Dress Of The Day with Angela

I was looking for beads to add to the elastic string which had only half a dozen tiny red beads and one larger star on an elastic thread. In my sewing box I found a packet of small pearl beads which are made in New Zealand.   At first threading them was difficult, in poor light at night. I could not easily find and see the hole.  When I found the hole, the thread would not go through.  i was trying to push the thread through from the right with my right hand.  I wet the end of the fraying thread. One success. Now it was a matter of persisting.  I discovered that it was easier to thread if the hole was on top of the bead. You pshed the thred downwards. tie the elastic with a secure knot. You can push the two ends back inside the bead if te hole is large enough. Or buy a bead designed to conceal thread knots. You can use the bracelet to hold down a loose cuff.    Now I had red beads on one side, for daytime. The smaller, subtler pearly beads on the ...

  Broken bracelet repainted red with nail vanrnish. Photo by Angela Lansbury. I found a broken bead bracelet on the ground. It was dirty with broken and/or missing beads. The main bead was a star with a point broken off. Two of the five round beads were cracked or split.  It was dirty. If it had been my child's I would not have picked it up, because it might have infected her, or me, or me and then her. I used to pick things off the floor without ever consiering dirt. Covid changed all that. Now I am a religious hand washer. I used to pick up other people's litter and put it in the bin. Now I won'g even move litter in my own garden touched or drought by the mangy fox (mange caused by some nasty parasite) unless I have disposable or washable gloves. I picked it up the bracelet and tought, ershaps I should hand it in just in case the parent or guardian wants it back. I thought, theyre is nowhere to take it. The police station has closed down It is of no value. it's broken...

 Angela Lansbury with library pattern fabric used to decorate a tote bag. Photo by Trevor Sharot. I was looking for a tee shirt with books. Up popped an advertisement for a company selling fabric. A metre of fabric would be more than a tee-shirt. But I was tempted. A book curtain backdrop would be great on zoom. Tidier than my own books. They had a sample for under five dollars. I bought it. It arrived. It was thick curtain material, stiff. Not inclined to drape. But for a sharpt cut or suare or oblong, to match the pattern, would be best. Some of the tee-shirts had the pattern in a square or round or heart shape  frame on the front. The weight was just about light enough for making a shirt dress. Or a tunic or tee shirt I folded it neatly in half and put it down on top of a tote bag. I thought, that\s nice. It would make a good patch on a tote bag. I cut the sample in half and dewed it on. How about using the other half on a tee-shirt.?  Easier said than done. Most of my...

Photo from Harrovian Toastmasters.  Angela in red kimono, presented with certificate of participation for contests, and placed second in Speech Contest, 1st in Evlatuation Contetst.. Photo from Harrovians, Toastmasters International club. The Kimono The kimono is red, my favourite colour. I had to have it. The label is Debenhams. Surprise. It is a night gown, a dressing gown. Odd name, that. Mostly for undressing. It is silky. I was looking for a prop for a speech about learning languages, featureing examples from Japanese. I had language cards. The feedback I got from my other Toastmasters International club in London was that the cards were too small. So, I thought, I needed a larger prop. Blow up the cards to A4 size. That meant a lot of work. I was thinking about a hat or belt, or small tea cup, still too small. Then my eyes caught sight of the kimono. Perfect. Certainly large enough to see. Memorable. And visible in a photo. Only one small problem. I de...

 Angela Lansbury wearing a blue Broderie anglaise dress and a white blouse with blue buttons. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Copyright. The Blouse with Blue Buttons The buttons are interesting. Two buttons on a cuff is pretty, if the buttons are pretty, but no so unusual. Two other features are more unusual.  1  Double buttons are down the front. 2 The buttons are actually blue beads. The beads have to be small enough to fit rhoguh the button hole but large enough to hold it in place.  The blue of the buttons echoes the blue of the broderie anglaise dress.  The blouse label is Ravens. Size 36. The washing label says  65% polyester and 35% cottom.  The Blouse Style The mandarin collar is a nice touch. Different. Different from other people in the room (at least in Europe, not necessarily in Asia). To keep onlookers entertained. Different from my mother blouses, to keep the wearer entertained. It is kept fastened by an almost invisible teeny square press stud. ...

Angela Lansbury wearing a tee-shirt with the words BOSS lady. Photo by Angela Lansbury. I wore this before, as seen in Post 488. This time I wore in online so only the tee-shirt showed. I can now feel virtuous instead of guilty about wearing an outfit again. The reason is the report that throwing away clothes is an environmental disaster. The label is J5Fashion. The Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, has been commended for wearing her favourite outfits more than once. Useful Websites https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13058075/america-fast-fashion-shame-trash.html#reader-comments Please share links to your favourite blog posts.

 Is Natural Best When Buying Fabrics? The comments often say, stop buying synthetics and go back to natural fibres.  Cotton must be good, surely? But moths are eating my cotton and wool clothes, even new ones. Do Moth Repellents Work? Perhaps they do. But not enough to save my clothes. I am using moth balls and insect sprays. However, the cotton clothes and wool get holes and stains faster than synthetics. But this is not my experience with accessories. Disintegrating Bags And Shoes When it comes to bags, belts and shoes, synthetics seem to diintegrate fast, even when you are not using the item. My shoes disintegrate. My Hotter shoes, fine on top, but the black thick soles crumbled. Synthetic Bags Disintegrate Yes, leather wallets disintegtae. Plastic folders holding bus passes and address cards will disintegrate.  Belts break into fissure and grow frayed around the edges. What are the solutions? Some companies offer discounts on new clothes if you return old ones which t...

 RSPB, the Royal Society  For the Protection of Birds has a lot of bird themed gifts for yourself of bird lovers. Hats. This is my favourite. Red. Ribbed. Cute. The same design in camel or cofffee brown. A neutral countryside colour. Inconspicuous. Goes with everything. A short sleeved tee shirt for summer. A flock fo birds. All colours. To match black or anything. Brightens up black. With a black skirt, trousers (Americans say pants). See the shopping page on their website and order from there. i signed up for their bird watch in spring a couple of years agao, and now I get handy updates including their clothes and gifts and Christmas cards. Bags. More USA Website After seeing these, I decided to search the USA. I was glad I did. I found a website with all kinds of wild wilderness creates, from ducks, and butterflies to crocodiles. New items. and preworn which they call vintage, not end of lines but preowned and worn as seen onsite. The American website, Bird Collective, has ...

What is this? My repair.  I have a lovely shiny, smart black slip, from Marks & Spencers. It has a slit with pretty lace edging.  But it is slightly tight. It tore from the top of the slit, diagonally.  I looked for another slip. The ones I found onlin were twice the price and not in a satiny fabric. I wore it torn. I repaired it several times. It tore again.  I gave up. I wore it torn. Nobody sees. My husband saw. He complained. What could I do? It is useless to keep stitching it. It just tears again. I needed a new solution. I thought of adding a godet, a triangle of black fabric. I did not have anything to match. tht doesn't matter a godet is often a contrasting material. But that's when you have several godets and they look deliberate. I hunted in my sewing box. Boxes. All I had was teeny scraps of cloth in unsuitable fabrics. And ribbons. I thought about what I could do with the ribbons. They were not wide enough. But I could sew one each side of the slit. t...

Firstly the shoes. You must allow for your feet to swell. And to remove shoes at security!  Gladiator sandals look glamorous and have a quick zip. (Americans say zipper.) However, I go for Velcro or hook and close fastenings. I must admit that some designs don't protect your toes. Travel Changes Into An On Board Plane Outfit  On one press travel trip, our frequent flyer destination PR escort revealed her secret. She travelled wearing a smart suit to greet her group at the departure airport and make a good impression  However, she carried a  pair of velvety soft, stretchy travel 'pyjamas'. She changed into them on boarding the plane.  On the long descent for landing she quicklychanged back into a smart suit which was figure fitting. This meant watching for an opportunity to dash to the toiets when the fasten seatbelt signs were on and off and on.  Scarves Scarves are a quick fix to smarten up an outfit, especially in the evening. If you land late for dinner ...

 Sometimes I wear an outfit I hate because I am saving another outfit for a special occasion. If I am in a hurry, I select an alternative outfit. Then I think.., but I have lots of lovely outfits. Why not wear the pretty one and feel good all day. If I died tomorrow I would never have had the opportunity to wear the better outfit.  But the good outfit requires matching of colours. the good outfit felt tight. It needed matching underwear. I could not remove the sleeves in a hurry. The driver was calling. I had an appointment for a checkup with the nurse.  Undressing In A Hurry Sometimes an outfit you can remove in a hurry is what you need. It does not flatter you to wear huge sleeves, a looose skirt, a loose top. But it is practical. So I put on the Black and white Anthony Sicari outfit. DESPITE those horrible pleats. I was right. The nurse took my blood pressure. Needed access to my arm  She weighed me. I had to remove top layers in a hurry. Removing Pleats Later in ...

Angela Lansbury, wearing black for the funeral and funeral tea for Stephen Kennard. Photo by Angela Lansbury. This week I went to a funeral. I wore black.  Everybody else wore all black. The invitation said nothing about the dress code.  I know lots of funerals nowadays people were mixed colours. Some specify wearing jolly colours. My friend at the funeral told me, "Always wer black. Unles it specifies otherwise, the rule is, wear black." I had my usual blue anorak with the hood with me. I left it in the car. In the boot of the car, in case anybody broke into the car hoping to find money in the pockets or because they wanted a coat to wear or sell. The safest thing is to leave a completely empty car. At least everything in the boot so the car looks empty. I could have kept the blue anorak in my black tote bag. As soon as we drove into the chapel driveway, I looked at the other guests and their clothes. I saw all black. Off came my blue anorak. Thank goodness I had a black coa...

Rainbow Gloves  My latest rainbow item. is the rainbow gloves. From Northwick Park Hospital children's gloves section. I bought four pairs. Rainbow knitted long sleeved top The rainbow stripe knitted long sleeved top was bought second hand from St Luke's in Hatch End. The label shows it originally from Primark. The Primark in Harrow is my favourite branch. Next to the station, well, opposite.  The Rianbow Scarf The rainbow scarf  was sitting lost in a cupboard. It suited the red hat. I sewed it onto the red hat. The Red Hat The red hat was bought from North Harrow Library. Knitters and donors make items to sell to help support the library which is sstaffed by volunteers. Long Warm Rainbow Socks The socks from China had sat negleted for years because they seeed too tight. I thro then into a suitcase to go to the south of France in winter. The weather was so cold that I wore the with the tops turned down to make a secodn layer.

 Time to get out Chinese clothes for Chinese New Year.  The traditional dress for ladies is the cheongsam. If you don't have one, just wear red. The auspicious colour in the Orient is red. Everywhere you will see decorations which make god backgrounds for a photo of you in your pretty clothes. You can also be photographed alongside lion dancers who perform in public places and special events. Angela with the Chinese God of Wealth. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Chinese New Year 2024 starts on February 10th. But it continues. I used to think that this would not affect those who are not Chinese but it does in many ways. You need to think ahead. Busy Buses, Flights, And Airports Flights 1 Flights will be busy taking people overseas or within a coutnry to visit families. This means, seats at popular times and days could be unavailable, fully booked, double booked.  Less choice of seating.  Airport Longer queues at airports to check-in. Longer queues for luggage. Longer queues...

  Angela wearing a rainbow top from Priark, and green jacket from Shein. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. The top From Primark. I bought it second hand from St Luke's. it was a bargain, in the one pound box for items which have not sold fast, or the occasional loss leader. (A loss leader is an item sold at a loss in order to attract customers, either to come in and buy that, and preferably return on a regular basis loiking for bargains. Primark sels clothes in the UK and elsewhere at affordable prices. to buy an item in the bargain bin in St Luke's is a double bargain. The Cape Jacket\The green cape jacket is from Shein. I bought it in a sale. I bought several cape jackets, mostly long, this one is short. I went into St Luke's looking for a condolence card. I found one. It cost 50p. a condolence card from Tesco would have cost me one pound fifty. I spent the same because I bought three cards, the other tow to go in my card stock box.  My other purchase from St Luke'...

Rachel says this is so confortable shw wears it all the time. it is quick to put on. Long sleeve and below the kneww.  She wears it with co-ordinating white thong slippers.  

  Photo by Angela Lansbury.  I am about to go out. My trouser legs are too long. Around the house on carpet I didn't notice. But with different lower sandals, the trouser legs are too long. What can I do? 1 Stuff the leg inside boots. 2 Cut off the hems in a hurry, using pinking shears. 4 Pin them inside with safety pins. 5 Thread elastic through the cuff/wide hem.  6 Change into another outfit. 7 Fold the cuff up higher. 8 Buy hemming tape, what the British call iron-on tape, and the Americans fusible tape.  9 Sew the folded hems up inside the trouser legs (pants' legs). 10 Sew the folded hem up outside, with fold hidden.\ 11 Sew a decorative fold down pleat above the cuff, the same width as the cuff and equal distance. 12 take the opportunity to create a diagonal cut, at least an inch or to the top of the heel at the back or to the ankle of the shoe at the back, raising up the ankle in front to display the shoes and socks. 13 Slit the hem at the front or sides or b...