November | 2013 | What Mimi Does

I have been designing a new collection for ShinkuRose https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shinkurose/593986427294641) comprising of an OP, a JSK, blouse, cutsew, coat and two skirts. I have found it very difficult to get border prints in England which are suitable so I decided to decorate the bottom of the JSK with applique.

The applique needed to be large so I drew it on a large piece of paper and made a pattern. I cut this pattern out and then copied it on to Bondaweb. Bondaweb is a strong, heat reactive, sheet of glue which permanently bonds one fabric to another when ironed, it is paper backed and is ironed to the applique, the paper removed and then the applique is ironed onto the garment.

Before attaching I made sure that the applique was in exactly the right place on the JSK.

Because of the glue I used my silk organza to cover the applique whilst pressing it on. I used a pressing movement, up and down with the iron, rather than an ironing movement so as to completely stick and not move the applique whilst attaching.

I had one or two problems with adding the bondaweb to the bow as I had cut both pieces out separately so when I repeated the process for one of my skirts I found an easier solution. I cut the applique out in bondaweb and pressed these onto one piece of fabric and then cut out the appliques out, this proved to be much easier and quicker.

Once cut out place them on the garment in the correct positions.

Press the appiques on and before sewing them to the garment practice stitching. You will use a small close together zig zag and I did a few different combinations on a scrap of fabric bondaweb to the main to see which I preferred.

I like to loosen my top tension a bit to give a lovely rounded stitch on the right side therefore the wrong side will look like the sample below.

And here is the finished skirt.

8am on a very wet Saturday Morning on the 9th November found us unloading our stock for a vintage fair outside a very lovely coffee shop, Elsie Harrhy, in Westbourne, Bournemouth.

Elsie Harrhy is a lovely independant coffee shop which is furnished beautifully and eclectically with a variety of vintage and retro items. At the front there are usually tables, these were moved to the back for the vintage fair, and at the back you can relax in an arm chair by the fireside, read a book or the newspaper and enjoy delicious coffee and lovely food. They run different events which can be found listed on their website www.elsieharrhycoffee.co.uk/‎.

After setting up we were hungry and here you can see Emily really enjoying her toasted breakfast sandwich.

Having breakfast like this is a real treat and you can see she polished the lot off.

During the day we were spoilt for choice as well.

Here are a few photos of the various tables taken early in the day before Suzanne’s (owner of Elsie Harrhys) mum did a sterling job enticing people into both the Vintage Fair and the coffee shop.

You can see Emily Taner’s mixed media art work which has a great vintage twist and she also takes superb photos. Find more photos of her stall and her work at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emily-Taner/253599718122229

Nicki Grainger from What Alice Found had some great vintage items and what a fantastic idea ‘a lock in party’ in her shop. Find details at http://www.whatalicefound.co.uk

We had many of our usual items but also a few new ones. A hat or two, a couple of new capes, a leather necklace and some new muffs both for adults and children. Most items are available in our etsy store http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ShinkuRose or my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shinkurose/593986427294641