflect this.

To see my shop you can go to www.etsy.com/shop/pettycoatjane

Yes I know it is spelt wrong.  Spelling was never my strong point.  I have found that I cannot change the name though and I have started using this name on my Etsy shop. I am worried that I will have to start all over again if I change it. I can't decide what to do for the best.  My shop has now been open for 2 months.  The clothes I make are under the label of Petticoat Jane.  I would appreciate people's comments on what they think would be the best thing for me to do. To continue as I am with a shop called Pettycoatjane and a label called Petticoat Jane or to open a new shop called Petticoat Jane so it ties up with my Brand?