1950 Sewing Supplies Catalogue

I received this catalogue from Leni as part of the Summer Sewing Swap. I loved getting a glimpse into what the home seamstress of 60 years ago would be able to order. Getting this catalogue would have been just as exciting as finding a new sewing supplies website, don't you think?

Here are a few pages:

Look at all the zip colours!! Not sure how easily you could match them to your fabric without seeing the colours though

No more hassle with covering your own belt buckles and buttons - just send in your fabric and choose what you want. Love the sweet heart -shaped button

This page contains my favourite thing in the catalogue - the inflatable dress form!

Here's the dress form again - perhaps not the most practical invention in the world. I also think that the designers of the Betsy Ross sewing machine have a different definition of 'glamorous' to the rest of us

 Electric shears - didn't really catch on did they?

Astounding array of pressing tools

See anything you would like?

K x

An Astonishing Fashion Photograph

Photograph by Clifford Coffin for British Vogue, June 1947, at Grosvenor Square, London

Evening dress by Rahvis

Image source

I first saw this photograph in the V&A book edited by Claire Wilcox, The Golden Age of Couture, Paris and London 1947-57. It appears in the first chapter of the book and I can say that it really took my breath away.

Apart from the fact it looks so modern it could have been taken yesterday, not 65 years ago, it sends such a strong, defiant message. Taken only 2 years after the end of the Second World War, when Britain was struggling to recover from the Blitz, it sends a strong message that Britain and British fashion would not be defeated.

I love the contrast of the exquisitely draped evening gown with the model carefully standing on a piece of white paper. The bomb-damaged surroundings look as if they might collapse around her at any second - look at those dangling pieces of wood at the ceiling!

When I did a bit of research on Rahvis, the makers of the gown, I discovered that it was a fashion house based on Grosvenor Street in London, just adjacent to Grosvenor Square, where this photograph was taken.

It could be argued that it was distasteful for couture fashion houses to resume making such fashion, only available to the elite, at a time when the country was suffering so badly. But I think that this photograph is a perfect example of how fashion can be a source of pride.

What do you think?

K x

Pattern Monday #31

It was tough to decide what made Laura look more like a maniac - that smile, or her coat hanger 'boyfriend'.

K x

Nice Surprise

When I popped into a local charity shop last weekend to drop off a donation, I had a quick look at the book section, with holiday reading in mind. I was expecting the usual chick lit and celeb autobiographies so was chuffed to spot this:

Sew Your Own by John-Paul Flintoff, described as "one man's attempt to survive economic meltdown, tackle climate change and find the meaning of life by making his own clothes" . I had first seen the book on So, Zo's blog last year and thought it looked worth a read.

The book was mine for a mere 30p. But want to know the best bit?
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It's a signed copy! Complete with a hand drawn pair of Y-Fronts. I didn't find that until I opened it when I got home. Now I just need to change my name to Elizabeth........

K x

Holiday!

Image courtesy of the New York Apple Association (c) The New York Apple Association

In 2 days we are heading off on holiday for just over 2 weeks. Can you guess where I'm going?

New York of course! More precisely, we're heading to Toronto first to visit family then off to NY for 7 nights before getting the train back to Toronto for a few days to finish our trip. I am so excited and really can't believe the time is nearly here already. I was in Toronto 11 years ago but have never been to NY. I have some really fun things lined up to do but do let me know if you have any last minute 'must sees'.

In the meantime, I've been SO busy with holiday prep and planning, and finishing off various bits and pieces of work-related projects plus making sure our flat is clean and tidy for our friend who is looking after the cats while we are away. It's been hectic!

I have some posts scheduled while I'm away so the blog will still be ticking over. Hope you enjoy them!

K x

Living the 'Crafty Lifestyle'

I recently received an email about a new magazine called The Simple Things. It's from the publishers of Mollie Makes and as an ex-subscriber of MM (read why here), they thought I might be interested. I'm sure some of you have also received the same email. Here's the main part of it:

"As a previous subscriber to Mollie Makes we wanted you to be the first to know about the launch of The Simple Things - a new monthly magazine celebrating the things that matter most. On sale 6th September, The Simple Things features a gorgeous blend of interiors, gardening, cookery, lifestyle and crafts. [Fine, that sounds quite nice]

The Simple Things is all about slowing down and taking time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life - a walk in the country, making a warm inviting home, sharing food with loved ones, gardening, traditions worth reviving and memories worth cherishing. [Hmmm, OK]

The Simple Things is about knowing that there's no satisfaction like that at the end of a long muddy walk, [Uh oh...] no pink so pretty as freshly-cut rhubarb, [Oh no...] no perfume to compare with your own home-grown flowers. It's keeping your dad's old typewriter just because it's beautiful [Oh no. No no no no no]. It's an empty beach on a Sunday morning. It's backpedalling. It's the Simple Things." [........]

I found it difficult to make it to the end of those paragraphs without a physical, toe-curling reaction. Who on earth did they get to write that? It's a hideous piece of prose, truly. It is also symptomatic of the increasing commoditisation of craft and handmade goods and the development of magazines that cater to a so-called 'crafty lifestyle' - as also seen with Mollie Makes.

 Image source

The "crafty lifestyle" that is so often espoused seems to be centred around a Kirstie Allsopp-style vision of a middle class lifestyle in the English countryside, sprinkled with Cath Kidston brand goods and knitted cakes. Where the people involved have all the time in the world to gild a pear (Kirstie again), enough room in their house to display a lot of useless stuff and enough money to spend a small fortune on craft supplies for all the 700 crafts they want to try before coming 'Top of the Show' in the village show with them all (yes, Kirstie yet again).

I am most decidedly middle class and I DO like a bit of Cath Kidston in moderation, but I find the idea of this whole crafty lifestyle depressing. Moreover, I hate the fact that the various reasons people often have for making things, such as to be sustainable, be individual or save money, are packaged into this hideous idea of a 'crafty lifestyle' and fed back to us through magazines. With Mollie Makes, I found the tone could verge on patronising with poorly written generalisations about what 'we' (all of us crafty lifestylers) liked to make or do.

And yes, I know that feeding on women's insecurities is what fashion magazines have been doing for years - but history shows that they do make you feel bad about yourself. So how might you expect to feel after reading these crafty lifestyle magazines? A bit crap that you don't make enough things? A bit like your lifestyle isn't good enough if you don't have time to gaze intently at a stick of rhubarb or don't have the space to display a useless typewriter?

 Image source

What I am getting it is that there isn't just one generic 'crafty lifestyle'. It's not all about making cutesy twee things or crafting biscuits out of felt (looking at you, Mollie Makes) There are so many ways to find your creative niche and enjoy making things for yourself and others. People make things for so many reasons and we should celebrating that and encouraging that, instead of presenting just one generic lifestyle that is only relevant to about 5 people in the UK. And I bet they're all insufferably smug bastards.

And as for The Simple Things? You can read some sample pages here. I had a look and you know, it's not as heinous as that introductory prose makes out - they've done themselves a real disservice with that. I think the concept might get a bit grating/preachy after a couple of issues but I am tempted to throw in my £5 for 3 issues and see how it pans out.

I don't need to convince any of you that making things for yourself is great. It can be enjoyable and empowering, a way to feel good about yourself and a means to connect with others. If this magazine encourages more people to think about how they can introduce handmade concepts into their life than that is fantastic. Let's wait and see. In the meantime if you want to read diverse and intelligently written articles about textiles, I can highly recommend Selvedge magazine.

K x 

What are your medal-worthy sewing achievements this year?

Is anyone else a little taken aback that it's August? How on earth has two thirds of this year passed already!? That being the case, I thought this was a good time to reflect on sewing achievements this year and in keeping with the current Olympic mania, I thought I would award myself gold, silver and bronze medals (in my imagination) for my achievements so far this year.

It's always good to think about the positive things you have achieved to keep you motivated, and sewing is no different. It can be easy to forget about the progress you've made - remember when you had to read the instructions for how to understitch facings every single time you did it for the first year and a half of your sewing career? (yes - personal experience here).

Image from here

Here's what I think my best achievements are this year:

Bronze: Getting a better idea of how to fit patterns to suit me - a significant achievement but still requiring some work!  

Silver: Learning to make pretty realistic sewing plans and sticking to them. Planning certainly isn't everything, but I've found how to make it work for me. Read my sewing planning tips here.

Gold: Finding patterns I love so much that I want to make them again and again. Witness Simplicity 4903 here and here and my one seam skirt here and here. This comes through getting to know my own style better and learning what I will actually wear - each item has been worn at least once, if not multiple times.

So what about you - what achievements are you proud of this year? Do share!

K x

Pattern Monday #30

Little Red Riding Hood lets a sly one rip at the tea cosy convention.

Another stunning pattern from the collection of The Butterfly Balcony.

K x

Finished: Eiffel Tower Dress

 

You know, I tried really hard to think of some kind of clever, punning name for this dress. I really wracked my brains and came up with some terrible Eiffel/Trifle puns which are so bad I'm not going to share. As you can see, I went for the obvious in the end - but don't think for a minute that means that I don't love this dress, because yet again, Simplicity 4903 has come up trumps.

You may remember my recent duvet cover dress, which was a wearable muslin for this dress. You can read my full review of the pattern here.

I made it up with the same adjustments as before, except I added a larger shoulder adjustment. This resulted in me having a lot more arm movement (and who doesn't like being able to move their arms freely?) but I think I should only have adjusted extra on the back, as it is a little bigger in the upper chest than I would like.

No matter, I think it's still turned out well.

I am uber-chuffed with the sleeves. I have grown to hate and dread setting in sleeves but these are my best yet. The secret? Simply put, removing some of the ease at the sleeve cap which just happened when I corrected my over-adjustment for my wide shoulders by increasing the seam allowance at the top of the sleeve.

 

 And shouldn't all dresses have pockets?

I made extra effort to finish the inside nicely too - adding a lined skirt (made from amusingly-named pongee) with lace edging and using seam binding to finish at the zip. The seam binding isn't the neatest, as you can see from the photo, but it was my first time using it.

After getting worried about using crafting cotton for the sleeves, they turned out really well. I must of course mention the fab Michael Miller Eiffel Tower print fabric. I don't think the colours are the best for me (not as good as the el cheapo duvet cover dress, in fact) but it's certainly a 'conversation piece' dress.

The view from above, so you can see my sandals (Clarks) and this is truest to the actual colour of the dress

This isn't the last you'll see of this pattern, I'm definitely going to make a Winter version in wool too. Such is my love for Simplicity 4903 that I have given my Colette Peony pattern away to a friend - Simplicity 4903 forever!

K x