Sewing Gage

I thought it was about time that I got some proper training. Searching online I came across  this course  at Central Saint Martins. It's a 5 day course in professional sewing skills covering the following; Seams  Zipper (concealed, exposed and trouser) Collar - shirt, jacket/coat  Pocket - jett, welt, patch hidden stitch Sleeve opening for jacket and shirts  Hems - pin, single, double and cover seam  Handstitching - slip stitch and cross stitch for jersey/stretch fabric Checking patterns (to be used for Introduction to Professional Sewing Skills Part 2) So. i'm all paid up and ready to go in July. Can't wait!

Every third Saturday of the month, at a club not far from me is a club night called Cybil's House . It's an amazing party,  great music, a good variety of performers and a good mix of people in/out of drag. I don't claim to be any good at drag, but I enjoy the creativity, the dressing up, expressing myself and not giving a damn what anyone thinks. Every month is themed, and the next party was going to be musicals. I decided to do Norma Desmond from the musical Sunset Boulevard. A musical icon, brilliantly portrayed by Glenn Close. The look that I wanted to re-created was this; First thing was to source some fabric. Not far from where I live is a fabric store at Watney market. Prices are reasonable and there's a good selection of fabrics. The first fabric I found was (1) below. However, I felt the print was too big, although it was reasonably priced at £3 a metre. (1) I then moved on to Dalston to Dalston Mill Fabrics. This shop is amazing

Two years ago, when I was running a Vintage shop on ASOS, I decided to buy a sewing machine to up-cycle clothes. Unfortunately, this didn't materialise as I decided to close the shop. Two years later, I dusted the machine off and made my first dress for a house party I was hosting (I occasionally do very unconvincing drag). The pattern I chose (Burda Style pattern 6708) was labelled as 'challenging', and the material I used (satin) was not the easiest to work with, but I accepted the challenge. Not knowing at the time that pattern sizes differ from off the rail sizes, I went for a size 14. Challenging was an understatement, I had never made anything from a pattern before, I didn't realise that some of the pattern had to be cut on the fold, so consequently I had to stitch two halves of the pattern together. The final result was too small, frayed like anything, and I couldn't wait to get out of it. Was I put off sewing again? Absolutely not. Diving in