Manchester schools workshops

Group Rag Rug 

A couple of weeks ago I posted about my efforts to come up with a rag rug making technique that children could do fairly simply. I'd been invited to work with two Manchester schools by Imperial War Museum North using local source material, so we focussed on the memories of an elderly gentleman reminiscing about making a rag rug when he was in the forces. I worked with two schools within very different catchment areas. One was an ESL specialist school in the city working with year 5's and the other was a school in a more leafy suburb working with year 6's. I think the year 6 kids grasped the technique pretty well, whilst the year 5's struggled a bit - and with large class sizes it was the usual thing about trying to give enough attention to everyone. I was the only adult in the room with any real experience of the technique which made it harder. However, I was still very pleased with what the children achieved. It just shows how a number of smaller pieces can be stitched together to form a larger work with real impact. A great way to get kids upcycling too.

Wall hanging

Rag Rug Tutorial 1

How to get started on your weekend rag rug

A special millinery make for Easter & a workshop!

It's time I gave you something pretty to make - just in time for Easter. And no, I'm not talking about an Easter bonnet....they're sooooo two centuries ago! Instead I give you the Spring flower hairpin which you can create in abundance and scatter through your hair however you choose. These flowers are crafted using a vintage technique that I discovered when I purchased a 1930's satin nightdress-case a few years back. The flowers had been worked in pale pink ribbon, but I prefer something more vivid and real looking, so this is my modern take on the technique. I hope you like it. Please share your pics on my Chic on a Shoestring Book Facebook page. I'd love to see the flowers you come up with.

You'll need. Cotton organdie fabric (I get mine from The Cloth House on Berwick Street in London) - 25cm will make lots of flowers. Scissors, needle and thread, felt-tip pins, hairpins, a scrap of felt, and a gluegun. A small paintbrush and some water.

Cut your organdie into strips around 40cm long and 5cm wide. Then fold in half along the length. Use the felt-tip pens to add colour along once side and blend using some water and the paintbrush. Allow to dry.

Use a double thread with a knot on the end and stitch as shown along the raw edge for about 6/7cm then gather up the thread to make a petal. Repeat the process to make a second petal.

Continue all the way along the strip until you have made several petals just like the strip below. Don't worry about it curling up. It will naturally do that.

Arrange the petals in a circle as shown stitching through the centre to hold in place.

Make a little loop of thread and form into a figure of eight as shown.

Stitch into the centre of your flower and chop through the ends of the two loops. This creates stamens. You can scrunch the flower in your hand to give it more of a textured finish. The organdie will hold the shape well.

Use the glue gun to stick each flower to a hairpin and cover with a tiny circle of felt on the back.

Pop in your hair and celebrate the Spring! 

If you'd like to learn lots more about this method and create a unique floral millinery headpiece using other vintage techniques, then sign up for my workshop taking place on Saturday 2nd April at my friends' beautiful Scottish wildflower farm - Scotia Seeds in Farnell (near Montrose in Angus). It costs £55 for the day all in, and there will be homemade soup for lunch and endless tea and coffee! 

For further details please email me: maryjanemillinery@hotmail.co.uk - it would be lovely to see you there. 

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Upsize a leather skirt the MJ way!

Whilst visiting Edinburgh this weekend I picked up a great bargain from one of my favourite vintage shops -  Armstrongs in the Grassmarket. I purchased a red leather thrifted skirt. It cost me just £10.

There was just one problem.

It didn't fit!

Two choices: alter it or diet.

I say NO to diets!

Well, the skirt fitted well on the hips, but the waist was tiny. I just couldn't do it up. It had also obviously been worn by someone a little bigger beforehand, as the waistband was warped. However, it was such a good bargain, I felt I just had to buy it and give it a go. I considered taking it to be altered as it was leather and I wasn't sure I could manage the job myself, and then I thought: 'come on MJ - call yourself a make-do-and-mender? What are you doing? You should absolutely do this job yourself. It's not as if you're run off your feet at the moment - and besides, an alteration will cost twice as much as the skirt itself!'

It didn't look an easy job. As well as having a fair few seams, the skirt was lined and had a fitted waistband with a button. I measured my waist and the skirt waistband. Ahem. There was a good 3.5 inches difference. There was no way I would find enough leather at the bottom of the skirt to add to the waistband, and besides, with the number of seams, and the zip, it would be far too complicated.

And so...I decided to remove the waistband altogether, and see if there was some way of expanding the waist without it. I used a stitch unpicker, and in fact, it came away really easily.

I realised that without the waistband, the leather was actually quite stretchy, held firmly by the lining. I decided to undo the lining from the top of the skirt, trim it down slightly, fold over the top edge and tack it down. Then I would be able to slip the tacked lining back underneath the leather edge of the skirt, turn the leather back on itself by half an inch and hopefully stitch it all down again whilst skimming the top of the zip. That would certainly make the waistband bigger, but would it be enough? It's not easy to pin leather but I had a go, and by doing so was able to try the skirt on. And it seemed to fit pretty well.

Using a leather needle on the sewing machine and by taking it very slowly, I managed to stitch around the top edge fairly neatly. The leather stuck a bit to the plate beneath the machine needle so I had to guide it through carefully, especially over the bulky seams.

I then added a hook and eye at the top of the zip to stop it from coming undone.

Here you can see the inside. It's not perhaps a couture finish, but dear reader, it works!

Here you can see just how much bigger the skirt is now.

And by George - it fits pretty well!

Tah dah! Fitted leather skirt £10. Leather needles £1.20. Hook and eye around 10p. Total cost £11.30. Plus I feel really pleased that I managed to do it myself. Satisfaction guaranteed.

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London - Spring workshop dates

Would you like to make yourself a beautiful vintage-style headpiece just like this?

Join me at my little home studio in South East London and spend a day immersed in millinery. You'll learn how to make this specialist ribbon-pleated trim by hand, how to create the birdcage veil, and how to recreate that all-important vintage look with this beautiful headpiece. 

All materials will provided. Participants can choose to make a headpiece using either black or tea-dyed cream ribbon. 

A moroccan-style lunch will be provided along with a glass of wine.

Places limited to four - small is beautiful and ensures my full attention!

Price: £125.00 

Dates:

Workshops will be from 10-5 with an hour for lunch

Sat 12th March

Sat 26th March

Sun 3rd April 

Further dates TBC

For further details or to book a private workshop please contact

maryjanemillinery@hotmail.co.uk

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Immersed in making in my Scottish hideway

Since I began my Scottish sojourn (let's call it my maker's retreat) I've been busy coming up with ideas and projects for my new book Vintage Vacation based on my travels in the Mobile Makery. It sounds idyllic I know - far away from the madding crowd - cutting, sticking and stitching. I  realise you won't believe me but it does have its drawbacks! It's chilly and a bit lonesome and I'm not quite sure how long I can afford the luxury of not earning day-to-day. I'm lucky in that I have a very kind brother letting me stay with him for a while. But, I need to sort out the cash flow - fast! 

My 5am starts for shifts on the foreign desk at the BBC in London seem a long time ago already, but I miss my friends and colleagues enormously. The day-to-day dramas, deadlines and banter do give you an energy and focus that you can lack when you're working on your own with no reason to hurry. It's all too easy to become disconnected from what's going on in the world. For instance,  I've not been listening to the Today programme at all. Shock Horror! It used to be my regular wake-up call but now I switch it off if my brother puts it on. I've come to realise that being hit with bad news on a global scale every morning isn't necessarily the way to stay upbeat and positive! I'm not saying you should cut yourself off entirely, but pick and choose your moments, curate your listening, viewing and reading. Too much information can be a bad thing.

But onto more creative matters....!

Here below is a sneak preview of some of the makes I've been working on. I'm using largely recycled materials to create a host of projects that I hope will please both stylish nomads and home-loving hoarders!

Anyway - time for lunch so I must be off! Food is always a deadline worth sticking to ! x

Vintage hats for ladies who lunch!

These little cocktail hats are perfect for wearing with victory rolls!

I was recently invited to Eindhoven in the Netherlands to run a workshop in a vintage ribbon-pleating technique. I had a fantastic time and was offered such generous hospitality. The trip came about as a result of my Mobile Makery Tour of Europe in the summer. You may remember that I took part in a hat festival in Caussade in France (see earlier entry)  - and it was there that I met my Dutch millinery friends. They were keen to learn some of the methods I outline in my book The Modern Girl's Guide to Hatmaking - and this resulted in my trip to Eindhoven. Whilst there, I came across a fantastic supplier of vintage millinery materials. I bought some gorgeous strip straw and decided to use it to cover one of my handmade wire frames. 

I make the frames by hand, using very strong millinery wire - the idea is to form similar shapes to the small perching hats that were so popular in the 1950's, but without using a block. I then bind the wire with tulle and stitch a tulle cover on top, stretching the tulle so it's nice and taut. Once the tulle cover is in place, you can trim it it with whatever you wish.

The first task is to bind the outer edge of the frame. I find that softening the straw with hot water really helps as it needs to be very malleable to do this. Once the edge is covered you can then sew the strip in one continuous piece to the rest of the base - taking care to hide your stitches in the straw so they're not visible on the right side of the hat.

The technique is very satisfying and makes a really light hat that can be trimmed in many ways. Use steam to lightly block the shape once finished. The trick lies in constructing a good initial base that will 'self-grip' to the head. Perfect to wear with complicated hairstyles like victory rolls!

Dutch Hat Magazine feature

A big thankyou to Elly Stemerdink for featuring my Mobile Makery Europe tour in October's English edition of HoedenNieuws - the excellent and very glossy Dutch hat magazine. It's a real privilege to be included. 

I met Elly during an incredible hat festival in the South West of France at a place called Caussade, which was once the centre of the French straw hat-making industry. Having e-mailed the organisers and failed to hear back I decided to gatecrash the event, hot on the heels of having attended a little music festival at a place called Lagrasse. I was warmly welcomed and invited to set up a stall - with Bambi taking a starring role - comme toujours! 

I met all sorts of incredible people involved in the hat business in one way or another, and was offered the warmest hospitality, in spite of being a complete stranger. Elly was amongst a group of milliners from the Netherlands who come to Caussade every year to ply their wares and make contacts. Not only has she featured me in this month's magazine, but she's invited me to run a vintage-trim-making workshop in Eindhoven on National Hat Day - 7th November. Click on the website below for further details. Thanks Elly!

If you're interested in subscribing to the magazine then please e-mail Elly:

press@nederlandsehoedenvereniging.nl

Please look at the website for all details relating to the National Hat Day event (where I'll be amongst a group of milliners offering classes in different skills) www.nederlandsehoedenvereniging.nl

Dorothee L'a Fait

"Even tiny objects can be interesting, sensual and rich," says Dorothee

I first got to know Dorothee when I worked as a reporter for the BBC in Brussels over ten years ago. Dorothee had a part-time job at an enticing little shop full of tastefully curated vintage finds and curios near the square in Ixelles where I lived.  One day I went in wearing a '50's dress handed down to me by my Aunt. The dress is gorgeous. Black and white, it has a little Peter Pan collar and is covered in writing (although interestingly none of the words make sense). Dorothee remarked on my outfit and just like that, we became friends. She was my only non-BBC acquaintance in Brussels, and as a costume designer and artist, her world fascinated me. Moreover, she was an inspirational and lovely person.

Dorothee grew up in a bohemian household in Paris. It was perfectly normal for her parents to hold colour-themed soirees and even dinners were cooked according to shade and tone. It's hardly surprising then that colour is Dorothee's passion. One of her recent projects has been to create a series of silk flower corsages all hand dyed and sewn. The flowers are completely unique and many have been made with a specific person in mind using colours that complement them. Each flower is numbered and named after the person who owns it. You can see my beautiful specimen here below.

Here you can see some of the pretty headpieces from Dorothee's new collection. She has become fascinated by millinery and her hats are a wonderful showcase for the handmade flowers she loves to create. 

Dorothee's atelier is full of intriguing objects. Her training in costume design means she has a keen eye for unusual detail and I just love the way she groups things together. A visit to her flat is such a treat - a feast for all the senses!

Dorothee's latest collection features beautiful bridal pieces. Delicate and fragile in appearance each one is made carefully by hand and they seem somehow to spread a little magic.  I love the way that Dorothee sees her work. "Hats can transform a person and reveal hidden things about them," she says. I couldn't agree more!

Beautiful single flowers below made for a special day - each one formed by hand.

Find out more about Dorothee's work by looking at her website - just click on the link.

La Frenesie - Brussels

I've written about this fabulous shop in Brussels before but I want to plug it again as it's really worth singing and dancing about. You'll find La Frenesie in the Marolles district of Brussels on the site of the Jeu de Balles fleamarket. The owner Caroline Moreau is a florist and you'll find a beautiful selection of blooms on offer. However, she also has a great eye for interiors and her shop is full of gorgeous vintage finds all grouped in interesting arrangements which really spark the imagination. Hankie pelments, doilie curtains, vintage plastic table and picnic-ware, quirky crockery - you'll find them all here. It's my shopping tip for the weekend. Search this place out. You'll love it!