Vintage style look books giving inspiration for vintage fabrics and sewing patterns by decade or look.
Part One: Textiles Exhibition Review from the Chanel fashion exhibition at the V&A London Gabrielle Chanel is one of the most important designers of the past 100 years. She was The 19th Century designer.Oriele Cullen, Curator of the exhibition at the V&A, South Kensington (1) Gabrielle Chanel Fashion Manifesto is a hot ticket. As a…
Andy Warhol Fabric Exhibition at The Fashion & Textile Museum London Rushing along the Southbank of the Thames, I was already late to meet my husband in Bermondsey, when I noticed a Quentin Blake exhibition at the Bankside Gallery. I cursed for not having time to pop in and waded through the crowds by The…
Summer sewing inspiration Crisp and cool, cotton and linen are the perfect fabrics for summer. Cotton is usually woven on a basic hopsack weave which means it doesn’t slip around when sewing. So it is the perfect fabric for beginners or those of us who want a slightly easier sewing project when the temperatures are…
At the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh Design means to enjoy the exploration of new possibilities. It means to take pleasure in finding new solutions to old problems; or to have fun juggling with a number of old solutions until they suddenly click and coalesce into one, beautiful, new solutionBernat Klein, 1976 I’ve been lucky…
Up bright and early on a cold sunny morning in February. It is worth forgoing the lie in on a Sunday to scour the East End vintage shops and markets. Wrap up warm, grab a coffee and have fun vintage shopping in East London! I’ve added my top favourite places, some off the beaten track.…
Soft to touch, these vintage fabrics bring a cosy vibe to winter sewing. Their surfaces are very slightly brushed creating a warm material to take us through to Spring. Each fabric has a burst of colour to brighten up our makes. Being vintage, I can’t guarantee their fibre content. They are estimated to be cotton…
The vintage fabrics that I sell on my online fabric shop are nearly always one off pieces, giving the sewist confidence to create an individual vintage style. I love making clothes from fabrics that I know I won’t see anyone else wearing. However, there is a negative aspect of this. I might admire a favourite…
A review of the Fashion Museum, Bath from 2017. Ahead of the closure on 30 October 2022 ready for the museum to move to new premises. The history of fashion always brings out the geek in me and the current exhibition at the Fashion Museum in Bath certainly had that effect. The current exhibition is…
Colour and print inspiration from Hallyu! The Korean Wave Exhibition at the V&A The rain was pouring down from a dark grey sky in London today, the only highlights being flashes of lightening breaking through the thunderous clouds. In a complete contrast, I spent the afternoon immersed in colour and print at the new cultural…
Before September passes us by I wanted to mention the Oxfam charity shops campaign ‘Second Hand September’. The charity launched the campaign back in 2019 to encourage people to buy only second hand for 30 days. Their website states ‘not only are you reducing the harmful effects of fast fashion and refreshing your wardrobe without…
