Tutorial: 1940s Make Do and Mend Brooch

Tutorial: 1940s Make Do and Mend Brooch

As wartime shortages affected the supply of metals and other traditional materials for jewellery, designers turned to other materials including plastic, wood and textiles. Women made their own ‘make do and mend’ brooches using plastic thread and buttons. These colourful brooches are becoming increasingly sought-after and pricey, so I decided to make my own.

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Fabric Design Primer Part 2: Perfecting Your Patterns

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Fabric Design Primer Part 2: Perfecting Your Patterns

There are lots of tutorials out there on “how to create a fabric design”, but they tend to focus on the technical aspects of creating a tiling image, and don’t usually provide much detail on the actual design process, or pointers on what makes a design work well. I don’t claim to be an expert, but in this blog series I’m sharing what I’ve learned from years of studying, reproducing and creating fabric designs.

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Fabric Design Primer Part 1: Basic Principles

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Fabric Design Primer Part 1: Basic Principles

I’ve been getting lots of questions lately about how to get started in designing fabrics, so I thought I’d share some pointers for anyone looking to get into it. I don’t claim to be an artist, or an expert, but in this blog series I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned from years of studying, reproducing and creating fabric designs.

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1940s Hat Refashion

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1940s Hat Refashion

As soon as I watched the 1942 British Pathe video demonstrating how to turn a men’s trilby into a smart topper I wanted to make my own version. I started with a fedora I found in a charity shop, and followed the basic steps from the video, with a few minor amendments.

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Quick Fitted Sweater Refashion

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Quick Fitted Sweater Refashion

This simple refashion is perfect for turning a slightly shapeless knit into a retro pinup sweater - and it literally only involves three seams! My original is a wool-blend cardigan from Primark - the design was cute, but the sweater was shapeless (basically just a straight rectangle) and too long for my preference (since I generally wear skirts I like sweaters to hit the waist), plus the buttons gaped at the bust. I’d hung onto it because I like the design and colours, but it just never got worn. Prime candidate for a restyling project!

My handmade and vintage #Goodwoodstyle over the years for @goodwoodrevival, in paper doll form! For 2018 I recreated the yellow and green outfit worn by Betty Grable in the 1944 movie Pin Up Girl. In 2019 I wore coral accented with chocolate and aqu
I had the most amazing day at @goodwoodrevival yesterday - after a last-minute change of outfit plans thanks to the less-than-clement weather, I was beyond thrilled to be selected as a finalist for the #goodwoodbestdressed #goodwoodbestdressed24 cont
I was chatting with a good friend recently and she told me about a conversation she’d once had wherein someone shared a mistaken impression of me as some kind of… tradwife or something? Because I’m married and I’m into vintag
I think I’ve described every one of the patterns I’ve released through my Patreon as my favourite, but there are definitely some I come back to time and again. The #daytripperdress is one - it was among the first patterns I released, and
Another throwback to Madagascar last year and my fishy beach cape. I’ve long been obsessed with the concept of beach capes, which were popular in the 1930s-50s, often made in chenille or terrycloth fabrics. I’ve used this one on beach hol
Throwback to our Madagascar trip last year, and this tropical dream of a pattern, the #waterfalldress from #charmpatterns. Inspired by an original “Polynesian pattern” edition, it works great in a floaty viscose challis like this for the
Another of my favourite patterns is the #mimosadress, which I released last year. I’ve made five versions of it now. I like that the relatively simple silhouette lets a bold print like this shine. It’s also another one that comes together
More views of the #catskillshalterneck bodice (paired with the #sightseeingskirt). It was fun playing with geometry with this stripe fabric! For this version I cut the bodice front on a bias, aligning the grain with the neckline to create the V effec