Loving the vintage vibe!

Here's where I'll share my obsession with vintage fabric! It's taking over my house!

I'll sharing with you my favorite fabrics, my 'adventures" in dressmaking using vintage patterns, some home furnishing ideas and no doubt I'll be telling you about any exciting finds! Love to hear about your vintage adventures too!

My first Shop was AudreysCat ( online shop May 2010) , but my new logo / name - WittyDawn , arrived Jan 2014.

I hope you'll have time to browse my shops too !

Monday 1 December 2014

Do you like Vintage, Retro, Midcentury Homewares - check this out!

There's only SO much fabulous ceramic delights I can fit on my shelves and in my cupboards ... so time to move some on to new homes....

Check out my Etsy shop for a selection - just like these fabulous things !

Sunday 23 November 2014

OPEN AGAIN!

Hi all !

Well after being away to help out with a bit of post op. care and TLC I am open again :)

As I have had to cancel a few fairs due to this family commitmant I am a little stock 'rich' so there's a pretty good sale section in my Folksy shop - why not pop over for a look ?


Monday 3 November 2014

Closed throughout much of November

Just a quick notice from me - due to a family emergency I antipate being shut/away from online through much of Nov. My Folksy shop is open today (3rd Nov) and possibly some of this week but after that I may not be open until Dec.

Friday 24 October 2014

I'm doing a few giveaways....!

On the run up to Christmas I am doing a few giveaways . This is one that I started this week so head on over to my Facebook page and join in!

My WittyDawn facebook page

( https://www.facebook.com/WittyDawn/photos/a.805537452795639.1073741830.790290904320294/976973905651992/?type=1&theater )



This is a pretty good one I think - you'd either win 3 pressies to give at Chrismas OR you have a great Christmas stocking with 2 stocking fillers to get you started . ENJOY ;)!

EDIT: the winner was Di Keeble, Due to a family emergency I had to close this giveaway earlier and will not be able to do anymore before Christmas now. 

Monday 15 September 2014

It's that MacMillan Coffee morning time of year again !

EDIT on 6th Oct: the final donations total for this year's Coffee Morning/ Open house event was £311.70, many thanks to all who contributed ! 



It's that MacMillan Coffee morning time of year again !


I hope that my Cirencester buddies will call in on me - it's becoming a regular Autumn Event for me now . I also set out ALL my WittyDawn items so you can start you Xmas shopping nice and early - as usual 10% of sales profits will be donated to Macmillan.

Dates:
Friday 26th Sept - 12pm to 5pm
Mon 29th Sept to Fri 3rd Oct 2pm to 4pm

Once again I have my lovely friends Laura and Carol setting up a display cabinet of vintage jewellery, handbags etc This was what they had at last year's event  !


I also have the fabulous Sheila of SheUnique attending no doubt with her usual array of vintage delights to tempt me....

I hope you come and support us - due to a recent loss we know how valuable MacMillan are in supporting so many people on their route along the Cancer pathway

If you would like an invite / more info message me on d-witt@sky.com for details :)
LOCATION : Cirencester, Gloucestershire

You MAY have to watch out for mice trying to nibble your cake though ....




Friday 29 August 2014

A 'Circle of Life' kind of summer

We have  lost someone very dear to us and I have a few friends who have had similar losses -  my sympathies go out to them.

This morning I woke up and thought about some happier news too - in my immediate circle I know of one recent birth and there are another 4 babies due to arrive soon (which including a pair a twins).

And so the world turns and turns and we just have to hang on to it...

... and to quote a phrase myself and this much missed person used a lot over the last year or so  "IT IS WHAT IT IS"...



You might like to read this Poem ( read out at a recent uplifting Commemoratove Service) :

Afterglow - Unknown

I'd like the memory of me
to be a happy one.
I'd like to leave an afterglow
of smiles when life is done.
I'd like to leave an echo
whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times
and bright and sunny days.
I'd like the tears of those who grieve,
to dry before the sun
of happy memories
that I leave when life is done.


Monday 28 July 2014

A bit addicted to making things with this 60s pattern

With it being a lovely hot summer and with holidays coming up I've been making some things for myself with some vintage fabrics from my stash.

This pattern has been perfect ! suits me and pretty easy too - also great when trying to 'stretch' a small amount of fabric to get a complete garment as the panels in it make mixing fabrics very easy.




SO far I've made myself 4 dresses and 3 tops ( only one shown) with this reissued Simplicity pattern so it has proved to be great value for money :)

If you want to venture into making your own vintage style clothes I'd recommend this one. You will need to know how to insert a zip but there are lots of great online tutorials showing a variety of techniques.

I have adapted it slightly to use bias binding ( in some cases bought but often bias binding I have made) as I like the contrast.

You might be interested to know that the green/white one is made from charity shop/gifted table clothes - total cost with zip was less that ten  pounds!

Monday 30 June 2014

25% sale on Vintage Fabric cushions ( LAST DAY - shoulda told you b4 ... opps)

A bit of a DOH! moment here - I forgot to BLOG that I had a 25% off deal going on my AudreysCat vintage fabric cushions through out June

... AND IT'S THE LAST DAY OF JUNE ....***FAIL***


However you still have time to pop over .... look at these ones  ! prices on some of these  are STILL  £15 to £16.50  bargain eh?






OBVIOUSLY I've been a bit of a DUH brain so if you quote "BLOGDUHBRAIN" with your order I will apply 25% offer up to/including Friday 4th July
 - offer EXCLUDES custom made cushions
-  offer EXCLUDES cushions already reduced in my 25% off section
-  ONLY applies to my AudreysCat shop on Folksy and not WittyDawn cushions.

Hope you pop in for a look :)

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Facebook is not working for me !

I believe I have got the "white screen of death' on facebook ! This is as far as I get ....


Can't access anything OR even get as far as reporting I have a problem because Facebook is ... quite frankly RUBBISH ... if you have to report an issue ! I can't even get 'report a problem' to start ...

So apologies if anyone thinks I'm ignoring them - if you need to get a message to me , leave a comment here or contact me via any of my shops or twitter  https://twitter.com/wittydawnuk

Cheers
Dawn

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Mum's gone to Iceland ... with the rest of the family

So Family Witt went to Iceland... and it was blumming marvellous ...!

We liked :.....Arriving to a stunning airport (Kevlavik)  in driving wind and rain, wide open views, the hospitality, waterfalls, geysirs, volcanoes,  lupins growing wild by beaches with black volcanic sand, the 'whoop whoop' bird outside our lodge and it NEVER getting dark, Ponies EVERYWHERE, immaculately maintained roads/paths/'tourist' attractions etc. Oh and the spas - how we LOVED the spa's and 'hot pots' we had our own a our lodge 'hot pot' fed directly by thermally heated water. Great coffee everywhere, NO PARKING FEES!, Kids getting in either free or much reduced rates everywhere, those yummy Icelandic donuts,  My OH absolutely loved his new camera that's for sure.

OK , it's kinda windy and drizzly but as hardy folks who dress for the conditions that doesn't matter! An example is a walk we did up a mountain to get to a hot river .... wet weather gear required whilst walking  and swimsuits for bathing in the river ...you gotta be prepared for anything :)


 I miss Iceland...I miss the space and the skies and openess to the mountains and volcanoes on the horizon ... it's almost TOO lush back here in the UK!


Piccies of Reykjavik in my next post :)

Monday 19 May 2014

What fun! at Paternoster School , Cirencester

Just a quick post !

I had a lovely time at Paternoster School Spring Fair, chatty customers, delightful children, excellent cream tea and fabulous fiddle playing.

Jolly hot though! glad I had my gazebo to sit under.



I just heard that the school raised £1000 which is amazing - all the helpers worked so hard and were so welcoming, and I was very pleased I had been asked have a stall.

All in all a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon :)

Thursday 8 May 2014

Rain Aside... getting ready for Summer Fairs

Now let me say first of all I don't do many fairs ... and those I do tend to be very local and usually connected with friends. However I have a few coming up and I have been stocktaking some of my best sellers ...
   SO this week I have been doing a mouse'y stock take .. and making some more as they are very popular! You can see my mice on Folksy and on Etsy

And also getting lots of brooches ready - at the moment I don't really sell these online as I need to hold some over for this Summer's fairs - but if you spot something here you fancy message me . They are £5 plus £2 P&P . 

I have a fair booked which will have a lot of horse'y types so lucky I got this recently ! I'll be doing something with this and some other horse'y stuff but probably not until after half term.


.... and of course I've been doing my Macmillen Coffee Morning/Open House/Autumn sale for a couple of years now ... this was last Autumn's.... there was A LOT of cake , and proceeds from that, a raffle and 10% of my taking from sales came to about £340

I MUST book in again for this Autumn's Macmillan Coffee Morning ... SUCH FUN! and something in which-  along with many people - I have a close link.

Thursday 1 May 2014

Unique ? YES, Rare Vintage Fabric ? YES, HOURS of work ? Yes ... cheap ? erm...NOOOO

So if you put hours of work into finding, matching, cutting, sewing something however much joy you get from that process ( and I do love doing all that ) how expensive should it be ?

Pricing is always a dilemma I think! however... these beautiful vintage fabric quilts have to be priced to reflect the work and care that I put into them so ,no , they will not be cheap I am afraid.

If it's made of hexies like this... then each one has been hand cut and then hand sewn together ! it takes HOURS ! My more expensive quilts also tend to feature hand quilting and finishing too.

Even without fabric sourcing overheads ( you cannot just pop into a shop an order them, and once you DO find a fabulous vintage fabric it then requires laundering, ironing and so on) each of these a particular quilts takes 30 to 40 hours to put together. Factor in the rarity value of some of my fabric - some of the Heals and Boras vintage fabrics used are in themselves expensive - and you get to a not inconsiderable price !


The ones below are £225 to £275

However the results are lovely ...and they are genuine heirlooms I feel :)



I will have some slightly cheaper ones - basically where they require less handsewing/finishing. However they are all still made made of vintage fabrics . This blue/red/orange/olive one is in production at the moment and will probably be circa £150 to £200 depending on the final finish regarding wadding - at the moment it is a generous single bed size but it could be extended to a double size at additional cost. I must admit though I'm going to be VERY tempted to keep this one ...!

( it rather suits my family/dining room !)
 
PS SEE look how nice it looks on my dining room table !

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Bye Bye Website ( AudreyscatVintage )

Well I tried it and although it wasn't too bad to create and use it didn't really work for me - there are only so many shops one can promote!

SO my website AudreysCatVintage will be disappearing soon.

HOWEVER AudreysCat STILL exists and florishes on Folksy primarily showing my cushion collection - where you can select from over a 100 vintage fabrics  so why not head on over and check out  AudreysCat on Folksy - Cushions and Vintage Fabrics . Maybe you'll find JUST what you are looking  for ? If not ... just ask... I STILL have others not listed ;)!



And don't forget to Check out WittyDawn on Folksy for my other items and even MORE things on WittyDawnUK on Etsy :)

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Fabric weaving - another way to use my scraps

I've been on a bit of a quest recently to sort and put to good use all my fabric scraps .

Over on BritishCrafters I have seen someone who make pin cushions from woven fabrics ( I will pop a link/photo on for them when I find them again!)

Ah HA ! I have a basket FULL of strips of fabric - these are the hems from my repurposed vintage fabric - wider ones have been turned into patchwork piece but as you can see I had all these narrower strips.

So I've been having fun weaving them!



I now have a few 12 inch square pieces - what to do with them ? what do you think ? I can turn them into 12 inch cushions, make them a little larger for bigger cushions or just bias bind the edges to make them into table mats. I like the latter option myself. I'm also going to work out a basket idea - I'll let you know how that works out :)

Monday 7 April 2014

A bit more dress making from Vintage Fabric

I got this GORGEOUS red fabric from a very nice chap at Lou Lou's vintage fair in Cheltenham recently and there was JUST enough to make a skirt


As you can see I sadly had to run the pattern across the drop waistband because that was the only way I could cut it but it's OK I think.
I will point out a bit that I learnt from the Great British Sewing Bee - can you see where I can understitched the lining VERY close to the seam?  Yes it IS worth doing and it makes the top edge of the skirt waistband line beautfully flat. I've picking up useful tips every week form that show!

This skirt had it's first outing on Friday when I went out to dinner with friends :) 



Thursday 3 April 2014

Easter Bunnies everywhere!

Now I have some large rabbits in my shops but although they get shared/liked/treasured they just don't seem to sell so I though I ought to try some smaller ones...

Here was the first prototype - who very quickly found a home with a regular customer - with one of his bigger brothers ( you can see him here 'Big brother ' rabbit )

I have since tweaked the design and made a load more!
In fact I made quite a lot... my house is becoming a rabbit warren....
They are trying to make a home in my new red bowler hat !



In you'd like to help me out by rehoming some you can find them here:
WittyDawn Rabbits on Folksy
Witty Dawn Animals on Etsy

Great for Easter ( or Christmas Stocking, wedding favours, new home etc gifts)

Friday 28 March 2014

Well I think there's nothing wrong with a homemade pressie !

So a dear friend had one of those 'milestone' birthdays coming up and had also admired a bold green and white dress I had made and worn on New Years Eve.


Aha! I thought ... now there's an idea... and then I found the perfect vintage fabric... SO her colours.



A few hours sewing  and this was the result! it was a good job she was considerably slimmer than me otherwise I'm not so sure she would even have received it.

A couple of friends - armed with a sample of the fabric - also bought the most devine and perfectly matched jewellery from 'Made' in Cirencester, so we were able to give her a fully co-ordinated outfit

Now this gift didn't cost many £££'s but there's not many ( any ?) out there like it :)


Thursday 27 March 2014

Tidy ( ish...) at last , the fabric sort out is done ( for now...)

Blimey if I'd've known how long this was going to take I'm not sure I would have started!

However 6 bags of vintage fabric are now stored in the loft and the rest is reasonably tidy.

I've gone through all my scrappy bits and processed them into ...

Cute Animals - some are stuffed and  awaiting eyes, ears, wings etc and a whole lot more mice/rabbits/hearts/birds are ready to sew and next to my machine - I must have about 50 more to make up but this is the sort of thing that is very popular and with a few fairs coming up I won't have to worry about stock!












Patchwok - I've hundreds of patchwork pieces s squares, rectangles and hexis ready to us and lots of strips that I could either sew together as patchwork or
turn into binding/edge trim. It'll be great to have all these ready to use !



I've also given one bag of scraps to a local collage artist, I've another bag for a the very artistic daughter of one of my friends and yet another bag to take to my local primary school


Phew... time for a cuppa!



Monday 24 March 2014

Hoppity hop ... into my shop... for a Happy Hoppy Easter

Now I LOVE my big bunnies but ... they don't seem to sell ? although they get LOTS of likes/pinning/treasuried etc . Too big? ( 25cm tall, 21cm wide)  , too expensive? Well on the latter point a fair bit of work goes into them ! with their hand embroidered faces and hand knitted woolly tails-  I don't think £22 is too much :) http://folksy.com/items/5580761-Retro-Rabbit



BUT ... I wanted to spread the cuteness and have been working on a smaller version ( 17cm by 10cm) which at only £7 has proved popular already ... so maybe size IS important phnar phnar .... ! http://folksy.com/items/5810671--Retro-Rabbit-Easter-Bunny



Happy Hoppy Easter everyone!


Tuesday 18 March 2014

And so it begins.... Growing Veg .. .March 2014


So it's time to get the allotment going ! 

I've been allotment gardening for about 12 years now both here in the Cotswolds and also when we lived in London. I currently have a half plot ,  plus two veg patches in my back garden and a small greenhouse so from July to Oct I supply about 75% of our veg/fruit needs :)

 OH has done most of the digging whilst I'm in charge of planting , this last weekend I set out about 100 red and white ( Sturon ) onions, holding off for another couple of weeks before I plant potatos.


My first 'crop' each year are daffodils for my home as I grow a small selection of cut flowers too . We are still picking and eating leeks, beetroot, parnips and chard from last season as well.This is the first vase of daffs !


Thursday 13 March 2014

If in doubt SORT it out....

So it's been a bit hard to get my crafty mojo on recently ... and I decided part of the problem was that I had grown to dislike being in my workroom ! a combination of 2 things really ...

1. SO much fabric in there that the chaos was getting me down
2. Mentally I have been in a " it'll be so much better when I get my own workshop"

now the latter IS true but that could be months away!

What do I do ... sell some fabric?  ... errr NO!

BUT I could have a sort thu' - I have adopted a policy where I have only having one piece of fabric in my workroom/ working stock. As I generally buy vintage curtains that tends to mean I have another piece that is 'surplus' for now so these pieces are going up in the loft.

Sorting has taken some time!There has been piles of fabric everywhere!

 But as you can see some order is emerging:)

I've also gone through all the little odd sized bits that one tends to collect and I am cutting them into mice/birds/hearts to be sewn later on and also into patchwork hexies, see below, patchwork squares and strips for edge binding and cushion piping.


Although nothing is moving forward fast it does feel like I'm making progress! I now have 6 bags of fabric to go into the loft - and I am recording everything I store with a labeled photo in an "in the loft' photo on my PC .

... not much housework is being done though.... ha ha !