.... the Goodwood Revival

I have mentioned the Goodwood Revival a few times in passing and thought it was about time I filled you in a bit more on what it is.   The Goodwood Revival is an amazing event that takes place every September at the Goodwood race circuit in Sussex. It is primarily a motorsport event for historical class cars and motorbikes but they must be dated from between 1945 to 1964 as these were the glory years for this circuit.  Not your cup of tea? even if we throw in F1 and BTCC race drivers, not to mention a few celeb drivers?  Rowan (Mr Bean) Atkinson, James (chef) Martin, Ewan McGregor have all taken part in the past.  Add to that period aircraft flying overhead between the races.

Eyes to to the skies

What sets this event apart is that pretty much everyone who attends dresses up in clothes from the 40's through to the 60's, I would stress that this is not a fancy dress event, there is an air of authenticity about everyone's outfit, the aim is to dress as you would if you had been around at the time.

Add to that a retro fair ground complete with Helter Skelter , wall of death and galloping horses, period music being sung on a small stage, accapella groups wandering round giving impromptu performances.

There is even a reproduction retro high street complete with a Tesco where you can go in and buy a sandwich for your lunch and a retro chocolate bar, they re-wrap them in old style wrappers.  Of course all the "delivery" vehicles that are parked up at the local garage are of the period and red telephone boxes are the norm along with police emergency boxes to call a constable should something be amiss.

It runs over three days and you can get a ticket for the whole weekend or just one day.  There is special parking for pre 1964 cars so the car park becomes a classic car display, I did fear that we would never actually get into the event as there were so many cars to admire along the way.

I feel that I have only scratched the surface of everything that happens over the weekend but hopefully it will have given you a flavour of what goes on.   What do you think? would it be your  idea of heaven or hell?

Red and White Felt Toadstools - 50 Christmas makes - 15/50

More felt work today, this was inspired by a toadstool brooch I made a couple of years ago, I am glad to say that the brooch is still going strong and I regularly receive nice comments when I wear it.  This was the original inspiration for my brooch

I made a template by drawing the toadstool shape on an old cereal box and played around with it until I got a shape that I was happy with. I then traced round the top that is going to be the red part and made a second template - this needs to be a little bit larger than the base as it sits over the top.

Cut two red heads and two white head and body.  I cut out double layer of felt so that I could be sure that both sides would be identical.

You can cut out small holes in the red heads to allow the white to show through or use very small white buttons as I have done.  These were a bit of an e-bay mistake so I love that I have found a nice way to use some of them. Check that you are sewing the second lot of buttons onto the correct side otherwise you will need to remove them and start again (cough cough ooops).

Sew in a loop of ribbon to the middle of one of the white "heads" this will be used to hang the finished item on the tree, this sewing is not visible in the finished item.

Sew the two white pieces together sandwiching the ribbon into the middle. Pop the red head over the top and sew around the sides.

I chose not to add any stuffing to this as I felt that 4 layers of fabric gave it enough body.

I was looking for a template to help you with this when  I found this (page 48/49) and it involves buttons so I was quickly sold it.  There are a raft of other ideas for Christmas makes, I wish I had found it sooner, I could have just followed some of their instructions instead of fumbling through making things up as I go along!

So another one off the list, making it 15 out of my 50 makes for Christmas.

Another "photoshoot" using the battered olive tree, I am really selling myself the idea of dressing it up for Christmas.

Good news on the weather front, it looks like we are getting another burst of sunshine before mother nature rolls over into autumn.  This is great news for us as we are off to the Goodwood Revival at the weekend, we have been for the past two years and on each occasion we have been blessed with perfect summer days, fingers crossed we are lucky again.

Have you got any outings planned for the weekend or will you be sitting at home being creative?

..Betty Grables pin curls

With the Goodwood Revival only two weeks away I have been seeking inspiration for my hair and makeup.  I follow  Va Voom Vintage blog and Brittany has been supplying me with  a constant stream of hairstyles to feed my imagination.

This post clicked with me and this morning I had a little go at my own version, i don't know if this is a little more Hilda Ogden than Betty Grable, but I have a little time to improve on it

Jean Alexander as Hilda Ogden

Betty Grable looking stunning

Yep a lot of practice or a team of hair dressers is required! 

 I have been collecting my ideas on Pinterest and it is interesting for me to look through at the different things that have caught my eye and have warranted them being pinned on to my 40s and fabulous/ board, the purchase of the jeans below lead to a flurry of activity yesterday!

I picked up these wide legged jeans from Next, even in the petite size I need to add a turn up, which works in my favour as it gives them a nice 40's/50's rockabilly style. 

Wide Legged Jeans From Next

I haven't sorted out my my walkaway dress yet, I feel my enthusiasm for it waning, I think if it were a sunny day it might have helped, but this dreary weather just makes me want to drink tea and snuggle on the sofa.

If you have any great vintage hair tutorials on your blog please leave me a comment and I will pop over and have a look.

Now tine for more tea

... my walkaway dress

I finally finished my walkaway dress, but I am rather disappointed with the end result.

Walking away from my walkaway dress

Once again I don't think I cut the right size, as I started assembling the dress it became apparent that the waist line was far too low so I took an inch or so out at the shoulders to lift it up and it seemed to have worked.  However, when I attached the bias binding the already wide neck it  has moved out and is both wide and baggy.

Baggy neckline in need of help

The under arm area gapes and is exposing quite a bit of bra, I was experimenting with the use of safety pins as a means of holding things in place and that sorted out the underarm issue to an acceptable degree, but the neckline has me flummoxed and I would be grateful for any suggestions on a remedy, quick fix or alternative ideas.  I don't think the fit issues are helped by the design of the dress, the back has the full weight of the circle skirt so it has a natural tendency to pull towards the back which kind of disturbs the balance of the overall garment.

side view of the gaping arm area

I do love the floaty full skirt and I am so please that the fabric drapes exactly as I had imagined when I chose it . The other thing I loved about this project was making the bias binding, but because it was my first attempt and a bit uneven I chose to hand sew it and I don't know if that added to the problems around the neckline?

 So ultimately I have mixed feelings at the end of this, I don't know if I should try and convert it to a walkaway skirt or brave it out and wear it as it is, I do have a nice cardigan I could put over the top!


I have to turn this around pretty quickly as we are on count down for the Goodwood Revival, its only a couple of weeks away now!


Sadly this was my first vintage make for 2015 vintage sewing pattern pledge I don't think that the pattern being vintage has anything to do with my woes, however the instructions were rather brief compared to what I am used to.






Whatever your ideas and thoughts are on this please leave me a comment I need help and inspiration in the bucket load.

...a fabric bargin

Ooops I got a little bit carried away this morning, I have been on the look out for some fabric to make a sundress for my holidays using the pattern  New Look 2373

I was browsing around http://www.abakhan.co.uk, they offer a wide range of very reasonably priced fabric especially when they are offering a 20% discount for today (2nd May) only!  in addition to this if you sign up for their newsletter you are given a one use code for a further 15% discount.  Now you can see why I got a bit carried away!

This was my final choice, it is a cerise pink and looks lovely and fresh, it is 100% cotton making it ideal for this  pattern.

And here are some of the other fabrics I have ordered.

I adore this 50's inspired fabric and ordered 3 meters to ensure I would have enough to make a dress with a nice full skirt.  We are off to the  Goodwood Revival in September and it is my intention to wear at least one homemade outfit over the weekend.

I thought this seersucker would work really well as the camisole top using the New Look 2373 pattern above.  I haven't worked with seersucker before but this fabric is under £3.00 per meter with the discounts applied so I don't feel like I will have wasted loads of money if things don't go well.


So if you have some spare pocket money and are feeling in the mood to treat your sewing self pop over to their website and have a look, the discounts are also applies to interfacing etc so it is a good opportunity to stock up on some of the basics.



*** DISCLAIMER***  This is not a sponsored post and these are just my opinions.

Can you recommend any patterns for my 50's inspired fabric choice?  Have you already made some thing in this fabulous fabric?  Do you have any top tips on working with seersucker?