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.

My So Called Life episode 2

1. Dressing up

If I could blog every day I would! But the truth is as much as I try and record my life on these webpages, only 1/2 of what I actually get up to makes it on here. So every now and then I do a round-up of random things I've been up to (to help me remember more than anything!)

Here's the Top 10 of the last couple of months....starting with dyeing my hair black.....

OK. Not quite! It's actually a Japanese wig. I wore a gorgeous Japanese kimono too that I wanted to take home with me, but sadly it wasn't mine, it belonged to The Geffrye Museum dress up rail!

2. New hair

I recently gave away the secrets of my hair colouring. The latest shade I had done two weeks ago at the Toni & Guy Academy was this rather fabulous raspberry pink. (I can still call myself a redhead though!)

3. London Marathon

For the last 5 years, Barney and I have stood on the streets of Greenwich and cheered on the marathon runners. He gets lots of attention, mainly runners shouting out 'BARNEY' at the tops of their voices or shaking his hand. But as yet we have still never seen anyone dressed up as the giant purple dinosaur : (

4. Oni & Adrian's wedding

Remember when it was snowing recently? Well I was at a friend's wedding in Wales. I know everyone says this about their friends but she really was the most beautiful bride I've ever seen (and that comes from someone who has been working on a wedding magazine for the last two years....I've seen a lot of weddings!) More photos here.

5. My sister's 1st stall

I was very proud of my sister who held her first craft market stall (yes crafting does run in the genes.) The market was part of a new creative venture in our home town in North London and marked the opening of the local park which for years had been a no-go area but is now light and welcoming AND has a water fountain. Her online shop is looking good too.

6. Tile painting workshop

I've still been doing some craft teaching but it's reduced a lot due to every one cutting their budgets. (Not good times for us freelance arts & crafts practitioners..hence the reason I have so many jobs on the go at once!) But I did lead a fun tile design session at The Geffrye Museum as part of their Stories of the World project. 

7.Meeting My Life Story

I've been living out all my 14 year old fantasies (real My So Called Life stuff). I recently met the members of My Life Story who all signed an old 7 inch sleeve for me when they reformed for the 15th anniversary of The Golden Mile Album (who were supported by Martin Rossiter from Gene). I also met Jonny, the singer of Menswear when he was djing at Nuisance (the only clubnight where proper Britpop lives on), met Marion (all members apart from Jaime Harding - that will have to keep being a fantasy!) and next week the singer of Strangelove Patrick Duff is in town. These bands probably don't mean anything to anyone apart from me, but I can assure you it is VERY exciting! 

8.Mentoring with Creatives Against Poverty

I've recently joined an organisation who mentor underprivileged school kids. It's very sad but rewarding stuff. It's hard to understand what they go through until you actually meet and spend time with young people and very sad to witness 10 year old girls bullying each other, swearing and talking about drugs : ( But on a plus side we have been bringing some magic into their lives and working with their mums to help them achieve their dreams. Here's Helen  Parker-Jayne Isibor a Nigerian singer who is the lead mentor - her dress sense is amazing!

9. Flag spotting

Ok so I haven't actually been out flag spotting but was rather amazed to discover these 'Craft is Great flags' flying over Oxford street. They actually say Craft is Great Britain....with Britain in teeny letters. Am defo loving the fact bunting is everywhere at the minute : ) 

10. Planning The Make Escape

Finally tonight sees the launch of a new craft night I'll be hosting/curating alongside the fabulous Rosie Martin. It's a chance to spread the crafty love around London (well east London anyway!). I'm keeping a separate blog for that (yep I'm now a 2 blog girl!). Check it out to find out more.

No doubt My So Called Life episode 3 will follow in a couple of months times but before that, you can keep up to date with me on Twitter for more instant gossip! 

My So Called Life...episode 1

When I started writing this blog almost two years the plan was to focus on the 'craft loving' side of my life, but over the last 10 months things changed and I turned it into my diary. I write about things I do, people I meet, where I go, my experiences, thoughts and reactions to things, even the random bits of advice that go through my head…all the things that make my life what it is. While I manage to write a couple of posts a week about specific highlights, there are still lots of other things I get up to that I don’t have a chance to mention. So I’ve decided that every few weeks I’m going to stock pile such events and post them under different episodes named after my favourite TV programme; My So Called Life. I’ve been catching up with the box set recently, every bit of it affects me like it did when I watched is back in the mid-90s. It follows the life of a 15-year-old girl called Angela Chase; the alternative girl at an American High School. At the time I was the 15-year-old alternative girl at a UK comprehensive. The show deserves it’s own blog post so the topic is To Be Continued. In the meantime….this has been my so called life of late:

The return of PULP:
The vast % of the population first heard of Pulp when Common People was released in 1995. Yet I first heard of Pulp in the late 1980s and was one of their earliest fans! At one point I was the youngest member of their fanclub, Pulp People, and I used to get really exciting post from a librarian called Alex who ran the club with Mark Webber (who later joined the band as a guitarist.) When I started secondary school in 1992 I had a Pulp schoolbag (homemade) and no one knew what it meant. For three years I was ridiculed by NKOTB and Take That fans, until that fateful day when Common People was released and overnight I became popular.
The day Pulp split I vowed I would be there on their return gig, as I knew they would reform.
When they made their comeback (finally!) this summer, I realised that actually I wasn’t prepared to pay £55 to see them at Hyde Park. Then they announced two special gigs at Brixton Academy and my head and my heart told me I had to be there. So on September 1^st I went to see them. It was overwhelming and emotional, the highlight being when they played an old track called Sheffield Sex City from an early album. It was a track that only a handful of people in the audience could connect with, and it’s a gig moment I will never forget.  

Brighton Beautiful:

Another trip down memory lane was seizing some of the late summer weather and taking a friend of mine who had never been there, to my other home; Brighton. I call it that because I lived there for four years and left a bit of me there, which I don’t think will ever follow me to London. But whenever I do go back I’m instantly at ease because of the familiarity. I went to all my favourite places; the pier for a chocolate and coconut waffle and a go on Dolphin Derby, all my favourite vintage and retro shops in North Laine (where I picked up this lovely flamenco shawl) and of course had a nap on the sunny beach. I don’t think I would live there again but I’m extremely lucky that I had the opportunity to.

Rosie & Harriet of TD

Drink Shop Do:

Back in London town and back on the craft scene I’ve been hanging out at one of the capitals loveliest bar venues; Drink Shop Do - a crafter’s heaven based in Kings Cross. It’s a craft shop, café, bar, afternoon tea venue and has an event calendar filled with free crafty events, workshops and book launches like ‘How to Make Jewellery’ with Tatty Devine. TD are known for designing quirky, kitschy jewellery with character and while I was there I made a rosette from a tape measure; a project in the book. I was aided by one of the friendliest girls I have ever met…I think she was called Emily. She works in the Tatty Devine shop in Brick Lane. Apparently she always gives a cup of tea to whoever pops in, so if you are ever passing by, please say hi to her. 

At the launch I sat opposite Lady Velo, a cycling fashionista who is now one of my Twitter friends.

Rocking at The Royal Albert Hall

Bollywood beats:

Bollywood wise I’ve watched two excellent films recently Bodyguard and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara but one of the highlights of my entire year to date was watching a live performance by India’s biggest musical directors Shankar Ehsaan Loy. They are three gentleman whom despite having written the biggest Bollywood blockbuster songs ever, have never performed in the UK. It was a really special occasion and totally sold out. The set list was incredible. They played so many of their popular songs that I was speechless for most of the night.

Film Fayre:
More recently I went to the launch of the Native Spirit Foundation’s annual film festival which celebrates films about indigenous cultures. The event was held at Rudolf Steiner House and started with a spiritual procession and incense lighting ritual and included a remarkable set by international ethnic folk star Kouame Sereba who played some very unusual instruments.

Dinner with Delwar:

Then last weekend I attended a dinner party to celebrate one of my best friends completing his PhD at Cambridge University. I met Delwar when I was 13, we appeared on a TV show together and since then our paths have continued to cross in the most peculiar of ways. We have a joke between us that we will probably end up living in the same old people’s home. But before that we have other paths to follow. I felt so proud of him, knowing  he’s completed his labour of love. And so I joined him in burning his notes!!!

Something I could NEVER do to my own. I still have my secondary school exercise books even of the subjects I couldn’t stand….I just can’t part with them. And here were pages of recent handwritten research. I guess I should take this as inspiration to de-clutter my belongings?

I could open a shop with this lot!

Finally: work:
I don’t write much about my work….but these last three months have been spent writing my second book….which I can reveal has a working title of ‘101+ Things to do with glitter’. It is due to be published Autumn 2012 by Vivays Publishing. It’s been sooooooooo hard not talking about it because I so want to share the projects I’ve been making but they are under wraps for now! However I can reveal that my entire flat is currently one giant glitter ball. Here on my bed are all the sample glitters I was sent by PRs…over 150 varieties. The book is due for completion very shortly and then I am not sure what adventures I will be embarking on next…