The sun is out and I am thoroughly loving the chance to wear many of my San Francisco Vintage and Goodwill finds. It’s great to have these unique items as you know that you won’t be rocking up to those first summer BBQs in the exact same outfit as someone else. Below are a few of my favourite items purchased from the glorious shops along Haight Street, CA. I only visited in March but I am already wanting to go back and pick up some more Vintage gems!
The Beautiful Plumage Vintage collection is super stocked and I’m proud to say, looking more fabulous than ever! We’re really excited about setting up stall at a few more Vintage fairs now that spring has arrived. Here are some new additions to the range…
Handmade brushed-cotton playsuit made with vintage floral fabric, (styled with vintage tan leather belt), tan and cream vintage bag, polkadot tie at the waist summer blouse.
Handmade floral crop top (modelled on an 80’s version). Vintage burgundy bag and scarf.
Handmade plum satin blouse (from a vintage Vogue pattern), vintage leopard print blouse and vintage black across the shoulder bag.
Customised vintage liberty print dress, white and gold italian vintage belt, handmade midnight blue floral make up bag and handmade/laser cut Beautiful Plumage jewellery.
Details of upcoming Vintage Fairs to be added soon xxx
Join Beautiful Plumage and shipshapeandbristolfashion on the 8th December at Victoria Park Public House for a fun, friendly Christmas shopping event. Stalls are selling a variety of goods including: Vintage clothing, Christmas crafts, delicious food and maybe a mulled wine or two! From us expect gorgeous handmade products – womenswear knitted dresses and soft cosy scarves, one-off vintage pieces and much much more.
11am – 6pm
This weekend I visited a vintage fair ‘up north’ with my sisters. We braved the cold weather and were happy to find a few trinkets to buy! Some of the clothes seemed a little pricey for what they were e.g. a once loved but now severely outdated bridesmaid dress for £68 seemed a little steep. However, it was really nice to chat to some talented new designers/makers about how they were customising/creating. Here is a documentation of my time there in photos (including the labels which most impressed me!):
Really wanting a studded jumper right now…lucky I’ve ordered some antique brass studs to jazz up my wardrobe!
Haven’t posted recently as I’ve been super busy getting things together for The Lanes Vintage Fair. The sewing machine and overlocker have been whirring away to help me create and customise a stylish AW12 Vintage collection. Below are a few pics of items to be sold. The colours are very autumnal with a dominant deep purple, brown, cream and warm pink palette – comforting in these grey and drizzly times!
handmade plum satin blouse
carpet bag style purse
vintage blouse in cream
vintage pink and cream dotted dress
I’m really looking forward to this event (especially the tea and cake stand) and hope to see lots of you fellow vintage-appreciators there!
This week my shabby old coat has been rejuvenated! The A/W 2009 Primark number was ripped at the arm, the fur trim was falling off and the colour had faded to an unsightly grey.
Restorative Process:
A new coat for under a fiver. Super Chuffed! Has anyone else got an upcycled/recycled garment they are really pleased with? I’d love to hear about them.
This event was on Friday and it was a great opportunity to meet some fellow independent Bristol designers and to see some of the creative ways they upcycle and reinvent clothing. Hopefully we will be showing the Beautiful Plumage S/S range at the next event.
In attendance were:
And after a short interval:
And here are a few of my favourite pictures from the evening…
Here is my entry for the 2012 Sew Direct competition ‘Vintage & Beyond’. The challenge is to create a modern garment from a vintage pattern and to explain your inspiration. The pattern I adapted is shown below. Fingers crossed!
My Inspiration Explained….
A great deal of inspiration for this dress came from the City of Bristol where I live. Bristol Harbour festival 2012 took place a couple of weeks ago. The striped jersey fabric hints at this theme – a celebration of all things nautical! Stripes still continue to have a strong fashion presence as they can be fun yet sophisticated at the same time. The stripe colours also reminded me of the pastel coloured houses which Bristol is often remembered for. Lastly, I wanted to make sure the dress is quite classic and chic, in the name of sustainable fashion. I am happy that I have sewed a dress that can be worn again and again, without worrying that it is only a fashion fad! To modernise the design further, I used a lightweight stretch knit for the main part of the dress which is great in terms of fit and comfort.
Photography by Shipshape&BristolFashion.
A few pics of my latest vintage purchase, the newly cherishable electric blue dress. As you can see it’s now fully shortened to an acceptable length for 2012!
This mini shoot was conducted in my sisters new flat in Manchester. She moved in 3 and a half weeks ago and I couldn’t wait to see her first non-student digs. I left Manchester feeling slightly jealous of her beautiful fireplace (pictured) and with a predictably large bagful of more great finds from the local charity shops here, including a couple of 80’s crop-able tees, a cream lace blouse, a gorgeous and oh-so-comfy mens stripy blue jumper and much more… but that’s a whole other blog post folks! A dedicated alterations post detailing the upcycling of these items to follow soon.
For info on how to shorten a dress like this, please click here.
Photography by Courtney Ward
Some sewing machines have a mock overlock or stretch stitch setting. This is a wide stitch which is a criss cross, mixed with a staight stitch in between. It can be used to finish edges of seams (depending on the type/weight of fabric) as it has a similar appearance to using an overlocking machine. It is also called stretch stitch as when you are working with stretch fabrics, the stitch can be used to sew seams and hems in place, whilst still allowing the stretch of the fabric/garment.
Below I have shown you how I repaired my bikini using this stitch. I swim a lot and the original thread has fallen apart where my locker key gets pinned! I’m really pleased with the result and I hope you find this useful. If you would like advice on any other repairs, feel free to send me a photo or drop me an email and I’ll get back to you asap.
Note: Always test the stitch on a section of your fabric before you use it as a mock overlock/way of finishing your hems or seams. The success varies greatly from fabric to fabric.
Beautiful Plumage. 
