Dress Of The Day with Angela

I read a post on Facebook about somebody recalling as a child playing with buttons in their mother's button box. The button box was a recycled biscuit tin. What a great idea. A large circular tin, for biscuits, or a higher one for cakes. My buttons are scattered in several boxes, not as large as a cake tin.  I have buttons in small glass recycled jam jars. That way you can see the colours. They are scattered along book shelves.  Wouldn't it be easier to have all the buttons in one large tin. My biggest tin is from a Xmas cake, a Panettone. Why keep a button box? To replace lost buttons, on shirts, coats. To replace missing buttons on items bought cheaply from charity shops. To add decoratively. To cover stains. To make button toys, like little human figures. To make eyes on puppets.  To add extra security on wrap skirts. To secure crossover wrap tops gapping, showing cleavage, threatening to pull undone. To sew behind bigger buttons to keep them secure. (On the other side...

 Making Gloves They look difficult. Curves, not straight lines. For an amateur sewer, a shirt dress, pencil skirt, tank top or scarf or tote bag with straight lines and seems is a first project. Curved hats, gloves, slippers, bags with clasps, anything with a lining, seems more challenging. Until you find that both Youtube and Wikihow have videos.  For gloves, basically, you draw around your own hand, or hands, if your hands are slightly different sizes or shapes. You need four pieces, for the back and front of the left and right hands. Remember to allow extra fabric for the seam. You sew all the way round for the seam to stap the fabric fraying. But when putting the two pieces together for a glove, don't sew all the way round - you need to leave the wrist open to get your hand into the glove. Useful Websites Wikihow on making gloves and making mittens, tee-shirts and puppets. Wedding gloves. Warm gloves. Matching gloves.  What to do with small scraps of fabric - make buc...

Close up view of the curved collar and cuffs of the Alternatives blouse from the previous post. Pleats Another feature of the Alternatives blouse, harder to copy, is the small pleats.  Pleat Names I looked up pleats. I wanted to know the names. I had heard of box pleats. And kick pleats at the back hem of skirts. I think these tiny pleats are called knife pleats. Wikihow shows how you sew various pleats. Alternatives label mystery The word Alternatives brings up many websites about alternative clothes, in the singular, and the word label brings up label makers. So I cannot find the manufacturer. I recently discovered that a number like an ISBN for books identifies the manufacturer RN Registered Identification Number (and the specific design),  something required by law in the USA, but you need the washing instruction label which is sometimes cut off of lost. Useful Websites Wikihow on pleats USA clothing numbers https://www.masonfirmllc.com/us-clothing-labeling-laws-garment-re...

  Angela Lansbury wearing hearts. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Cropped using lassoo by Angela. The Heart Bag Www.breakthrough on the front with rows of red hearts. The back says your M&S. I was given it by a friend whose wife insisted that he declutter their garage. Red Hand Warmer Scarf with Hood I wore this in my post 720, with the ends of the scarf pinned up with safety pins to make hand warmers. I finally got around to sewing it together and removing the safety pins. Neat and snug. I made the hood first, by sewing  up the two seams of the scarf from the centre. I made the scarf by cutting the hem off an over-long dressing gown bought from Marks & Spencer. The fabric is soft and warm and does not pill. And a great colour. The deep pile hides my uneven amateur stitching.  The Black Skirt & Brooch The vintage black skirt was from Comfy clothes. I recently updated it by adding safety pin style gold colour brooch with black beads on the pocket. The Black and Blue Se...

  What is a Jumpsuit? Originally jumpsuits were outfits worn by parachutists to jump out of planes. The one-piece garments were also called parachute suits and flight suits.  Another wartime outfit, WW2 the siren suit, was for quickly donned garments to go on top of other garments to air raid shelters. Made popular as seen in photos by Winston Churchill. These one piece outfits were loose and had large, practical pockets. Practical suits worn at work were boiler suits.  In fashion the terms used included unitards. Leotards. Body suit. I have also seen them called playsuits, onesies. Onesies were a brand name of the Gerber company. Later the term was adopted by the public, without the final s, as a generic name. Baby Versions One piece garment for babies were legless and armless and had press studs (Americans say snaps) for quickly changing the baby's nappy (Americans say diaper for nappy).  For babies, and toddlers, there are other names, such as rompers (usually wit...

  Photo by Trevor Sharot. Primark Top Size medium. Made in China. Drawstring hood. Colour changes from pink at the hood, shoulders, chest and upper sleeve, to cream at the wrists and waist. Knitted cuffs and waistband. I bought it in St Luke's in Hatch End, NW London. Their shops supporting their local hospice are in Pinner, Harrow St Anns Shopping Mall, Hatch End, Another group of hospice shops is in the Sheffield area of England, and they sell clothing and furniture. So, if you want to put together a colourful and co-ordinated outfit, find a bargain, affordable clothes, or to support charity, you have several choices. Going abroad? Primark stores are in Australia, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia. Useful Websites For Primark & St Lukes St Luke's in London https://www.stlukes-hospice.org/shops/find-your-nearest-shop/ St Luke's in Sheffield https://www.stlukeshospice.org.uk/shops/find-our-shops Primark Clothes Stores Online ...