Travel | english girl at home

October 16, 2016
by Charlotte 5 Comments

Adventure Tanks & Ilsley Skirt in France

Back in September, Phil and I spent a short week visiting Paris. We visit once a year (we stay in a caravan park in Maisons-Lafitte, so it’s quite a cheap break), and we always try to do a day trip outside Paris. This year we visited Chantilly – in particular, the Château de Chantilly.

I can never resist sewing new garments for a holiday, but had limited time before this trip, so went with a couple of quick projects – a Marilla Walker Ilsley Skirt, and a Fancy Tiger Crafts Adventure Tank, both in a floral scuba fabric from Birmingham Rag Market.

From the train station, Château de Chantilly is walking distance through a wood and park. The Chateau is stunning, and also enormous, so try and arrive early.

This Adventure Tank is the Muscle Tank version graded between an XS and S. The Ilsley Skirt is Size 2. I was super lazy and didn’t hem the skirt or top since the scuba fabric won’t fray, however I may go back and hem them as I think they will last better hemmed.

Phil bought me a Creativebug subscription for my birthday last year, so I got access to the Adventure Tank pattern as part of my subscription. The Fancy Tiger Crafts Creativebug lessons are some of my favourites, they’ve just released a class for a cute new clutch pattern which I’m planning to make soon.

I also whipped up another Adventure Tank, using a small remnant of knit fabric from the stash table at The Sewing Weekender. This is pictured below, also with my Ilsley Skirt, at a different chateau – The Château de Maisons, in Maisons-Laffitte.

Despite having stayed in Maisons-Laffitte annually for the last four or so years, we’ve never yet visited the Chateau. It closes daily for lunch, and we’re normally too slow getting up in the morning to visit before lunch, then off visiting Paris in the afternoon. This year we made an effort to get up and dressed and visit the chateau one morning, before it closed for lunch.

We were the only visitors to the Chateau on the morning we visited – they had to unlock the door to let us in when we arrived! It was very nice to have the whole Chateau to ourselves, and gave us chance to get these photos of my simple outfit in a grand setting.

September 17, 2016
by Charlotte 9 Comments

A Tour of Birmingham City Centre

With SewBrum coming up next week, I thought I’d share a personal guide to Birmingham city centre, taking in my favourite places to eat/shop/meander.

I’m deeply biased; not only have I lived in the suburbs of Birmingham for my whole life, I have also visited the city centre every week or so since I was a kid. I love to travel, but arriving back in Birmingham always feels like being home.

Birmingham, England

Birmingham’s weakness for many years was that it lacked independent businesses in the city centre, but in the last few years Birmingham has developed a really exciting community of independents. Currently, it feels like there are always new businesses opening, and events taking place.

If you’re interested in keeping up to date with the latest news I’d highly recommend the mailing lists/social media accounts of the following:
Independent Birmingham / I Choose Birmingham / Flatpack

Birmingham, England

If you visit Birmingham and stick to the shopping centres you’ll miss what makes it special. Below is my personal tour around the city.

Hurst Street

The area around Hurst Street contains Birmingham’s Chinese and gay quarters, and a lot of good restaurants. I love to eat at (Hong Kong noodle cafe), (Korean), (Northern Chinese), and Cafe Soya (there are two branches but stick to the little one inside the Arcadian). There are three Chinese bakeries in this area, two inside the Arcadian (Wah Kee & Cafe Chino), and one inside the entrance to China Court restaurant; I highly recommend the walnut cookies and sponge at Wah Kee. I struggle to walk past without getting an ice tea at Happy Lemon.

Birmingham has a thriving street food scene (focused in Digbeth) and now has a permanent Hawker Yarn, located next to the Arcadian centre.

Birmingham, England

The (National Trust owned) Back-to-Backs are located on Hurst Street (the last surviving court of back-to-back houses in Birmingham) – if you don’t fancy taking the tour you can always visit the sweet shop situated in one of the houses. The UK’s oldest working cinema, The Electric is nearby.

The shop where I have spent more money than any other (by a looong way), , is located close by. I have a comic standing order there – although my comics are often to be found in the debtors box, because I haven’t been in to collect them for a few weeks…

Birmingham, England

Fabric Shops

From Hurst Street, it’s approximately a five minute walk to Birmingham Indoor and Rag markets which are the best place to shop for cheaper fabrics, trims and haberdashery supplies. In the markets, fabric typically costs between £1-£8 per metre. On your way there you might spot Annatomix’s Bowie graffiti.

Directly opposite the market is Fancy Silk Store, which is spread over four floors. Barry’s Fabric Superstore, which is my personal favourite, is a 5-10 minute walk away (and just around the corner from Barry’s is EU Fabrics, but I haven’t had chance to visit yet to see what it’s like). House of Fraser and John Lewis also have haberdashery sections.

Birmingham, England

Digbeth

From the market it’s a short walk to Digbeth, which hosts the ever excellent Digbeth Dining Club on Friday nights. Seasonal Markets, which take place quarterly at The Bond, are also always worth attending. The Custard Factory is most fun when there is an event on (antique fair, etc.) as the shop occupants change quite regularly (so clearly struggle), but Clink bottle shop is worth visiting and Cow Vintage is located nearby. One of the most fun things in Digbeth is the frequently excellent graffiti (particular following the City of Colours festival).

Birmingham, England

Mustard Crepe Lou Lou Dress

The Centre

bar serves a great range of indie beers and loose leaf teas, and has a large and regularly changing selection of pinball machines (I love the Adams Family & Medieval Madness). They have good cake too, and lovely signage by local sign painter Seven 9 Signs (I’m looking for an excuse to commission something from him).

Birmingham, England

Right by New Street Station, 4023 serves super cheap and delicious Mediterranean food and is next door to delicatessen, and a few steps down from York’s Bakery Cafe. Opposite, the Piccadilly Arcade contains a number of indie businesses and is rather lovely to look at.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is close by in Victorian Square and always worth a visit, including their Birmingham History Gallery and Edwardian Tea Room. While in Victorian Square, also check out Pure Bar for food and drinks.

Birmingham, England

Canal

From Victoria Square, you’ll pass the Library of Birmingham and Birmingham Rep (who are very affordable & put on some great productions) on your way to the canal. It’s worth seeing what is on at the (free to visit) Ikon Gallery, and popping into their shop and/or restaurant. The walk along the canal path between Brindley Place and the Mailbox is lovely on a sunny day, and Gas Street Social in the Mailbox does a popular all-day brunch. The Craven Arms must be one of Birmingham’s most attractive pubs (The Pig and Tail in the Jewellery Quarter is another) and has a good beer selection.

Snow Hill

St Philip’s Cathedral (set in a park known locally as Pigeon Park) contains stained glass by Edward Burne-Jones, is one of the smallest cathedrals in the UK, and occasionally hosts movie screenings as part of Flatpack Festival. Neighbouring Great Western Arcade is beautiful and home to a number of indie businesses. The Coffin Works (factory museum who produced accessories for coffins) is nearby.

Birmingham, England

Moor Street

Probably the best burger in Birmingham is available from Original Patty Men’s restaurant located in an arch under Moor Street Station. Nearby you’ll find veggie restaurant The Warehouse Cafe and Polish restaurant The Karczma. Eastside City Park, the first park built in the city in 130 years is close by.

Jewellery Quarter

I was really excited by the extension of the tram line into the city centre as it’s now extremely easy to pop to the Jewellery Quarter (catch the tram from outside New Street Station, a ticket to the JQ is £1 one-way). The Jewellery Quarter is a lovely place to walk around as it’s peaceful and the architecture is really interesting. It also contains two well regarded museums, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter and the Pen Museum. More places to eat and drink are popping up in the Jewellery Quarter, the Pig and Tail and 1000 Trades are my favourites, and The Button Factory – as the name suggests – is located in a former button factory building.

If you’re interested in Birmingham’s textile-related history see my post here.

Birmingham, England

May 11, 2016
by Charlotte 4 Comments

Fashion & Textile Exhibitions in New York & Boston

Ancient Egyptian Dress at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

As previously mentioned, while visiting New York and Boston in March, Phil and I managed to visit a number of textile-related exhibitions.

When I visit a new city, I always check for local fashion and textile exhibitions and put them near the top of my to-see list (to Phil’s chagrin).

Photos below from this trip.

American Quilts and Folk Art, at the Met

The Secret Life of Textiles: Plant Fibers, at the Met

The Women of Harper’s Bazaar, 1936–1958, at The Museum at FIT

Denim: Fashion’s Frontier, at The Museum at FIT

Fairy Tale Fashion, at The Museum at FIT

#techstyle, at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Kenneth Paul Block Illustrations, at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

April 24, 2016
by Charlotte 2 Comments

New York

Back in March, Phil and I spent two weeks visiting New York and Boston (travelling there via Reykjavik).

It was our first time visiting both cities (and the US for that matter) so I’m far from an expert on what to see, but I still thought it would be fun to share what we did.

As a first-time visitor I made a couple of discoveries:

No-one could understand what I was saying! Clearly my accent is stronger than I realise as I had to repeat myself a lot in restaurant & shops. One guy on the street asked if I was speaking ‘Deutschland’.
Jay walking isn’t a big deal, as I had been led to believe by the movies (in fact everyone walks into traffic all the time).

We managed to visit a respectable number of museums: the Met, Natural History, Frick Collection, Guggenheim, Cloisters, African Burial Ground museum, FIT and National Museum of the American Indian. In Boston, we really enjoyed the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (which is housed in a stunning building), MIT museum (lots of kinetic art & holograms), and Fenway Park.

The Met

Make sure to check a list of museum free & pay-what-you-choose days (like this one). There are also great museums, including FIT and National Museum of the American Indian, which are free every day.

Views from the High Line

As first time visitors, we took in lots of the most famous sights, including Liberty and Ellis Islands (and would highly recommend the free ranger tours – there are signs on the islands where you wait for the next tour to begin), top-of-the-rock, the Highline and walked across Brooklyn and Queensborough Bridges.

We visited a few movie locations, including from Home Alone, and Ghostbusters. 55 Central Park West, where Dana lives in the film, is a luxury apartment block off central park (residents have included Ginger Rogers, Calvin Klein, and Donna Karan). The Ghostbusters headquarters was a working fire station, but is now sadly shut down and currently surrounded by scaffolding.

55 Central Park West, where Dana lives in Ghostbusters, & the Firehouse

For shopping, we really enjoyed Brooklyn Flea, ABC Carpets (which reminded by of Liberty’s homeware sections), various green-markets, the second-hand shops on West 17th Street, and the Strand Bookshop, which has an excellent mixture of new and second-hand books.

MOMA

I had prepared a long list of doughnut & ice cream shops to try. We especially loved Donut Pub, which is a family business, open 24/7, and Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, which is open late. We also enjoyed doughnuts/cake at Sullivan Street Bakery, Dough (at Brooklyn Flea), Doughnut Plant (who have fabric doughnuts on the wall), and ice cream (sold from a converted firehouse) at Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. We got a giant slice of pizza at Ben’s Pizzeria, near to the Comedy Cellar, which is featured on the opening credits of tv show Louie. And we ate giant portions of macaroni cheese at Kellogg’s Diner in Brooklyn (right by Barcade).

National Museum of the American Indian & Natural History Museum

We loved the original Barcade (bar & arcade) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where all of the vintage arcade machines cost 25 cents. We visited Dave and Busters arcade in Times Square to play newer arcade machines, and happened to visit on Wednesday when the games are half-price. We would have also visited Coney Island arcade but it was closed for the winter. And on the subject of gaming, we couldn’t resist Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza.

Brooklyn Bridge & Coney Island

And, last but not least, I also visited a number of sewing and knitting locations. I had (restrained) shopping trips to beautiful stores Purl Soho and Brooklyn General Store. I met up with Amy, Karen, Sonja, and Emma Jayne to visit the Garment District (Mood and Elliott Berman). And, amazingly, we managed to bump into Peter en-route to Mood! I went to look at the ‘Little Singer Building’, which was once the Singer headquarters and has a beautiful wrought iron facade. And, I popped into Workroom Social in Brooklyn. I should note that I (dozily) had just assumed that Workroom Social had a storefront where I could just turn up. It doesn’t, but luckily Jennifer spotted a tweet of mine saying I was planning to visit, so let me into the studio, where a sweater knits class was in session with Olgalyn Jolly of O! Jolly! The studio is beautiful and when I get to visit New York again I’d love to actually take a class there – rather than just crash one! (P.S. If you’re visiting Workroom Social, nearby Covenhoven (recommended to us by Jennifer) is a good spot for a grilled cheese and craft beer).

In Boston, Jenny took time out to meet us for tea, and to shop in Gather Here. Gather Here have a beautifully curated fabric selection, I could have bought lots but restricted myself to one length of fabric, which is in the process of becoming a Kenedy Dress.

Workroom Social

Further post to follow with photos from the textile exhibitions I visited while in New York and Boston.

April 6, 2016
by Charlotte 12 Comments

Pink Wool Clare Coat

Three weeks or so before me and Phil left for a holiday in Reykjavik, New York and Boston, I decided to make myself a warm coat to wear.

I loved the Closet Case Files Clare Coat when it was released and had already bought the pattern, so this was the perfect chance to make it. By the time my fabrics arrived, I was actually down to two weeks before our holiday – with plans to be out of the house for both weekends – so made the coat in short evening sessions over those two weeks. Luckily, the Clare Coat comes together really quickly, but I was still finishing the edge stitching the night before we left. I also attached the press-studs that same night, but obviously wasn’t operating at full capacity since I sewed them all on the wrong way around (meaning they wouldn’t close…) and had to remove and reattach them once in Reykjavik!

My outer and lining fabrics were both purchased from Herts Specialist Fabrics, who specialise in reproduction fabrics for historical re-enactors. Both fabrics are described as being made in the UK, although I wasn’t able to obtain specifics.

Herts fabrics are very reasonably priced. The pink blanket pure wool cost £19.00 for two metres, and the gold satin I used for the lining cost £15.90 for two metres. Both are 60″ width, and I have enough of each left over for one more project.

As the store focuses on reenactment fabrics you don’t get the same service (in my opinion) as I would expect from a shop specialising in garment sewing. For example, the satin arrived in two cut lengths (without this being made clear in advance), and the wool arrived with some deep creases which I wasn’t able to remove. You can see some of the creases in the wool in my finished coat below – but some were no doubt added by me later! Given their prices and range of UK fabrics I’ll definitely be ordering from them again, but it’s worth knowing in advance.

Based on a recommendation by Heather Lou in the Clare Coat sewalong, I decided to add a layer of thinsulate as an interlining to ensure my coat kept me suitably warm in Iceland.

I ordered my thinsulate from Point North Profabrics. Two metres plus postage cost just under £30 which I was loath to spend on something that looked like quilt batting, but I still have a reasonable amount left over and it certainly made a difference to the finished coat. We were out and about in some pretty cold weather in Iceland and I never felt cold.

The addition of the thinsulate – along with the thick blanket wool – wasn’t popular with my sewing machine. I think I broke seven needles trying to stitch around the edges of the coat (through all layers). It didn’t help that I was doing this on the night before our holiday and didn’t have time to go slowly.

To me, the cutting-out part of coat and jacket making always feels like it takes longer than the sewing. I also had a lot of pattern pages to stick together, since I couldn’t find a reasonably priced copyshop print option in Birmingham or Coventry (If anyone knows a cheap local option for printing individual patterns do let me know). I was spending a weekend in Cornwall just after my fabrics arrived, and thought it would be the perfect time to get all of my pieces cut out so that I could start sewing once I was back home.

We were travelling to Cornwall on the train and I couldn’t find a bag large enough to fit all of the fabric in, so popped it in a bin bag. It seemed very logical to me, but Phil was NOT impressed at the thought of having to lug an overflowing bin bag of fabric all the way to Cornwall on the train. Obviously the fabric did come with us, and was cut out between strolls on the beach.

Based on the recommended size for my measurements, I graded between a size 2 at the bust, and 6 at the waist and hips. I noticed that other blogged Clare Coats looked quite fitted in the upper body, and was a bit worried about not being able to fit a suitably woolly jumper underneath. As a result (see if you spot the stupid error here), I decided to use a narrower seam allowance to add extra ease; when I got to the point of attaching the collar it didn’t fit, as I’d increased the length of the neckline… Sooo, I unpicked all of the neckline seams and sewed with the recommended seam allowance.

I’m really happy with the fit, and fancy making the pattern again in a less bulky fabric for a smarter look. But given that we’re finally getting some sunny weather, a second Clare will probably need to wait until the Autumn.

These photos were taken in Reykjavik, where my coat was put to good use.

In these photos I’m also wearing a Karusellen hat and Cecelia Cowl.