Inspiration from the archives

I bought these 2 books ages ago; Children's Fashions 1900 - 1950 and Everyday Fashions of the Twenties thinking they would make great source material when I get round to doing a bit of pattern cutting.

I think I may have gone too far back in time and probably should have focused from the 40's onwards, but I was thinking about 1920's Chanel dresses at the time, in hindsight, these wouldn't have been found in a Sears catalogue. None the less, they do make for fascinating (and very funny) reading. Here are a few of the highlights...

quite like a Christmas cracker

These are some of the oldest children's clothes in the book from 1910, there is so much to them, I can't imagine a child putting up with something so bulky these days - look how wide the shoulders are. The dress is almost symmetrical top and bottom.

yuckity yuk

Imagine dressing a child in furs? it gives me the creeps seeing the nose and tail of the animal.

what can he hear? the sound of his friends sniggering maybe?

I love the idea of dressing my son in Rufplay Rompers. They are for the Little Fellows. And are apparently, famous.

These girl's dresses are cute though, I like the peter pan collars and dropped waists.

More dropped waists, and some lovely pleat action. I'm not convinced how flattering these are though, maybe it's just the way they are drawn but they look quite masculine (if a man were to wear a drop waisted 1920's dress).

fun fun fun - do real kids look this jolly?

I love the middle outfit here on the bottom row, the polka dot blouse has a pretty tie.

no sunscreen in the 20's, so perhaps not that healthful

And if you are looking for "Gay sunshine clothes" which are so healthful (who isn't?), then here they are for 49c. How cute is the one of the left with the bubble skirt and ruffle sleeves?

Loving the jump suit on the left, if I wanted a suit to jump in, I'd be picking one of these up for $1 (or $1.98 in corduroy).

spade, pitch fork, pig pen - country chic

The pleats in the middle are so sharp, the lady in the crazy trousers on the left had watch out. Her trousers have hot rural buzz words on like 'spade' 'pitch fork' and 'pig pen'. I think I may include this idea in the next thing I make, but make them relevant to living in a city like Brighton. How about 'bus lane' 'pot hole' and 'Grubbs burgers'. It will be a new craze and remember you heard it here first.

my little fellow would put up the mother of all fights 

not to be dressed in a wash suit

More fashion for little fellows, this time rompers and wash suits. It would be great fun to dress my little fellow in something like this, but I can only imagine the fight he would put up. I have documented his criteria for getting dressed here. His rules haven't relaxed much.

M & S undies have nothing on these...

Phew, avert your eyes ladies, some cool athletic underwear on show.

Look at these gorgeous dresses, they are heading towards the Chanel I had in mind.

More cuteness in the form of Bob Hats. Such a shame we only wear hats for weddings these days. This could solve my bad-wavy-hair days. I miss being able hide my bird's nest under a woolly hat like I did in the winter.

My eye is drawn to the polka dot dress on the right, it reminds me of the dress from my pattern cutting course.

Finally some elegant ladies undies. Is the silhouette on the top left the end result? Then transport me back to the 1920's and I'll snap one up.

Free as a bird light shade

If you are looking for some inspiration on what to make with Cut Out and Keep, then have a look at this great light shade made by Fiona.

"Having not managed to find that 'something special' ceiling light shade, I decided that the only way was to create my own!

I used a lampshade kit called 'Stick-it', there is You tube video too.

As I usually just make things up as I go along, I was going to buy all the bits and work it out myself. But having never done this before, I thought that this kit would make life a bit easier - measurements and so on are all worked out for me!

It was a joint effort between my husband and I (both of us being obsessively creative!)"

Free as a bird is my favourite in this collection, and I think it looks amazing as a light shade!

Boden Autumn/Winter preview

Hello, may I speak to Mr Boden please?

Yesterday Amy and I were lucky enough to go to the preview of the Boden Autumn/Winter 2011/12 collection. As usual, the setting was amazing, the whole room was Boden-ed up to the max with prints on every available surface.

Before we went in the door we were greeted by this fantastic taxi.

No, we did not get a lift home in this

And the loveliness continued inside. We signed in on an old fashioned type writer (not one of those fancy iPad ones) to be greeted by the lovely Boden folk and their magnificent room full of clothes. 

We started off with the teen range, Johnnie b which continues to be my favourite of all the Boden ranges. 

Here, the colours were a little more muted, the graphic T's cool, the prints ditzy and subtle. I love thee Johnnie b.

Loved the cute detail on this top...

This top came in several lovely colours...

There is real attention to detail in this range, look at the lace on this cardigan...

And I loved this leather jacket, the leather was buttery as it should be and look at the shocking pink lining. Swoon.

Of course, this range is meant to teenagers, and there is no doubting that despite being just a bit older than a teenager* the skirts and dresses are way too short for me. It doesn't stop me from wanting the tops though. I wish there was a bit more of this muted style in the main range.

In the middle of the room was this amazing Boden art installation where they had covered every random object you could imagine in Boden print.

Lampshade? check. Oars? check. Skateboard? check. Skis? check.

This Boden boat looks overloaded and a little dangerous to me.

Don't get on it.

Why not use your old buggy to store snazzy socks in?

Ordinary pianos are boring, add a bit of Boden bling

I would suggest that putting a Boden teapot on your child's highchair
might not be that safe. But I think this baby has bigger 
problems than the teapot e.g. it doesn't have a head

And at the end of the day, when you are done with skiing in your Boden skis and rowing your Boden boat, put the dog to bed in their Boden kennel and put the Boden TV on.

There was menswear, I have to be honest, I didn't look at it, being a girl. I did take this photo though, I don't think it gives you a very accurate representation of the menswear collection, but it is quite factual, so you may find it useful.

Next to the Mini Boden collection. I was very pleased to spot a few of my favourites from last year, this layered skirt on the left was a huge hit with my daughter last winter, she wore it all the time.

Had a brought a bigger bag with me, I might have tried to smuggle this mini Eames rocker out with me. Hi my name is Kate, and I am a chair addict.

Craft alert - look at these amazing clouds with Boden print raindrops - Boden even controls the weather. Dear Boden, please make it sunny this weekend. Amy and I discussed that we could make these for a children's party and then cackled at the idea because - who were we kidding?

This wall of rosettes was amazing. I think this may have been my dream as a little girl.

Loved these pumps and trainers...

Head over heals in love with this dress, it shall be mine my daughters. That hat was very cute, and I loved the navy dress too, it had a lovely bow detail at the neck.

For the baby boys...

For the baby girls...

Loved.this.print.

Just one dress from the maternity collection on show. For you lucky ladies who are expecting, wrap your bump in this jersey goodness.

On to the ladies, I loved this navy collection - navy being my wardrobe staple. Look at that patent satchel. yes please.

I love the details that you get in Boden clothes, look at this lining.

And in red...

 
Rainbow cashmere anyone?

Trapper hat to keep your ears warm... there is no way I could pull this off, but it does look cozy.

There was a wall of envelopes with postcards of Boden prints. It was heaven.

Love.metallic.bags.

A recap from earlier, in case you had forgot, there will be a test later.

A few more shots of the amazing room.

Was I the only one photographing the sofa? Mid-century furniture makes me go weak at the knees.

Dear Boden, please make my house like this. Currently it is dominated by Playmobil.

And finally back to that magnificent shoe mountain, but look closely and you will see shiny jewels to.

There's my bag again.

If you were to climb a shoe mountain, I would suggest not doing it in these shoes...

So, I told you there would be a test:

Q: What makes Boden, Boden?

A:

Print

... and colour

10 'M is for make' points if you got it right.

* this is a lie