February 13, 2026

The 'Marie Antoinette Style' Exhibition at London's V & A

February 13, 2026/ Claire (aka Ruby)

As you know, I do love a good costume exhibition and last weekend I was lucky enough to go to the ‘Marie Antoinette Style’ exhibition in London. Held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington, it was spectacularly staged. I am full of admiration for the curators who put these wonderful things together and it was just a feast for the eyes. Loaded with story telling in the best kind of way, it’s a visual look at this tragic Queen of France’s life and her legacy.

March 11, 2021

Making a quilted voile Ogden Cami

March 11, 2021/ Claire (aka Ruby)

A little bit of 18th century Provence

A spinkle of Alabama Chanin style

An echo of Sashiko

A twist of Danish flare……..

That sounds a bit of a concoction doesn’t it?! Hi there, glad you’ve landed here today as I have an interesting dressmaking project to tell you about, which was in short, an experimental idea using a trusted pattern. The inspiration, as you can see, came from all sorts of different sources and spun around in my mind over a few months until it fused together to become this idea. I had no idea if it would work and maybe the jury is still out on that one, but it is so fun to experiment with stitch and texture and well, anyhow, I will let you be the judge of it.

January 11, 2021

Making the Hinterland Dress (but really the #OutlanderObessed Dress)

January 11, 2021/ Claire (aka Ruby)

Hello and welcome to a New Year on the blog. I hope you will join me in my sewing adventures this year and to start things up, I am putting another item into Ruby’s wardrobe of extraordinarily pretty things. As a novice dressmaker, I am slow and a bit sceptical about making my own clothes, but you don’t know until you try and my quest to find clothes that I like (as a 57 year old) and that fit me (as a 57 year old) is never going to be easy. The Hinterland Dress by Sew Liberated often pops up on my instagram feed and it looked like the kind of easy wear dress that would be good in winter or summer weight fabric.

June 28, 2019

Christian Dior Exhibition at the V&A

June 28, 2019/ Claire (aka Ruby)

Earlier this week I was lucky enough to go with my daughter to the Christian Dior exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. All I can say is that it is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Not only is it way larger than I was expecting, it is presented in a such magical way that carries you away into the very special world of couture clothing.

November 23, 2016

I think Miss Austen would approve!

November 23, 2016/ Claire (aka Ruby)

I am always in awe of the fine travelling accessories the ladies of Miss Austen's time had and remember especially going to visit Josephine Bonaparte's house in Rueil Malmaision, in the suburbs of Paris and seeing the most wonderful collection of absolutely beautiful accessories with little embroidered bags and embossed leather carrying cases. Somehow, chucking everything in a zip up holdall doesn't quite have the same feel....?

August 21, 2016

Venice - Fortune and Fortuny

August 21, 2016/ Claire (aka Ruby)

Back from holidays feeling revved up and ready to go in the sewing room. Hope you have had or are having a fab time on your vacation, wherever it may be. We certainly had an amazing time. We visited Venice last year for a few days and fell in love with this magical city and decided to return to take a closer look...a much closer look in fact.

Journal