TENERIFE 2016 PART 2

 

A favourite part of my holiday is visiting the market and buying something to remind me of our trip.  The market at Adeje is very busy and full of typical souvenir type products and there are several stalls selling sarongs. I go to a particular one run by 3 charming ladies who are very enthusiastic salesladies and buy a couple of sarongs every year. This year I chose a black patterned and a blue batik printed one.

 

I spent a happy afternoon designing a dress to make with my purchase and came up with 3 different ideas as you can see here.  My favourite is the one at the top and after spending a bit of time draping myself in the fabric I decided to go back and get a second one to make sure I had enough to make the long dress I had in mind.

 

The blue sarong has a nice border design which I will incorporate into the design of this tunic I will make.  It's very similar to a pink one I bought a couple of years ago which I wore when I visited the market this year to show the ladies.

 

Another idea was to copy a dress I bought in Corsica a few years ago but I prefer the other design I came up with later.

 

Here's a drawing of one of my previous sarong frocks from 2014.

 

And this sundress has become one of my summer standbys for hot sunny days, although I made it from a purply blue sarong and this orange turned into another dress with short sleeves.  The ladies on the stall were delighted when they saw all my creations.

I'll be back in a few days to carry on showing you my drawings of the hotel and surroundings.

FAVOURITE FROCKS PART 4

 

In 1972 Bob and I got married at Reigate register office and I designed a dress especially for the occasion.  At the time there was not a lot of choice in dress fabrics and I was very keen on using furnishing fabrics for clothes so when I found this fabulous red brocade  I bought plenty to be sure of having enough.  In fact there was so much left over I made a tablecloth out of which lasted for a long time, and generating a lot of teasing from the girls that I got married in a tablecloth!

 

Do you remember the fashion for flared trousers?  I made my own with extremely wide bottoms which flapped a lot when I walked but a girl has to wear what's in doesn't she!  The lapels on my blazer were as wide as the shoulders too, quite over the top by today's standards.

 

The gipsy skirt was a favourite for a long time as it was so easy to make with strips of fabric gathered onto the next layer and a good way to use up odds and ends for the girls too.

 

I still had a love affair with jumpsuits and this one was a bit of a head turner in it's bright colours, especially when I wore it with my bright pink leather jacket or a short white one I bought on holiday in Majorca.  I had a gorgeous pair of pink shoes with a matching belt which I wore a lot too.

 

Every year Bob and I took a week's holiday on our own while the girls stayed with their granny and we toured the south of France a few times.  On one of these trips I came across a little boutique in Juan les Pins selling knitwear which inspired me to knit this little top in cotton ribbon.  I also bought a chunky necklace that I still wear occasionally.

 

After starting work as a telesales girl for a local food supply firm I got promoted to sales rep and soon had to smarten up my wardrobe when I moved on to work for a finance company.  I made all my suits at the time and must have saved a fortune on the cost of buying ready made.

 

The finance company I worked for held their annual conference at a large training centre over 3 days and it was a challenge every year to make a complete set of clothes to wear for day as well as evening.  This top and skirt was an all time favourite in a fine wool fabric I bought in Liberty of London and I still have the skirt now re-modelled in a flattering flared style.

 

One year there was a formal gala dinner to celebrate a record year and we were told to make a special effort, all the men had to wear bow ties and posh suits and we girls all looked amazing in our sparkly shiny frocks!

Well that's it for now, we're off on holiday next weekend so I'll be drawing some different things for a while but I will be back to continue this series until I get right up to date.

A bientot!

FAVOURITE FROCKS PART 3

 

 

 

I moved back home to my Mum's house with the girls in May 1970 and spent a couple of months staying in and trying to get my life back together.  One evening I decided to go out and put on this outfit in what is still my favourite colour combination.  By sheer chance I bumped into some old school friends and was taken to a pub where I met a new group of people, one of whom was Bob.

 

 

I wore this outfit to the first party I went to with Bob soon after we met and he even remembers it from time to time. I had kept myself occupied with the crochet work in the weeks before after leaving my first husband.

 

By Christmas in 1970 we were a couple and I made this special evening dress for the dinner dance Bob had organised for his rugby club.  The fabric was a lovely heavy crepe that hung beautifully and I even dyed some shoes to match.

 

Of course  having two daughters was wonderful for me, being able to make their frocks out of the left-overs of my dresses.  They were never short of something pretty to wear.  The frilly blue and red check one Joanna is wearing was originally my maternity dress when I was expecting Justine and was bought for me by my darling granny.

 

In 1971 Bob and I took a fortnight's holiday in Ibiza and I had a lot of fun preparing my wardrobe and making these bikinis from scraps of fabric and 3 plastic rings to hold the triangles together.

 

Yellow seems to have been one of my favourite colours at that time, although I very rarely wear it now.  This cotton trouser suit was perfect for our wonderful first holiday together.

FAVOURITE FROCKS PART 2

 

My fashion story continues with this blouse and the skirt I made to match the coat on the first page.  We were learning about slimming styles for larger sizes and these side panels were recommended as a good idea.  The sewing machines we used also had an attachment for pin-tucking using 2 needles which was very effective.

 

As well as dressmaking I was a keen knitter and here I designed the pattern for this fair isle jumper and made a plain wool mini kilt to match.

 

I also discovered shirring elastic which gave a nice slimming effect on the top of this summer dress in cotton lawn.  I loved it so much I kept it for many years and altered it as you can see in the drawing for hotter weather.

 

At the end of the 2 year course we had a fashion show at the college where we were expected to produce two outfits to be modelled by professionals.  I made a jumpsuit in a synthetic voile and this dress in polka dotted cotton fabric.  The front diagonal seams gave me a lot of trouble stretching as I stitched and the teacher was a task master, making me unpick and re-sew at least 3 times but it was a good lesson in preparing the fabric with understitching before starting to make up.  These clothes had to be made in model size 8 so I never got the opportunity to wear them and anyway they disappeared after the show, probably taken by the models!

 

In June 1967 I finished the course at art college and gave birth to Justine a couple of weeks later so there's a bit of a gap now while I start my family life at the age of 18 with no time to sew and not enough money either!  By the middle of 1970 the marriage had broken down and I moved back into my Mum's home with my brother and sisters and 2 baby daughters.  I found the time again to sew and bought some leather scraps from the tailor in town to make belts and bags and this skirt which was a favourite for a long time. 

 

For my 21st birthday I made this gorgeous dress in fine cotton voile which I mounted on a white lining in the body part and left transparent on the sleeves.  I really loved this one and spent a lot of time and care sewing it having learned my lessons well at college.

At the college the course was split into 2 parts, wholesale manufacture and couture methods.  While I enjoyed the details of the couture classes, my heart lay with the wholesale making methods which concentrated on speed and efficiency and this stood me in good stead over the next few years as I could work at home making clothes for people and then as a home machinist for companies such a one of the suppliers of Harrods.  I only stopped doing this kind of work when I picked up a copy of Vogue in the dentist and saw the dress I had been working on the previous season for sale at £50.  I was quite shocked as I had only been paid £1.25 to make up the cut pieces which included rouleau loops on the bodice and a pleated skirt!

FAVOURITE FROCKS PART 1

 

For the new year I've started a new sketchbook, no 34, to record as many of the clothes I can remember making over the years ever since my childhood when I used to dress my Cindy dolls.

 

Justine gave me a lovely book for Christmas and I started by sketching the figures and trying to get my head round the skinny elongated bodies which bear very little relation to real life.  I've ended up drawing the clothes on body shapes a bit more like my own!  I searched my photo albums for ideas and hairstyles in particular and my tiny college sketchbook for some of the original designs.

 

I found a very early photo that I would definitely hesitate to show anybody but it did show the first blouse I remember making.  It also reminded me of how thick and uncontrollable my hair was!

 

I made a couple of dresses around this time but they were from commercial patterns so not very original, I particularly remember a bottle green jersey number my Granny gave me which turned out rather unflattering for a 14 year old!  These 2 tops were favourites as I had started to use old sheets to make my own designs, including a pink shift dress with the same pointy collar as the green one.

 

I started a two year dress design course at Croydon college of art in September 1965 full of hope of becoming famous.  This jumpsuit was a favourite made in needlecord with trumpet sleeves and big flared hems.  My boyfriend at the time was a photography student and he took several photos in the college studio, but sadly now they seem to have got lost.

 

The winter fashion that year included the baby bonnet, of which I made several including this pink wool one made with the leftovers of the dress fabric.  That herringbone suit was made from a length of fabric my mum found in her stash, the skirt was rather short at the time and I certainly turned a few heads when I went out in my bright pink tights!  I suddenly remembered the little fur edged boots as I finished this drawing.

 

I found the photo below at the bottom of a long forgotten pile and was reminded of this little outfit, also photographed by my boyfriend. 

 As you can see I'm still struggling with the figure drawing, the copied poses are ok but they seem a bit static, especially as I've had to draw in pencil first, not being confident enough yet to go straight in with the pen.

 

Well that's as far as I've got today, there will be more to come very soon so I do hope you'll come back to join me on my trip along memory lane.

CHRISTMAS CARDS 2

 

Episode 2 of my home made Christmas cards takes us to China.

 

 

My Belarussian friend Luba, who was the MD of the state fashion industry had many good connections, one of them being the Chinese ambassador.  When he gave her a calendar depicting the many regional costumes of his country she very kindly passed it on to me.

 

 

I spent many happy hours studying and copying the images into my sketchbook and then decided to use them for my cards for 2011 and 2012.

 

 

I devised a method of printing the outlines with some of the more complicated colours finished and then hand painted the main colours in watercolour or indian ink as well as some iridescent paints I found in my materials store.

 

 

I had to trace the Chinese calligraphy as the lines were very difficult to get right freehand!

 

 

There are still several more costumes on the calendar so maybe in future my friends and family will get some more Chinese cards to add to their collections.  ???   Let me know what you think!

I'm going to post the sketchbook pages on my Facebook page for Colours in the Breizh if you want to see more.

 

STILL BUZZING PART 3

 

When I lived in England I knew the location of practically all the dress fabric shops in the south-east of England as my job as a rep took me from Kent to Oxfordshire, down through Hampshire and everywhere in between.  I always popped in to see what was new and was able to make some lovely things to wear.  John Lewis was and still is a favourite when I can get there but sadly many of the small individual shops have disappeared now.  Maybe with the renewed interest in needlework engendered by the Sewing Bee we may start to get some new shops opening up. 

 Here in France there are 2 fabric shops not far from my home but the choice of fabrics is very limited and I struggle to find anything I really like, maybe only one or two things a year. 

When we were on holiday in Corsica a couple of years ago I spotted a rail of sarongs and wow! I had a eureka moment.  The patterns were lovely and summery, the fabric light and there was enough to easily make a tunic or blouse.

 

 

I bought 2 sarongs and got started as soon as I got home;  Above is the layout I used and depending on the length you want you could cut the facings out at the top of the bodices which would leave enough in the middle for a longer sleeve.  The possibilities are endless really as long as you remember to reverse the sleeve pattern piece so you get a pair and if it's floral keep all the pieces going in the same direction.

 

 

This is the third one I made after buying another sarong last year in Tenerife.  It has pretty keyhole details on the neckline and sleeve, sorry they are not too easy to see in the photo.

 

 

This one looks great with a suntan and white trousers.

 

 

This and the turquoise one cost only 10 euros each which I think is amazing when you see the same things ready made in the shops here for at least 30 euros.

 

 

And finally a few more sketches from the college notebook .  This was a gorgeous pink herringbone tweed and I'm sure I made the suit and the trousers.

 

 

You can see I was crazy about jumpsuits!  I made quite a few over the years, now the only thing I wear of that style is the overall I wear for gardening!

 

SEWING BEE IN MY BONNET PART 1

 

The Great British sewing bee has started a new series and I'm hooked!  Last Tuesday's programme had the contestants re-modelling 2 men's shirts into a new garment. Some of the results were spectacular and some were pretty dull.  I spent most of the night awake with my head buzzing with ideas and in the morning a rummage in my fabric box produced a length of black cotton and some scraps from a top I made last year.  I got out my black sketchbook to jot down some ideas and this is what I came up with. I was undecided at first but finally settled on the one on the left, a copy of a favourite blouse that's worn out.

 

 

I decided to cut the back, skirt and sleeves on the cross to give it a bit of drape and interest with the woven check and there was just enough of the cherry to cut out the front.  I made tiny rouleau loops and bought some red bobble buttons to finish off the front.  I'm quite pleased with the result and looking forward to some warm weather now to be able to wear it.

 

 

I thought I might start to add some of my 1965 dress designs from my art college days to these sewing blogs.  I only have one sketchbook and a book of pattern cutting notes left from that time so there isn't a lot to see but I can remember trying to develop my own style of drawing the models and clothes.  Don't they look skinny with their stick legs!  I did actually make several of those bonnet hats and wear them to go out, I can remember a pink one that matched a woollen baby doll dress in particular.