Peach Moiré and Black Lace, Burdastyle Bustier

Ok, before we begin can I say that, even the title of this post is WAY out of my comfort zone, both in sewing terms and personal clothing style!  Firstly black lace and peach satin do not feature as a rule in my every day or even occasional wardrobe.  Secondly I don't think I've every owned or wanted to wear a bustier.  Until now.  

Stylistically speaking, I left behind baring my midriff to the world several years ago before I had two children (ok let's be honest, it was probably a good few years before that even) and though I'll very happily wear a cropped top with the right outfit, the idea of a 'bustier' is nowadays designated very definitely in my mind as underwear and not outerwear.  Or fancy dress.  And then came along a tiny scrap of pale peach coloured, vintage satin moiré that I picked up as part of a mixed bag from a charity shop haul.  I would never have purchased this kind of fabric deliberately, but that's the great thing about having a bit of a lucky dip into a thrift shop or jumble sale heap.  So having made its way to my stash, it grabbed my attention and made me want to experiment with its shiny, shimmery loveliness.  I mean where do you even see moiré on garments these days?  So redolent of vintage evening wear and yet so resigned to the history books, hardly ever reinvented.  Whilst I was wondering what to do with it, Burdastyle magazine (June 2016) had just come out and provided lots of inspiration for summer sewing.  The limited amount of fabric I had suggested the bustier, pattern 114, as a realistic option and the 'underwear as outerwear' vibe seemed to chime with the peachy satin.  

I've been toying with the idea of making up some lingerie, perhaps starting with something such as a slip or camisole as a first project.  I have a Tilly and the Buttons Fifi set of came and shorts waiting to be made up and in addition having purchased the latest Great British Sewing Bee book 'From Stitch to Style' (on amazon for an amazing reduction to £9.99 at the moment, which is basically the equivalent to what you'd probably pay for most patterns if you were buying individually) and I have been seriously considering having a go at the bra pattern.  I've never attempted anything like this before and would definitely classify a bra as 'scary fiddly sewing that's out of my league'.  The bustier seemed like a good place to start, having some of the elements of cup shaping, measuring and fitting, but with my fabric that cost next to nothing it could be made up as an experiment or toile.

The pattern recommends the use of bias tape to reinforce the neck edge first of all, but as the moire has quite a bit of body I chose not to, but I did stay stitch all the armhole and neck edges to be sure they didn't stretch.  

The front sections require you to sew a neat corner in the joining seam line, sewing half way along, clipping right to the stitching and then turning the fabric piece ninety degrees and continuing at a right angle.  This creates the bust shaping.  It's crucial that you get a perfect direction change and neatly joining rows of stitches when sewing this bit or else when you turn the fabric piece around half way through, you get a bubble right on the bust point.  I did the first one absolutely perfectly and then fluffed the second one!  You can see here where the stitches done quite meet properly and a bubble has appeared.  Most unflattering.  I unpicked and restitched it so that it lies completely smooth.

This garment is required to be fully lined and so I chose some quite substantial, good quality cream satin lining left over from my trench coat for a really luxurious finish on the inside.  I also plan to wear this bustier without a bra, so both the main fabric along with a substantial lining provides some supportive structure.  

The lining is made up in the same way as the main fabric pieces, then matched to the main garment with right sides facing, sewn along the armholes and neckline, and then turned right side out again.  The photo above is of the back section, where  you can see I had to cut the centre back with a centre seam, as there wasn't enough satin lining to cut it on the fold.  You can see below also where I used the iron on too hot a setting, which wrinkled the lining slightly.  A scary moment as having used every scrap, I couldn't have cut out another.  This whole project was running on fabric fumes actually!  

As with most Burdastyle instructions, they are minimal and have no diagrams, which for me requires a rather 'glance and go' approach.  I'm quite a visual person and am still getting used to not panicking and having a crack at patterns that assume a certain degree of sewing skill, and so after getting confused with some of the construction order as described, I did find it a lot easier just to ignore the instructions and go by instinct.  For this garment at least it's pretty easy to see how it all fits together.  This also allowed me to go about adding the alternative closure and various design details as required along the way.

The limited main fabric meant that I cut very minimal seam allowances in some areas, particularly the length of the bottom bands.  It turned out that actually I did need to have more ease than I expected here in order to be comfortable (and to actually breathe) as I have quite a barrel shaped chest that flares out quite a bit over the ribs.  I hadn't accounted for this in my measurements unfortunately.  So with no seam allowance to use up, the solution I came up with was to place the closure at the very edge of the side seam, then add a joining strip of wide grosgrain ribbon over the closure to neaten it.  This gave me an extra half inch or so breathing space overall.

I planned all along to modify the pattern by including a deeper band at the bottom edge, for which I chose some exceptionally lovely vintage black lace. This is providing a little more coverage lower down, but remains partly transparent to keep the cropped, bustier look.  I was lucky to inherit several boxes of beautiful lace ribbon, trim and handmade pieces from my Grandma, but have not often had an opportunity to use them.  My Grandma was given them many years ago by a friend who I believe worked in the lacemaking industry.  Which is fascinating as this was years and years ago before I moved to Nottingham to live, where lace making has played a major role as one of the key industries during the last century.  I lived for a while in an historic, converted lace factory when I first moved to the city and have since learned a lot about the history and skill of lacemaking.  I must get round to a blog post about lace, and unpack those boxes of treasures to look at them properly one day.

I chose to bring the black element through into the bodice with the addition of two bands of ribbon, one slim satin ribbon at the front and another of wider grosgrain at the back.  Both are secured in the side seams and then hand sewn using a subtly decorative single row of pick stitch along the length.  

This seemed the best way of going about attaching the ribbon on a two-way curved area, as if I'd stitched both top and bottom lengths using the machine, it is likely that there would have been puckers along the way as the straight grain ribbon tries to make its way around my circumference and to follow the upward curves along the bust edge seam.  Then the lace flowers, cut from the same trim as the bottom band, were hand appliquéd to the bodice.

I chose to use a row of hooks for the side closure, similar to a bra fastening, rather than the recommended zip.  One thing you should consider with this pattern is that it calls for a 6 1/2 inch open ended zip, which are hard to find and certainly not available as a standard size stocked by most haberdashers.  There are online haberdashers that will make bespoke zips for you to your requirements, but these are likely to be more expensive and require a bit of research if you want a particular colour etc, so be aware and plan to order before you start making.  These hooks are on a pre-made backing purchased by length and feel secure when fastened, if a little tricky to do up/undo myself.  There's no doubt the zip option would have probably been more practical here.

I do like this pattern very much now I've tried it out.  It is well designed, the attention to detail is all there and the finish both inside and out is very good.  I did a fair amount of fussing and finagling with my version, but only because I deliberately went a 'off piste' with the construction and embellishment, but I loved making this unusual piece. The grain lines and water like ripples really react to the light, satisfying my magpie's eye and attraction to all things bright and shiny.  

I think the black lace and grosgrain bring a contemporary element to the look and the hand stitched embellishment gives the detail and finish of a couture piece.  To peek through from underneath a tailored blazer, this has just enough impact to look interesting without making me feel too exposed around the middle.  I think I will need to get used to the idea of wearing it without something layered over the top, but the key will be to keep everything else simple and even slightly on the masculine side, such as with a pair of higher waisted, peg leg or tuxedo trousers.  Perhaps with the addition of some low lighting and a little 'dutch courage' provided by my favourite cocktail bar, I might be persuaded to bring the bustier from underwear to outerwear, and let it shine.

Back in the Jungle - Palm Print CropTop

Well this turned out to be a bit of a drama.  A tropical storm in a tank top.  I actually thought this would never make it as far as a finished piece of clothing, let alone onto the blog, but after some serious salvage work it was resuscitated and here we are.  I've been wearing it this week in the lovely warm weather and have grown to forgive it's defects and to like it again.  But oh the issues this little top seemed to develop along the way - I've made much more complex garments with far less fuss!  It's always those deceptively simple looking pieces that end up causing the most problems sometimes. More about the drama later.

Recognise this fabric again?  I had enough tropical palm print viscose left from the Heatwave Ahoy dress to make something small and, as I absolutely love the print with it's sweeping leaves and blue hibiscus flowers, I thought it would be nice to have this little top in my wardrobe too.  And as the temperatures ramped up this weekend (hurray for the arrival of June!), I thought it would be a perfect little top to throw on with jeans or shorts, when I don't want to go into full 'head to toe print' dress mode.  

So this top started when I picked up the summer Burda magazine last month (issue June 2016) for the first time in ages.  It has quite a few exciting summer styles on offer this issue and in particular some lovely looking shift dresses and little summer tops with nice detailing.   I really love the styling in this issue and there are not the ubiquitous maxi-dresses (lovely but not for me) but some gorgeous little tops, shorts and even a sharp jacket.  Tracing the patterns always seemed such a bore after using paper patterns for quite a while, but actually I'd forgotten that it's a nice job in itself if not rushed through.

I thought I'd get back into planning, tracing and cutting with this 'easy' little crop top (ha ha! hollow laugh), number 107 in the nested sheet.  The jungle print spoke to me straight away and I reckoned I could squeeze this garment out of leftover fabric that would otherwise have been thrown back in the stash.

The fabric has great drape and just enough opacity so it didn't need lining.  I lengthened the measurements of the top by a generous two and a half inches at the hem to take it down from a super-cropped style to landing just on the hip.  The trousers and shorts I'l be wearing this with over summer have a slightly low rise waist a couple of inches below my natural waistline, and so I wouldn't be happy with the cropped length prescribed by the actual pattern.  That would be leaving too much midriff out in the open for me.  Let me tell you, this would be VERY SHORT indeed if you went by the pattern measurements so I advise checking where you want the hemline to be and then adjusting the pattern accordingly before you cut into your fabric.  The pattern recommends that you add up to 8 inches for a top with plenty of coverage.  You can see on the above photos, how the lengthened bottom hemline still only just skims the waistband of these joggers, which is just right.

One thing Burda designs do offer is really nice sewing detail and interesting construction lines and with this top they are focused around the front diagonal panels and on the neckline.  The top is constructed with three panels at the front, giving a really nice shape.

The front and back shoulder sections are bound at the arm edges and then overlap each other in opposing directions.  Nice.  It is also super friendly to bra straps and the way the shoulder sections lie gives plenty of coverage in the right places for wearing an ordinary bra.  Great.

Now at this point, while we're focusing on some close ups of the neckline, I should say that this actually looks nothing like it should have done, and herein lies the problem.  Feel free to skip down to the photos if you don't want to hear the rant, but if you're planning to make this top you might want to read on. I cut the neckband section as prescribed, which is basically sewn together in three sections as you'd expect, one front section and two back.  There are two identical bands, an inner band and outer band.  The intended construction method is that you sew the outer band to the neckline of the top, then sew the inner band to the outer band, fold it to the inside and secure with topstitching.  So far so easy.  Not.  

Firstly there was no way the back sections were long enough to go all the way around to the back closure and so after checking and re-checking the pattern to make sure I'd used the right bits, re-pinning and stretching it out etc, I ended up re-cutting the pieces again two inches longer.  Then the band fitted around ok, but the next issue was making it lie flat.  It looked fine at the front and back, but simply would not lie flat over the shoulder sections.  No amount of pressing, stretching and clipping of curves would work, it simply stuck out at a weird angle, or puckered up around the curve. Yuk.

I ripped it off, trimmed it down to a narrower width and basted it back on to no good effect.  I interfaced it to give the whole thing more structure, but that didn't work either, so I ripped that out and trimmed it down more.  Eventually I recut the whole neckband sections again both on the bias and the straight grain to see which looked better, but as I'd pretty much trimmed away as much as I could from the neckline and as I'd also clipped the curves too, I was in danger of leaving no more seam allowance to play with.  

So in the end I gave up and bias bound the neck the same as the armhole sections and topstitched it down to trap inside all those poor hacked raw edges.

Bingo!  Sorted.  There was absolutely no way that neck band was going to work and I still don't really know why.  But the bias binding looks fine, it's in-keeping with the way the arm hole is finished and most importantly it lies flat.  

But that caused another issue, because by this point I'd really stretched out the back sections at the neck edges.  I only noticed this when I tried the top on and as you can see here the button closure has a tendency to droop down at the back.

Looking more closely at the back neck, you can see where the fabric has slightly stretched, and this is a salutary lesson in always stay-stitching the edges of your fabric if using something that has a tendency to lose it's shape while you handle it.  

As luck would have it, my mum was staying with me over the weekend, and as an experienced seamstress she diagnosed the problem immediately.  She also suggested a possible solution, or at least a fix to lessen the droop, by putting in two horizontal darts just underneath the neck binding to bring the back of the neck back down a little.  I had a go, and this is the result.

It is very much better than it was, although there is still not perfect.  Fortunately with the busy pattern, and the stitching line being in the ditch of the binding, you can't see the little darts underneath either side of the closure at all.

All in all, what should have been a quick little top to inject some summer fun into my wardrobe ended up being something of a hot fuss and took a LOT longer than I thought it would.  It was one of those situations though where persistence paid off though, because let me tell you if I'd left it alone and got fed up with trying to fix the issues, it would quite honestly have stayed on my 'do finish' pile for ever and ever.  I would never have bothered to go back.  However I'm pleased that I managed to persevere because it does pretty much look as I'd hoped it would and now fully in summer wardrobe circulation.  Phew!

Khaki Cropped Trousers and a Love Sewing Mag Star Make!

It's been a busy week with a couple of great sewing hits! Here's the first success, a new pair of summer trousers in khaki green cotton.  Cut, sewn and straight into circulation hot off the machine.  They were off to work meetings shortly after this picture was taken, so a smart and sober ensemble for you here.

I've already made these exact same trousers in blue here, and as they are such a great fit it was only a matter of time before they were reproduced.  I love some of the khakis on the high street just now as it is a colour that can be dressed down, or dressed up.  It is a colour that can work with brights or look chic with sober neutrals. So I scooped up a metre and a half of plain cotton poplin from my local market at lunchtime, along with matching thread, and onto the top of the project pile it went.

Of course back in March when I made the first ones, I had a to take a deep breath, grit my teeth and brave the weather in order to bare even a few inches of ankle.  But now we're in balmier months these should see plenty of wear.  Of course the forecast today is a 'high' of 10 degrees and rain, but what the heck, I'm wearing them anyway.  

There's not much more to say about the pattern itself than I have already done back in the last post (see here for pattern details and more about construction).  With the first pair I made, I cut a size 12 and was prepared to let out the seams if necessary as this is a slightly dropped waist that sits below my natural waistline. I always find a 12 to be rather tight on the hips in this style if I get the legs narrow enough, or if the waistline is right then the legs are baggy and too big.  I've adjusted this waist:leg ratio to perfection now with this pattern.  

After much dithering about with various button colours and styles, I decided to choose plain black ones.  Very unlike me!  But I wanted the trousers to be quiet and versatile and not have shouty embellishments this time. Nice, well behaved buttons they are.

The cotton poplin is a tiny bit creasy for trousers.  However it is also really lightweight and summery, as well as being very iron-friendly, so I don't might a bit of late-in-the-day crumple.  I should say, the above photo was taken before I'd ironed that waistband down properly and got rid of those pesky wrinkles.

I had a black zip of the right-ish length, chosen from the various sizes/colours/ages in my zip collection.  The pattern actually asks you to insert a longer zip than you need, and then cut the bottom section off.  So I could have used up any roughly long enough zip of the right colour.  The fly construction does a great job of concealing the zip although for some reason when I was sewing this one in, I didn't managed to get it quite as far behind the fly as the first attempt, possibly because the zip itself was much narrower than most of the others I've used.  (For my blue version of these trousers, I was testing the pattern and so used a very non-matchy beige zip of roughly the right length from my stash.  It is really well hidden and is only when doing something particularly athletic that you can see a glimpse of it!).  I'm not too worried about this one, it is reasonably well concealed apart from the tiny black zip-pull at the top.  

It's lovely to have a tried and tested garment that really fits well and that can be sewn together quickly and easily.  It's also pretty much become a wardrobe stable, so I might even make a pair in black!  How practical am I being just now eh?!  Don't worry though, it can only be a matter of time before you see me prancing around in a pair of eye-achingly bright or busy patterned ones.

But for now, a very wardrobe-friendly khaki set of trews is suiting me just fine.  And a good chance to show off my slightly less sensible new leopard loafers. Grrrr!

Onto the second success of the week and that is, my Colour Block Top made back in March, which was chosen to be Star Make by Love Sewing Magazine this month!  Go me!  I am extremely proud to be in print and delighted to have won a fabric bundle to play around with.  I'm especially pleased as it's a top I wear regularly and so I would also classify it as a 'star make' of my own.

Right, off to defy the weather forecast in my new trousers and shoes.  By pure will and sewing power alone I will banish the rain and summon the Summer.

Can I take your orders? Table Top to Crop Top

In the last post, I wrote about having purchased an old cotton tablecloth from a charity shop with the intention of turning it into something else, possibly using it as a wearable toile to test a shirt pattern.  Charity shops are a great source of fabric for experimenting with for low cost. Well here it is.  Can you imagine its original, humble form?  Those workaday, dishcloth hues are a bit of a giveaway once you know!

The tablecloth was part of a charity shop, scrap fabric haul that I purchased for £2.50 (that was for all the fabric I could stuff in a carrier bag); and this was a basically white square of fairly loose weave cotton/linen type fabric measuring just over a metre.  It has a pastel coloured check design woven through in pink, yellow and blue with a wide panel around the edge. I knew when I saw it that this well worn table covering would look and feel great as a summer shirt.  There was no doubt that this modest table dressing had seen better days though, perhaps having served some hard time in a cafe or as a picnic cloth.  I had to cut carefully around some worn through patches and unravelling threads.  But you simply cannot purchase by the metre the kind of fabric that has the patina of years of washing and wearing, leaving behind such a super-soft texture. 

I used Simplicity 8090 for the pattern, zoning in on view D (the left hand photo on the pattern sleeve below) as it offers a shirt-type, pull on cropped top that can be squeezed out of absolutely minimal fabric .  I cut a size 12 in view D after doing some quick body measurements. The top is actually a faux-shirt, in that it has no front opening placket at all, just a v neckline with a closed front seam.  It has an collarless neckline and an interesting deeply angled seam on either side-front.  You can if you wish add decorative front buttons to make a more convincing shirt-like look, although I've chosen not to add buttons for now.

The sleeves were supposed to be elbow skimming, but as you can see I was eeking them out of extremely limited remaining inches of fabric, and so I ended up with a slightly shorter version.  I did try to think a bit creatively about where the coloured panel of the table cloth edges would lie on the finished garment, and I'm quite pleased with the result, even though the options for fitting the pattern pieces on the cloth were fairly few.

One of the issues with a well worn piece of woven fabric like this, is that is has warped quite considerably, probably due to frequent hot washing, with the check pattern now somewhat uneven.  I cut the back section on the fold from the centre of the cloth rather than cutting two pieces (I didn't want a centre back seam as instructed by the pattern). Partly this was to save a couple of inches of seam allowance and partly because the top doesn't really need a centre back seam, unless you're introducing the centre back tab as one of the design details.  Again I left this tab detail off, as I was looking for a minimal finish.

The wandering weave is clearly visible in some places and required some careful lining up at the centre front especially.  Eagle eyes will notice more success in some places than others!  But its still better alignment than some off-the-peg garments I see.  I used the smaller pink and white squared check from the centre section of the cloth to form the larger back section of the shirt where no matching was required, and used the woven panel edge of the cloth for the front pieces.  These broader stripes at the centre-front add a nice design detail with the stripes running down and mirroring each other, bringing the colours to the fore.

There is a facing around the neck and down the front v shaped neck opening.  This is under stitched and then I loosely tacked it into into place at the end, stitching in the ditch on the seams to keep it from rolling inwards.  This makes for a nice clean edge to the neckline.

The sleeves went in very easily and the soft fabric moulded into shape well.

This fabric could easily take a little steam from the iron and a bit of heat for a neat sleeve head.  I think this cloth has been no stranger to a hot wash and press.  It has taken the heat, and stayed in the kitchen.  I'm quite pleased with the pattern alignment on the sleeve.

I love the design of this particular top, with one really deep dart at each side front section, and a swing back.  It is quite sticky-outy at the hemline when worn, even with this drapey fluid fabric.  A crisper more structured fabric would probably produce quite an architectural shape.  The dart in the front is a nice feature when cutting into the check.

The back is made entirely from the centre section of the cloth, making it a contrast to a more colourful front, with only the square check design.  Each square has a little waffle-like weave in the middle.  And if ever there was a piece of cloth with a back-story to tell, then I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when these threads were in their original use during breakfast, lunch or dinner.  What conversations took place over the years this was spread between hungry diners?

Especially as I think this particular species of tablecloth looks as though it might have been privy to less genteel, delicate chitter chatter and more hot gossip in a local caff, punctuated with ketchup and a strong, sweet cuppa!

If you remember back to the last blog post, I wrote the whole back story of this table cloth.  A friend and I had attended a high street fashion show which was brilliant fun and gave us a catwalk level view of some of the most popular styles of this spring/summer season. Some of the styles had been put together from vintage and second hand pieces as well as high street, high fashion and I have been becoming more and more interested in looking into where our clothes are made and how they are sourced, right from bolt of cloth to clothes hanger.  Now I know I could never give up my high street purchases.  But I love the fact that I can mix it up with up-cycled, redesigned and rediscovered clothes and fabric.

So despite being 'only' a wearable toile and an experiment to see what this pattern might look like, am in inordinately chuffed with this little top!  It is deliciously soft fabric that feels lovely and cool for summer days and the cute, cropped swing hemline is just right for high waisted jeans.  

Not too much chance of showing flesh unless I'm really stretching up high (not unheard of admittedly, especially when lifting the small adventurers up or down from trees, climbing frame etc). 

I think this also counts among the more practical and wardrobe friendly items I've made the year too. No retirement any time soon for this hard working cloth.

Catwalk VIP to Charity Shop Hop

When my friend Michelle asked a few weeks ago if I'd like to go 'VIP' to a fashion event, there was always only going to be one answer.  I've never been to a real live catwalk show before and although I've always taken a huge interest in what goes down the runways from the world of high fashion and couture, it's always been a you-tube experience for me, not being a celeb-style fashionista and all that.  

It was Nottingham Fashion Week, and there was a live catwalk event on Saturday, showcasing an edit of the high street looks right now, ranging from Primark to Jaeger, Whistles to H&M, open for a modest ticket price for anyone to attend and get a taste of the Anna Wintour experience.  There were also a couple of vintage and pre-loved items on show too from local shop, Braderie.  A real mix of styles for men and women included themes like nautical luxe, botanicals, think pink and monochrome, gave us a flavour of this season's popular looks.  There were some classic pieces too, including the ubiquitous wedding outfit inspiration ('tis the season after all for the wedding guest outfit quest) and a section showcasing boho looks and festival inspired styles.  Boho, gypsy style is not my bag I admit, (even so I thought one cropped, bottle green lace jumpsuit just looked just wrong on every level to me) but most interesting to me were the different ideas on styling.  

I loved this combo below.   Simple Breton stripes, bomber and narrow jeans for him.  Gorgeous pleated red midi skirt for her with a sports-luxe style cropped top and bomber.  With some tweaks (taking the quite so cropped top out of the equation) I already have a similar skirt that has been unworn and unloved for some time, so may be resurrecting it and blatantly copying this look.

Also these caught my eye.  Pleated satin pantaloons anyone?  Not sure what they are actually, (plus fours?  knickerbockers? breeches?) but I thought they looked really fresh and I could visualise them a bit more grown up with a little fitted jacket on the top, rather than denim.  

The jury might still be out though.  They might bring to mind a Vivienne Westwood 'pirate' punk vibe, but I'm willing to concede they may be veering more into Gem from Swashbucklers, children's tv presenter territory (for those who have CBeebies aged kids). I have no idea if I could even begin to make these, I mean where to start with pleated-all-over trousers?  But I'd be tempted to have a go.  Even if they ended up in the kids dressing up box.

So what did we do next?  Track down the best pieces in the high street shops for a retail splurge?  Raid the racks of contemporary pleated plus-fours?  No, we hit the charity shops.  Oh yes!  Thus inspired we had a happy afternoon nosing around the thrift shops in Hockey, Nottingham.  One of my favourite haunts for vintage and pre-loved clothes, there is always a good chance of finding real treasure here.  

Sue Ryder offer a whole dressmaking section of their large shop too, which is packed with vintage patterns, fabric, trimmings and sewing ephemera.  A whole haberdashery in itself, with buttons and ribbon, lace and thread, bolts and scraps of fabric as well as books for inspiration.  I could quite honestly have run amok here, for this reason alone.

A dangerous, trunk load of temptation indeed!  And more so because the shop assistant encouraged me to take as much as I could stuff in my bag.  I came away with £2.50 worth of an eclectic mix of quite large scraps, and also a few nice lengths of black cotton poplin and lining materials.  Some pale pink satin moire and 70's style printed cotton flannel also made their way into the swag bag. Most notable though was this huge length of what I am pretty sure is sari fabric in grey poly-mix.  I love the smokey shades and drape and although it is a bit damaged, there are at least 3 metres of it with a nice panel design on either end, so plenty to play with.

Another good find lurking in the trunk was an old, faded linen table cloth. Clearly having been washed a zillion times it has a lovely soft and worn-in feel to it.  If I can manage to squeeze a little summer top or shorts out of this former table cover I will be very happy.  More of that another time.

The second treasure that I unearthed was in Oxfam; this navy blue short sleeved shirt.  I'm not usually drawn to cute prints or novelty fabrics.  They look nice on other people, but they're just not my style.  This shirt with a mandarin collar and embroidered design came home with me for a whole three pounds sterling, and I love it.  It doesn't have label, apart from a small tape inside showing fabric content (rayon), but it has been nicely constructed and well cared for.  

I mean, who could resist a shirt with tiny, Chinese gymnasts on it, perfecting their poses in cross stitch?  Well not me.  There are even flying birds, splashing fish, temples and mountains in the embroidered design, mirrored perfectly on either side.  Sweet.

I think I was drawn to it partly because I was wearing my Chinese, panel print Rigel bomber jacket on the day.  (What was I saying about not wearing novelty fabrics?  Ok, clearly that's a big fat fib then so I take it back!)  I wore this bomber particularly to the fashion event as I wanted to show off something I had actually made, and to fly the flag for handmade garments and recycling fabric in a world of fast fashion.  There has been much talk recently in the online and offline fashion world about bringing more attention to where our clothes come from, who made them, what conditions are like for those people and where fabric is being sourced.  Fashion Revolution was asking people to question, back in April during their week long campaign to raise awareness, "who made my clothes?"  It's a good question.  Even for those of us that can say proudly "I did" for some of the time, it does prompt further enquiry into where fabric comes from and how it is made, dyed, shipped and sold on.

This little golden jacket was made over a year ago, was the first thing I ever blogged about that I'd made myself, and is constructed from a satin bed spread.  Don't get me wrong, I love the high street and don't think I could ever make from scratch my entire wardrobe.  But I absolutely support home-making, up-cycling, reusing and remaking as part of the every day mix.  

Now, pairing this with a breton stripe may be a pattern clash too far for some I accept, but a classic breton goes with anything right?  It seemed like a good idea at the time anyway, early in the day with the sun beams beaming and spring in the air.  That was before it dropped about 10 degrees and started snowing again by lunchtime.  Oh dear, clearly a bit of a wardrobe fail there on my part.

So altogether (blizzard conditions aside) a great fun and a very inspiring day, from catwalk to charity haul.  Ever made or re-designed something purchased from a charity shop?  I'd love to know!