That Wim Wenders effect

We headed out to Mersea Island, hoping for an Indian summer type shoot on their lovely beaches. We left our house in blazing sunshine, and arrived all of 10 minutes later enveloped in spectacular mists. 

I love being in Mersea in mist and fog. Sounds are amplified, colours pop against the muted grey, everything slows down to the pace of some art-house film circa 1987. I had a good lollop (you couldn't call it running) in the sand and then we downed some posh snacks from the deli before heading off for a walk.

Grey is good background for my coral red cashmere cardigan.

The dress is one I made earlier in the summer and have worn a lot. The vintage fabric is a fantastic mid-century linen which makes me think of Irish tea-towels. It's soft and sturdy and comfy to wear, washes like a dream and it cost a whopping £2.99 from a charity shop in Harrow! At only 44" wide and 2 yards long I was fearing that it would never amount to a dress, but that was before Christine Haynes came along with her Emery pattern. Thank you Christine.

Long back zipper and crazy wind blown hair.

I changed the invisible zip to a hand-sewn lapped standard one, which worked ok until I realised I couldn't do the "clean" finish lining as instructed. I worked out a way but it was messy. I love "hand picking" a zipper. A pick-stitch is incredibly strong, it's quick, and you have so much control over what you are doing. It's seen as slow, but you are not ripping the thing out three or four times to try and get it right.

The zip finish is one thing, the actual existence of a long back zip is another. Now who invented that? And why are they so ubiquitous? I get them done up to my shoulder then struggle and wriggle the dress up, grabbing the zipper from over my head. What a faff. I am going to have to avoid them from now on. That's what home sewing is all about, you do it all and you do it your way.

I am liking my hair after my latest Henna and Indigo session. That stuff is smelly, messy and takes AGES but my hair is now less stressed than it was with chemical dying. It's not quite covering my grey, as in the grey is a funny brown, but I am going to keep on going with it for now. 

We had the beach mostly to ourselves and after a short walk my hair was dripping with damp. The blurred pics are not just the mist but camera issues with resolution. Strangely apt results, a bit like those pre-digital soft grainy film cameras which are so fashionable again.

I am now properly in the mood for a bit of Autumn outdoor-ness. Time is flying and I have foraging to do and hot chocolate to drink.

Adios for now.

A slippery vintage fix

When it comes to sewing I am a cotton girl. Even though silk chiffon is the stuff of my dreams, it just gives me nightmares. It's a bit trixy, slippery, sheer and fragile. Add draping and that's a whole month of hair ripping. So when I saw lovely chiffon dress in need of alteration, I fancied it as a good introduction to working with slippery fabrics.

This beauty of a mid to late 1960s dress in turquoise silk chiffon is by Blanes. Here she is fixed up and ready to sashay off my tailor's dummy towards some posh bar replete with blue cocktails.

It's all about Elizabeth Taylor.

But when I got it that midriff was a mess. I mean, what is happening here? It looked like someone had tried to alter it.

 Midriff madness

I opened up the lining to have a look. I couldn't tell if someone had in fact altered it but I was not going to wear that baggy mess.

The doings:

First I tried it on and pinched out the excess, then pushed it through to the inside securing with pins. Then I marked out my new seam on the outside using tailor's tack stitches. These stitches are short and open ended so they whip out easily rather than get bunched up under the seam. I did one side in black the other in orange. 

On the inside my marking stitches are visible but I still have room to adjust. Because of the all the folds in the midriff I needed to do some fiddling to get all the fabric to sit right.

Before sewing and trimming it, I re-enforced the new seam with a strip from my precious half a metre of silk organza.

Major surgery

Silk Organza; the queen of fabrics

Quick word about silk organza; this stuff is so good every sewer should have a piece. It's light yet strong, very versatile and widely available. It comes in different weights, mine has a bit of body but it isn't the really crispy kind. It would make a good lining fabric for a really posh dress, or used in place of tape or interfacing when working with a lighter fabric. I am planning a voile dress with a sweet heart neckline and I will probably use a strip to help the neckline sit properly and prevent gaping.

When I read that people use it as a pressing cloth I though it was bit extravagant! Then I tried it. The sheerness prevents you from putting creases where you don't want them, and its got a great heat tolerance so you don't ruin your lovely garments. I use smallish patch for pressing but it does the job. That and it's myriad other uses make it well worth a ten quid note.

Anyway, happy hour is here. Chin Chin everyone!