Taking Le-Roy 5063 Out on the Town

Back in February, I bought some great fabric while on a trip to Manchester:

Rock n roll cotton!

I didn't really know exactly what I wanted to do with it until a few weeks ago, when I got a yearning for a shirt dress. This coincided with buying tickets to go see JD McPherson, who I've become mildly obsessed with (Mr Needles is probably sick of being updated on trivial McPherson facts, whch I do several times a day). The perfect outfit for a rock and roll gig!

I had a rummage through my patterns, and came up with this Le-Roy from the mid/late 60's:

I know it's not 50's, but I made it once before a long time ago, and seem to remember it fit really well; besides, I hate all those rules about eras and so on. Rules are made to be broken!

Here's the finished product:

I added a few touches of my own, just to break up the pattern a bit. I cut the upper collar from a contrasting black cotton:

 And I added little black cuffs to the sleeves:

To finish, I lined the skirt with a simple cotton, and hand sewed around the button placket:

And on the night - the dress was perfect for a hot and sweaty gig, and I'd love to show you evidence of this, but I was so busy having a good time that I forgot to get Mr Needles to take pictures of me in it! Instead, here are a few shots I managed to get of JD and the band:

JD, in a rare non-wailing moment

Jimmy Sutton

And to finish, a puzzling non-sewing incident witnessed by Mr Needles and I while on our way into the venue. There was a bit of confusion on our part, and we mistakenly joined the guest list line, behind this dapper gentleman:

Nick Lowe, former member of Rockpile, producer of Elvis Costello, the list goes on...

Who was the producer of this album:

The Damned's first album, containing 'New Rose', arguably the first British punk single

We heard him tell the young guy in the booth he was on the guest list. 

Booth guy asked him 'whose list?' 

Mr Lowe answered 'JD's'. 

Booth guy asked his name; of course, he replied 'Nick Lowe'. 

Mr Lowe waited patiently while the guy in the booth flicked through various sheets, looking for his name. Meanwhile, I felt like shouting out 'Don't you know who he is?' I was sure someone would recognise him and wave him through! 

Unbelievably, Booth guy came back with the answer 'Sorry, you're not on here' and Mr Lowe moved off to one side, looking dejected. I felt embarrassed for him... I hope he got in because it was a great night. 

I'll leave you with video proof he should have been let in - JD McPherson and Nick Lowe on stage together in Portland. Enjoy!

Experiments in Colour - Simplicity 3266

If you're reading this from outside Britain, you may have heard that we're having the wettest summer since... well, who knows when, but I do know that it's really getting me down! I'm supposed to be having adventures, as explained in the title of this blog, but the unrelenting rain is keeping me indoors, making my hair frizz, and generally making life BORING.

A rare burst of sunshine...

To make things feel a bit cheerier, I made this blouse from a pattern from what looks like the late 50's or early 60's, Simplicity 3266.

I made version 3 (top right)

I'm not very confident with colour, and don't get much practice as I have to wear black to work, so I tend to stick to quite strong colours and easy combinations, such as red and black. But I'm always intrigued by some of the colour combinations and names you see in old knitting and dressmaking patterns, such as 'Eau de Nil', 'Chartreuse', 'Goldenrod', etc, so this mustardy colour was a bit of an experiment. And I think it worked - I thought it would give my skin a yellowy pallor, but it actually seems to brighten me up a bit. 

Here are some details:

I used some sparkly buttons from Dalston Mill Fabrics. Can't remember how much, but they would have been less than £1.00 total:

And here's a close up of the big collar, which is great because it gives the illusion you have a smaller waist:

Is it a collar, or a set of wings?

I've worn this blouse on over and over since I made it - it's rapidly becoming one of my favourite things! I'll definitely make it again in other colours, so I'm off to Google 'eau de nil', so I know what to look for in the fabric shop!

Jubilee Swapsies

Look what Mr Postman brought for me just the other day:

My Jubilee Swap parcel from the lovely Lucy at 1940's Style For You, as organised by Lakota at Faith Hope and Charity Shopping.

Lucy was so generous - inside were all of these shiny bits of loveliness:

Which revealed  a selection of homemade and thrifted items:

A knitted shrug pattern, a copy of Needlewoman and Needlecraft, 2 style patterns, some gummy sweets (quickly scoffed mostly by Mr Needles!), and a corsage, made by Lucy herself.

As well as this, Lucy included a red beret which she knitted, no doubt from a vintage pattern:

Close up of handmade felt corsage, and cute red beret

As usual, the British summer has proved to be mostly wet (I imagine the Olympic comittee must be praying to Aztec Sun Gods by now...), so the beret has aleady spent a day upon my head, and protected me well from the drizzle:

A big thank you, Lucy! I hope my parcel lives up to her standards. And make sure you stop by her blog, where you can see her beautiful vintage knitting, as well as her days out re-enacting WW2.

Measuring Tape Rosettes

I'm a big fan of Tatty Devine, and often pop into their shop in Brick Lane to have a look at what's new. Last time I was there, I noticed these fab measuring tape brooches:

Source

I couldn't stop thinking about them, so started fiddling about with an old measuring tape I had at home. After a few false starts, and a trip to the market for some 70p tapes and the local stationers, here's what I came up with:

They're not quite as perfect as the originals, but I love them! I'm not going to go into too much detail as to how I made mine, as I don't want to discourage anyone shopping with this small, brilliant company - they've already suffered greatly by being 'interpreted' by several chain stores, and even won a legal battle with one in particular. But if you can't quite stretch to £30 for an original, you can also buy a Tatty Devine measuring tape for £3.50 and make your own!

See you soon!

McCalls 9722 Goes to the Jubilee

You may have heard that we've been celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee here in Britain, and because of this, I made another version of the McCall's 9722 especially for the Jubilee! (See its previous plain black incarnation here) I thought it was fitting to wear a skirt with a map of London on the Queen's special day, with fabric I purchased in Amsterdam (I know, it doesn't really make sense...)

Practicalty was the order of the day, so I wore:

Black beret - knitted by me

Marc by Marc Jacobs jacket - Sale purchase, about 10 years ago

Blouse - made by me (post to come)

Black brogues - Office Shoes, £50

Brown patent Roger Vivier bag - charity shop, about £5 

Here's a close up of the fabric:

I'm not a big Royalist, but who doesn't love an extra day off work, and an excuse to drink champagne in the street! And that's exactly what Mr Needles and I did on Sunday.

First was the Wilton Way Diamond Jubilee Street party, in Hackney:

 We drank Prosecco flavoured with Kir:

Mr Needles, getting his fancy-schmancy drunk on

 We ate Jubilee-themed salted caramel cupcakes:

 There were lovely window displays to admire:

And everyone was out in their finery:

Bikers can celebrate the Jubilee too!

 One of my favourite scenes of the day - Coins Junkyard Snack Bar, run by Mike from Hot Breath Karaoke. It was an ingenious deep fat fryer rigged up on a shopping trolley, with added karaoke! Deep fried pickle anyone?

Then it was on to Chatsworth Rd in Clapton, to partake of their Jubilee festivities. More bunting, etc, but this time with added Pearly Kings, Queens, and Princes:

By now, the traditional British drizzle was getting to us, so we ducked into Cakey Muto for a fantastic gruyere and cashew pie, and hot coffee:

But 2 street parties wasn't enough for us, and even though it had been drizzling and raining pretty much non-stop, we were determined to make our way towards the Thames and see if we could catch a glimpse of Queenie on her barge.

It was pretty crowded:

After trudging across Waterloo Bridge in the rain, we made it to the Plaza in front of the National Theatre, just in time to watch a band doing Beatles and Kinks covers in the pouring rain. Even though the heavens were unleashing what seemed like a month's worth of rain on us, everyone was jumping around and singing along :

Then it was time for beer and drying out in the Royal Festival Hall:

And we never saw the Queen on her boat, though I did see an orchestra on a barge!

That was our Jubilee, in all of its soggy glory!