Sometimes you don’t so much find things, as they find you.
I remember stumbling across 13threads on Etsy several years ago, when I first began browsing the delights of handmade goodies.
I remember ogling the dresses and coats, and thinking how amazingly lovely they were.
And then, having favourited the shop, I never returned.
I’m not sure why; probably because I couldn’t afford the clothes. And they just dropped off my radar.
Then, yesterday, via a circuitous route that meandered through several blogs, some of which I had never visited before, I rediscovered 13threads.
And fell in love all over again…
The cut of the frocks is exactly what I would make if only I could make clothes myself.
I’m particularly coveting the green Liberty print frock above, and this floaty linen number below…
I still can’t afford to stock my wardrobe with them.
But I’m determined that one day I shall. ♥
It’s good to have goals. But why don’t you learn to cut patterns and make your own? If I learned how to do it all those years ago, you can. And you have such a treasure trove to work with….
It’s not that I haven’t tried Kate. I have started learning dressmaking soooo many times! I even looked into getting private tuition in pattern cutting from a local expert, but she didn’t seem very keen to teach me.
My problem is that I can make things but not get them to fit, as I don’t fit in standard pattern sizes. And I see patterns I like, then when they’re made up into actual dresses, they just look horrible! I find wasting fabric soul-destroying!
I sympathise – I’m not a terribly standard shape either. The answer is making toiles of things first and then adjust them to fit the shape you actually are. And it really helps to have a dressmaker’s dummy that’s as close to your shape as you can get the adjustments to go – failing which, use the t-shirt and duct tape method to make your own:(https://paulaobrien.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/making-a-duct-tape-dressmakers-dummy-the-right-way)
It really is invaluable for fitting and adjusting as you go, getting the initial toile to fit first before you cut into the final fabric.