My So Called ...Sewing...Life

1993: Secondary School

This wallhanging is the first thing I ever made at school. I was 12. We only had one term of Textiles, the other two were spent in Woodwork or Cooking. We were tasked with testing out different techniques;  it was my first taste of silk painting, printing, tie-dye and patchwork. Rather than keep my pieces as samplers I decided to create a giant wall hanging which required using a sewing machine.

My mum was a home seamstress, she had an old classic singer sewing machine on which she would make clothing for the British high street. But it was her most precious belonging and none of us were allowed to touch it, let alone use it.
So I sewed my hanging at school. I have very clear memories of the first time I used a sewing machine...it wasn't on fabric, but was on paper. We took a 'driving test' punching holes along a hand-drawn road to ensure we could manuovere corners.

 1998: College: A'Level Fashion

I hated school. I was a bit too alternative, so when I was 16 I moved to a sixth form college. I found the only one in London that did A'Level Fashion. Finally I felt like I belonged. I had real friends and I could ditch my school uniform for homemade clothes. 

With my first pay packet from my first weekend job I bought a sewing machine and used it to make my own dresses. 

The first one was inspired by Klimt, it was gold and ethereal looking probably because all 17-year-olds are obessed with his painting The Kiss.

Then I progressed into making my own fabric (tie-dye of course!) before making my own patterns from fabric bought from Roll & Rems - the haberdashery I still swear by.

2001: University Customising

I couldn't take my sewing machine to university so instead I customised things inbetween Geography lectures. This is when I turned 'crafty.' Instead of just sewing, I discovered the joys of beading, embroidery and embellishment. To make some extra money on the side of my student loan I started taking commissions selling bespoke handbags and accessories.

2003: Post-graduate: Fabric fanantic

After university I couldn't get a job and I didn't want to be a Geographer anyway so I did a post-graduate diploma in magazine journalism. The chance to be a student again meant I could continue dressing as creatively as I liked and because I was living at home with my sewing machine I started making my own clothes again. This is when my obsession began for buying gorgeous fabrics (this flamingo print cotton was bought in Ikea).

2006: Working: Clothes for other people!

By now I was fully immersed in the world of being a writer and crafter but didn't have as much time to make clothes. Instead I took up the challenge of making my first garment for someone else and learnt that childrenswear is sooooooo much easier than making adultswear!
I made my niece some ladybird dungarees and later a bear for her sister and blanket for her brother.

    2013: Now: Historical dressmaking project

Fast forward 20 years (scary how the 1st photo in this post was taken in 1993) and I'm still sewing, learning and continuing to make clothes.

This week the BBC launches it's new programme The Great British Sewing Bee which is causing a huge buzz in the craft/sewing community. It's predecessor The Great British Bake Off has turned the nation into homebaking obsessives and I'm pretty sure that the Sewing Bee will inspire more people to sew.

There are already many more sewing courses, classes and workshops going on (in London at least), but while other people are getting to grips with machines, I've gone down a different path - the art of historical dressmaking.

Last year I embarked on a new creative adventure, becoming a Fashion Recreator. Over the last 12 months I've been studying dressmaking from the 17th, 18th & 19th centuries and am currently making an exact replica of a dress that existed in 1818.

In replicating it I have to use the exact techniques.....in other words the entire dress in stitched by hand as there were no sewing machines then.

I'm now in my last month of finishing the piece which will  be exhibited at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich in July (for one day!) and the story of how I made it will be recorded in a book.

Until I put this blog post together I actually didn't realise I had been sewing for 20 years. It blows my mind. 

I'm honestly not the best of sewers, in fact I think I'm pretty rubbish because I'm not a perfectionist. My seams don't always match up, my fits aren't aways perfect and some times I skip 'proper' steps; but one thing I can say with pride is that I really, really enjoy sewing and I hope I never have to stop doing it.

Book review: Please God, Find Me a Husband! by Simone Lia

I have been looking forward to the launch of Simone Lia's new book since I picked up a mini sample of it at the Comica Festival last year. It was one of those teasing frustrating things where by you read a few pages then suddenly it stops and you're left wanting more (like at the end of a TV series where you're left on a cliff-hanger and you have to wait patiently to see what happens next...Sherlock being the obvious example : (

Simone is a graphic novelist best known for writing & illustrating Fluffy; a tale of a man and his rabbit Fluffy (who assumes he's not a rabbit but is actually human like his 'dad'). I'm very fussy with books, if my attention isn't held by page two I normally give up. Fluffy on the other hand is the only book that has ever made me cancel all my plans. After reading the first page I sat down and read the whole book in one go. I can't explain the feeling other than reading it just felt so much more important than anything else I could possibly do.

Equally I bunked off my boxing class on Tuesday as I just had to be there at the launch day because I was so desperate to know what would become of the heroine! The event took place at Gosh! Comics in Soho, Central London.

When I arrived just after 6.30 the signing was in full swing - I could just about make out Simone in the corner already seated and drawing away.

I joined the queue, it looked ok...but after 45 minutes I was still at the bottom of the staircase and was beginning to feel very faint so I decided to go home and read the book instead. (Hopefully Simone can sign it another time!)

So, what exactly is Please God, Find Me a Husband! about? Well the title hits the spot perfectly, it's the tale of a 30 something year old single girl, an autobiographical account of Simone, who suddenly realises she doesn't want to be alone any more. She talks abit more about it in this video, filmed by Gosh!

The story involves adventure (going on a Thelma & Louise style trip)...

romance...(finding her own Brad Pitt)

tragedy...(a dear friend being diagnosed with cancer)

and comedy...(Jesus playing a game of Operation!)

It took me two days to read and my overall reaction is that I am in complete awe of Simone. It takes an incredibly brave person to share their personal life in such an honest way. She captures some really poignant observations that completely normal, ordinary people think, and go through. Life isn't always exciting, sometimes we get down and other times super enthusiastic about things. Often our focus is directed on completely the wrong thing but we all need to discover that in our way. 

One of the most likeable things about graphic novels is the fact you can talk about any subject you want. In Simone's case choosing religion as a key theme is also brave (I sometimes feel like mentioning the 'R' word in this country is completely taboo) and in that respect it's a refreshing and important publication that is well worth exploring. It's also brilliantly illustrated, thoughtful and inspiring. My advice is check it out, next time you're in a bookshop, and be prepared to get hooked : )

Please God, Find Me a Husband! by Simone Lia is published by Jonathan Cape Graphic Novels and is on sale now and costs £14.99.

Bollywood Easter eggs

When it comes to giving Easter gifts it's not just the chocolate that matters, presentation is everything and who needs another cardboard box? Personalising your chocolate eggs is much more impressive - take them out of their original wrappers and decorate them in your own style - my favourite is jazzing them up with the bling factor for a true Bollywood flavour and who better to give them to than my favourite Bollywood Experts Raj & Pablo. This morning I reviewed a new Bollywood film called Sadiyaan - on their fabulous show 'Love Bollywood' on the BBC Asian Network, unfortunately the film was disappointing but luckily the eggs weren't, and here's how I did them.


They started life as Smarties eggs which I took out of their bulky plastic case and re wrapped in silver foil.
Next up I encased them in crepe paper and taped around the top edge to secure.

Then my fave bit, I consulted my collection of ribbons and trims and tied the most sparkliest around each egg, then finished them off by gluing sequins and gems.

And here are the lovely lads with their Bollytastic eggs!

Secrets of my wardrobe Part 1: Charity Shops

I've long enjoyed dressing in my own unique 'Momtaz style' which is characterised by mixing and matching bright colours with different patterned prints and textured accessories. The most accurate portrayal of me on Mastercrafts was my wardrobe - what you saw was very much me - I wasn't dressing up for camera, just wearing what I normally wear.

I do not believe in dressing down, more you can never dress up enough....a philosophy that's been with me since primary school where I loved not having to wear school uniform. At secondary school I took every opportunity to revolt against the rules by sneakily wearing jewellery underneath my shirts and pulling my jumper up around my collar whenever I walked passed the headmistress. I'm extremely proud that I pulled this off for our year photograph at the end of Year 11; out of 180 pupils I managed to get away with wearing beads!

When it comes to shopping I'm always on the look out. I don't assign particular days as shopping days, wherever I go, my eyes are peeled for bargain items that fit into my style - generally wearing things that I know I'll never bump into someone else wearing and things that are very cheap!

It always surprises me when I hear stories of celebrities saying how much they love shopping in charity shops, it's such a cliche - clearly they can afford to buy designer clothes and as if they actually have time to scout around local charity shops....

On the other hand, I go to charity shops at every possible opportunity and a quarter of my wardrobe is indeed second hand, purchased whenever I go to a new place or town in the UK. One quarter of my wardrobe is handmade by me or customised, one quarter is bought in sales and the remaining quarter is a mixture of places like markets, holidays, clothes swaps - I hardly own any items that I have paid full price for from a normal shop in fact I can't think of a single item.

Yesterday I was visiting a friend in Harrow and on the way stopped by some of the charity shops just adjacent to Harrow on the Hill shopping centre.

In Scope I found an amazing beaded shawl, the photo doesn't do it any justice, it is so stunning in real life and it cost just £2.75.

It was prefect timing as I was able to wear it to a glamorous gala dinner and fashion show last night - people were very surprised I wasn't looking colouful for once but it's good to keep them on their toes - it's a rarity to see me in pale colours but it's still a very unique look. The hat was £2 from a charity shop, the floaty dress was £6 and bought damaged, I attached some shoulder straps to it and embellished it with some shiny acrylic gems.

I have recently been on the look out for jackets as the seasons begin to change. The best thing about charity shops is because you are spending less you can buy more, so I bought these two jackets for £3 each from Traid. Both fit me perfectly but are a little dull so I intend to customise them. The top one is a woolly felt cropped jacket and the one below is woven.

As I mentioned whenever I go somewhere new I and visit it's charity shops. Last year I was passing by Aberdeen for just 45 minutes and during that time squeezed in 10 charity shops and this is what I uncovered, an amazing dress, the most comfortable I own, it's so wearable for almost any occasion and was just £2 - it was a size 16 and it took me a mere few minutes to adjust it to a more flattering size 10.
I know charity shopping involves a lot of luck but if you're prepared to look around and keep an open mind it's a very rewarding way to shop!

Here are my top 10 rules for clothes shopping in charity shops:

1. Do you 'love' the item? Only buy things you honestly like and can picture yourself wearing

2. When will you wear it and what with? It's sad when you buy something and think it will go with something you don't own, you may never get that item and it will cost more money to purchase one, only buy what you can wear straight away.

3. Does it fit? Buy clothes that fit you well as you are likely to wear them. If it doesn't fit think carefully how and where it can get altered and what the cost for alteration would be, if you can't alter it yourself. It may not be worth buying it if, you'll end up spending much more to change it.

4. Is it value for money? Increasingly people buy cheap clothes, wear them less and dispose of them, it's sad but true that charity shops across the UK are being flooded by Primark rejects - just don't fall into the trap of paying more for a second hand item then you would if you bought it new.

5. What kind of condition is it in? Some things in charity shops look old and worn, it's up to you if you want that look but it's better to only buy things in good condition because again you are more likely to get more wear out of them.

6. Where is it from? Look carefully at brands and labels. A friends of mine bought an amazing original Harris Tweed jacket for just £1 in a charity shop, clearly it was worth so much more - these types of high value items are the ones to keep your eyes peeled for.

7. Shop around. Don't despair, you won't find things suitable for you in every shop you go into so go in knowing this. Go to all types of charity shops, remember stock changes and what you find in British Heart Foundation will be different to what you find in Age Concern.

8. Get to know the staff who work in your local charity shop - tell them the kind of things you're looking out for, i.e a coat and ask them to put aside things they know you'll like. This only works if you're a friendly regular and you build a genuine relationship with the staff.

9. Stick to your budget Just because things are cheaper it doesn't mean you should just buy things, you still need to be aware of your finances, apply all the above rules to ensure you show sensibly.

10. Enjoy yourself! Shopping in charity shops is not for everyone but everyone should give it a try! Treat it like going into any other clothes shops, try items on, pose in the mirrors, and test items you wouldn't normally think would suit you. Keep an open mind and when you're tied of looking at rails, leave - charity shopping is not a chore, it's a fun activity that's a good way to feel good about yourself - remember you're not just pleasing yourself, you are raising money for charity too.

Mastercrafts - my thoughts!

On Friday night I invited some friends over for a Mastercrafts party to watch the tears and tangles I got myself in to on the show! Capturing seven weeks of filming into one hour of television was always going to be a difficult task but they had to edit it, and in the same way, here are my edited thoughts!

Firstly my final piece above. We were given a choice of 16 colours of yarn to choose from and remarkably we all opted for different colour schemes. Although I stuck with my signature bold brights, on close inspection I also put in some more subtle greys to break up the 'jewel' inspired colour scheme. We had just seven days to weave our fabric, I spend five of those setting up the loom, they were extremely testing times and at one point I came very close to giving up but I stuck with it!

Our previous task was to weave a product to sell at the Hereford Crafts Fair, I made two silk laptop cases with yarns I had hand dyed in my own colours and used the scraps to make handwoven greeting cards.

I was very sad that in his voiceover Monty said that Holly was the only person who sold something at the fair, I sold two cards....so what Monty said was a total LIE : (

It took me two days to warp wind 6 metres of yarn to make my final piece. This was done outdoors, it may look sunny but it was freezing cold - we filmed the show in October and November and what's more I was all alone while others were snug indoors!

Ironing and steaming the final fabrics was an essential part of finishing off the woven fabrics.

My laptop cases were inspired by the gorgeous natural Autumnal shades that were all around me. Aubergine, mustard, oranges, browns ........it was the first time I'd ever seen the proper beauty of Autumn, in London it doesn't happen this way, leaves seem to fall off trees overnight but in the countryside I saw the changes over the whole season.

The yarns on the chair are the ones I hand dyed, I mixed these with some of the many lovely colourful yarns we had in our studio.

To inspire me I created lots of mood boards and surrounded myself in colours. Rather than being dictated to by a set pattern I did my own form of 'mood weaving' - I put on my headphones to block out distractions and totally zoned out while I was weaving.

One of the most difficult things that I had to deal with was sleep deprivation - we worked non stop, including evenings and weekends. Twice when the other two went home I stayed behind beyond midnight trying my hardest to catch up and one weekend they both went home to have a break while I again stayed back and worked my socks off. Needless to say by the penultimate day I was so exhausted I decided to stay in my pjs; nothing beats the home comforts of wearing slippers and a dressing gown, especially when the barn itself was so cold!

This is a a close up of my final piece, it doesn't just have the basic plain weave, I also incorporated some more complex boxes. I wove and wove until I physically couldn't do anymore. The yarn was very fine, continued to get knotted and broke very easily. Each time I moved the work to allow for the fabric to grow, it took 45 minutes to reset it and then I had keep winding bobbins to go inside the wooden shuttle that you can see in the picture, this is what you carry in and out of the warp threads to create the weave.

Pictured here on the last day is me with the other trainees Holly and Tref and Aiyor from the production crew - he kept me sane by playing Primal Scream when I felt down, bought me lots of Innocent Veg pots when I was hungry and made me endless cups of peppermint tea to keep warm!

The aftermath

A lot of people have contacted me and asked me if I would weave again. By the end of the experience I did learn how to set up a loom and how to weave so to lose that skill would be wrong. I don’t have access to a loom now but if I saw one I’m sure I would want to have a go. Long term I plan to do an evening class in weaving which will hopefully be a much less stressful experience!

Hearing feedback about the show has been really interesting, especially where I have been mentioned. On one end of the spectrum, there are people who sympathised with me and understood my frustrations – one person even told me she was so emotionally exhausted watching the show she needed to lie down afterwards. On the other end of the scale I’ve read people say that I came across as a very lazy person. Who’d have thought a Friday night TV show about crafting could be so controversial!

Most of my memories of the experience are still very clear in my mind and seeing them visually was a bit like having my private thoughts suddenly projected on a TV screen without me knowing. But I'm glad that throughout it I stuck to my beliefs - weaving is this instance may not have been for me but I am very open to trying it again one day under slightly more normal circumstances.

If you missed the show it is still available to view on BBC Iplayer in the UK:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rl51q/Mastercrafts_Weaving/

Mastercrafts -Tonight, 9pm, BBC 2!

I can't believe that Mastercrafts is actually on TV today. The seven weeks I spent learning to weave seem like a dream - it was such a surreal experience, it's going to be so strange to 're-live' it - I look forward to revealing more once the show has been aired!

In the meantime, here is a sneaky preview photo!!

Tune in and let me know what you thought the show!

Hmmmm, teatime!

When my friend Johnathan invited me around for 'Sunday Lunch on a Saturday' I was determined to keep up with his culinary expertise and produce something equally as stunning for dessert. It gave me a chance to finally try out the recipe in the Hummingbird Cookbook that has been taunting me for a year. The Raspberry Cheesecake Brownie looks amazing in the pictures but the trouble is I hate recipes. I just can't follow them. But I tried my absolute best and something amazing was created - although true to form, I didn't stick to the recipe, there were a few strays....

What you need:

200g melted plain chocolate (1 whole bar)

200g melted unsalted butter

500g icing sugar (1 whole box!)

5 eggs

110g plain flour

400g cream cheese (2 pots)

teaspoon of vanilla extract

300ml whipping cream (2 pots)

2 punnets of raspberries

Start by mixing and whisking up 1/2 box of sugar and the butter until it's lovely and smooth. I found melting the butter in advance which the book didn't suggest a much easier option.

Next beat in 3 eggs, add one at a time. This was my first mishap, I added all 5 eggs at once : (

Then melt the chocolate by breaking into pieces and placing in a heatproof container over a pan of boiling water. Add it to the mixture and stir well. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and then pour the mixture on top.

Next make the cheesecake layer. Beat the cheesecake mixture with 2 eggs (this meant my dessert ended up with 7 eggs in total!!) Mix in 150g sugar, again I didn't notice this and added the remaining 1/2 box by mistake.......

Pour it ontop of the brownie and bake at 150 degrees or gas mark 3 for 40 minutes until set.

Allow to cool and then put in fridge overnight.

In the morning whisk 1 punnet of raspberries into the cream until it's lovely and thick. The recipe suggested adding 100g of sugar here but as i'd already added it to the cheese I left it out, the sharpness of the raspberries went well with the sweeter base. Then place it in fridge until it's needed and top with raspberries to decorate. It produced over 20 slices!

The verdict???????? Well only one person asked for a second slice but then again we also had a lovely lemon drizzle cake and the main was so good there wasn't much space for pud. But I was proud...if you look closely below you can see the coloured layers.

This morning I had some leftovers, they were quite stodgy but still very tasty and I feel less mystified about the whole following a recipe malarky.

On another notes I LOVED the Blacksmiths episode of Mastercrafts, it was my favourite to date, the gates they produced were really impressive, they were all worthy winners : )