The Swing Jacket Suit

I have always loved vintage style clothes.  As a teenager I raided my mother's wardrobe for several of her old clothes which dated from the 1950s.  I remember with great fondness the circular skirt that had a pattern of fireman climbing ladders on it.  I also wore her old short duffle jacket for a long time, it had a slight swing back and I thought it was wonderful.  Skip ahead to present day and there is now great interest in making vintage style clothing and many patterns are now available.

I found this wonderful Vogue V8146 pattern, note that has one of my favourite pattern descriptions - 'very easy'.  I had been thinking about this pattern for a while and I kept my eye out for finding it and some suitable fabric.  I found both at the Great British Sewing Bee, the pattern was on offer on one stand and the fabric on another.  All I needed was the perfect lining fabric for the jacket which I managed to find at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show and I had all I needed to get started.

I also had some help, Esme decided to help me cut out the lining.  I fell in love with this bright birdy fabric, it was perfect for what I wanted to do.

Whereas Bruce decided to help me cut out the suit material.  I cut out the pieces very carefully, I really wanted to make a good job of this and I was determined to take my time and do everything as good as I possibly could.

The dress came together well,

It was, as the pattern had promised it would be, nicely easy.  I even managed to match up the pattern, I was extremely pleased with myself for doing this.

The jacket also came together well.  I had some button-angst and had to walk around it for a day or so deciding which button to choose.  I nearly put all four on like this and still at times I think I might revisit this thought.

I actually chose this greeny-blue button as it matched the greeny-blue part of the check pattern well.

Making the bow might have been the fiddleyist part,

It sets off the back of the jacket perfectly and I like the bow, that I will never see when wearing it.

The suit turned out well and I am pleased with it.

I am also incredibly pleased with the lining.  it worked as I hoped it would.

There is however one slight detail where I slipped up.  If you look carefully the pattern on the jacket is the other way up to the pattern on the dress.  This is of course completely deliberate really.....  (every day is a learning day).

A prickle of pincushions

I have a confession, I am a collector.  I get interested in things, often by accident and then before I know what is happening I start collecting them.  I love finding out about new things and I can (do) get a little obsessed.  So it is no surprise to anyone who knows me that one pincushion was not enough.

It was indeed an accident, I have a perfectly good standard tomato and strawberry pincushion but it was not quite what I wanted.  It is very small and light and tends to move around when I am using it.  I wanted something more stable and less likely to slip about.  So I started an internet quest to find the perfect pincushion. Suddenly a whole world of pincushions, particularly pincushion dolls and half-dolls was opened up to me.

So now I have a few, (but then again, too few to mention).  I firstly bought the large girl in the bathing suit, then the smaller one with the cocktail brolly (I assume her original parasol is long gone).  I then bought the n*ked girl with a puppy.  Whilst she is pretty I just do not understand why she has lost her clothes?  I then bought the fine lady at the back complete with thistle hat pin.  I decided I needed a complete doll with pincushion skirt.

Then this pincushion caught my eye (wot - no doll? I hear you cry!).  This one is made up of dark wood with a spiral of paper which the pins are pushed into.  

Then there is Miss Tippy-Tappy, she is called this as I am sure she can be heard tippy-tappying around the sewing room in the dark hours of the night.

and finally, my latest acquisition.  She also has lost all her clothes in a slightly disturbing way, but not disturbing enough to stop me from buying her.

I have to pause for a moment though in all this excitement to give a mention to the tomato and strawberry pincushion; that may have been feeling a little discarded and unloved. 

Whilst on my quest for the perfect pincushion I found out why the tomato pincushion is a tomato.  Apparently it stems from Victorian times when it was allegedly believed that a tomato could ward of evil spirits.  Obviously tomatoes are time limited in their lives and can go horribly mushy, which would be rather inconvenient.  The pincushion tomato is therefore a good way of having a tomato always to hand.  I now appreciate my tomato pincushion just that little bit more than before.

None of this though helped me though in my quest for the right pincushion.  

Did I mention I collect things?  

I also have a penchant for vintage Portmeirion, the pre-botanical garden patterns.  In the sewing room I had a small early piece of what I would call Dolphin-period Portmeirion.  It sits on my sewing desk just being pretty as it is too small to be of much use.....

unless.....

.... unless I turn it into a pincushion....

Ta da! and here it is complete.

the more excitable Portmeirion collectors might notice that not only is this a piece of Dolphin-period Portmeirion,

the cushion itself is made from Talisman fabric that I bought I few years ago and never knew what to do with.

So there it is, my perfect pincushion and it does what it should.  It holds pins and does not slip about like the tomato did. (Now I have to stop buying pincushions, I have enough, though there was that one I saw......)