And a new border dress inspired by wonderful Horrockses dresses with those candied flowers.  Our dress is embroidred in Royal blue and Kelly green,  available here as  Flora Goes Green  in our new shop.

Red Dress

This little Red dress is off to New Orleans for a winter wedding. This warming red has come at the right time, just as the mornings have turned cold and crisp.

Vintage Dresses Coming Soon

We are busily working away on our new website, soon be launched in the next few days ..... here's a sneak peek at our vintage selection ......

Lady Sings The Blues

This was another fantastic commission which has just been completed.
The brief: A 50's inspired, Etta James, blues wiggle dress in a striking blue, designed to make a lady's curves pop!
 This dress has to be one of my favourites, when I packed it away in it's tissue paper those pleats felt as though it had been made 60 years ago and I really hope it makes it's lovely owner feel wonderful. I think you call it a labour of love when your fingertips have so many holes in,  Anyone who knows of a thimble that works please let me know.

Studded Heart

It's our friends birthday today and whilst I could get her a bunch of gorgeous flowers, the rain is falling heavily outside and thought I could use my skills to make her something to enjoy for longer.

This is the first time I have used these frames but it all went swimmingly and the final bag is looking quite pleasing! It feels great in your hand with the super soft nappa leather and gold metal studs. Lined in my favourite emerald green silk.

The Illusionist and the Blue Dress

We took a trip to the watershed last night to watch the Illusionist by Sylvain Chomet. I give it complete 10 out of 10, it really was as near to perfect as you would want a film to be and was spine tingling charming the whole way through.

There is a gorgeous scene in the film where the girl stops to admire a dress in the window display at Jenner's department store. The dress is blue and it sparked up memories of the classic Disney films featuring the female characters in blue dresses, maybe this is a nod to the old masters of hand drawn animation?

I can't remember the last time I stopped in front of a shop window and really longed for a dress (unless it was  vintage or I was in New York in the perfect setting outside Bergdorf Goodman's). Some dresses seem to be able to hold that aspirational feature, a shape, style and presence that you don't usually get with many dresses today. Certainly not on the high street.
We are now such heavy consumers that if we like a dress, we buy it, it gets bundled into the carrier bag and off we go without too much care. The dress will then be worn, spilled on, end up on the bedroom floor, in the washing machine, hang around and then off to the rag man or land fill.

I want to make the dress in the shop window, the one you stop and long for, the one that makes you feel wonderful, that's beautiful to touch, the one that will still be with you in twenty years time, that a girl finds in your wardrobe and then makes her feel special. It may be asking for a lot but I can at least try!

I love the way that the Illusionist perfectly demonstrates how old fashioned skills should be treasured. The film is about the end of an era, the way the magician no longer amazes his audience over modern amusements is heartbreaking. In ending with 'Magicians don't exist' sent me into a blubbering mess.

The one noticable part of cgi whirling round Edinburgh for two seconds, looked cheap and I hope this was there to make a point. It hit home in a big way and knocked most cgi animations to the ugly pavement next to Tesco's.  

Old skills rule! xxx

Gorgeous Grey Roses

A quick post to show you this darling of a dress.

The fabric is an original 1950's crisp cotton purchased from atomickatz (an excellent etsy shop packed with gorgeous vintage finds) and we teamed it with a crepe bodice and added our all important bow!

Black Lace Dress

This was a fantastic custom order, the kind I could do all day long! A lovely creative customer wanting something gorgeously vintage and in keeping with our style.

The dress was made in a soft black lace (nothing scratchy for the skin) and is designed with black silk slip underneath complete with boning and a fitted waist.

 The dress just screams demure 1940's glamour and I am very pleased with this one.  (if you haven't already guessed!)

And the inside just for good measure. As this was unlined lace it was important to keep the inside light and tidy so we bound the main waist seams and french seamed the rest.

New Tidy Studio

Over the past few months my studio has become more and more out of control with bit's paper being hoarded in one corner, fabrics scraps in another and stuff everywhere.
Wing quite wonderfully gave up his day to tidy my studio for me whilst I worked on a dress. He is one incredible man!
So the studio went from this

To this.....

All my lovely old furniture at one end to take photos and read and relax and the work end at the other. My desk looks so wonderful without the technology around it!

Weekend Dress

This weekend we celebrated our friend Sooz's birthday at Prosecco in Clifton. We had a great night, the food was delicious and it was good to spend time with friends for a treat. 

I made a dress made for the occasion, the first one for myself in a long time. The fabric is a fine cotton with anchor print (which I think was found in a charity shop once upon a time) and a jersey wool bodice. Teamed with red tights to match the bound hem and my mums vintage black heeled brogues. 

Little Black Dress

Little Black silk dress made today, my first in ethical silk.

Friday Dress

Here's is Fridays dress. It's not quite finished but is what you would call 'photo ready'. I was so proud of my zip finishing the other day that I want everything to be wonderful inside.

My Mum also gave me some great advice ...... 'never buy a car on a Friday'  because people rush on Friday's and don't do a thorough job. I think this is when they used to make cars in a day?

Cocktail Sac

Today's handmade item is complete and I have learnt something new. 

Check out this amazing art deco inspired bag by Vivien Cheng in snake skin, I love it. 

 

Here is my bag in silk, with a gorgeous floral print cotton for the lining which I had been saving (or hoarding). Sewing a bag to a frame takes ages but is definitely worth it for the finish, this was hand stitched and then wrapped to mold the silk to the frame shape.

Green Dress July 21st

This week is going well, three day and three newly made items . I am very very pleased with myself today for making this dress.
I found the fabric at a sale at our local village hall, who would have though I would find such gorgeous vintage American fabric in Biddisham! The print is called Ashley by Waverly part of the 'Southern Charm Collection'. Its ivy with little clover leaves and my lovely Mum kindly smocked a panel in the bodice  for me.
I'm hoping the girl who gets this dress will be a little more Sassy with her Southern Charm! 

The thing that makes me happiest and most proud of myself today is that I have finished the zip with cotton binding. A little tip I stole from Elle collections and the snapshot of the Givenchy lace blouse. It makes such a difference. I also added satin pockets.

Another Hat

I've lost connection in my studio so am posting from my phone.
Here is another hat made today and embellished with a gorgeous vintage motif. I had some beads to
match so added little black bobble beads and covered the form in a black polkadot tulle.
My head also arrived and was quickly sprayed gold and her moustache was added to finish.
This hat reminds me a little Schiaparelli and a little of Spanish bull fighters.

Ethical Fabrics

I wanted to buy a coconut today in the supermarket, it was 50p and it hit me that most likely someone wasn't getting a fair wage to pick them, otherwise it would have a fair trade stickers slapped all over it and the supermarket would be shouting about how wonderful they were!

Previously I didn't want to jump on the whole ethical band wagon by going on about using vintage fabrics and so on, as I felt is was becoming a bit of a gimmick. This weekend I changed my mind and realised that I should take a little more responsibility. Ethical clothing doesn't mean it has to look like dish cloths.

I have spent the last two days trying to source fair trade fabrics. I have specific fabrics that I like to use and really want these to be fair trade. I have found organic fair trade cottons everywhere which is great and I will use these from now on. Bishopston trading is the best and most transparent company.
The problem I came across was in the silk. I have been told by a few reputable fair trade fabric suppliers that fair trade silk does not exist yet as it is not on the list for the world fair trade organisation.

There is 'peace' silk which is produced using a specific silk worm which leaves the cocoon before the silk is harvested. This makes the silk vegetarian and is also known as tussah silk, wild silk, non violent silk or ahisma. My greatest concern is that the people producing the silk are fairly treated and paid a fair wage. Wish I could go to India and set up my own manufacturing but this isn't a possibility right now.

We are already using vintage fabrics. We also use UK produced tulle which is an essential for the prom dresses. To be as ethical as I can about the whole thing I need to get the silk as good as I can. Some companies have said they can supply the tussah silk, others have a 'great relationship with their Chinese factory but haven't been there to check' and others have just said 'we don't do ethical fabrics' 

The next issue is the price. Some peace silks are hugely expensive and as a small business I need to stick to a very tight budget. Then there is the dye, it is safe for the environment? So I can buy in the undyed silk and use Eco dyes to dye the fabric myself. This is fine.

Next is the thread. And the zips. If they are manufactured in the EU this is fine as we have good laws to protect workers in the EU. Thread should be organic cotton or polyester, recycled polyester if possible. Gutermann have signed up to environmental agreements and at the moment I think the polyester is the lesser of two evils. Non organic cotton is one of the most destructive industries.

We will be aiming for :
-using vintage fabrics and materials where ever we can
-using only fair trade cottons from now on and the most ethical silk I can get at the time
-hand dying my fabrics with Eco dyes instead of buying chemically dyed silks
-using gutermann or organic cotton threads
-buying materials produced in countries who fairly support workers

We can just try our best to be as ethical as possible. It won't be all fair trade and I'm not going to be screaming about our 'ethical' business, but I won't take products or fabrics for granted and will do my part.

I will also be banging on the door of suppliers to sell ethically produced silk. I can't believe it is so difficult to find, but like all fair trade items it up to the consumer to demand it.

 Here have been the most helpful websites:

http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org    Fashioning An Ethical Industry - helpful info
http://www.ecoearthfabrics.co.uk  Eco silks, cottons and dyes
http://www.bishopstontrading.co.uk/common/index.php   A fantastic company selling real fair trade fabrics
http://www.wfto.com/   The world fair trade organisation