August 15, 2020

Making Merchant and Mills Top 64

August 15, 2020/ Claire (aka Ruby)

Over the past few months, I have collected a few japanese dressmaking books and am constantly inspired by images on instagram. Following on from my love of japanese embroidery, these books are extremely enticing. I love the japanese aesthetic - simple, clean lines, a little bit vintage, a little modern, practical and pretty at the same time. They use gorgeous fabrics too - fresh cottons, wool and silk and the look is a careful one. No sloppy stretched t-shirts, but with comfort in mind and just tiny details which make a difference. I wasn’t feeling brave enough to attempt one of the patterns - they are all in japanese script and so it would be a diagram only effort… but I did want to make something with the feel of these lovely garments. The Merchant and Mills Top 64 pattern has been sitting on my cutting table for a while…. it was time.

July 26, 2020

Ruby's Wardrobe: Making an embroidered Dressing Gown

July 26, 2020/ Claire (aka Ruby)

For the next item in Ruby’s wardrobe of extraordinarily pretty things, I wanted to make a dressing gown. I’m thinking sort of country house weekend …. you know, the sort of thing you could take to wear whilst staying at some rather grand house in the rolling hills of …. wherever. Well, a girl’s gotta dream! Anyhow, generally, I think a lightweight, easy to pack robe is a useful thing to have and with the PJ’s also in mind to make, I set about planning the project.

April 16, 2020

An Ogden embroidered camisole and a bag

April 16, 2020/ Claire (aka Ruby)

For the next item in Ruby’s capsule wardrobe of extraordinarily pretty things, I was decisive about what I wanted to make. For ages I have had a beautiful Japanese embroidery book that has the most elegant embroidered camisole I have ever seen. If ever a vintage girl wanted a cam - this was it! From time to time, I’d look at this photo and think about making one and it also seemed like it wouldn’t be too difficult for an early stages project in my dressmaking adventures. It has lots of scope for embroidery and if it worked, I knew it would be a staple garment that can be worn with almost anything.

February 20, 2020

Capsule Wardrobe of extraordinarily pretty things - No. 1 : The apron

February 20, 2020/ Claire (aka Ruby)

So as I mentioned in my previous post, the first thing on my list is going to be an apron. Not the sort that gets mucky in the kitchen, but the sort that you can wear over your day clothes almost as if it is part of them. The girls in Little Women would almost certainly have worn these on a daily basis as would any self respecting victorian young lady, so let’s see how a more modern version might look.

February 07, 2020

Making a capsule wardrobe of extraordinarily pretty things

February 07, 2020/ Claire (aka Ruby)

Recently I went to see the film ‘Little Women’ (twice). Have you seen it? It is Greta Gerwig’s new interpretation of the novel and I loved every second of it. In fact I was so enamoured of it that it plunged me into the world I used to inhabit as a teenager of Victorian style fantasy. I always desperately wished that I could wear the clothes of days gone by when women looked like women and wore what I may describe as ‘extraordinarily pretty things’. I remember when we were over the US a few years ago and we took the kids to Gettysburg. Driving away from it, I saw a shop selling civil war costumes - Scarlett O’hara style for sure. Oh how I wanted a crinoline dress. My husband laughed ‘what on earth would you do with it… wear it do the washing up???’ Of course he is right - I am neither actress or a drama queen. But after seeing ‘Little Women’, I saw lots of ideas that could easily be adapted to today’s wardrobe, which in my case, would absolutely have to include jeans.

August 28, 2019

Adventures of a novice dressmaker - The Peppermint Peplum top

August 28, 2019/ Claire (aka Ruby)

So this is the first dress making pattern I have ever downloaded. It’s clever, the way it works - the software somehow enables you to find the layer for your size and just print that. It took me a little while to suss it out, but once I had it all printed I fixed it together like a jigsaw puzzle. At this point, I was already thinking that I should probably use some of my Swedish pattern paper to make a copy … if it turns out well.

March 01, 2019

Hand embroidering shop bought clothes

March 01, 2019/ Claire (aka Ruby)

Adding a touch of hand embroidery to items of clothing that you have bought from a shop, can be a great and reasonably quick way to have a totally unique and bespoke garment. I think it is something people don’t often think to do and yet it is incredibly effective.

July 14, 2017

Starry, Starry Skies....a hand sewn poncho

July 14, 2017/ Claire (aka Ruby)

I scattered and layered my stars in little constellations on the fabric, a bit strategically placed for effect, but quite relaxed. I mixed and matched grey and white and used several different sizes of templates. As I started to hand appliqué them on, I had so much fun, making each one different. Using a variety of stitches, beads and sequins, I soon had a stellar array before me.

October 06, 2016

Adventures in Dressmaking, Episode 2 - An Applique Cardigan

October 06, 2016/ Claire (aka Ruby)

I am not a dressmaker and these projects are massive learning curves and really just a beginning. What is amazing to me, is that so far, both projects have turned out to be wearable and perhaps a little bit more even... amazing. I put this down to the fact that the garments are made in 100% soft cotton jersey. It is more forgiving and yields to your body shape however many curves you have and I do have curves.....

June 17, 2016

Adventures in Dress Making with Alabama Chanin

June 17, 2016/ Claire (aka Ruby)

So excited to write about this one - really, I cannot tell you how much.......Where to begin....at the very beginning, I suppose. Last year, when I was finishing up my City & Guilds course, I was doing some research on 'reverse appliqué' and confess I was rather unenthusiastic about this part of the module. That was, until I came across 'Alabama Chanin'. It opened up a whole new world to me and oh boy...it is just totally fabulous.

Journal