Two Tailor Made Skirts

There is something really special about having a skirt tailor made for you. It means you can choose the style that suits not only your body shape but also your personality.  You also get to choose the lenght and the colour, now you know you cannot get this with mass produced skirts. 

The brief was to make two skirts for a client who only wore trousers, and wanted to branch out into skirt. The client saw me the Cambridge Fair and fell in love with my skirts, and decided she wanted  one tailor made skirt, she eventually choose these two.

The first skirt was made in this beautiful silk and wool mix stripe fabric. The fabric was cut on the bias giving added interest to the final finish of the skirt. 

The lines were a nightmare to match up, but I am happy with the result.

 The skirt is a fit and flare design, so it fits on the hips and gently flares out just below the hip line. Because this is cut on the bias, the flare has a swishy finish at the hemline

I have made two of this skirt for myslef and they always get a warm reception, based on the style and the fabric I choose. I think I am due another one maybe for the summer instead of a winter skirt.

The second skirt is a riding skirt which I have already blogged about here  This was made in a beautiful forest green wool fabric, sorry my pictures does not do the fabric or the colour justice. 

I love this skirt, its full of drama and so romantic a really fun skirt.

This skirt was the original

 I would love to hear which skirt you like, the fit and flare or the riding skirt

My Modern Riding Skirt

Women riding habits was first introduced int he 16th century, before this period women wore their everyday clothes for riding. 

Riding habits was made in the style of a mans attire, consisting of a fitted jacket worn over a long skirt, top hat and gloves. The riding skirt was designed with a double knee pocket, designed to fit over the upper pommel of a side saddle.  the extra length of skirt or train  was carried in the left hand for mounting or swagged behind and buttoned up on the right hip for walking , Women riding habits were not only functional,  but also tells the story of women place in society, the attitudes, prejudices and restriction that existed during this era. 

Reproduction of 1810 riding habit as worn by in the 1999 film version of Jane Austen'a Mansfield Park 

In later years the riding skirt evolved into  a single knee pocket style know as the half apron skirt, which was worn button around the waist for walking and to cover a woman legs when riding. 

MY MODERN RIDING SKIRT 

This is my version of the riding skirt, based on the Edwardian design,  This riding skirt fits over the waist and hips flowing elegantly from behind. It consist of a simple pencil style to the front and has more fullness in the back.

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I think this is a beautiful skirt and you know something I have made three of these and haven't got round to making one for me, maybe one day.

Partying at 50

Last weekend I was invited to celebrate my friends 50th birthday at Veranda a restaurant  and bar in the centre of Brixton, which doubled up as a nightclub later in the evening  This was chosen by her daughter who wanted to give their mother a nightclub experience, because at 50 she had never stepped foot in a nightclub. . 

We started the evening with a selection of cocktails, as I was driving I chose a virgin mojito, basically a mock cocktail with no alcohol 

The food was delicious, beautifully presented and packed  with flavour, traditional West Indian cuisine served with style and flare, which did not disappoint. We all ordered various dishes from the menu. My friend ordered achee and saltfish, a Jamaican traditional dish served wrapped in filo pastry. I had a delicious filtered sea bass, but my eyes popped when I saw what the other guest had ordered, licking my lips I wish I had chosen their meal.

My friend chose curry goat served in a tuile basket, rather than a splash on a plate. 

The carrot cake and ice-cream desert looked yummy, but I was too full to indulge 

Later in the evening the diners table weas moved to make room for the dance floor and there is where it went down hill, the music was great, but the floor was taken over with 20 plus which was great for her daughters, but I felt like a fish out of water, wishing I had the courage to get up and shake my stuff, but feeling stupid and old stayed with my friend and danced on the couch, you know only moving you upper body and foot tapping.

My question is when do you become too old for clubbing, and where do grown up clubbers go, or it all about the 20 plus 

No 6 of 45 Life Lessons

“You aren’t going to convince me and I’m not going to convince you, so let’s agree to disagree.” 

This quote set the tone for Regina Brett 6th life lessons

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

I think the quote “You aren’t going to convince me and I’m not going to convince you, so let’s agree to disagree.” shows great maturity and respect. It's not about failure or surrender, its about respecting each others point of view. 

Winning an argument is a process of forcing others to accept your point of view, which means you are giving little or no merit to what the other person has to say. 

Listening and respecting others point of view is hard when you are convinced you are right, but its a good lesson to learn.  

What do you think this quote says to you?

Lesson 5 of 45

I came across this lovely piece on Fab after Fifty website. To celebrate growing older, Regina Brett age 90 put together 45 lessons life taught her. 

Here is lesson 5

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

Credit cards are a great invention. But if not handled with care, a life time of debt awaits. 

Carrying a balance on your credit card simply means you are throwing away money on credit card interest, if you add the interest that accrues on the balance of your debt into account, over time that your credit card debt quickly grows. This often means that you may be still paying off that pair of shoes you bought in the sale last summer.  

Or worse paying only the minimum means you may never pay it off in full, as annual fees and compounding interest can keep this bubbling along for years. 

Credit card agreements say that if you’re late in paying the minimum amount for two months in a row or twice during a one-year period, you can face an annual interest rate of 25 per cent or more. Just think of the number of shoes you could have bought.

 Also paying on the due date means your payment won’t be credited to your account until the following day. Not only will you pay interest for the month, but you may have to wait an extra month to restore your interest-free period on new credit card purchases.

Oh and if you miss a few minimum payments you interest rate can shoot up, that’s because you’re seen as a deadbeat who’s likely to default. 

The great advantage of paying off your credit card in full means you won’t ever have to pay the 3% to 3.5% monthly interest on any outstanding balance that remain in the card and your bank balance will be so much healthier 

Cafe' Run By People with Learning Disabilities

Last week I popped into Jacksons Cafe' in Romford, I had a lovely meal of lamb casserole with mashed potatoes, broccoli, swedes and carrots. Followed by tea, which was bought to my table in  a teapot with a jug of milk, cup and saucer and a very polite and friendly staff. 

I am mentioning this cafe because it is a community cafe' run by people with learning disabilities, helping  to get training in the catering trade, how to cook meals and serve customers. The cafe is spotlessly clean and like I have already mentioned the staff are very polite and friendly. The meals are freshly cooked and reasonably priced at £5.99 for a two course meal, and the potions are very generous. Normally I would have left some, but I felt compelled to eat it all, as I did not want to disappoint the cook (I was told by the waiter who cook my meal, which made it so personal). 

To help the staff manage orders, rather than the customary pad, staff use a laminated page with images of the menu available in the cafe. When you lace your order the staff tick off the image that represent your order. Once your order has been placed the laminate page is wiped clean ready for the next customer order. I felt this was a very thoughtful and sensitive process which would helped and supported staff who had limited writing and reading skills.

If you are in Romford and you fancy a great snack, then I would suggest you try out Jacksons, it a great place to pop in for snacks homemade meals and they offer a selection of freshly made cakes and you would be supporting a great bunch of people. 

Lesson 4 of 45

I came across this lovely piece on Fab after Fifty website. To celebrate growing older, Regina Brett age 90 put together 45 lessons life taught her. I am going to give you a phrase or two at a time, I feel this will be more memorable. I will document them the whole at the end.

Here is lesson 4

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

Taking yourself seriously will not win friends or influence people.

 It take a lot of work and demands that you are right every time 

It will give you extra wrinkles instead of laughter lines. 

Find peace in your imperfections 

Take time out to enjoy you, be crazy be wild be silly.

No one is going to take you as seriously as you do

Go on allow your creativity to flourish 

Lesson 3 of 45

I came across this lovely piece on Fab after Fifty website. To celebrate growing older, Regina Brett age 90 put together 45 lessons life taught her. I am going to give you a phrase or two at a time, I feel this will be more memorable. I will document them the whole at the end.

Here is lesson three

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the Journey they had an  argument, and one friend Slapped the other one In the face. 

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: 

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE . 

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath.

the friend who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning and the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone.

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE 

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, 

"After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand 

and now, you write on a stone, why?" 

The other friend replied 

"When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand 

where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. 

But, when someone does something good for us,

 we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it." 

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE!!!

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, 

an hour to appreciate them, 

a day to love them, 

but then an entire life to forget them.