Floral bag

floral bag

floral bag

I don’t know if this would come under the category of ‘make do and mend’ or ‘remake.’ Anyway – I made this bag from a curtain pelmet. The fabric was actually new as I bought it from a local curtain shop. Someone had ordered the pelmet and then hadn’t bothered to collect it, so I got yards of this lovely floral fabric, all beautifully lined, for just £2.00 – bargain.

Obviously the fabric is very long but not so wide, however, it was just wide enough to make this summer bag and all I had to do was remove the curtain tape and sew a straight line down one end, shape the corners a little bit, trim off the excess fabric, turn the bag right side out and then add some fabric handles which were made from binding material which I already had in my stash.

Some more binding material and a big button finished the whole thing off. I must say that I’m quite pleased with the outcome as I’ve seen similar bags in the shops and they cost about £30 to people who are mad enough to pay it.

Make do and mend

My friend Annella was having a clear out recently, and she gave me a bundle of beautiful broderie anglaise material, which she had no use for. It had originally belonged to Annella’s granny, so it must be really old, as Annella is 83. I think that at one time most of it had been made up into underskirts, as there was one intact one in the bundle, and another which had just had the waistband removed.

I wore the intact one under a flimsy skirt when I went shopping in Edinburgh on Saturday. I think it must have been the “Sunday best” underskirt as it seems like new and the material is very sturdy. It certainly stopped my skirt from sticking to my legs and made the skirt ‘hang’ better.

broderie anglaise underskirt

broderie anglaise underskirt

underskirt detail

underskirt detail

So, being of a waste not, want not turn of mind, I thought I would make the one which had just had the waistband removed into a summer nightdress, as it was more than half way there already. As you can see below, I simply gathered the top edge, and then bound the edge with lace which I already had in my stash. I’m quite pleased with the outcome.

broderie anglaise nightdress

broderie anglaise nightdress

nightdress detail

nightdress detail

Although, I must admit that this was my second try at it. I actually went to the trouble of making pin tucks at my first attempt of the nightdress, however that all went sadly wrong when I accidently cut through the material when I was cutting the lace edging. Honestly, I couldn’t have done it if I had tried, but – hey ho – you know how it is and I couldn’t face making the pin tucks again.

Now all I need is some summer weather in which to wear a nightie. I’ve just changed over from the winter duvet to the summer one today as it has been too cold until now, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I had to pile a quilt on top of it tonight. Well, that’s Scotland in June for you.

Fashion

Angelique Chrisafis of Paris had an article published in The Guardian on Saturday, 30th May, in which she reported on an exhibition at the Jean Moulin Museum. Apparently the exhibition shows how women reacted to the Nazi occupation, using clothing to boost their self-image, amongst other things. It explores the ingenuity of ration book fashion. Of course, much the same things were going on in war time Britain, although admittedly we didn’t have the added problem of the Nazis requisitioning materials such as wool and leather.

We’ve all heard the stories from mums and grannies of gravy browning used to dye legs (very popular with dogs) and beetroot to dye hair. No wonder the Americans were so popular, with their nylons and lipsticks.

Fabienne Falluel seems to think that French women don’t necessarily know how to sew nowadays. However she believes that this will change during this recession, and that people will soon start learning to sew again.

It was a surprise to me that the French seem to be so far behind the times. In Britain, over the past couple of years the sales of sewing machines have increased enormously. I know that young girls here have always customised clothes to make themselves a bit different and add some of their own personality to their style. I know that I have a dread of meeting someone at a ‘do’ who is wearing the same outfit as me, and I’m pretty sure that that is a universal horror for women.

Well, it just can’t happen if you make your own things or at least customise them. The Gok Wan fashion programmes are giving people the confidence to have a go themselves too.

Part of the attraction in sewing is the fact that you can take something that is quite worn out and turn it into something new. It’s all very green and good for the environment, and it saves you money too.
It can be taken too far however. My mother-in-law was a Make-Do and Mend teacher during the war and she carried on with that same attitude to everything for the rest of her life. Like many people of that generation they just got into the habit of saving everything like string, elastic bands and wrapping paper.

Sending the kids to school in patched clothes shouldn’t be an option nowadays as the whole thing gets too Dolly Partonish for words. (See the video below.)

But there surely comes a time for every piece of fabric when the best thing you can do with it is turn it into a cleaning or polishing cloth.

Getting back to the subject of fashion. Just why do the French have such a great reputation for being well dressed? The last time I was in Paris I only saw one well dressed woman the whole time I was there, and she was a lady of a certain age, harking back to that era when no lady would open her front door unless she had her lipstick on, at least.