Liberty Prints – learning from the exhibition
Last week I covered some of the clothes produced by Liberty of London over the years and on show at a local exhibition.
This post complements it by providing some information on Liberty of London Prints – which was set up as a wholesale company in 1939 to supply other companies and dressmakers with fabric (they had already cornered the market in beautiful silk scarves). If you visit the store today most of the clothes are from major designers, some more unique and small scale designers, with a very small range of their own clothes – mainly blouses and shirts made in Liberty fabrics. Of course these days the demands of tourists and overseas shoppers is such that you can buy lots of souvenirs coated in Liberty prints from jam pots with fabric lids to note books and tea towels. You can pretend to be “English” as you sip your Liberty tea from a Liberty print tea cup, placing a dainty Liberty Print napkin in your lap. I can’t be doing with this fussy “National Trust shop” lifestyle but I guess it helps with the balance of payments.
Anyway back to the fabrics. Like Sanderson the company owns quite a few original WIlliam Morris prints, and many other designs from the Arts and Craft movement. The sale of beautiful Arts and Craft furniture covered with these detailed and beautiful linens, saturated with colour, became a staple part of the business. In addition they imported Indian block prints, Japanese silks and Chinese embroidery and mixed these in with more local craft work and designs. As time went on they often pull out vintage designs and reissue them. This was particularly the case in the 1960s and 1970s when the Art Nouveau designs were revived. For example Ianthe (a wallpaper design from 1902) was issued as a fabric in 1967.
However since 1970 these fabrics are no longer actually printed by Liberty print works – some are printed in the UK but many of them are produced in the Far East.
I can’t say I love Liberty Prints or I hate Liberty Prints because they feature such a wide variety of designs and colours. The exhibition shows a very wide range and there is definatley something for everyone. The Collier Cambell prints interested me. I met Sarah Campbell in about 1986. At the time I was running a Family Planning Clinic in Brixton. One of the visitors to the clinic was realted to her, or worked for her, I can’t remember. But as I was thinking of replacing the ghastly light green medical curtains that surrounded our examination bed I had the idea of getting some bright and breezy and oh so fashionable fabric instead. Sarah kindly gave me a whole role of lovely colourful fabric that I made in curtains for the clinic. One of things you find with their designs is it looks like a repeat and then it is subtly different. You can see this with Mercury, below. The skirt on the right is also inspirational – basically a very plain skirt made with a bold pictorial (50s influenced print). This gives you something interesting to look at when you sit down and also a wide colour palette that makes putting a look to go with it so easy. I can see this skirt with an orange jumper and red tights, or black, or cream, for example.
I was particualrly keen to go and have a look at the Yves St Laurent textiles on display – in fact this was why I had gone to the exhibiiton in the first place. There was one cabinet, and I have given a couple of close ups. The designs are very much of the 1970s (the pointed collar in the second picture for example), but gosh how appealing they are. Using simplified floral motifs, bold geometric shapes and loose brush strokes we have a folksy but stunning selection. The strong colours really appealed to me – sticking the primary colours together with a few secondaries, black and white they have an almost Matisse or Delauney-like intensity. Some of these designs could inspire silk painting or screen printing.
Many of the textiles and textile designs were enclosed in glass, hence the reflections on some of the pictures – sorry about that. It was interesting to see the development of the patterning over the decades, but I felt these three were rather typical of the Liberty print as we think of it today. Rather a small scale pattern, often a bit “ditsy” – romantic, traditional, petite feminine. If you are any of these things then today’s Liberty prints may be for you, especially if your colouring is muted. Although there is quite a following for the Liberty print in blogland I have my reservations. Mainly because they don’t really complement my classic style, clear bright colour palette or preference for a larger motif. Small prints can, at a distance (which is how you are viewed when wearing them) mix in the eye to create a greyish or brownish look. Fine if you suit a muted palette, but if you suit brighter shades you will be better sticking to a plain fabric, a larger print or perhaps colour on a darker background.
One of the nice things about the exhibition is that Liberty prints follow fashions – compare the 1970s “brownish” dresses featured in my previous post, with the vibrant shades of the 1960s.
For me textiles always go with fashion. You can’t understand one without the other. This exhibition, indeed this Museum, shows how it all comes together. And it is a delight.
Sewing with a Plan 2016 0.13 – the pant suit
I already introduced my Sewing with a Plan outfit which is an embellished evening pant suit, inspired by Irene Galitzine (below left).
Irene Galitzine explained how she got started as a designer.
“I was one of Emilio Pucci’s best customers, but I got tired of seeing the same clothes I was wearing on other people, so I began making my own things,” she once said. “I put them in my first collection, and everybody went wild.”
So I bought the Pucci pattern (vogue 2333) as it is along similar lines, even though the smaller pieces (facings) are missing. Originally I planed to use some highly suitable stiff pink silk fabric. But I have other plans for the pink now. So until I have the fabric I can’t really get started. I need a bit of help please.
As mentioned previously this Pucci pattern is a 1970s spin or reinvention of the Galitzine, which is itself a development of the older Pucci look. Although the Vogue pattern provides a very good starting point for me it will need several changes to create a 1963 look. I feel like an archeologist scraping off seven years of fashion development to recreate the earlier aesthetic. And by the way my friend Sarah of Pattern Vault has a great post of this topic.
Trousers
This weekend I started with a toile of the trousers. My pattern is s12 with 36″ hips which is fine on the waist but too small on the hips. The fabric has no stretch so the pants need to have sufficient ease for sitting and dancing. The pattern for the trousers on V2333 is just two pieces without a side seam. There is a facing at the waist rather than a waist band. Here are the alterations I have made to the pattern.
- separate along side seam, overlap at hem to create an additional inch at hip level
- increase the side dart to suppress the extra into the waist
- reduce the hem further from 22.5″ to 12″
- shorten slightly at the hem for ankle grazing
Then I made a toile. Hmm.
This is not the easiest pattern to alter either as there is only the inside leg seam. Nor is this the most beautiful toile I have ever made. However the fit is not bad in that the waist is the right size, the fit across the rear is very good and although we have some bagging at ankles and thighs this is easy to fix. I folded up an extra inch at the hem, and took in the inner thigh from knee to crotch by about half an inch each side of the seam. It is important, in my view, when make trousers with no give whatsoever (solid silk in this case) to allow enough ease and not create a completely skin tight look. These will be OK I think.
Tunic
The tunic top also needed alteration. The pattern advises that we have a “loose-fitting” tunic. I measured the pattern (as I always do). The bust allows 40″ (I am 34″), and the hips are 48″ (for my 39″ hips). The Pucci tunic is slightly flared and has highly-embellished deep side splits. In order to allow sufficient movement I think with a tunic that measures 11” from the waist to the hem that I will need need side splits to encompass the hips and bottom. In order to make this pattern more similar to the 1960s version, modelled by Irene, I have made the following changes;
- remove around 4″ of ease from the width of the pattern, also making upper chest a little narrower
- adapt armholes to make it sleeveless
- dispense with collar
- alter neckline slightly to make it a little deeper
- reshape side seams to create a more rectangular (rather than triangular) silhouette
I don’t think that I will make a toile for the top as these alterations are essentially straightforward.
In the meantime here are some more pictures of Princess Irene in pants, and a green pant suit. I am thinking seriously of this sort of jade colour now I have chopped up my pink silk for the Vogue 1554 dress. It is sort of the colour of sweet pea stems and leaves, and it would work well with my vintage trim. As I mentioned earlier I need it to have a bit of stretch in it as well as a little bit of sheen, perhaps. I can find nice shimmery silk taffeta or dupion. I can also find a stretchy matt cottons and unsuitable slippery jersey. Ideally something that has heft and stretch. Could anyone help me with a fabric suggestion please?
I am really excited by this project!
“Plan your work and work your plan”
What is your project planning like? I am afraid most of my methods are rather rudimentary.
I once attended a Microsoft Project Project Management course where the first exercise (to lull us in with a false sense of simplicity) was to “plan to make a Christmas dinner”. Of course every child knows that getting a hot meal for 12 or so people (two of whom are vegetarians, one can’t have butter and one lacks his own teeth) to arrive at exactly the right time is very challenging. It usually needs three women to do 12 hours of shopping, an evening and morning in the kitchen, and even then the brussels are overcooked.
So it is with some trepidation that I worked out how I can deliver my SWAP outfits to the deadline of the end of April. There is not much slack in this plan. My progress is very slow and although I have time for one toile (pant suit?) I am going to do the Cardin suit (the most challenging item) without a toile. One of these weekends will be spent at the Museum of Costume and Lace (anyone want to join us for part of the Easter weekend?) I hope, with lovely Stephanie of My Vintage Inspiration. But it is a long weekend so that helps. But it does mean focusing on making something every weekend.
| 9 Jan | 16 Jan | 23 Jan | 30 Jan | 6 Feb | 13 Feb | 20 Feb | 27 Feb | 5 Mar | 12 Mar |
| Blue Pencil skirt | 1950s blue blouse | Start purple jacket | Continue purple jacket | Finish Purple jacket | Purple skirt | Finish purple skirt | Purple silk blouse | Toile for pant suit | Pants |
| 19 Mar | 26 Mar | 2 Apr | 9 Apr | 16 Apr | 23 Apr | 30 Apr |
| Tunic | Hand painted blouse | Fabiani dress | Flared silk skirt | YSL pink dress | Finish pink dress | Photographs |
I am not sure I have got them in the right order. Some people start with the most challenging item, then it’s plain sailing. Others ease themselves in with something simple to flex their sewing muscles. I think, having made the plan, I am more the sort of person who goes with the flow. I sort of want to make each pack as a pack, because I do have a tidy, orderly side. But I like a bit of spontaneity too. And I am slightly unsettled by not having fabric for the pant suit, or even knowing what colour it will be. Then there is the issue of using the dress with the tiny stains (on the back) or making up the YSL Mondrian sequin dress that I would like to wear to an event in February. And of course I always reserve the right to change my mind!
Arrgh. I think I will just cut something out and get on with it. This is the beauty of the plan. It provides a very useful boundary of a time frame and deadline, and it restricts what I am making to a few sets I have really thought about.
The phrase Plan your work and work Your Plan was apparently used in sermons from the 1880s and no one knows who said it first. I quite like it.
Do you plan your sewing, or do you just go with what you feel like? Or a bit of both, like me?
SWAP 2016 0.12 Garment 1 – Biki of Milan pencil skirt
Who was Biki anyway? Actually Elvira Leonardi Bouyeure was a grand-daughter of Puccini. Fancy that! She was born in 1906 and died aged 92 in 1999. She was famous for designing for Maria Callas and apparently numbered the items so that Callas could put an elegant outfit together. How appropriate for a SWAP.
This is a nice blog post about her if you are interested.
A number of her outfits were available in the 1960s from Spadea. Here are a few images. I was interested that so many of them are very fitted across the diaphragm, with interesting bust darts. The black and white drawings do have a certain amount of charm, but hand drawn, colourless sketches were created to appeal to more experienced dressmakers who wanted to make up the Designer outfits when the more mainstream pattern companies eschewed named designers.
My pattern is from Spadea – and I haven’t seen it written up anywhere. I was attracted to it as I love skirts that are just a bit different and this one has two for the price of one. Interesting skirt patterns are fairly rare I find.
Anyway enough of the pictures. When I bought the pattern the envelope art implied it would look good in a tweedy wool, perhaps with a navy or black leather waist band. As my SWAP this year is a summer collection I decided to would use a fairly solid cotton instead. I made up the pencil skirt in a nice, light blue gabardine, using the left over silver octopus fabric to make a waistband. This was a bit of a risky decision as the silver is a jersey, pretty unstable and not the easiest material to work with. The deep box pleats in the front of the skirt tuck into bound button holes in the waist band. It fastens at the back, with a buckle. I had to buy a vintage buckle on the internet as they are virtually impossible to find in shops.
I left the skirt long – at its original length – although I generally prefer a shorter look. It has a box pleat at the back too and I thought it needed the length to make the most of this.
Technical SWAP notes (not for the general reader)
And just to recap on my plans as I have had a more careful read of the SWAP rules. I have kept the same items but changed the categories a little. This is because the combo is supposed to complement and extend both pack 1 and 2, so I have put my patterned items here. I am hoping they will work together too, although two patterns can be a bit overwhelming. Also I am keeping my options open on the pink dress. As for the pant suit I have to buy fabric so it might be pink, purple, mauve or green. I am waiting for samples at the moment. The original plans are here.
Pack 1 – Purple. The Cardin suit and matching purple blouse
Pack 2 – Blue and light mauve. This Spadea skirt, a purpley blue blouse and the Fabiani mauve dress
Combo; Patterned fabrics. A Cardin blouse in hand painted silk, and the other Spadea skirt (Style II) in the iris printed silk chiffon
Wildcards; the Pucci pant suit plus a pink YSL dress (the waxy one if I don’t have much time, or the Mondrian shift with sequins if I can find the time.
Men’s style for Middle Aged Men
Two good men friends of mine, who are both successful Chief Executives, urged me to do this post: What the heck should middle aged men wear, off duty?
Let’s face it a suit is a marvellous thing.
It hides imperfections, makes most men look taller and slimmer, and give a sense that they are, well, buisness-like (smart and well organised). The colour palette is mainly neutral – grey or blue with a white or blue shirts, and sometimes a bit of excitement in the tie department. But increasingly tie-less. I asked the two middle aged chaps to tell me what they were concerned about:
- Looking too young
Too young - Looking too old
- Wanting to look fashionable, in a good way
- Not embarrassing their children or wives
- Dealing with a little “middle aged” spread,; good food and drink takes its toll
- Having no idea what “smart casual” means
As you can imagine it is very difficult to say “wear this” because so much depends on a) your individual shape and b) your own preferences and style c) your colour palette. So I will just give some principles and then suggest a few outfits that seem to work for lots of men.
Here are the principles
- Wear the right size (too big and too small look equally terrible). Get things altered or have them made for you. Don’t wear tight clothes especially T shirts and polonecks (slim fitting is fine (so long as you are), but I don’t want to see your nipples)
- Casual means comfortable. Here is an opportunity to wear merino or cashmere jumpers; softer cotton, silk or linen shirts; stylish T shirts and sweat shirts; denim, cotton or corduroy trousers. Wear understated luxury.
- Colour is a good idea – grey/white/blue/black will always look good but be a bit daring even if it is only one item eg shoes, scarf, gloves
- Texture can be good – tweed, chunky knits, but not if you are small or overweight
- Stick with your wardrobe personality
- Work with your body shape
- Celebrate grey hair – get a good fashionable cut, and pay attention to excellent grooming
- Wear casual shoes – brown leather proper shoes can be nice, smart boots, or quality trainer-type shoes – generally keep it more classic than young men wear
You can try a shirt and casual jacket with jeans or casual trousers. The first two gents have chosen toning shirt and trousers with a darker jacket. The third man has a more classic look with darker trousers toning with his jacket, and a lighter shirt.
Another look which is nice is a cashmere sweater or a classic style (fishman/sailor/arran type) with jeans, with or without a jacket.
I see there are quite a few pocket handkerchiefs in these images. My husband doesn’t like them (feeling they are unfashionable), but I think it is quite a nice way to bring in a little colour. If you use one don’t fold it like something in an Indian restaurant. Just stuff it in your pocket artfully.
Liberty exhibition in London
I have been so remiss. I went to this exhibition ages ago at the Bermondsey Fashion and Textile Museum. When Sew2Pro suggested we might take Sewniptuck to see it I had said it was an expensive museum with shows of variable quality, so we did something else instead. But Sew2Pro, I was wrong. It was a great exhibition. Not least because they allowed visitors to take photographs. However that means I have lots to show you. So today I will concentrate on the clothes and reserve my textile photographs for a second post.
The shop in Regent street is my (and everyone else’s) favourite London shop. The company was started by Arthur Lasenby in 1875 with a loan from his future father in law. The loan was worth about £200,000 in today’s money. He acquired half a shop in Regent Street which he later expanded. The current Mock Tudor shop was designed by Edwin S. and Edwin T. Hall (his son) using wood from the HMS Hindustan and HMS Impregnable. They used the authentic Tudor woodworking techniques to make stairs and balustrades from solid oak and teak.
His original idea was to change the way we shop and buy things – introducing a new aesthetic of beauty, bringing goods and materials in from the East – mainly India in the first instance. He wanted people in London to have access to nice, artistic things for their homes and to wear, Oscar Wilde was an early adopted and when he visited America in 1882 he explained that his artistic dress was largely acquired at Liberty’s. Mr Lasenby became very rich as his amazing emporium and notions of style and beauty really took off and he was knighted in 1913. His gravestone was designed by Archibald Knox, one of the talented Arts and Crafts designers he had previously employed.
Anyway you want to see some pictures, don’t you?
The first is a Japanese import from around 1905 made in orange silk with a lovely cowl back. The wedding dress is from the late 19th century, again in a beautiful patterned silk. Behind the exhibits you can see Liberty fabrics displayed.
I was impressed with the examples from the 1940s, especially the one of the left. The flowers in the dress had been carefully cut out, backed, zig zagged around the edges and arranged into a necklace/collar. A great idea worth copying, perhaps? Also I really like the textiles here (in the foreground) – black really makes the colours stand out and the mid blue with yellow, red and turquoise is also very striking, especially when compared to some of the wishy-washy apron-y styles behind.
There were some great examples from the 1960s too. The oriental influence is very clear in the lovely deep pink jacket on the left. The brightly coloured dresses in the middle are set off with a matching head scarf. I like the simple shapes and bold colourways.
By the 1970s the colour palette is getting more muted and a bit too brown for my liking although I like the style of the “peasant”, “cossack” and “gypsy” clothes; the empire line, the midi length dresses and the importatnt sleeves. I also like the use of two or three different patterns.
The exhibition closes at the end of February and I would recommend it, if you are in London. Unlike the knitwear exhibition (also based on the collection of Mark and Cleo Butterfield) you were allowed to take pictures. This really makes an exhibition for me. It is like taking something away that you can refer to later. And share on Instagram or your blog.
I hope you like the pictures. Did you ever have a Liberty dress? I thought these three were special.
Considering a 1960s evening pant suit
I have been thinking for ages about creating an 1960s evening pant suit. Ever since I saw the Italian Fashion exhibition at the V&A last summer. I want to look like Irene Galitzline. Who wouldn’t? I think this would be a nice addition to my SWAP plans as they are separates but also allow an amazing fancy evening look, but also comfort. The beading and bling is attractive as well as an opportunity to wear luxurious fabrics. And great shoes!
The pink outfit below was on show at The Glamour of Italian Fashion and I was able to have a really good look at it. I could see lots of hand stitching, not just to attatch the beading at the neck but on the hems. I also managed to find a photograph of Irene wearing the outfit. And a similar design of hers that is also very fetching, and I imagine, comfortable.
The beauty of these garments is that they are simple shapes – narrow legged ankle length pants and a tunic, taking their inspiration from Indian and Chinese traditional outfits.
So for my SWAP I managed to procure a pattern on eBay from the 1970s. This is a good pattern, from the great Emilio Pucci, but from the 1970s rather than the 1960s. And while I am warming to flares I thought with a little judicious alteration I could create a 1960s silhouette from the slightly later pattern. I like the sleeves (but maybe I will stick to Irene’s sleeveless look – it’s easier with soup), the position of the trimming and the overall look, I just want to narrow the trouser legs. And in terms of palette I have some nice heavy weight pink silk that I could use – but this fabric would also be perfect for the second version of my YSL dress. Maybe I will get could do mauve, deeper pink, green or a hand painted pattern – with silver trimming. If I had time I could do some beading at the neckline and ankles rather than using a bought trim. I did however come across some nice old beading on the market at Clitheroe. I bought this slightly battered piece for £4. This would require a different colour of silk for the pant suit. Maybe green or turquoise. Also I have some grey and white fabric that might work, probably as a toile. Also I am thinking with the trousers it is best to have a little bit of elastane in the mix if I taper the trousers.
What do you think?
Alberto Fabiani
I have a few vintage Vogue patterns – from the Vogue Couturier series and Vogue Paris Originals. Making up these patterns is a nice way to access really great dress, costume and coat designs from some of the most famous names of dress design – Yves St Laurent, Dior, Nina Ricci to name a few.
But some of the names of these patterns were not so well known, One of the designers I have been instinctively drawn to is Fabiani, but he is not a designer I had already heard of. Had you?
Alberto Fabiani, was born in 1910 in Tivoli. His parents ran their own fashion house and he went on to apprentice as a tailor in Paris. He took over the family business in 1936 re-naming it Fabiani and it soon became a very successful company. I find his designs particularly intriguing. His garments are sculptured – I love the folding and the crisp look he achieves with wool and other fabrics. There is a spareness to the designs. He is known for his conservative approach but in retrospect I find the designing rather fresh and slightly unusual. In 1955 the New York Times called him “the surgeon of suits and coats”. In 1961 the newspaper called his designs “a quiet marvel of architecture.” I find both these accolades very truthful. Before I knew of this man as a designer I had picked out some of his Vogue patterns as being very contemporary and relevant to me.Here are a few of his designs – the two colour pictures are from the V&A collection. The check cloak is even nicer with its strong contours, fluidity and beautiful wool. Here is a description from the Vogue pattern magazine.
“Italy’s master tailor, creates wonderfully flattering suits, distinguished coats and exquisite evening gowns…and can claim many fashion-firsts.”
In other words, Fabiani was a classic designer, but also innovative. This can be seen in some of the vintage Vogue patterns that are relatively available in the Vogue Couturier Design series.
I really like the side pockets on the white dress, revealed in a long line of silver trimming, that long horizontally striped dress and matching coat, and the bubble hem and deep neckline on that orange dress. These are all classic, neatly tailored outfits, with a little bit of twist. I didn’t buy these. Let me show you the three I have, all of them with the clean lines and high quality tailoring that I love. They are true classics in that they reflect the era (1960s or 1970s) but they also have a timeless quality. And I always go for dress with buttons on them. I want to make all of these dresses up so found it hard to come down to just one for my SWAP.
When I recently suggested some of these items might enter my Sewing with a Plan this year, Jay of Pattern Pandemonium wrote:
I like your designer patterns. I remember that era, getting a fabric with some heft was important to achieve the nicely rolled look of the yoke which is top stitched down. The ideas were simple but the execution exacting.
This has been my experience so far. Many of these dresses are best made with fabrics with some “heft”. The one of the left 1866 suggests “Flannel, Gardine, Linen, brocade and double knit”. The same list is given with 2065 with wool crepe added.
In the end I went for the In Vogue 1065 for my Sewing with a Plan. I hope to make the sleeveless, collarless dress in light mauve linen, with silver buttons. However I am bearing in mind the “heft” point. I may need to swap to one of the other designs and a heavier cloth if I am going to have some success with my Fabiani of Italy dress.
Sewing With A Plan 2016 11 – Improving my sewing technique
I have a big confession to make.
I won the SWAP contest in 2014 and 2015. I haven’t told many people, but of course the world of sewing is quite small and many of you found out.
But that is not the confession.
The confession is that I really shouldn’t have won, because my sewing wasn’t nearly as good as those who came second and third, and many who were not placed. I am a good enough seamstress but I cannot do fine work and many of my techniques are pretty ropey. I am not very patient, and not very accurate, and anyone who has a good eye will know that. I am embarrassed actually by some of my seams, the fact that my zips don’t match up that well, that I have struggled with a simple lace skirt. When I look at the quality of sewing offered up by Ruth of Core Couture, Stephanie of My Vintage Inspiration, Twotoast of the Spotty Dog Social Club, and the amazingly talented Carolyn of Handmade by Carolyn. I am blushing. Deeply. They show their workings, their beautiful neat seams, their perfectly mitred corners.
I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I am a bodger. I try quite hard (for example my Chanel jacket is pretty good, but not as good as most others you can see on the internet) but I am just not a perfectionist and I get bored long before I get it right. I don’t have a wide range of tools, or the right colour or brand of zip. I often choose the path of least resistance.
Of course being a great seamstress does not in itself guarantee you will be able to make a successful wardrobe. As well as being competent and effective at construction, making a nice set of clothes involves a number of factors.
- The overall colour palette and how it works together
- How the colour palette works with the colouring of the wearer
- The overall shape of the garments, and how they work together
- How the shapes of the garments complement the figure of the wearer
- The quality and suitability of the fabrics for the garments
- Getting the fit right
- The styling and photography
And, if I am honest, I am reasonably good at getting these things right, but it is not enough. I am going to try harder – not to win. I really don’t want or need to win again. I really hope someone else does. I am going to try harder to do better work.
This year my challenge is to try to up my game. I will be using some difficult and tricky fabrics plus old fashioned couture techniques to see if I can use this experience to learn to sew better. By concentrating on vintage designer patterns I need to use some couture techniques, and frankly honour their marvellous designs.
Just to remind myself how much I have improved I will show you two zips. One from SWAP 2014 and one from SWAP 2016. The pink skirt has a handpicked zip and you can see that the tab is a bit wonky and the end of the zip has come open a little bit as I didn’t finish off my stitching securely. The one on the right is what I am working on now -the1960 Biki skirt in light blue cotton with a silk waistband (Spadea NS 249). In between SWAP 214 and today I bought an invisible zipper foot and learnt how to insert them. It is pretty neat and I am pleased with it. Admittedly the pink skirt has been worn a lot but I felt a bit ashamed when I looked at that zip the other day.
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Jaclyn makes pure beauty products
In the summer I met my friend Jaclyn for a tapas. We sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine. And a Tio Pepe.
I’ve known her for a few years – she used to date a dear family friend – and we occasionally meet up to talk about work, children and – more recently – blogging. Jaclyn is very committed to wearing 100 per cent natural skin care products. She very kindly brought along some skin moisturiser, lip balm and home made deodorant. And a chili plant, grown from a seed. How nice is that?
- Coconut oil (in the blue pot) is used as body moisturiser, or facial moisturiser, on a daily basis, or to remove make up. It is certified organic, unrefined and raw. Jaclyn suggests you can add five or so drops of lavender oil as it’s soothing, antiseptic and anti-ageing. It smells very nice and I have used it on my dry legs.
- Shea butter can be used on the lips and for dry hands before bed. It’s a bit thick to use on the hands during the day, but it works well on dry elbows. Jaclyn suggests that it aids healing and will help reduce scars. For dry or tired skin she suggests putting this on the face before bed. So far just my lips are benefiting.
- The deodorant is made from shea butter, coconut oil, bees wax, baking soda, lavender and tea tree oil. Apply lightly as it is fairly soft. Actually this is the stand out product for me. I found it easy to apply and completely effective. However two of my children tried it and found it was not strong enough for them. However I loved it.
I agreed to try the products and give her some feedback. I have really enjoyed using the natural deo – I like the smell of the lavender which is fresh and astringent. Jaclyn has since dropped around a whipped body butter with lemon oil that I have been using to keep my feet soft. In the summer Jaclyn had a plan to use blogging to show people how to make these great products, using videos.
She experimented with the format, but found it was very time consuming and rather expensive to make lots of videos. Jaclyn shared the video in which she makes “whipped body butter” and she really is a natural in both senses of the word. More recently, now she is back at work, she has come to realise that looking after her young family and holding down a responsible job means regular video-blogging (“Vlog-ging” as Saga Noren would say) would be too demanding. I was expecting to announce her website and it’s exciting content. For now this project is on the back burner. I decided to post the story anyway as trying to make things, make a living and make a family can be overwhelming.
Let’s resolve, this year, not to expect too much of ourselves. And to encourage and support those who lay down responsibilities and reduce their workload. And let’s say Hooray for all of us who fail to vacuum under the bed, who give book tokens at Christmas and sometimes bunk off work early.
Cheers everyone. Happy New Year.
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