I was privileged this weekend to spend time with the pattern collection of a lady I have never met, and probably never will meet. A very good friend of mine has spent the last couple of years  helping his Aunt who has dementia. Sadly she has now had to go to residential care and my friend and his family are clearing her house.  

He mentioned to me one evening that she had been a very keen dressmaker in the past and he had a box of her patterns. I instantly told him to keep hold of them as vintage patterns can be quite valuable.  I offered to look through and see if there was anything worth keeping and/or selling. Boy oh boy - am I glad he didn't throw them out.

I spent a lovely few hours on Saturday going through her collection.  It contains about 100 patterns dating from the late 40s to the early 70s - but most from around 1959-1961.  I thought I'd share some of these delights - some of which I can't even find on the usual Vintage pattern sites. 

These are just some of the Vogues:

I'll post the full photo collection via my Flickr account over the next week - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracy_mc_davis/. . I hope that one day (in the distant future!) that my collection will bring a smile to some sewer that hasn't even been born yet.

I'll be helping my friend post them on eBay and/or Etsy over the next couple of weeks so I will let you know when they become available.  On that note - has anybody got any experiences on eBay over Etsy for vintage patterns?

This is going to be the first of two posts about the Creative Pattern Cutting course I did at Morley College last weekend. This was the second course I have done on both this subject and at the College - and so far I can readily recommend it.

The course is based on Tomoko Nakamichi's Pattern Magic 2 - the previous course was on the first book. 

Over the two days I managed to make up four of the patterns with varying results. I attempted the "Like a jungle", "Fundamentals", "Vanishing Pocket" and the Cowl neck. As before the course is really about drafting up patterns using the books as guidance - so the aim of the weekend was not to have wearable garments at the end. That said, this time I did make up muslins of each item.

Like a jungle

The aim of this exercise is to create a multi-stranded bodice which removes the need for any darts. 

So the basic bodice is split into sections - each of which the will make up a strand. One thing to remember is that no matter how spaced the strands get in the centre, they have to match at the edges where they will be reattached to each other to make up the bodice shape. 

I used a bodice front to make up the sections and it does give an interesting - if slightly drafty - effect.

You'd have to be fairly brave to wear it in this manifestation!

One of the other women on the course had a much better idea - do the same thing to the back of a top:

As you can see, it becomes instantly more wearable. I can imagine this as both the back of an elaborate gown (think Oscar night) - but it could also be the back of a casual summer tunic.

Cowl neck

Another lovely feature for the back was the cowl.  To be honest this wasn't the most arduous of exercises but I want to draft one as they are just so useful.  I'm a sucker for anything with a cowl so I knew it was a pattern I would reuse.

For this style the original back bodice is simply elongated across the centre and then the top is chopped off.

This is my version in calico - not the drapiest of fabrics so it looks little more like a gnomes hood than an elegant evening dress. But then again I'm probably more closely related to a gnome than to a film star!

This week is Pattern Magic week here at the Material Girl (I wish every week was). Over the weekend I have been on the second of the Creative Pattern courses at Morley college. I loved the first one which was split over two Saturdays - Day one and Day two.  If anything this second course (based on the book Pattern Magic 2) was even better.

However, I'm going to keep you at the edge of your seats and leave that post until tomorrow - basically I haven't had time to edit my photos yet! However a fantastic account of the weekend can be found on my fellow attendee, Melissa's blog - www.fehrtrade.com/article/570/the-pattern-magic-2-course-at-morley-college

So, today, I'm going to hit you with a follow up from the work I did on the first course.  

One of the items I loved the look of in the first book was the twist top which is rendered in a lovely looking brown jersey.  The basic block is given for an "average" size which you then manipulate. After some reworking to make it this woman's average size I was ready to twist the basic pattern.

The strange corrugation you see is because I'm using packing polystyrene foam. I have rolls of the stuff left over from a house move that didn't happen and it was the only thing wide enough fo the job in hand.

Once you have made you manipulations, you cut out two of the same shape and stick them together (cutting of one arm and putting it one the other side)

After that it's a simple case of cutting out your one pattern piece and sewing the sides together.

I used a ribbed, thick (ooh er) jersey, which was probably a bit too stiff for the project (ok, enough double entendres for one sentence) - however, I'm really pleased with the result even if it looks nothing like the picture in the book.

There's really  a bit too much material around the shoulders, but as the fabric is stiff it gives a really nice exaggerated effect. Also, the fabric does like staying in its twist and tends to travel around my midriff.

Rightio, that's your lot for today - more Magic soon.

I’ve been a bit of a culture vulture and went to the Fashion and Textile Museum twice this week. I know I only live down the road but that’s quite a bit even for me.

On Saturday I went along with my Girl Guide group –  I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on the blog before but I am a Girl Guide pack leader (or Barn Owl as they call me!). Guides is bit different from my day and the badges that I remember from my past (which I can’t remember much of at all – in fact all I remember is rewiring a plug and putting on very bad theatre shows) have been replaced by things a little more 21st Century.

Recently we’ve been working on our Passion-4-Fashion badge. As part of this I decided to take the group to the Fashion Museum to see their latest exhibition on Catwalk photography.  The museum is great for Guide groups – children under the age of 12 are free and they gave all the girls an activity pack to work on while they were there.  

The girls loved their time there. Most of the work for the badge I’ve tried to keep quite “worthy” - we’ve been looking at fair trade practices, talking about sweatshops and cheap fashion and have been creating pillowcase dresses for the Dress a Girl around the World charity – so it was nice to have a frivolous end to the badge.

The second trip there this week was on Wednesday to take part in the Couture Inside Out session. This was just an hour – but what an hour!

The Museum curator, Dennis, took us on a fantasy trip around some of the museum’s Couture dresses.   Obviously I’ve seen designer clothes before – but the step up to couture is lost until you see it person. The details and the fabric have to be see to be believed.

We were treated to a whole section of dresses from post-war to present day – but with most being from the 50s and 60s.  I lost track of taking notes and can’t do justice to array of items – for a much better review of this see Karen’s account at http://didyoumakethat.wordpress.com

I made a complete fool of myself by going up to Karen, who I recognised as soon as I got there, and gushing about how much I loved her blog. It was only afterwards that I realised that sounded like a right weirdo stalker!  If she ever reads this – apologies! I am normal (honest).

So here are some of the treats…

Table view

The hand rolled hem on a Dior gown

Some more internals from the Dior

What looks like a simple Balenciaga wrap style sarong

And the reality of that "simple" look

Chanel dress

Chanel jacket

The famous Chanel chain to keep the jacket hanging correctly

You might recognise this as the dress that Halle Berry wore when she won her Oscar (not this actual dress I should say). It's by Ellie Saab

More detail from the bodice

I'm a fan of silent films (yes, even before The Artist became the year's big hit) and I'm also lucky enough to live in London where you can see these films as they are supposed to be shown - at a cinema with a live piano accompaniment.

The Prince Charles cinema, just around the corner from Leicester Square, is currently showing a silent film once a month and so on Thursday I went along with Andrew and our friends Rob and Jake to see The Cameraman - a Buster Keaton film from 1928.

Personally I don't think its one of his masterpieces but its interesting as it must be one of the first films to turn the camera on film itself as Keaton plays a street photographer trying to become a movie news cameraman. On the way he falls over quite a lot and gets the girl (and the cutest monkey in a sailor suit ever exploited for our entertainment).

It was also the first outing of a new blouse made from one of my Japanese Pattern books. The only translation I've been able to find for the book is the catchy "Lets begin to sewing the clothes, when we made decision of pattern".

I'm afraid the photos don't really show the blouse to its full advantage - but I think it shows our night to it's full extent!

It has a really cute sailor top effect - and next time I make it I will bring out that element a bit more.

And here I am eyeing up my next film - Nosferatu. The only problem is Andrew says he doesn't want to go and I think I'll be too scared to come home alone!

And finally, here I am channeling Jerry lee Lewis after the pianist had left.  If any of the Prince Charles ushers are out there - I did not really touch the piano!

One of my sewing New Years resolutions was to make an item out of every Japanese sewing book that I own. How hard can that be? Well, I hadn't realised I owned 12 of them - and that's not counting drafting magazines such as Cotton Time. The speed I make things there is now way I can make 12 things and still fit everything else in.

Well, out of those 12 book I have already made things from three of them

- the reversible top from Unique clothes anyway you wish

 - the heartbreak blouse from Simple Chic

 -the frankendress from Feminine Wardrobe an Simple Chic

So in my books I'm counting it that I have 9 left to make.

Here's the first - a draped front top from the book Kimono Remake.

Unfortunately its not my most successful project. This book is one of those where you draft the pattern yourself - and they only give instructions for one size.  It's also unusual in that it contains  patterns for recycling kimonos - so all the pattern pieces are below a certain width to take advantage of the strips of fabric from a kimono.

I did make a toile and when I couldn't get that over my head I remade it adding an extra centimetre to each of the body panel seams. This has still given a fit that is quite snug in the body but at the same time ill-fitting! Plus I think the fabric was a mistake - again it was just a cheapy from East Street market - and boy does it look cheap! 

I'm afraid its just iphone photos - therefore rubbish. Plus I can't smile and work a camera at the same time. On this front view you can see how badly it sits along the sides - various lumps and bumps become apparent.

The arms are a bit of a disaster too

I couldn't get the rolled hem on the fabric to sit flat  - the fabric is too thick.

All in all, not a great start.  Perhaps it would work in a thinner, drapier fabric - but I don't think it is for me.

Last year I was very disappointed to miss out on a place on a short course on Couture clothing at the Fashion and Textile Museum on Bermondsey Street (SE1, London). But they are running it again - and I booked my place today - hooray!

It's just a 1.5 hour session and billed as "A rare opportunity to view the ins and outs of couture construction. Participants will have the opportunity to examine the internal structure and sewing techniques of couture garments from Dior, Chanel and Balenciaga."
How amazing does that sound?!

If you are interested booking is here - http://www.ftmlondon.org/events/future_events/detail/?ID=243

I was very quiet just before Christmas even though I was sewing flat out.  I was making Christmas presents for my niece and nephew but didn't want to put anything on the site to spoil the surprise - not that my pre-school relatives are avid blog readers, but their mum (my lovely sister) would have seen.

Stupidly I then forgot to take some pictures of the finished items and even forgot to take some when they opened their presents. To be fair though, I think the remote control car and the talking horse were probably a little more (rightly) popular!

Well, today my sister sent me a lovely photo of my niece Evie wearing hers.

It's made from a design from "Patterns by Figgy's" called Franco and Fiona - here's their website 

www.figgyspatterns.com.  The dress is an asymmetric pinafore with contrasting fabric inserts which match the lining.  The flowery fabric is covered in butterflies and the buttons are in the shape of little cats. Evie does love her animals!

They have a whole new range since I bought this one - for slightly older girls - so Evie is going to be getting a few more of these over the years!

Doesn't she look cute though - you wouldn't believe she is keeping her poor mum and dad up all hours with behaviour that would make a sailor blush!

There was a brief couple of hours between finishing work for Christmas and going back again when I wasn't ill with a cough and cold. In that time I managed to make the Colette Ginger skirt. I know everyone has raved about this skirt but I wasn't prepared for quite how perfect it is.

Made from just over a metre of corduroy from East Street Market (£2 a metre) and created in next to no time - this is what we sew for.

It's perfect - the ideal shape for me. I've pretty much worn it non-stop since I made it - it's gone to work, it's gone shopping down Oxford Street, it's gone to the pub (The Roebuck on Great Dover Stret, SE1 if you must know) and it has been perfect for all purposes.

Action shots...

To paraphrase my favourite band, The Wedding Present - That was my favourite skirt you know. If you have no idea what I am talking about look them up now!