Trip to Haberdashery Shop

Trip to Haberdashery Shop

I've been going to Barnet Lawson, 16/17 Little Portland St, nr Oxford Circus for years.

When you get there, search through the list of businesses, when you see Barnett Lawson ring buzzer and they'll let you in.

It really is an Aladdin's cave of buttons, braiding's, lace, feathers etc. all at trade prices but also available to the public.

They have 3 sections with floor to ceiling shelving units full of boxes of goodies.

These pieces are silk frills with ready made button openings. They are a bit pricey at £14 + VAT per mtr but you could get away with buying 30cms (ie.about £4.50 + vat)and using them to create an opening in a top, which would save you loads of time.

The metalic lace in above picture is between £1.25 and £1.75 per mtr and is 5cms wide.

Can't be bothered to make your own pom poms then they had these in all shapes and sizes. the price was something like £6 + VAT for 10 med pom poms.

Don't bother going to their website, as it has hardly any of the stock that's there and is not a good representation of what they do.

Have fun!

Tutorial 5 - Sew White Vintage Style Top - Part 2

Tutorial 5

White Vintage Style Top - Part 2

Vintage Style white top - Application of frill to puffed sleeve

Part 1 took us to this stage of the Vintage Style top and Part 2 will show us how to apply some georgeous scalloped frills onto the sleeves

1. With the remaining part of the scalloped hem that we cut off the UNI QLO top in Part one, lay out onto an ironing board, lining up the scallops.

Stretch the elastic of the sleeve to see how long the frill should be.

2. Then fold over and press with an iron. Cut off the excess and this gives you the full length of the frill making sure you cut two to this size.

3. Once you have decided how wide you want your frill to be lay the lace on and cut half an inch above for the seam allowannce. Then using a thin strip of Bond-a-Web along top of lace edge press into place. Then using a ZigZag stitch sew along the edge.

Put right sides together and stitch half an inch from the edge, then Zig Zag seam to finish off.

Zig Zag edges to finish off

You should end up with two pieces like this.

4. Put the tube of the frill over the arm of the machine right sides up then line up the seam with the seam on the puffed sleeve.

Once in place, using a Zig Zag stitch go backwards and forwards to hold in the place, then whilst holding the fabric behind the foot with your left hand, stretch the elastic with your right hand to fit the frill and carefully and slowly stitch together.

Really it isn't as difficult as it sounds and it's such a small circumferance that you have to sew, you can really handle it, just take it slowly and always be aware of how much of the frill is left to fit the elastic.

Look how these scalloped frills have transformed the sleeves.
We used a UNI QLO top for this project, but you could 'Upcycle' an old top.

Tutorial 4 - Sew White Vintage Style Top - Part 1

Tutorial 4

White Vintage Style Top - Part 1

'Vintage Style' top with lace hem and scalloped frill on sleeves.

The technique used to shorten this top can be applied to many other projects giving a totally different look each time.

We took a regular cheap white cotton top from Uni Qlo, ( or you could 'Upcycle' an old top), but felt the length made it look a bit frumpy and that the sleeves could do with a bit of a lift.

Here's how to turn the plain top into a beautiful 'Vintage Style' top.

1. Decide how long you want your top to be.

You can go into the embroidery a little as it will be covered by the lace on the hem later.

It's very important to get the length right.

2. Lay your lace out to decide which type you are going to use.

You can also at this stage, put the piece that you cut off from the scalloped hem, onto the sleeve to see what it will be like.

3. Put the top over the ironing board the right side up and press a small hem upwards (the opposite way to how you normally would turn a hem), about 3mm all round.

4. Lay the lace onto the Bond-a-Web and cut a strip about 2mm narrower than the lace.

You never want the Bond-a-Web to be wider than the lace or trimming, because it's only to hold it in place for sewing and it's a nightmare if ever it gets onto the iron.

Then when cool, peal back the backing paper to reveal the glue.

5. When you 1st start to apply the lace make sure you overlap the side seam, then press into place.

Put a small strip of Bond-a-Web in side seam and press into place.

6. Starting from the side with no opening in the lace, stitch Imm in from hemline all the way round

Then come up the side seam still using a straight stitch and then use a Zig Zag stitch to follow the line of the scallops all the way round the top

Make sure you come down the side seam where the lace is joined to secure in place.

Now you've completed part 1 of your 'Vintage Style' white top.

For part 2 and the application of the scalloped frill onto the sleeves, go to Tutorial 5

Tutorial 3 Upstyled Orla Kiely Dress with New Lace Bib

Tutorial 3

 Upstyled Orla Kiely Dress with New Lace Bib

Using the Broderie Anglais that we bought from the Cassino Market, we've created a Bib front to give a stronger look to this Orla Kiely dress.

Obviously it can be applied to many other 'Upstyle' projects, tops or dresses so long as they have a flat front.

This is the before.

I love the dress, it's just It's a bit plain on me.

1. Un-pick the neckline from the facing, only as far round as your bib width plus 1cm on each side.

2. Fold dress in half to find the centre font line the gently press with an iron.

3. Starting 1cm in from edge start to gather lace.

For those that never gathered before just use the largest straight stitch, then when off the machine pull either the thread below or above to gather.

4. First put the Bond-a-Web down one side of your pressed centre line.

Then lay gathered lace ontop and press a little. Ease round to come up the other side, then lay another thin strip of Bond-a-Web laying gathered lace on top.

5. Once your happy with the amount of gathering and the position of the frill, you can press with an iron to hold in place.

To help pull the whole thing together I've decided to put a strip of colour under the strip of lace down the centre.

This needs to be bonded on first with a strip of Bond-a-Web cut to the right width.

6. Once everything is bonded into position, you can now hold it all in place by top stitching along the line of the scalloped edge of lace strip down the centre, as shown in above picture.

7. Lay flat over the iron board and cut away excess lace.

Make sure your fabrics are carefully layered out without any creases, as this will effect whether the lace is trimmed properly.

8. With right sides together, stitch back the original seam of the neckline.

Turn the right way round and press carefully into place.

Close-up of finished lace bib.
So here's your new Orla Kiely dress