Dress Of The Day with Angela

  Broderie anglaise head band from Shein. Worn by Angela Lansbury. Photo by Angela Lansbury. At first I was a bit disappointed in the head band. It had two good points. First, the hairband had good broderie anglaise. (The modern word is eyelet.)  Secondly, I was intrigued by the wire inside the two halves of the bow - which enabled you to bend it at any angle. Like ears, as you see above, or flat. What a pity the headband was not made of bendable wire. It was too tight. Uncomfortable. For an hour or so I was unaccountably despondent. Then I went back to the headband to consider. What could be done? Slide out the stiff hair band and insert another?. Wear it sideways? Wear it flat on top like a pancake? But how to stop it sliding off? Tie it on with a pale colour, cream or white ribbon. How to fasten the ribbon?  Under my chin. A simple bow. It might not stay on if I were running for a bus. However, it might stay put whilst I sat at a zoom meeting. I tried it for a Zoom mee...

  Are you short of summer outfits? Do you have a pair of shorts with a stained front, or a tee shirt with a stained sleeve? A great idea for re-using an unwanted or unworn t--shirt. Cut off the arms to make a tank top. Use the spare fabric from the arms to make two circular or oval designs, such as leaves for the below the waist garment. Sew your double patterns neatly by hand or machine onto a pair of shorts, as they suggest. Alternatively sew onto a skirt, or even a plain dress.  I would use the arm pieces to make pockets. You could have two front square or semi-circular pockets on shorts or a skirt. Or side pockets.The neatly seamed armhole hem could be made into a hairband, or the front or link piece of a belt made with a long piece of ribbon or a doubled ribbon, with or without interfacing. (Interfacing is a stiffening liner used on jackets and hems and belts.  Security Use the spare fabric for a bag for your phone. Make a pocket on a lanyard to hold a phone. We...

  Angela Lansbury in red and blue DIY dress, with red ribbon belt and red ribbon bow. Photo by Trevor Sharot. The dress came from a wide skirt. I cut off the belt and was left with an oblong large enough and long enough for a dress. Blue suits my complexion and goes with my blue eyes. I love the red. I added a wide red ribbon belt, and a narrower red ribbon tied in a bow at the neck. I thought of having both the neck bow and the belt the same width of ribbon. Would that look more co-ordinated?  However, I was not sure that I had enough of either width.  A wider ribbon looks better as a belt. A smaller bow is less distracting from your face. With enough ribbon, I could leave the ribbons attached to the outfit.  Storing Ribbons and Belts At first I had ribbons stored in boxes on my sewing table. Then I decided that the wide black ribbon used as a belt was frequently needed. It could be found more quickly if I placed it on the rack with my belts on the wall behind the b...

  See below dress 214. This top has tiny rhinestones. Even from a distance, when you cannot see the individual stuck-on beads, their sparkle adds an air of glamour to this cotton tee-shirt. But what exactly is a rhinestone?  You might recall the American song, Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell. Rhinestone Cowboy cover picture from Wikipedia article on Rhinestone Cowboy. The song says the singer is 'like a rhinestone cowboy', in a 'star-spangled rodeo'.  Rhinestone? Rhinestones, would you believe it, originally came from the Rhine. Let's list the qualities: 1 They were originally found on the Rhine River. 2 They were quartz stone. 3 Nowadays rhinestones can be glass, crystal or plastic. 4 They are cheaper than diamonds. 5 Glass rhinestones are cut by machine. Other types are moulded. 6 They have many flat sides to reflect light and glitter or twinkle. 7 Rhinestones with pointed backs, like cheaper, imitation, clear, fake diamonds, have pointed backs. They can be use...