Embroidery Machines

A Jaycotts post

What else can I do with an embroidery machine other than embroider clothes?

"An embroidery machine is an investment, so what else can I use an embroidery only machine for" is something I get asked a lot and I know Jaycotts have the answer!

These are a few of the items I make on my Brother embroidery machine.
To view the range , this is the link Embroidery Machine

If at all possible it is well worth a visit to try a few and to discuss options

I have to admit that once my embroidery machine comes out, I never want to put it away, I find it addictive and before I know it I have been sat at it all day long.

So I hope that by sharing some of the things I use it for will make you realise that they are a really good investment. There are so many ways to use it and even when you think you have tried everything you could purchase the software needed to make your own designs!

Fascinating to watch, no matter how many times you have used your machine

Dressing in 1940s style

 War time fashion, tutorials on inserting zips , a SewOverIt 1940's tea dress to sew and much much more!

It is as important today as it was in the 1940's to adopt a "Make do and mend" attitude, and I hope to show you that this will make you  re-think your sewing habits. I know it has done for me.

Enjoy! 

The second world war started in 1939 and didn't end until 1945. During this time rationing of almost everything was in place and continued even after the war had ended until supplies started to become available again.
It was in 1941 that the government introduced rationing which greatly influenced clothing and how it was worn. Strict guidelines governed how many buttons were allowable and how many seams were acceptable and so on.

Don't think for one minute that fashion was dull though, far from it. The designs were high quality and the famous CC41 utility label was also  a sign of  excellent value for money and  you knew it was made to last. The CC41 designs were devised by a panel of top designers including Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell no less.

A combination of paying for your clothes with money and coupons meant that the class divide had no impact on what you wore - everyone was entitled to exactly the same.

These are the exact details of what a utility dress should consist of;-

"Examples of details of restriction orders when making Utility dress: it could have no more than two pockets, five buttons, six seams in the skirt, two inverted or box pleats or four knife pleats, and one hundred and sixty inches (four metres) of stitching. No superfluous decoration was allowed. It should be simple, practical, agreeable-looking, inexpensive and made of good material"

It should also be noted that one quarter of the population, women included ,was now in uniform of some sort and with women being ordered to maintain glamour at all times, these uniforms were also beautifully tailored. The most coveted being the Wren's uniform - worn with red lipstick and curled hair of course.
Coty produced lipstick and face powder which was not rationed, as well as producing such things as foot powder for use by the military.

It should be noted that selling these utility garments were a great source of income to the government.

This booklet was produced in the early 40s as supplies were becoming more and more scarce. The wool and cotton fabric, and dark coloured dyes  were needed by the military for uniforms and for blackout curtains .
 We were not receiving imports of cotton and silk because of the high cost of shipping  goods from abroad - China for one, and by that I mean the cost in lives as well as in monetary terms.

To read the rest of the post you need to click underneath on the message below .... ....

Stitching back in time to the 1940s , dresses and trenchcoats

The middle to late 1940s fashion: Dresses and Trench Coats 

A Jaycotts blog post.

It wasn't until 10:30 AM on 12 February 1947 that a relatively unheard of Christian Dior unveiled his "New Look"

Taking inspiration from flower petals he celebrated femininity with defined narrow waists and full flowing skirts. It was a defiance towards the rationing which had restricted fashion for several years.

 Before this monumental event though , and even when WW2 had ended,  we were still gripped by austerity and it was getting worse. We were encouraged to take two very worn dresses and coats for example and somehow make the best bits of each into one wearable garment. Shoe leather had run out and women's shoes were made with wooden soles which were very much hated. Everything was becoming more and more difficult and it seemed never ending, so the advent of a new fashion house really brought excitement to life.

If you are after a 1940s look then many of today's styles are very similar. Go for a low heel, preferably a chunky heel, a brogue or a wedge sandal and they will be fine.

One item which did prove popular was the Siren Suit, Sir Winston Churchill loved his and had one made from pin-stripe suiting (of course)

But the rest of us loved them too, they were designed to wear over normal clothes, or night clothes when the air raid siren went off. Air raid shelters were dirty, cold and smelly and these garments were very much necessary.

Today we still wear a type of this garment in the form of jumpsuits. Take a look at the pattern range available from Jaycotts Jumpsuit pattern

I have a blog post too An easy Simplicity Jumpsuit so do take a look at the tutorial. Did you see the Sewing Bee 2019 As one of the challenges was to sew a jumpsuit and they all looked fabulous.

Factories were still being run by women - it took a long while before the men came home and women were forced out of work.  Supplies were still not reaching us so even after WW2 had ended we were still very much rationed - we were short of everything. Even those tiny ends of thread which we cut off and throw away were kept and treasured.

Keep on reading..........

how to make a 1940's style tea dress

Sewing a 1940s dress

This is a post I wrote some time ago, but I think it is worth re visiting.
Vintage fashion is very much "in" at the moment and when I was looking through my sewing room I found this Folkwear pattern for a 1940's dress. I also found some viscose floral print which hangs nicely.

For this dress I researched traditional methods and used them as for as possible. This is not a quick make and is for experienced sewers.

I have wanted to sew a dress in 1940's style for ages, I bought the vintage style fabric  and pattern ages ago but never got around to sewing it.
I am pleased to say that this pattern is now for sale in the UK and you can purchase it from MinervaCrafts. Glamour girl dress pattern
I'm suggesting that you use a heavy woven dress fabric which hangs well, this floral viscose Challis would be perfect Floral print viscose challis

When sewing vintage the first step is to take your measurements and choose the pattern size which  corresponds most closely. Do not just use your usual dress size as patterns do usually vary from these. This is true for any pattern, but more so for vintage as women were much smaller back in the 1940's.
Cut the pattern pieces out and lay them on the fabric on the correct grain, as shown on the pattern piece.
Cut out the material, leaving larger than normal seam allowances in true vintage style. Vintage garments were made to last a lifetime and so extra fabric was always left in the seam allowances to enable the garment to be let out if necessary and to be honest it is good practise to do it now.
The next step is to transfer all pattern markings to the fabric using your prefered method. Keeping with tradition for this garment I am using tailors tacks and thread markings.

Bollywood. Indian style Dress.

Bollywood. Exploring different cultures and fashions.

The Duchess of Cambridge wore outfits similar to this on her recent tour of Pakistan.

A Jaycotts post.

One of my life long hobbies is dance. I learned ballroom and Latin and loved them but more recently I decided to explore something I have always wanted to do and that is Belly Dancing. This has led to Bollywood dancing and of course I need to research and make outfits  to dance in, which is immense fun 

I need a Bollywood outfit for an event next month and this led me to exploring Asian fashion.

The Shalwar Kameez is a two part outfit consisting of a tunic top and pants and it is what we are going to make in this post.

Traditionally worn by Punjabi women the Salwar (trousers) and Kameez (tunic) have been westernised somewhat in this pattern, and there are lots of variations on style and fabrics.

Summer Pants and Cheesecloth Tops

I have wanted to make these trousers for a while, I made a wearable toile (or test garment) and I am so glad I did! 

I also wanted to make some Cheesecloth Tops and I hand dyed some of a plain white fabric to make them with . More about that later

This is a fabulous outfit and I absolutely love it, but it was not without its problems!

Problems are just puzzles to be solved in my opinion and I enjoy the creative thinking required to sort them out.

This is the Pietra Trousers by Closet Case Patterns . I have made the Ginger Jeans many times and love them so much that I made five pairs!

This is how I altered a coat pattern to make a simple raincoat.

This is a jaycotts.co.uk  Blog post

First published 20/06/2016


I have wanted to make myself a cheery raincoat for a very long time but just could not find a pattern. In the end , determined to have my raincoat, I did some rather major alterations to an ordinary coat pattern. The pattern has princess seams which would have spoiled the rather beautiful pattern,  so they needed eliminating,  as did some of the shaping because I wanted a straight style. Do you want to make one too? There are some things you need to bear in mind,  but it's not that difficult I promise.

This is the finished coat.  I used a ripstop fabric in a very colorfully print called Ellies. I purchased it from WhiteTreeFabrics.com but do sadly this was the last piece. However I never like to dictate to you exactly what fabric you should use, we all have very different tastes. What you  need to look out for though is a RIP-STOP fabric or a showerproofed cotton. For the linings I chose a firm shot taffeta. With the raincoat outer being quite firm it called for a stiffer lining than normal. I chose a darker colour than my  main  fabric.

And yes, the rather cute 60s style fabric does have elephant's on it!

This is the pattern, it is Mccalls M7058 and you can buy it from jaycotts.co.uk  by clicking on this link  Mccalls M7058 at Jaycotts.co.uk
It is a lovely pattern with lots of variations to choose from. I wanted the style which has the hood, and as I bought the last of this roll of fabric there was only enough to make the mid-length version. Which was what I wanted anyway!

Setting up a Dress Form or Mannequin

Setting up a Dress Form

An invaluable tool for any dressmaker or Tailor - male or female - is a mannequin which is as close to your own body measurements as possible.
It makes fitting easier, and it gives you the opportunity to try different techniques such as draping.  The cost, depending on which model you purchase equates to a basic sewing machine, so they are not very expensive.

The dress form I have now is the Lady Valet Traditional Dress Form
But there are others including for men and for fitting trousers
Dress Forms from Jaycotts.co.uk