Diary of a Chain Stitcher

I was lucky enough to be asked a few weeks ago by Lisa from Sew Over It to test their latest pattern release; the Betty Dress . I jumped at the chance as it's a gorgeous classic design with the potential to be made up numerous times, each completely different from the next as Lisa herself has been proving by instagraming pics of her own 'Bettys' every day for the past week! Sew Over It is a beautiful sewing cafe and shop in Clapham South London that strangely enough I lived literally around the corner from when it first opened quite a few years ago now. Betty was one of the first patterns Lisa designed for her classes in the cafe and as the name suggests is based on the early style of Betty Draper from the ever popular Mad Men. As you may therefore expect the design features a full circle skirt and fitted bodice reminiscent of the 1950s. I made mine up in a lovely lightweight cotton sateen which I came across in Simply Fabrics in Brixton. It's such great qual...

I have a confession to make. This isn't what I had planned to submit for Julia Bobbin's Mad Men Challenge . That lovely dress is still not finished, well pretty much only just about cut out. It's taken quite a lot of planning as I'm attempting to incorporate elements from a few of her looks into something that suits what I can wear every day.  I initially pinned a lot of images to my Pinterest board devoted to the challenge but couldn't see any one dress I wanted to exactly copy which I knew I would then get wear out of afterwards. So I decided to go down the 'Joan inspired' route. I want to get it just right and not rush it so I went with a much simpler idea and am very pleased with the result! Joanie is by far my favourite Mad Men character so I stuck with basing my garment on her style. I still wanted to make something I would get some wear out of as a lot of my sewing projects err on the side of evening or special occasion wear. I went back throug...

Hmm so I may have been doing a bit too much research and planning and not enough sewing for this challenge! I think it's highly unlikely that I'm going to make the end of March deadline for this but I'm still ploughing on and think I finally have my plan! Kinda... When I first heard about the challenge my immediate thoughts were drawn to the outfits of Betty as my tastes veer towards her feminine full skirted look and it is a shape which suits me. I particularly love the dress in the centre image below with the wide fitted waist section and one of may favourite styles of sleeve. However I could make a dress of this style and completely love it, wear it to a wedding or similar occasion and then never wear it! Or at least not wear it as much as I'd hope too because dresses of this style are completely impractical for my day to day life. I am still tempted to make a summer shirtdress in a nice cotton or rayon in a similar style to the pictures either side above....

O this is what Sunday mornings are for! Pointless activities such as making a cartoon Mad Men version of yourself! Make your own here . Enjoy!

So I know I’m a bit slow picking up on this one but I’ve recently discovered the fantastic American drama ‘Mad Men’. I’ve fallen instantly in love with it, perhaps slightly influenced by the gorgeous early 1960s costumes. On top of the joy of looking at all the beautiful dresses (I’ve lost track of what’s happening plot wise on a number of occasions because I was too busy studying an outfit) it’s just a fantastically well written, acted and put together series. I love the way the camera suddenly focuses on one tiny little action of a character often involving an intriguing 1950s/60s prop (such as Don’s odd spring contraption for exercise in the office down to the drinks cans) or sometimes the editing highlights a fascinating detail of the setting, such as a drawer in Don’s office filled with freshly washed and pressed shirts. Everything works together to conjure up the world of the 1960s ad men of Madison Avenue and their housewives. But let’s get to my real interest in the series ...