Retro prints

Came home from work, ate biscuits, watched The Real Housewives Of Beverley Hills, fell asleep, made a cushion

I ran 8k at the weekend and I think it has killed me

love a retro pattern, I do

sat in garden, did ironing, failed to add anything to in-progress oil painting

It's a skyline. Or, it will be

drank tea, ate more biscuits, emailed friend to see if he has completed on his flat yet because it has been an exciting saga. Now am off to make dinner (lentil curry).

I am tired and unproductive but tomorrow I will be livelier. (Until I have the root canal done. I am seeing the hygienist first which means I will have to have my mouth open for over an hour. I feel this is a situation in which you can probably provide your own joke, so I will leave you to do so).

Taking stock of life and deciding to knit something (and sew something as well)

You remember I had a thing I was miserable about? Over it. No, really. It isn’t over (it will never be over!!!) but do you know, you get to a point where you think, we’ve laughed, we’ve hugged, we’ve cried, we’ve had catharsis, we’ve had lager, I’ve texted apologies for the texts I sent when I’d had the lager, we’re done. So there we are, the Situation is ongoing and I shall update briefly when I am in front of the House of Lords in ten years’ time or as soon as we make the Telegraph, but, I am not miserable any more.

I strongly suspect you of photographing me and thus I shall fix you with a disapproving glare

Partner is happy, as Partner spent a large part of the early months of this year standing over me like a Victorian patriarch in a melodrama, beard blowing in the draft from our inadequate central heating, shouting ‘this is not worth a single tear of yours! You have done nothing wrong! Get up NOW and get a solicitor!’ as I huddled sobbing under the duvet.

I have some actual serious advice for anyone reading this who is at the huddling sobbing under the duvet no-one-can-ever-help-me stage, so listen up briefly and then I shall show you the knitting: ring the Samaritans. It helps. I do not know how it helps, as what happens is you cry and they are sympathetic in an appropriate way, but it does. And you can sometimes get legal advice and help (right up to the providing-a-barrister stage) for free under your house and possibly car insurance, but, check the terms. I tell you these things because you may not have Partner with flowing beard standing over you in a crisis, so I have distilled there the essence of what you must do. Remember.

I just sometimes wonder what people are going to do with it when I sell them spray paint

Anyway, so here I am and I look around me and I think, gosh, I did not think I would get this far but now I have I should probably do something, perhaps I should start by sewing up some of this fabric, I don’t know.

I don't iron it before I cut it, no

I have no clue how I even acquired some of this fabric. Some of it had John Lewis labels on so I suppose that solves part of the mystery but when did I buy it? The only thing I can think of is that in times of distress I must dissassociate mentally and trot off and buy fat quarters. If you are in Cambridge and you see me ambling off towards CallyCo or John Lewis with an empty bag and a vacant expression come up to me, wave your hand in front of my eyes and say, Susie! Credit Card Bill! Stop It! And hopefully that will stop the ridiculous fabric pile from becoming any bigger. Make sure I don’t just turn round and wander off towards wool, though. Anyway, I am making an Amy Butler Gum Drop Pillow with these and I am particularly looking forward to stuffing it with bean bag beans, if anyone knows a way of doing this where I will not end up with them sticking to my entire body with static like last time let me know.

I am doing it without stitchmarkers. Scary

This is the Shawl Of Guilt, I feel bad about this. I started a knitalong with this shawl which is a very beautiful pattern from Chrissy of Stitched Together and I kind of dropped out because I had no mental capacity for knitting. Anyway, I could not forget the pattern, and I wanted the shawl, so I have started it again and I am on the last chart, somehow my mental capacity came back. Lace scares me a bit: sometimes it will not Get Knit however hard you try, sometimes it almost knits itself, it makes me think of the Fates and their thread. Anyway, this time I am hopeful. I think it will be pretty when it is done.

I keep having to buy new needles because I keep sitting on them

And a boring rainbow sock. I am Using Up Stuff, and this wool is part of the Stuff I am Using Up. I say I am Using Up Stuff: I am going to make a small exception, as I am going to buy some new wool to knit something for Dan. I am going to knit something, and in return Dan is going to do an open mic night with me. Yes, I think I will soon be ready: I can force my way through Where Did You Sleep Last Night, I have my post feminist deconstructed backing for Jolene and I have written new lyrics. Dan’s end of the bargain will involve him dealing with my inevitable hyperventilation and downing of Stella just as we are about to go on, and suppressing his winces every time I miss the change to B7: mine just involves possibily a bit of colourwork. I shall look for a suitable pattern.

I went on a trapeze at the weekend. I was really, really scared. I shall probably try it again, though.

Sorbetto tops and why stay stitching is probably a good idea

I have been sewing and using up stash.

Peacock feathers are a bad omen and mean DEATH. I don't mind. I like bad omens

I’m making Sorbetto tops (this is a free pattern from Colette and a very nice one, thank you Colette). Because of my aforementioned exciting IT issues, I could not print the pattern out but had to have it done at the print shop next to work by the man who works there who has a patient face. His patient face did not shift even when I made him measure the test square particularly carefully, ‘because it is a dressmaking pattern and if it is not 10cm square NONE OF THIS WILL WORK!!!’. Anyway, it was worth me and the patient man going through all that, because, although the Sorbetto top looks boxy and a bit frumpy when you have made it, when it is on, it is actually very nice, and an extremely useful shape. I wear mine with my green skinny jeans from Top Shop. I cannot believe skinny jeans are still in fashion but that was literally all they had in Top Shop, although I am a bit disappointed not to have realised that when I wore them with with my funky red flat boots I would look like an elf. Not a funky fashion-forward elf. The kind of elf who would be hanging around the back of Santa’s toymaking conveyor belt, smoking and making dismissive gestures behind the back of that Patron Saint Of Christmas.

I am not happy with the binding on the grey sorbetto top – the neckline doesn’t quite hang right. I think this might be because when they tell you to stay stitch, actually they mean it. But never mind! I have more fabric,

There is a deer on this fabric somewhere as well. The irony, it burns

And I think I might make another sorbetto top. I bought this fabric cheap cheap (because one of the advantages of the sorbetto top is that it only takes a metre, + any old crappy bits you can scare up for the binding) from Paperchase on Tottenham Court Road, in the sale. The man on the counter was having a bad day so I helped him cut it (‘follow the stripes!’). This fabric is knowingly ironic. If you say that first off, that makes it ok to make and wear a top with butterflies and kittens on it when you are 37. Knowingly ironic, remember that. Gosh. I am almost a hipster.

(Also, I have mastered a new spin in pole dancing. I can do three now. I can do step around, fireman + various exciting fireman variations, and cartwheel. The girls on TOWIE were doing it, and I would like to point out that I am better than they were. I am not even just better than Gemma, who seemed to be wearing trousers and a big jumper and not trying at all. Do you know what this means? It means anyone can learn to do anything, at any age, despite any natural disadvantages. So if anyone is reading this and has leanings towards origami or revolutionising nuclear fission or something, don’t let anything stop you. If I can learn to pole dance, you can certainly revolutionise the physics establishment).

Angry Picture, Happy Bag

OK, first thing, because I feel a bit embarrassed about this so just want to clarify: after I did the dramatic post a bit ago about How Blogger Has Stopped Me Blogging, The Bastards (and thank you all so much for all your comments and encouragement, it was much appreciated), I realised I could go back to the old interface, so I can still blog with pictures for a bit until they take it away completely, which hopefully won’t be for a couple of months. So after a couple of months I am hoping I might have worked out a solution even if it is just using the local community centre’s wifi (that would work! I can sit there with my coffee and wave to everyone I know from the committee and pole dancing, and they will all come over and critique my pictures!)

Hello hello! I'm a monster!

Anyway, so, quick one today. As things were a bit rough at the end of last week with my Situation, I did not have within me reserves of concentration/ intelligence to spend on anything but did not want to sit staring at the tv as that doesn’t help. You brood. Luckily, though, the Universe had sent me a Monster Bag Kit! We sell these at work and I had been trying to put one together but customers kept interrupting me selfishly wanting to buy things (joke) so I had brought it home, and I finished it. I think this possibly makes me the only person in the world who has ever actually finished a Monster Bag Kit. It was a bit of a challenge. I would like to see the child who could make this as I had to wrestle the corners (it is very strong felt) and my needle broke. So that would have to be a child with strong hands and a store of backup needles, also probably experience of selling bags on etsy. Recommended age 30+, as my manager said as she saw me struggling with the embroidery on the front and swearing. Anyway, isn’t it cute? If anyone ever stumbles upon a Monster Bag Kit, I think you should line it and put a snap fastening on and that would make it very functional (because it is strong), but as it is a sample for the shop I have not done this. I am very happy to take this back to the shop for display as although I enjoyed making it I have no use for a Monster Bag, although I will try not to stand over customers hissing, you be careful with that bag, I hope you’ve washed your hands. Besides, if I am good and return completed samples they may let me loose on the fimo. Or the resin. Oooh….

Brooding. Not brooding! Angry. Happy happy!

We have a little display of my pictures near our fireplace and the Monster Bag is leaning next to my picture where everyone says, were you in a bad mood when you painted it. And actually - I was! But not by the end! And it is my favourite picture so far. It is Stormy Sky Over Bloomsbury and the buildings look odd as I was playing with perspective (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). So, Angry Picture, Happy Bag. I feel like I’ve unwittingly made conceptual art. Conceptual art? God. Think it might be time to knit something…

Fabric find

A long time ago, when I was thinking of starting sewing, I found 12m of African Wax Print fabric in a shop somewhere off Brick Lane for £20. I made all the mistakes I was going to make on that fabric and by the time I got to the end of it, I could sew (after a fashion) and there was even some left to make proper things with. So, I have a weakness for Good Strong Cotton Fabric in large quantities because it always comes in useful and indeed you find it popping up in surprising places for years to come. Well, today I was trippety-tripping through Cambridge on my lunch hour and what do I find.

Photo taken in secret like a ninja

A fabric stall. A new fabric stall! (Cambridge residents, it is in the middle of the market, on Wednesdays and Thursdays). So I thought it would be rude not to have a look.

Well might that woman in the bottom right-hand corner look open-mouthed. £2 a metre!

Fabric with lips on! I could not resist. I have bought as much as I could stuff in my bike basket of the one with the dark background, and I am wondering whether to have a go at a Collette Crepe dress. Half of me is saying, Susie, you cannot go out in public wearing a dress covered in big lips. The other half of me is saying, Susie, £2 a metre, you will be essentially a neo-Schiaparelli, get that sewing machine out. Which half will win? I think we know.

It is very possible that an orang-utan lives up that tree. I wish he would come down occasionally and help with the weeding

Bonus picture of the ridiculously huge trees at the bottom of our garden. Whenever I get my bike out of the shed the collared doves squawk at me from them, indignantly. Who pays the mortgage, collared doves? Know your place.

When the things you make have more exciting lives than you do

Happy Monday! (Says she, brightly). Before I go out to try to start the *^%^%^& car and swear impotently, because, as you will have intuited, my life is non-stop glamour, just wanted to say a big thank you to AC Engineered Knits for showing my rainbow bag that she bought on her blog. It’s a funny feeling (in a good way) to see your things popping up in other places. You feel like saying, hey you rainbow bag, what are you doing over there with your new horizons. Anyway, thank you AC, I am delighted. Also wanted to show you my skirt I made from recycled tshirts:

Not naff. What could you sew, Partner? Nothing

Partner has just wandered past this and called it ‘wonderfully naff’. Partner has no proper comprehension of the Recycled Garment Revolution. I made it from tshirts I got from local charity shops and it’s constructed with kind of a-line panels and godets (I made the pattern, that’s why I sound a bit vague. I never know what you’re supposed to call things). I’m thinking the same shape in different weights of fabric might look interesting. I’m even wondering about felted wool. I shall have to go back and have another look in the hens’ teeth section.

Always use stitch markers. That's my advice. If only there were Stitch Markers For Life

And this is my shawl I am (still) making (arsenic and old lace). You can’t see anything: all you’re going to be able to see until I finish it is slightly bigger white lumps on a needle. I’m up to the teeth of the skull, and, because I Just Don’t Like long rows it’s a bit of a challenge (only psychologically), but I shall definitely finish it (says she, grimly). One thing I will say: if you’re thinking of doing a circular shawl but you’re worried they’re too difficult (I mean, you might also be worried you haven’t got a million hours of your life to spend on one but let’s pretend that’s not a problem), this is an excellent one to start with. I haven’t found any errors in the pattern so far, it’s well explained and intuitive (just pay attention to the bit about moving stitchmarkers – that’s the only place I really cocked it up so far).

This is the chin and teeth of the skull. I can't understand how I can be a person who enjoys something as fiddly as knitting lace. I am having to readjust my self-image

Circular shawls aren’t difficult, but the bit on double pointed needles at the beginning is a bit of a faff, because nupps on dpns and yarnovers inbetween needles is fiddly (if you’re a diehard magic looper it might all be much better for you: just start off on a 100cm needle perhaps and gradually your stitches will fill it? I don’t know). Anyway, I press on, and I’ve worked out that if I do a couple of rows a day I’ll have it done in a month. So everyone give a shout on 13th March and hopefully I should be able to proudly display a giant impractical shawl with skulls on. Skulls on! I’m going through my second adolescence.

(Hopefully it’s better than the first one, though. One word: Bros. In fact, two words: Bros. Acne).

The Friday Interview: Niccy from Scrapunzel Pixie

OK, I have another interview, you see, I am back on track with the Friday interviews although I will not be on track next week as I will be in Norfolk which, for those of you who have read Vivianne’s robust opinions in the comments here, is a more extreme version of Fenland. Anyway, enough about me, says she modestly. Today’s interview is with Niccy from Scrapunzel Pixie, who makes beautiful reconstructed clothes, pretty brooches, armwarmers and purses. I am pretty much in love with Niccy’s fairy coats, I think they are beautiful (indeed I love all her stuff, so much in fact I've just bought a jumper, oops). Also, she has 30% off in her shop at the moment as part of etsy’s Christmas In July promotion, so everything is amazing value, go and stock up on your armwarmers now. It won’t be July forever, you know. It’ll be getting nippy soon, you’ll be wanting a lovely reconstructed jumper.

Take it away, Niccy!

Niccy, hard at work. I am encouraged to see a rainbow mug encouraging proper colour combining

What of the things you make are you most excited by?
I love all the things I make but custom orders really are great! Making an individual item for someone is always very exciting. Quite often, people will ask for something I might not have considered so the end result is perfectly individual and that kind of collaboration feels very special. I also love the challenge of creating something new - learning a brand new process can be a tad frustrating (because I never use commercial patterns of read instructions) but that feeling of 'Yes! Sussed it!' is always rewarding.

Brooches. Adorable

How important is being green in what you do?
Very! About 1 million tonnes of textiles goes to landfill every year, 50% of which is recyclable  - those are scary figures! When I first learned how much is regularly thrown away I was shocked and horrified, then I decided I wanted to do something about it. Scrapunzel's just one girl with a sewing machine, but more and more people are beginning to see the beauty in recycled clothes. I take a special delight in making something pretty or useful out of what might otherwise have been rubbish - one girl's junk is another girl's joy!
Charity shops are like treasure troves for me - I can easily spend hours and hours just looking and whenever I visit a new town the charity shops are always the first thing I want to look at! I do have to be a little bit strict with myself, otherwise I'd probably buy more than I can carry!

Do you have a target customer/muse in mind when you make your clothes?
Not really. My customer base is so wide-ranging it's practically impossible to name a demographic! There are dreadlocked mamas, students and grandmothers proudly wearing their Forest Fae jumpers. [And now me! ;-)]. I've had enquiries for coats for the 3 Wishes Faery Festival and I've just made a coat for someone to wear to Whitby Goth Weekend in November so maybe anyone 'alternative' or green-minded. Perhaps it's because patchwork is part of such a long-standing tradition or maybe it's just that people like to be individual. My proudest moment happened when James Strawbridge (of BBC's It's Not Easy Being Green) bought a pair of wrist-warmers for his mum - I was star-struck for days!!
My muse is ever-changing - I love Victorian-style tailoring and I'm always influenced by the costumes I see in films and magazines. As a Star Wars geek, I'm quite keen to make something inspired by Princess Leia or Queen Amidala's wardrobe - maybe something with a crazy head-dress! But I can be just as inspired by someone who passes me in the street; so many people have such a unique way of combining styles and colours.

Look at that, wow. What a kerfuffle this would cause if I wore it to Waitrose

Your elf coats are absolutely stunning. What's the process of making one, and how long does it take?
Thank you! It's quite an involved process - I scour charity shops for just the right kind of materials, wash and dry them all and then I spend a bit of time familiarizing myself with the fabrics - checking for stretch and weight and then I start cutting! Because I never use a pattern, the individuality of the materials often dictates certain features so the method varies from coat to coat which is part of the joy of making them! Everyday in my workshop is an adventure! The time-scale can differ quite wildly, too - if it all goes well without any hiccups and I don't have any interruptions, I can make a coat in about a day (excluding the time to source the materials and prepare them), but a larger or more intricate coat will take longer. I also finish all my seams by hand, which takes an absolute age but it reassures me that those seams are there to stay!

How do you feel about the way commercial fashion is produced?
Hmm, this is a tricky one! I love clothes; it's almost magical the way the right clothes can completely change the way you look, feel and are perceived by other people. But I really don't like the way clothes are produced and sold. Should I give a rant warning here? At it's very worst, I think the fashion industry is highly exploitative on almost every level: the underpaid, unprotected people (often women) on the production line; the models who have to maintain a certain shape/appearance at all costs; and the women who are manipulated by advertisers and magazines into purchasing.
And some of the practices of High Street stores are truly shocking; I've heard that damaged items (even if the damage is minimal, eg, a garment has a poorly sewn-in label or is wrongly sized) are often simply thrown into skips and disposed of. Okay, rant over!
[Niccy, rants are welcome on this blog, in fact I’m always glad when someone other than me has a rant ;-)].

I think the more rainbow things in life, the better. This one is my favourite

I love your blog project, 52 ways to leave your high street retailer. What inspired it?
See above, ha ha! In all seriousness, my inspiration is quite entirely selfish - I need more clothes! Because I make clothes everyone thinks my wardrobe must be absolutely bulging but it really isn't - I'm always making something for someone else! Deciding to make rather than buy is probably a bit militant but the idea of purchasing from the high street just doesn't feel right. And the best thing about sharing it on a blog is that other people can join in if they want to - I'd love to hear how they get on! And perhaps I can finally learn how to follow patterns! Eeek, I'm a bit trepidatious now!

What are your upcoming plans for your lovely shop?
I've just bought some fabric labels with my brand new logo on them - stitching them into place puts a big smile on my face! Etsy do a 'Christmas in July' promotion each summer and I'm taking part this year. There's some new purses and wristlets in my shop too (and some surprising new items to come soon!).
Most excitingly, I've been working on a new development for my Faery Coats so I'll be launching that very soon!

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Thank you for this, Niccy, your interview was great and I completely agree with you on the hating the fashion industry but loving the clothes bit. I wish you the best of luck with your shop, and (gets on soapbox briefly), I just think it’s wonderful that there are more people making alternative, recycled clothes for a range of sizes, and that non-high-street fashion is becoming more accessible. I find it very cheering.

OK, have a lovely weekend everyone (that’s an order). I shall hopefully see you all on Monday xx

The Friday Interview: Lisa from lisaghove

OK, I’m on an interview roll, and I’ve got another interview for you today. This one is with Lisa, who makes the most stunning cushions and bags out of vintage fabrics. I just love her style. Go and have a look at her etsy shop and tell me you’re not tempted. What I think is great about her things is the boldness of her colour combinations, because they’re adventurous but it all looks coherent and somehow a bit cool. And of course I always love anything patchwork, the idea of a tiny scrap of something being given a new lease of life in something else is wonderful. I mean, it does mean I can never throw anything away but that’s fine. I’m sure we could just move into a bigger house, especially as property is so afforable here, this is irony.

Take it away, Lisa!

Lisa with her stunning cushions, I love them so. Also that sofa is just like ours

What really hits me about your shop is the lovely way you combine colours. Do you have favourite colour combinations?
thank you! oh well, yes i am obviously rather fond of colour, yep! And indeed, it is combining colours that i find exciting - especially using unexpected combinations and crazy clashes, sometimes it just makes me giggle when i put some wacky pieces together! That said, it depends on my mood, some days i find myself going for muted or jewel tones. Turquoise, blues and greens with mauves is rather irresistable too... And somedays i can't keep away from the kitschy pink and yellow combinations, modern prints with vintage lace, bunny rabbits and bluebirds… I've gotten bolder with my combinations since i've been making the cushions, aided be the fact that my fabric stash has grown splendidly (happiness!).

The vintage fabric you use is fabulous. Does it take a lot of searching out?
oh yes, i have phases of seriously obsessive fabric hunting to boost my stash. And i get a tad miserable when i am coming to the end of a favourite piece. I hunt in boot sales and charity shops which i love to do - often what i find in these places are interesting textures, prints, wools etc from clothing. The truly mod floral type i mostly bid my socks off for on ebay - i figure if it ends up quite expensive then i can always sell a bit on, and keep a bit for my cushions, but i have a limit - some pieces are way out of my league. [Lisa, I am a fellow ebay-vintage-fabric stalker. I shall try not to bid against you. And yes some things are v expensive, Eames I’m looking at you].

Do you have a typical customer?
Hmmm, i guess i don't know the answer to that. I mostly sell on etsy of course so i don't get to meet my customers, though some i get to know a little through the process - especially those who make custom requests as we have more dialogue together. I have also just started selling at fairs and also an Open House event in the Brighton Festival, which i greatly enjoy. Some people will just love my work and i guess because we have a similar taste then we make a connection - i really like that. I think often that my customers are those who have been dreaming of making themselves a lovely patchwork but just haven't had the time or whatever, then they find that i have made one for them and we are mutually chuffed!

What do you like about the whole patchwork aesthetic?
Well, it's great that i can recycle old fabrics and bits of clothing, that pleases me to be at least a little green. Mostly i think i just love the opportunity to play around with the pieces i have and experiment with putting colours and styles together, mixing old and new. And i think theres just something so 'homey' and comforting about a patchwork, i like that too!

Are there other patchwork artists you admire?
Well i completely and utterly adore the work of design store Squint - you know those stunning upholstered patchwork chairs and sofas - i WANT one sooo much - i am quite sure one day i shall own one of my very own (probably not soon though!). And there are a lot of sellers on etsy who have superb traditional patchwork skills and make very exact and intricate items - respect. [Note from me, Squint are fabulous and I want one too now, perhaps I need to buy a lottery ticket].

What of the things you’re making at the moment are you most excited about?
I'm printing my own fabric!!!!!!!!!
ooh yes, i have been taking a course to brush up on my textile and screenprinting skills, at the moment i'm working on some gorgeous christmas decorations with intricate lacey prints on them (coming to my etsy store - um, soon) [Note from me, let us know when they come in, these sound really exciting!]. And i'm also working on some bird prints - this is a longer work in progress and i am working on them whenever i can find the time - but i doubt they will be ready till next year...
and i am trying to be very efficient and get lots of stock ready for christmas - last year the rush kind of took me by surprise, a big whooosh of activity in nov/dec - so this year i'm gonna be ready - i am, i AM!!
Oh, and some cute brooches are on their way,
and i am working on some painted backdrops to improve my cushions photos on etsy - constantly trying to improve my photography - its quite an uphill climb as i am resistant to 'technical' but it is my sincere aim to make it to the Etsy Front Page - oh yes..

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Thank you, Lisa! Loved your interview and love your work, and I wish you all the best with getting on to etsy’s front page (your photographs are very nice. I hope you get spotted!). And get that screenprinted fabric in your shop (I mean, no pressure), it sounds great.

Have a fun weekend everyone x

The Friday Interview on Monday: Vicky from Luna Wolf

I’m starting off my interviews again, woot, go me, and I’ve got one for you today! And another on Friday so I can resume The Friday Interview! So my schedule is aligning and this makes me happy, although I appreciate it doesn’t mean quite as much to you ;-). Today’s interview is with Vicky from Luna Wolf who makes reusable menstrual pads.

Vicky at work immediately proving she is a better person than me by not swearing at her overlocker

Reusable pads are one of those things I think you can go through your life without anyone telling you about, unless you have come across them on the internet, because you don’t see them in mainstream shops. I think this is a real shame, because they’re really good. I’ve been using reusable pads for a good couple of years now (I’ve got a selection from various sellers on etsy) and I love them.

Now, this is the obligatory TMI alert so my mother can skip the next paragraph, but I thought I might as well give you a description of my experience so you can decide whether they sound like they’re for you or not: I have very heavy periods for about 2 days and then lighter for about 3/4 days more. On the first two days, I have found that some reusable pads work better than others, and I have some where, no, I probably wouldn’t want to sit through a three hour meeting in a white skirt, although I also have some where they are more absorbent than disposables: on the lighter 3/4 days, however, they are unbeatable. They are so comfortable and so much better than the naff plastic alternatives. In terms of washing, when I was looking into buying them, I read a lot about buying special handthrown pots to soak them in and then using the soaking water to water your roses. This might sound more attractive if you have roses that do not wilt and/ or fall on your head when you walk down the garden, however, our bathroom is quite literally (this is not an exaggeration) the smallest bathroom I have ever seen in a house, I think they must have converted a cupboard, and a Handthrown Pot Honouring The Inner Feminine would not last 5 minutes against Partner stumbling about clumsily in the middle of the night. I would probably have to put it on the coffee table for safety. So this put me off a bit. However, additional TMI alert, I have found that I can just wash them, unsoaked, in the normal wash (I do them at 60 degrees C with towels), and they are fine and do not stain. And I only use Ecover so there we are. Also, although one of the myriad ways in which I have failed at being a woman is that I don’t understand what panty liners are used for (panty!), if you do, and you are in the habit of using them, I would think using smaller pads would be much cheaper and way more comfortable.

OK Mum, you can look again now ;-). I found Luna Wolf pads through a recommendation on Ravelry and thought they looked brilliant: lovely colours, variety of sizes, and instructions to do it yourself! (Yes, of course I am. Yes, I’ll report back ;-) ), and Vicky very kindly agreed to do an interview for me. Thank you very much, Vicky! Take it away.

Luna Wolf pads in fantastic cheerful colours

1/ Could you tell us a bit about your pads, and why they’re better than commercial (disposable) pads/ tampons?
I make reusable cloth menstrual pads, using modern fabrics and prints - I firmly believe that just because an item is functional doesn't mean it can't be beautiful too! I wouldn't be so bold as to say they're "better" than commercial products because everybody is different, and what suits one person may not suit another. However, they are definitely a better option for me and for the many other women who find commercial disposable products uncomfortable. For some women, synthetic materials or chemicals in disposables cause irritation, whereas my pads put soft natural fabrics against the skin. The environmental and economic impact is fairly significant, too: in my case, seven years of cloth pad use equals approximately 1100 disposable pads I haven't had to buy and send to landfill.

2/ How do you use and care for reusable pads, i.e. changing them when you’re out and about and washing them?
Using cloth pads is very easy - as with disposables, you just need to make sure you change your pad before it gets too saturated. You can buy specialist "wetbags" for carrying pads when out and about, but a simple shower bag or resealable "ziploc" bag works just as effectively. Most cloth pads fold into neat little envelopes so that everything is contained.

There are lots of different ways to clean washable pads - my personal favourite is the "dry pail" method, which you can read about here: http://squidoo.com/easypadcare

3/ Reusable menstrual products haven’t really ever gone mainstream (i.e. I can buy them in my local health food shop but definitely not in Boots. And the ones in the health food shop aren’t cheerful like yours!). Why do you think this is, and do you think it will change?
I'd love to see cloth pads in Boots! I think the main reason you don't see them in large chains is because most cloth pad businesses are very small, usually WAHW (work at home women) operations. To supply somewhere like Boots you'd have to move into mass production, and that's a whole other kettle of fish. I think it will happen someday when the larger companies start to catch on that there is a growing demand for reusable pads. (Boots has already started carrying menstrual cups, for example.) [Note from me, I have to mention here that although I am a pad girl, many woman find the Mooncup absolutely wonderful – I have heard nothing but raves about this. It always looks a bit involved to me but then I said that about stranded knitting. So this is definitely worth considering as well].

DIY pads! Instructions and materials available in Vicky's shop

4/ I noticed you sell instructions and materials to make your own pads. I’m really tempted! Are they difficult to make?
Not at all! I wrote the instructions to suit all abilities, and there are notes for hand or machine sewing. If you can sew two pieces of fabric together, you'll be able to follow the instructions. A word of warning though: making them is addictive! Before you know it, you'll have more pads than you know what to do with.

5/ How do you feel about the way commercial pads and tampons are advertised? (Wooo! Bodyform for youuuuu!!! ;-) ).
I think most pad and tampon advertising is ridiculous! With all the euphemisms, the constant talk of "freshness" and the hush-hush packaging, you would think that a period is some kind of unfortunate disease. The products themselves look very clinical, as if dealing with menstruation is akin to bandaging a wound or treating an infection. I prefer to think of my pads as nice underwear, and have found that this small shift in perspective has helped me to feel much better about my menstrual cycle. [Note from me, the ones that are fragranced irritate me. Grrr].

6/ What would you recommend to someone who wanted to try out your pads? (i.e. how many of what size should they buy initially?).
I always suggest starting with just two or three pads. If you've never tried cloth pads, you don't want to buy an entire stash in one go, only to find that the style you've chosen isn't right for you. Try a couple of different sizes, and see what feels best. A good rule of thumb is to measure your favourite disposable pad and pick something in that ballpark.

7/ What of the things you’re doing with your business at the moment are you most excited about?
I've always wanted to carry pad storage pouches in my store, but have never had the time to make them. I've now found someone who can supply fabulous zippered pouches, and I hope to place my first order soon. I get asked about pouches all the time, so I'm very excited at the prospect of being able to offer them at last! I'm also hoping to add some new fabrics to my DIY section, which I'm really looking forward to.

************************

Thank you very much, Vicky! I loved your interview and to be able to spread the word about reusable pads (gets evangelical gleam in eye). Have a look at the Luna Wolf shop (or catch Vicky on her blog) and see if there’s anything you fancy – if you haven’t tried reuseable pads before I really urge you to give them a try. You don’t have to jump in headfirst, you could just buy one and see how you go. It does feel a bit transgressive the first time, yes it does, but I promise you after 5 minutes you’ll think, why did I never do this before? (Like so many things!).

OK. Getting out to enjoy the sunshine. Have a lovely day, everyone x

How much do you spend on your crafts?

When I was a young stripling, homemade equalled cheap. If you were wearing something homemade, people thought it was because you couldn’t afford to buy a proper one from a shop. I can still remember (violins please) the first garment I got from a shop, so it must have been a big deal: it was a nylon puff-sleeved blouse with an elastic bottom from Littlewoods, with a neon geometric print on a white background. I was beyond thrilled, and I wore it to a disco with my cousins John and Richard, you can imagine how stylish I looked. Anyway, now we have reclaimed homemade and we call it handmade, much excellent outreach and activism has been done on getting people to value handmade and not see it as a crappy cheap alternative. So here is my confession. Sometimes I wish it was a crappy cheap alternative. Although, emotionally, I am right there with everybody who is happy to pay £150 to get wool which has been gathered at dusk from the underbelly of a llama fed only on the finest tunnocks teacakes, financially, one of the things which really put me off knitting when I started (and stopped me quilting for years) was the thought of having to spend all that money on materials.

The John Lewis remnant bin's finest + a load of scrotty old bits. Hooray! Another quilt!

When I started, I mainly had access to Rowan knitting and quilting books, where if you buy the recommended yarn you are looking at about £70-£100+ for a jumper, or about £150 for the fabric for a quilt. Because I was dim and hadn’t discovered Internet Knitting/ anarchist guerilla quilting (I made that up), I didn’t realise you didn’t have to spend sums like this, and it really made me think that knitting and quilting were not for such as I, but were for nice wealthy ladies with long arm sewing machines, endless money for Kaffe Fassett fabrics, and houses big enough to lay the quilt out in (… and obviously this would be easier. But hard-up scruffs like me, we can quilt too!).

Not only do I not have that kind of money to start with, I would be reluctant to spend it anyway on projects I am practicing on, because I would feel I couldn’t make a mistake, my mad unhealthy perfectionism would kick in, and I would never get it finished. On the other hand, I don’t want to use materials that aren’t nice to use, and don’t make a finished product I am pleased with, and I don’t want to use materials that exploit people or are worse for the environment than I can help. So I wondered (because the crocheted shrug is eating up yarn and I am having to go poking about at Kemps to buy more) – how much do you generally feel happy about spending on a project?

I am the Giant Multicoloured Yarn-Eating Circular Shrug and I wish to be fed more DK, slurp slurp

Me:

For knitting/ crocheting projects, I don’t like to spend more than about £30 for a garment, and if possible I like to spend a lot less. This means essentially that I buy most of my yarn from Kemps. If Kemps are not selling it, I am probably not knitting it. I also buy yarn on sale from The Black Sheep, and I think the Araucania clearance at Stash fine yarns is great. If I get my yarn from Kemps, though, I can get enough yarn for a cardigan or something for less than £20. This means I feel happier about making mistakes, ripping out, and treating projects as a learning experience. For smaller projects i.e. one or two skeins, I don’t mind buying a much more expensive yarn, and I don’t think sock yarn is expensive at all, even if it works out at £15 for a pair of socks. Superior socks, people, superior socks!

Bargain yarn of thrift and utility. Wait...

I am only on my second proper quilt, but, I like to make them with the scraps from fabric I have got left over from other sewing projects, and I try to keep my purchasing of actual new fabric (front, back and binding) down to about 2 metres and preferably none. So my quilts so far have each cost me no more than £16 for fabric + £17 for batting each (the first was made entirely from stash fabric). This is dependent on having a large fabric stash, it is true. I normally acquire my fabric either from remnants bins, from old clothes cut up, charity shops, or random stash packs from etsy or Ely Cycle Centre. I do buy some full price yardage occasionally, but I tend to enjoy the scratting about, so if suddenly I got lots of money I don't think I'd do any different.

For sewing clothes, I like to make clothes out of upcycled things anyway, so I am happy to use inexpensive materials (indeed! I enjoy it!). If I am making something out of actual new fabric, I tend to use quilters’ cotton, which is relatively inexpensive (and I tend to buy the lines which are discounted because I am not, shall we say, fussy about pattern). So I would expect a dress or a skirt (thread/ needle excluded) to cost about £10-20, because normally you don’t need more than about 3m, but I would be happy to pay £30 or so (very occasionally). Beyond that, I would start to get very, very twitchy.

Does that all seem cheap or expensive to you? I am interested. How much would you spend on a project?

Made a corsage

I had to pose this in the room which hasn't been decorated yet because of Partner and his boxes

Out of scraps. I literally took these bits of scarves out of the bin* and made it with them (it's all glamour here).

I may make one and pin it to my top I wear to go running

In one way I think, yay corsage, in another way I think, there is nothing I can ever feel alright about throwing away because I can find things to make out of the most desperately unpromising things. They will find me one day buried underneath a stack of scraps and mangled fat quarters and say, why did she keep all this rubbish, and then they will find my blog and the strange compulsion will be understood.

* It is a clean bin. It is just where I put scraps when I am sewing!

A weekend in pictures

This weekend I was in London. I have to confess that it was not for the protest (go protesters!, though – you looked a friendly and determined lot), I was doing other things. Things like, admiring this bizarre building

I think I might go for this effect on our pebbledash, what do you think? Perhaps with guinea pigs instead for additional sophistication?

As we walked from behind Euston to Camden Town. Behind Euston to Camden Town is not, shall we say, the most drop-dead glamorous walk in London so I think it is an excellent idea that on the way there is a building featuring cats with huge bristling whiskers to cheer everything up a bit.

Admiring graffiti around Camden Lock.

I can never tell what the words say so if it is obscene I am very sorry

It almost makes me want to go and get some enamel paints and Pimp My Punto. I love graffiti.

Thinking about how one of my favourite walks is from Tottenham Court Road through Soho to Regent Street early (well, I say early) on Saturday mornings, when everything is still up in the air from Friday night.

Everything quiet and early

I think I like it because it makes me feel like I am up earlier than everybody else, even though I’m not. And drooling over the fabric in the shops on Berwick Street.

I take photos secretly and indeed should perhaps work for The News Of The World

If you’re in the area it’s definitely worth a look. The fabric is pretty £££, but really pretty if you’re after something special. I tried to get them to let me take photos of the stock in Cloth House (the one on the right), because they had some truly beautiful things, but they wouldn’t let me. I suppose they need to protect themselves from people like me rushing home and using the photographs to recreate complex textural velvet which I might then sell on Cambridge market and undercut them (this is irony). Anyway, go and see for yourself. They have some – ruched velvet! – that’s unlike ruched velvet you’ve ever seen, double-layer white cotton where one layer has holes artfully ripped in it, fabric in gathered tiers, honestly, it’s marvellous. And if you’re a student you get a 10% discount. I myself am currently only a student of Life so no discount for me tant pis. The shop across the road had tie silks for £15 a metre – before you suck your teeth, that’s only about £25 for an a-line summer skirt better than anything anyone else will have.

Buying up silk scarves to reconstruct in Beyond Retro.

All you crocheters, you could make that waistcoat in an evening

Is the vintage shop just off Brick Lane Beyond Retro as well? I can’t remember. Anyway the big one off Brick Lane has a cat who sleeps in the silk scarf box, so if you want to buy the scarves and kitty’s asleep, well, too bad so sad for you, honeybunch.

Admiring cushions

Intarsia cushion from Penny Burdett in Camden Lock/ Needlepoint cushions in Liberty. Partner was concerned I would get mixed up with the protest and kettled on my woolbuying excursions, I said, if they try to kettle me in Liberty's wool department that will essentially be the end of the rule of law

I have this hankering to go into Liberty and spend a fortune on a needlepoint cushion kit. Sometimes with craft, what I want is all the materials in one handy package and instructions that tell me exactly what to do. Then I shake myself down and go and make quilts from scratch again. I shall crack one day though.

And finally, looking at the signs of Spring

When magnolias do their thing they are very pretty, but they do their thing very briefly, so I am never sure how good value they are in a strictly utilitarian sense

surrounding Gandhi in Tavistock Square, and bringing the flowers out on a magnolia tree in St Giles-in-the-Fields, just on the way to Foyles bookshop and at the end of the street with all the guitar shops on it.

I hope you all had a nice weekend too x

WIP Wednesday. Help Please!

So, it’s WIP Wednesday again, thanks Tami for hosting, which is hugely fortuitous, because I need Help! Help with a WIP! Help and Advice! First though, let me just show you a photo of me which I took with the help of my new tripod. I am hugely encouraged that I managed to get all of me in the photo at a not-mad angle, and I think this bodes well because now I can take photographs of my clothes on me, which is better than on the model. Obviously the downside is I might have to shave my legs and stick a bit of lipstick on, but, swings and roundabouts.

OK, I know. But try to imagine me without the coat on

It was cold this morning so I rushed outside in the bit when it wasn’t raining without brushing my hair and all bundled up in my winter coat. I would like to say I normally look more stylish than this, but, hmm. Anyway, I will brush my hair if I do a proper photo shoot because nobody ever sold a recycled scarf top looking like a gonk.

Now onto my WIP. Advice please! These photos are hot off the press (I am sewing this now), so, you cannot see it very well but bear with me.

Gosh is it by Issey Miyake? No

It is a skirt with some smallish pleats in the front and some box pleats in the back. I have finished it apart from the hem and the waistband. You can’t see the fabric properly, but it is a thin brown polyester which is not dressmaking fabric (I acquired it). I think it is very cool, and am going for a kind of billowy-scruffy-parachute silk kind of look, if you know what I mean. So it is supposed to look a bit deconstructed. It fits great and looks exactly as I want it to look thus far. This is my problem.

There, look at the loose threads. You can see the static in action

It is so static! When I sew it, the thread floats about! When I wear it, I can actually feel myself walking about in a cloud of static electricity. If it was anywhere near my face it would probably be unwearable, but as a skirt I might be able to get away with it. But what do you think? Am I going to spend all the time I am wearing it plucking it out from between my legs and swearing? Is there anything I can do to make it any less static? I have probably got enough lining fabric to make a lining (or some cotton), but, I don’t want to sacrifice my good fabric if it won’t work, because I was only intending this as a semi-disposable toile experiment to wear a couple of times. Should I just make the best of it, wear it and be damned and go and find long-haired animals to rub up against and annoy? Have you ever had this problem? What do you think?

If anyone wants to say ‘I had exactly this problem and then I wore it for 10 minutes and all the electricity entirely disappeared. I didn’t need to line it or anything’ then, that will be a particularly welcome comment (you’re not going to say that, are you, though?).

There. I manipulated WIP Wednesday into providing guidance on a thorny issue (thank you in advance ;-) ). But, for more successful WIPS, go and have a look at Tami’s blog post – you might find some new blogs to follow. There are people out there making some lovely things. I am going to have a cup of tea, blog hop, and make myself jealous ;-).

Pattern Review - Anna Maria Horner Evening Empire Dress

I want to show you my Evening Empire Dress which I made from an Anna Maria Horner pattern.

Look at that blue sky! It is Spring! Everybody get your patchwork dresses on!

OK, first the serious pattern review bit (because, look, you might want to make it or someone might google and be looking for tips. We don’t know): I thought this pattern was easy to follow, fit true to size, and is a good shape. I don’t think empire line anything is terribly easy to get away with, but, this is actually a good bodice pattern because it is shaped and nips in slightly under the bust, so, if you are thinking, can I try an empire line dress or will it make me look like a doughnut, the answer is, this is quite a good one and worth trying. The instructions for putting the bodice together are good, it is straightforward and the pieces fit together properly. Although my picture makes the bodice look a bit lumpy, you will just have to believe me that it isn’t. It is because my dummy is firm and unyielding. I sadly am not, neither physically nor emotionally. It would also be very, very easy to adapt into a tunic length or a different patchwork design or something, so, excellent value for money!

Also you could use this pattern to make an actual quilt. Even better value for money!

I had a bit of trouble following the instructions about how to put the zip in – in the end I just gave up and put the zip in, well, the way I normally put zips in. This may have been me (I was tired, I cannot follow instructions) or it may have been the pattern. I also would have encased the bodice/ skirt seam in the lining of the bodice and whipstitched – if I ever make another this is what I will do.

The biggest problem with this dress, though, I think, is; I used quilting weight fabric, and there is a lot of volume. A lot of volume. I didn’t line it, because, well, I hadn’t got any spare lining fabric and besides, I didn’t feel like it: I am quite pleased that I didn’t, though, because two layers of fabric would have made it enormous. I would have looked worse than a doughnut, I would have looked perfectly spherical, like a big patchwork sprout. So, if you are using quilting fabric, for God’s sake don’t then line it with quilting fabric, use either thin lining fabric or just go wild and leave it unlined. I ended up having to shorten this dress by taking the bottom row of triangles off so it ended above my knee, because, although I made the shorter length in the pattern, it hit at a quite unattractive point on my calf and I felt I looked like Michelle Duggar. Which was an interesting look, but not absolutely the one I was going for. It is a good pattern though, and I would certainly make more Anna Maria Horner patterns (in fact I am making a Socialite Dress at the moment!).

Bonus pic of listing for shop. Because I took photos today! Because it was so sunny!

Anyway, in order to better convey to you subtle issues like, how to avoid looking like Michelle Duggar in an empire line, I have bought a tripod! Yes! And when it arrives I am going to experiment with taking photos of myself wearing things. Because at the moment I have to use Partner to take photos if I want photos of myself and, readers, I will be honest, he is not very good. He is always rushing off somewhere, he becomes mesmerised by the screen on the camera and we have to have a discussion about what a digital camera is - every time -, and then he turns into David Bailey and tries to impose his own aesthetic sense. And I don’t want to disparage Partner’s aesthetic sense, but he is very, very colourblind, and from things he sometimes says I do occasionally suspect him of thinking dogs are green. And I am quite colour focused. So, I think this extra stress is one of the reasons I always look constipated and tortured in any photographs of me. It is a shame because it is actually the sole thing that has stopped me from being a supermodel, which would otherwise have been a given. I mean, have you seen my cheekbones? I still have to fend them all off, you know, when they ring me. ‘No, Stella, sweetcheeks’ I have to say, sadly. ‘I know I’m the only one who can really bring your pseudo-seventies take on denim to life. But I’m still having that looking-constipated-in-photos thing going on. Yes, still! I know! Can’t you ring Lily? I know it’s not the same. Ciao, hun. Got to go. Karl’s on the other line. You get back to your leather substitutes’.

I hate to disappoint people. It just kills me to hear Stella cry. But what can you do?

And she aches just like a woman. But she breaks just like Martha Stewart with a paypal account

I have finally dug out and finished my Anna Maria Horner Evening Empire Dress. I will try and get pics for next week. Even though it has been hanging about for probably actually a year it only took a couple of hours to finish, isn’t that always the way? I went into Emergency Craft Lets Just Get The Bloody Thing Finished mode so I have not lined it and the zip isn’t inserted into the bodice lining properly, but. It is for me. Who will see? It will be fine. And look what I unearthed when I was tidying out my bookshelves, shoved quietly at the back and all unloved.

When O When will they have tops with strange protuberances in Primark?

Pattern Magic! Now, I have to say, I think Pattern Magic is probably better for someone who understands how to make a fitted bodice toile, but, I am getting there and who knows, this time next year I may be churning out tops like these.

And as a bonus you get to see my scruffy cuticles

I love this book. It shows you shapes based on a fitted bodice, but hugely, hugely innovative: nothing that you are ever going to see in Burda (much though we love Burda, obviously). There’s nothing I like more than a good unwearable pattern. Fancy shoving it to the back of the shelf. When I was doing a particular job a couple of years ago, I took my mind off the daily re-enactment of the less self-aware bits of the Jeremy Kyle show by buying craft supplies. Obviously I cannot recommend dealing with employment issues through spending money, it is a Very Bad Idea which may end in terrible debt or forced participation in Hoarders, you never know: but, on the other hand, not only do I no longer have to do that job, but I also have a great stack of fabric! Result! And sometimes I turn up gems like this that I had squirrelled away. Well done, Stressed Unhappy Susie: you had excellent taste in books. This is the exciting thing, though. Pattern Magic is now available…in translation.

Yes! In translation! My copy is in Japanese, and while I agree that if you know what you are doing the pictures are enough to go on, I do not entirely know what I am doing (it really is quite hard, I say in my defence) and I would like to be able to read the text as well. I think it would be particularly helpful if the text said something like, ‘Although this looks scary, don’t panic. Put the book down. Breathe deeply. Go and make a cup of tea. Have a nice digestive. There. Does it look a bit better? Good. Now get out your French curve and go and draft a fitted bodice from scratch. Jump to it!’.

Ridicule is nothing to be scared of

Readers, I could not help myself. I have bought Pattern Magic 2 in English. I will show you the things in it when it arrives. And when I manage to actually make some of the things within, I am sure my loved ones will be very polite about my creations and will say, Gosh, is that hugely directional garment Junya Watanabe couture? Rather than, What the hell are you wearing? Honestly, Susie, I wish you would go to Marks and Spencer like a proper person.

And I am expecting them to be polite when I wear the Evening Empire Dress as well ;-).