For the love of Preloved

Ok so two more months have whizzed past since my “excuse” month of not making a #Wardrobe Challenge garment by going to a pattern fitting workshop…

Well July was a write off from the start, since I was away or busy every weekend and as yet I haven’t got good enough to be able to achieve much in the evenings. However, my weekends did include some vintage shopping. I must have spent an  hour in Beyond Retro in Brighton and came away with a playsuit, a navy and white sailor style dress which I think has to be one of my favourite buys to date, and a couple of scarves.

I also reworked a charity shop buy (Star by Julien McDonald for Debenhams) which I wore on my trip to Rome – and felt very glamorous too! The rework involved raising the bustline and re-sewing the elastication, and I gathered the sleeves to create a nicer neckline.

So that was July, I didn’t feel bad for not making anything. August has been a different story. I really haven’t had any excuse for not making something, other than it’s been easy not to. I did put together an outfit for Twinwood festival (next weekend woohoo!), but that was courtesy of the Collectif sale, so doesn’t really count…

So finally we come to the end of August (nearly) and I had a bit of a Preloved triumph. After the fitting workshop on the advice of some of the others I put up a Preloved wanted ad for a tailor’s dummy – the kind you can alter the measurements of. And just as I was forgetting I’d posted it, I got a reply last week! I went to pick it up this weekend and I’m chuffed – it’s really almost immaculate, as were some of the other items I got at the same time (house clearance) – a pressing ham and roll, pattern drafting/cutting board and fabric! You can see it modelling the sailor dress up above.

So – next weekend is Twinwood but September will be the month I catch up on sewing – now that I have all the tools I could possibly need to fit and finish properly, there is really no excuse left…