Dressed Good Friends

So, time for a post to bring you up to speed with a whole heap of makery that's been happening round these parts. The creations featured in this post were all for my best mate, Vic, so now that they are all firmly in her mitts, I'm free to post them up without ruining any surprises.

First up, remember the skirt I made for Harriet's May 'Poetry and Clothing' package? Well, there is another! In fact I had a mini production line going to make two identical skirts, one intended for Harriet, and the other for Vic as part payment for some tickets she bought Patty and myself to see a Mark Thomas gig. So, in fact the original pair of thrifted £4 spotty navy sateen curtains made one Ceylon dress and two mini Simplicity 2451's. You couldn't even get a dress and two skirts for 4 quid in Primark! Slow fashion: 1, Fast fashion: 0.

Next up is a cheeky little hoodie sweatshirt refashion I made on a whim one afternoon after work. I was chillin' in the studio on my own, listening to tunes and having a nice time, so I decided to stay awhile longer and whip up a little sommin' sommin'!

The new sweatshirt is a tighter fit, with gathered-head 3/4 length sleeves, the original hoodie front pocket and polka dot Peter Pan collar. I do intend to do a 'How-to', or at least a step-by-step break down of how I create these sweatshirts in the future, but unfortunately my plans to make the pattern available has been scuppered. You see, I've made these sweatshirts for our work range, and seeing as I developed the pattern within work time, technically the pattern belongs to Traid, not me. Sorry to the peops who would have fancied owning the pattern. Anyways, here's a wee close up of the collar detail:

After Vic received the skirt at the top of this post, she found she only had one top in her wardrobe that she could wear with it. I had no intention of providing her with a part-orphan skirt, so I stayed behind at work again, cranked the tunes and made this:

Two unwanted mens white T-shirts were sacrificed in the making of this top. Reports from Vic have said that it's basically a Win, though a little short in the body (which I see now looking at this pic) but ok if she tucks it in. Good to know for future makery.

And finally, I stash-busted this amazing piece of vintage barkcloth into two wasp's-arse bags, one for Vic and one for me. This fabric came in a delivery at work and having been deemed unsuitable for the garments and accessories we make for our range, it was discarded to be turned into rag. I naturally intervened. But with a print so mental, it was tricky to figure out what it was destined to be. After dwelling in my stash for about four months, it became clear that a simple shaped bag was the only appropriate canvas for such a pattern.

I'm excited to announce that Vic will be present at the Brighton meetup next Saturday, and will be making her first ever skirt on Sunday! Soon she'll be whipping up her own wardrobe goodness, and I'll be redundant!