Fairs and affairs

Oh dear, I have been neglecting my poor old blog haven't I.  Well I promise it isn't because I've been a lazy-bum. So far 2012 is all systems go for Red Anchor. I finally sorted out "the room of doom" aka my sewing room and it's a far more pleasant place to be now, with organised storage and everything! As much as I would love to have real wood and vintage furniture it just wasn't practical in the space I have to work with and Ikea came to my rescue with a massive shelving unit that fits perfectly along one wall to house all my fabric, haberdashery and supplies. I also managed to bag myself a matching computer table/shelving unit combo on ebay for the ridiculous price of £1.04. Win.

I had my very first fair last week, organised by The Galleries of Justice in Nottingham and Susi Henson from Eternal Spirits corsetry. It was their 2nd Unique Connections networking event and was raising money for the Help a Nottingham Child charity. On the whole it was a success, I sold enough to cover the stall fee and chatted to a couple of lovely women who'd seen me perform at the Carousel Club in December. In hindsight I don't think it was 100% the right event for me but I'm glad I did it and I learnt a few things to put into practice for my next fairs, which are.....

I'm REALLY looking forward to these two fairs. I'd heard a lot of good things about Reetsweet and after exchanging emails with the organiser Becki was over the moon to be accepted to take part in both the Sheffield and Leeds fairs coming up in March and April. I will be sewing my little fingers to the bone in preparation! If you're coming along please stop in and say hello  :)

If you'd like to see what I've been sewing lately I've listed a few iPhone cases and stocking bags in my Etsy shop. Hopefully I'll get the chance to add more as I'm making stock for the fairs so watch this space!

TTFN  x

Burlesque Costume - Kiss of the Cobra Woman

Today I'm posting about one of my burlesque acts, called "Kiss of the Cobra Woman", specifically the costume and how it came into being. It's a homage to the Sci-Fi Queens of 1950s B movies and to date is the most complicated costume I've ever made. It took months of head scratching, frustration and eye twitching before it was ready for the stage.

I had a picture in my head of exactly how I wanted the costume to look and even though at times I thought it wasn't physically possible to achieve it I kept trying and am very proud of the finished results. It's had a few tweaks since its first performance and there are still little bits that I think could be better. I like that it's evolving as it goes along though.

In my last post (found here) I showed a picture of the pattern I used to make the dress, which was to be the outer layer of the costume. After I'd pinned the pattern I deliberately left extra fabric below the original calf length line, tapering it along the seam lines so that I could turn it into a longer, almost hobble, dress. Once I'd decided on the final hem length the back split was altered so that a zip could be inserted right to the bottom, although not being able to find a zip long enough I had to compromise and use a couple of heavy duty press studs to close the few inches gap above the hem. Above the waist I followed the pattern exactly and after the pieces were sewn together it took a few adjustments (ok about 6........ish) to make the waist sit as tight as I needed it to be. I was pretty smug pleased with how neat my darts were! To finish off the bottom hem I attached gathered layers of bronze netting to make a stiff frill which took the whole length of the dress pretty much to the floor.

Vintage pattern pile

Today I'm sharing the contents of my pattern box. Some were happy charity shop discoveries hidden amongst hundreds of gawdy 80s knitting patterns and a few were snapped up when Nottingham's Kathleen and Lily's unfortunately decided to close their doors and have a mass clear out of all of their stock (I came away with an unbelievable fabric and haberdashery haul that day but it will need a post all of its own so will save it for another time).

It's the little things....

It struck me yesterday how important the little things can be sometimes........ and also how goofy I can be when I think no one's watching.

One of the things I decided to make, while I was lazily contemplating the day ahead from under my duvet, was a new case for my iPhone. I had a small piece of pink flamingo print cotton hidden in my fabric stash and knew it would be perfect. For extra protection I decided to use some medium weight wadding and quilt the lining with some pretty mint green polka dot cotton.