We love SewOver50 but how much has changed?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last four and a bit years, if you’re a maker of your own clothes, and you are part of the Instagram sewing community in general then you are sure to have noticed @SewOver50. Being a follower of the account might even be the reason you’re here reading my blog at all.

I won’t go over everything again because you can read most of it in the Sew Over 50 section of this blog, if you don’t already know how the @SewOver50 account Instagram came to be set up it’s all there.

What I’ve been thinking about over the last few months though is how much has actually changed, and have things improved as a result, or have we developed into a different entity?

There has definitely been a noticeable improvement by some pattern brands to include a wider variety of models in their marketing and this is worth applauding. For example, brands such as Merchant and Mills now feature several older models which was not something they did before, and Sew Over It made a noticeable choice to add older models by recruiting from our own community, including Janene @ooobop and Lena @That LenaKing. Sew Over It also went so far as to join forces with Judith and Sandy last year in a week-long online collaboration, wouldn’t it be great if more companies took the opportunity to truly engage with the 45,000 followers of the account in this way? In the past couple of years we have seen a change for the better in the number of larger-size models featured by pattern companies because so many of them are now making a much broader range of sizes but it seems that it’s still younger models that they go for, with one or two exceptions.

This is all well and good but has there been as much change as we might have hoped for more than four years down the line and after all we’ve done in continually trying to raise our profile? Or have we partly stopped noticing that the changes have slowed down, have we stopped agitating for it because we have become such a close and supportive community in our own right that we just don’t need to care so much? I could argue that we now have each other to bounce our ideas off, to inspire, we encourage and educate one another. As adults of ‘a certain age’ we really shouldn’t care, because we certainly don’t have to care, that the majority of younger designers and pattern makers don’t want to engage with us. They seem to believe they still don’t need to do anything to make our custom feel appreciated, although the current world economic situation might eventually make it otherwise.

By each of us continuing to share our makes regularly on Instagram, and using the various #SewOver50 hashtags, we have created our own self-supporting community to the point that we neither notice nor care what most pattern companies think about us (do they think about us?) because they are still barely engaging with us anyway. Greying hair and wrinkles spoil their aesthetic but that’s just tough, we will sew and wear what we want and their artfully constructed Instagram posts are not going to sway us. What can influence me personally is a positive review of a pattern by fellow sewers and honest feedback about its quality, it isn’t the pretty packaging which will make me want to buy the pattern. Some pattern companies do enlist the help and experience of older sewers with their pattern testing which is good (although I’m slightly suspicious of the ones which use older testers but then their versions of the garment are curiously absent from the company feed when the pattern lauches) If you’re interested and willing I would certainly encourage volunteering to test patterns, bear in mind you are still unlikely to be paid for your time or materials although there are exceptions. These days I’m much more circumspect about who I give my skills, fabric and time to. I wrote a blog on this very subject back in 2019 which I reread recently, and I’d quite forgotten that there were a number of very interesting comments from readers at the end too.

Since the start of SewOver50 we now have other ways of communicating our thoughts and opinions with others, for example with the podcast Sew Organised Style that Maria @velosews has been producing for several years now. You can jump over there to listen by following this link. She covers a wide range of topics and is always happy to hear from us so if you have a project, a challenge or maybe an event which you think others will want to hear about then get in touch with her.

In a recent development, Byrd @yogabyrdsews and Molly @MikeandMollyshouse have now started a regular Instagram Live #So50Live where they chat together about their own sewing goings-on and they often welcome guests for a natter too. They are both based in the US so each Live event takes place at differing times to allow for global time zones, in other words sometimes favouring European time zones or sometimes better for Australasia. When the Live event is taking place you can join in by sending questions or comments for them although this isn’t possible if you are watching it later on and not live. You can always watch at a later time by following the posts saved on the SewOver50 grid.

Sewing magazines often feature items by or about older sewers, reader pattern reviews are a regular in many and Judith and Sandy have contributed to several UK-based publications but we’d still really like to see more older professional models on the covers and in other articles though. We should try to do all we can to dispel the ‘old lady sewing’ image that still persists.

For me and many others, the greatest part of SewOver50 has been the feeling of connections and community which it has fostered, we share inspiration and encouragement. Many of us have formed new friendships, often locally and sometimes all over the world, we find so much enjoyment in being able to meet up and talk about sewing and fabric regardless of anyone’s age. Don’t wait for someone else to set up a sewing sewcial or a meet-up, if there isn’t one happening where you live have a go at doing it yourself. If you have a fabric or craft shop locally would they be willing to host you, it could be mutually beneficial, or are there textile districts in the town you live in? Textile and craft fairs are another great way to meet and chat with others I’ve always found. Or why not go to a gallery or museum exhibition together, I find chat flows very easily when you’re sharing the experience with others in this way.

I had the enormous pleasure of visiting the Great Tapestry of Scotland with Judith in April 2022

Participating in sewing ‘challenges’ can be another very inclusive and fun activity, SewOver50 always do a fantastic round-up of the current ones on the grid, watch out for them on Stories or saved in Highlights There’s never any pressure to participate but there’s bound to be something which will pique your interest, focus your wandering mind, or just help use up some of that stash!

There is much to celebrate in the difference that being part of SewOver50 has made to many of us, no matter what our actual age. We’ve become an account that is worth aspiring to be a part of because of the positive ageing message that we present. No one shies away from the tough stuff though, many of us will be ’sandwiched’ between caring for ageing parents or looking after grandchildren, we have health issues, financial worries, the global situation is extremely concerning but if you can spend a little valuable me-time sewing or crafting and know that, if you share a photo of the outcome (and even the failures!) with the hashtag #SewOver50 then somewhere in the world members of this community will appreciate what you might have had to overcome to get to that point!

Join in the conversations, keep raising our collective profile, we’re probably the ‘youngest’ older generation there has been so far. What I mean by that is that many of our mothers or grandmothers were ‘destined to be middle-aged’ by the time they reached their teens, in their clothing, their hairstyles, their aspirations and outlook on life simply because that was how it was then. On the whole we now have more options and opportunities than ever before and are able to embrace life in a way they couldn’t, if we can continue to combat age-prejudice from our little corner of the internet then wouldn’t it better for everyone in the long run?

Until next time, happy sewing

Sue

The Great Tapestry of Scotland and V&A Dundee

In April 2022 I had the great good fortune to spend some time with @SewOver50 supremo Judith Staley at her home in Edinburgh. On our first day we took the train to Dundee where we visited the new Scottish outpost of the Victoria and Albert Museum. It’s an architecturally stunning building, designed to resemble a ship on the River Tay and sitting alongside Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic ship Discovery.

The museum hosts a number of temporary and permanent exhibitions and collections so first we visited the current temporary one, Michael Clark:Cosmic Dancer which is showcasing the work of British contemporary dancer and choreographer Michael Clark who had a reputation as something of an enfant terrible in the Eighties. The gallery had found innovative ways to present the very physical nature of Clark’s medium by the use of many videos and films on large screens, the viewer strolls between them in several instances and they can even be viewed on the reverse.

costumes worn by one of Clark’s collaborators, Leigh Bowery

another Leigh Bowery costume

Posters and programmes from 40 years of productions, I remember seeing this poster on the London Underground!

After a tasty bowl of soup in the cafe to keep us going we went to explore the permanent Scottish Galleries which contain a wide selection of some of Scotland’s finest innovations, heritage, designs and designers.

Christopher Kane

Vivienne Westwood uses world-famous Harris Tweed

Alexander McQueen was alwasy extremely proud of his Scottish heritage

V&A Dundee is nowhere near as large as its London counterpart and is ideal for a half-day visit, entry is free except for the special exhibitions and it’s definitely worth going if you are in the area.

The following day Judith and I caught a train from Edinburgh Waverley to Galashiels where the Great Tapestry of Scotland is now permanently housed in a new, purpose-designed building. I urge you to take a look at the website because it will give you so much more information on the origins and creation of the tapestry than I can here. Each separate tapestry (which, like the Bayeux Tapestry, is actually an embroidery) has been sewn by people in locations all over Scotland, a thousand individuals, on specially-woven linen from the Isle of Bute and the majority measure approximately 1 metre by 1 metre square.

The 155 panels are now displayed in chronological order and cover almost every aspect of Scottish life from prehistory up to the present day.

Judith taking a closer look at the opening tapestry.

How Scotland started, before it was even Scotland, 420 million years ago.

This beautiful nautilus shell contains the names of the embroiderers of this panel.

What follows is a selection of the photos I took on my visit, they are loosely in chronological order (unless I’ve mixed them up) but they represent a very small part of the Tapestry as a whole.

Historic Rosslyn chapel

close up of the Green Man motif.

Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides

The life of Mary Queen of Scots, a highly skilled embroiderer herself

There is so much variety in the techniques on display, I was especially impressed with the representation of plaid cloth and other textiles in this panel.

Scottish Tweed fabrics became an essential element of the upper-class gentleman’s country wardrobe.

This panel was possibly my favourite, the vibrant colours really caught my eye.

The complex range of stitches and textures is stunning.

The peacock feather motif of the Paisley design

Designer and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his equally talented wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh

In V&A Dundee they have a complete interior by Charles Rennie Mackintosh originally from a tea room in Glasgow.

I could have photographed every panel but then my phone would have exploded so I had to stop somewhere! These are just a few of the 155 panels to see and enjoy.

There are magnifying glasses provided if you want a closer look.

reading the info…

I know next-to-nothing about embroidery or tapestry, Judith is very skilled, but we were both blown away by the sheer variety and skill that we witnessed in the Great Tapestry of Scotland. If you are ever in the Galashiels area it is definitely worth a few hours of your time, although sadly we didn’t have long enough.

Until next time,

Sue

Mary Quant at the V&A

Mary Quant is a name which is synonymous with British, and world, fashion in the 1960’s and 70’s. She is credited with pioneering miniskirts (although these were almost certainly originally by high-end French designer Andres Courreges, she popularised it and brought it to the masses) along with youthful Vidal Sassoon ‘5-point’ haircuts, and brightly coloured tights and accessories, all things that were a world away from the stuffy, old-fashioned clothes that young people were wearing up until that point, looking like younger versions of their parents.  

She created a new and exciting fashion ‘scene’ that was fun and liberating, and which meant that young women in particular could wear what they wanted. The clothes were affordable and accessible although initially they were only available from her two London stores named Bazaar. She made them in bright colours reminiscent of children’s clothing, and often in ‘easy care’ modern synthetic fabrics such as Courtelle and Crimplene which were being developed following the end of the Second World War. Initially the garments in her shops were made in very small numbers using adapted Butterick home dressmaking patterns but this had to change rapidly with Quant’s increasing success.

A new retrospective of Mary Quant’s work has just opened at London’s V&A museum and it’s a fascinating overview of a twenty-year period of her work. During this time, she embraced a post-war boom in shopping and media marketing which resulted in mass production and export of her clothes all over the world, in a way which challenged the dominance of Parisian couture. She changed fashion with fun, edgy clothing that helped to modernise and redefine and which she promoted with high-energy fashion shows unlike the sedate shows that had gone before. Her clothes were being worn by women of all backgrounds, from celebrities and professionals, to mothers at home with young children. She developed ranges of underwear, hosiery, accessories, shoes and make up, even dolls, which often sold for not much money and so were available to just about anyone. She was at the forefront of mass-production of clothing and her garments were manufactured for over 30 years by Steinbergs in Pontypridd, Wales.

It wasn’t always mini skirts, Mary Quant’s earlier designs were more demure.

Daisy Doll with some of her many clothes and accessories.

Daisy sticker books

moulded plastic shoes and lurex hosiery.

The ‘daisy’ logo became synonymous with Quant, it came about from her absent-mindedly doodling it constantly.

Quant afoot…it turned out these rubber boots were freezing cold in winter and sweaty in summer.

Her designs helped to sustain the British textile industry in the difficult post-war years. In 1967, for example, she used stretch-towelling and velour which allowed freedom of movement and comfort in ‘loungewear’, a mode of dress we just take for granted now and can’t imagine living without.

An all-in-one leisure suit.

She also embraced a new type of wool jersey which was bonded to acetate fabric, making it more stable and could be dyed many bright colours and she exploited to the full with her iconic jersey minidresses.

She gained a reputation for reinventing tired products such as raincoats and sewing patterns. Her own initial experiments with PVC rainwear weren’t that successful because the seams were difficult to sew on standard sewing machines and they leaked so Quant quickly realised that she needed to work alongside long-time manufacturers of waterproof clothing to learn from their experience and specialist equipment.

In 1964 she signed a deal with Butterick patterns, the first British designer to do so, and this enabled home dressmakers everywhere to recreate her most popular styles in their own way whether it be in luxury fabrics or on a tighter budget. The first such pattern to be released was the iconic ‘Miss Muffet’ dress, a trademark simple shift with a pretty scalloped collar. There is a lovely original example on display made in 1964 by Sheila Hope in a fine Liberty wool. 

As well as sewing dress patterns, Mary Quant also produced knitting patterns too.

The Miss Muffet style even featured the Rolling Stones in the photo!

A lovely example of the Miss Muffet made in fine Liberty wool and loaned by Sheila Hope.

Mary Quant also collaborated with chemical and fabric manufacturers Courtaulds and ICI to bring designs of Courtelle and Crimplene fabrics to a younger, trendier audience. Crimplene, which is a polyester-based fabric with easy-care properties, had fallen out of fashion by the 1970s in favour of other better-ventilated and lighter-weight fabrics so she was commissioned by ICI to rescue it’s fading image. It was possible to buy Crimplene in over 500 UK stores at a cost of about £3 per yard (the equivalent of about £23 today)  

Many items on display were loaned or donated by ‘ordinary’ members of the public after the V&A put out a request for such items with the hashtag #WeWantQuant. There are interesting photo-montages with people’s memories of owning, wearing or making their own Mary Quant clothing, I particularly liked the quote from Sheila Nicholson, “I horrified my Domestic Science teacher by using a Mary Quant dress pattern for my O-Level!” 

Interestingly, Indie pattern design company Alice & Co have collaborated with the V&A to produce a free downloadable dress pattern so you can make your own version of a Mary Quant shift with multiple variations giving lots of options to make your own homage to the MQ mini dress, visit the V&A website for more details, and look on Instagram for lots of tester inspiration too.

There are so many garments in this exhibition which could easily be from today, they still look fresh and wearable. This year jumpsuits and playsuits are very on-trend and there are several examples on show which wouldn’t look out of place now.

I thought of the Tilly and the Buttons Coco pattern when I saw this dress.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this red dress, style name ‘Peachy’ from 1962. It’s almost identical to the red Harris Tweed version of the Simple Sew Anneka pinafore I made last year.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this exhibition as much as I did if I’m totally honest, I’m much more fascinated by the techniques, beautiful fabrics and appeal of couture but there was lots to see, along with interesting archive film clips and reminiscences from former Quant colleagues and collaborators. If you decide to take a trip to London any time before February 16th 2020 this would be an excellent way to spend a couple of fashionable hours.

Until next time,

Sue

Anni Albers at Tate Modern.

the artist at work

I wasn’t familiar with textile artist Anni Albers but when I saw that Charlotte (English Girl at Home) had made a visit from Birmingham I thought it must be worth a look.

I wasn’t disappointed either. You don’t need to have any previous idea of this artist’s work to enjoy and appreciate the quality of what you see before you in this exhibition at Tate Modern in London until January 27th, 2019.

To give you a little bit of background, Anneliese Fleichmann was born in Berlin, Germany in 1899, she was encouraged to study drawing and painting, becoming a student at the Bauhaus in 1922 where she met artist Josef Albers, marrying him in 1925. Not every class was available to women and she had been unable to get into glassmaking whilst at the Bauhaus [a renowned combined crafts and Fine Arts school from 1919 to 1933 before being closed by the Nazis] so she reluctantly attended textile weaving instead. She soon became fascinated by the whole process of weaving and gradually developed her distinctive geometric style.

She and her husband, who were both Jewish by birth although she herself was baptised a Protestant, eventually moved to the USA in 1933 where they taught at the experimental Black Mountain Academy in North Carolina, an art school with a kind of ’summer camp’ ethos of studies and farm and domestic work.

She continued to experiment and create throughout her long life although eventually she gave up weaving because of the physical strain it placed on her preferring, instead to create prints and monographs.

She was commissioned a number of times to create textiles for specific situations including domestic, hotels and student accommodation. These items included rugs and diaphanous hanging room dividers.

Here are just a few of my photographs, many don’t do full justice to the intricacies of the weave or the subtleties of the colours but hopefully they will give you a taste.

A loom of the type was commonly used by weavers for centuries and still in use today.

At first sight this is a simple monochrome design but it bears closer inspection with its clever use of black, white and yellow threads. They are woven in various combinations in order to make different shades tones and shapes. It reminded me of a crossword without the words.

Sketches of design ideas.

I love the intricacy of the weave and knots, and the subtle shades used too.

There were several examples of jewellery made from everyday items like screws, washers, hair grips and ribbon.

More intricate stitches.

The surface of this work had lots of ‘blobs’ of colours, which you can see below.  I would happily have it on my wall!

Wall hangings and room-dividers.

This work, called Six Prayers, was a favourite with me and my friend Jenny. Having spent quite some time admiring it we discovered it represented the 6 million Jews murdered during the second world war, a very sobering thought.

Another visitor to the gallery pointed out that I blended in with the weaving in my me-made top!

Albers moved on to drawing and printmaking as she got older, often her subject was knots! Top right is a rug. She continued to explore textile-related areas though such as pattern, line, texture and knotting.

There are examples to touch of the many types of fibres it’s possible to weave with.

In the same room there are 3 huge screens showing the process of weaving in close up which was enthralling.

Anni Albers own loom.

As I said earlier, you don’t need to know anything about Albers to enjoy this exhibition. My good friend Jenny (my culture buddy!) is a busy Vicar with no art or textiles experience but we always find much to enjoy on our visits to galleries even if they are outside our usual preferences or knowledge. The work on display here is beautiful and tactile (but don’t touch!) and could look very much at home in a domestic setting, not something I can always say about some art work we’ve seen!

A very enjoyable and worthwhile exhibition,

Sue