My New Woman: Meet Lady Maude

Isn't she lovely? I can't wait to get to know her properly :)


I got her through a lovely friend's mum - have been looking out for one for aaages but never seem to find one within my budget. 


She's got a few screws loose but nothing we can't work on!!


Now, if I can just get my sewing machine serviced... anyone know of someone?

Me Made June: Update!

SO meant to be in the circus, me...

Ok, so I have a confession, which you probably guessed by now. Me Made June, was, in short an epic failure on my part. <insert really unhappy face here>


Truth be told, June was a pretty horrendous month for us Earthlies. Girl Earthly has, in the last few weeks, turned into a small wailing monster, day and night, and refuses to sleep (day or night), resulting in - well, a bit of a mess all round really. So, all in all, it's a wonder I ever got dressed at all!


That, together with my sewing machine being finally laid to rest (after many hours spent flogging a dead horse) and, well, you get the picture! Bleurgh...


On the positive side (because there always is one, somewhere...), I have finally - wait for it - finished my corset!!! WOOP WOOP! I cannot believe I've managed it (with the help of MIL's and a friend's sewing machine) and what's more, I'm really pleased with it. It is absolutely FULL of horrors - the sewing for a start - and doesn't fit as well as it should, but considering all the odds, and this being my first real sewing project, I'm really rather chuffed!
Also, it has given me the confidence to do something I've longed to do for aaaaages, and that's to start making my own undies. Being an awkward size, it costs me about £30 per bra, and as much as I love to shop for them (especially now I can fit into styles I like again after being pregnant!), I just can't afford that kind of money right now. And yet I need bras... and matching pants would be nice too. So why not make my own? I have already sourced some online suppliers for bits n bobs, so watch this space :)

How to be a Super Woman: Meet Gilly Woo!

1. Hi! Tell us a bit about yourself
Hello everyone. My name is Gill Cockwell but I’m also known as Gilly Woo. I'm a designer, dressmaker, stylist, columnist, (and occasional TV presenter), based in Bristol in the UK.


I have been sewing since I was six years old.


I design and make bespoke finery: bridal gowns, occasion wear and corsets, I style photo shoots, fashion shows, performers and individuals and I party pretty hard too.


I’m 31, I'm single and I live with a gay man, a papier-mâché flamingo and a lot of hats in a little flat in Cotham. 

Blue Evening Gown, Bespoke Collection

2. Do you have a 'grand plan'? Do you think this has changed at all over the years?
When I was 6 I wanted to be am ambulance driver, by the time I was 10 I was convinced that Fashion Editor was the career for me, when I was 19 I lost all my confidence and gave up for a while. When I was 28 I wanted to be a mother and now…I just want to be happy. Right now I’m happy, if that changes, my plan will change too. But yes, I do have a plan of sorts. I’d like to continue the bespoke side of my business, launch a ready to wear range, and write a book in the next few years. I am continually working towards all of these goals but I have no idea if or when I will achieve them. It’s all about the journey right?


3. What gets you up in the morning?
Tuesdays and Fridays it’s my personal trainer ringing my doorbell at 6.30am the rest of the time its mostly guilt, nervous energy or impossible deadlines.

4. Run us through a typical kind of day
I try and do some exercise in the morning before breakfast, I run in the park or workout with my personal trainer, I find it clears my mind and makes me feel ready for the day ahead, I ALWAYS eat breakfast, at the moment I love porridge with blueberries and banana and fresh black coffee. I get into the workshop about 8.30 and check the schedule for the day ahead. I usually spend the first half of the day making to do lists for the week and cutting patterns. Between 9 and 10am my staff come in and start sewing the pieces I have cut that morning.

Woohoo Vintage in Shepton Mallet, as featured in The High Street

There is no typical day at Woo HQ really. Sometimes I have fittings or design consultations with clients, or meetings with colleagues sometimes I can spend a whole day sourcing components and ordering fabrics and findings, I occasionally write pieces for magazines, (style tips etc) and I write a blog too.


The one thing that is typical is long hours! I am often in the workshop till midnight during bridal season or when I am organising a fashion show or making a new collection.


It’s hard work but it’s great fun too. It’s true what they say; find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.

Gill muses about life and the fashion world over on her blog

5. When you experience a setback how do you pick yourself back up again?
Setbacks are inevitable. Rest, (if possible), Re evaluate, and carry on. Sometimes it helps to talk it through. I do A LOT of talking!
  
6. Who or what inspires you the most?
My Dad is one of the least judgemental people you could ever meet. He always takes people at face value and is the type of person that would be as comfortable being himself at a kings banquet as he would sharing a bag of chips with a homeless person on a park bench. He is absolutely genuine.


My sister is beautiful and caring and wise beyond her years. She is one of the few people I have met who makes absolute sense to me even though we are very different people.


Christian Dior, his sense of proportion was perfect. Everything he designed was beautifully proportioned. He was nothing less than a genius and I aspire to him daily.


My mother: A true grafter, brought up SIX children and remained glamorous throughout.

It's always good to keep things in perspective!

7. We all have bad days when we doubt our abilities and ourselves. How do you get through yours?
Firstly by trying to accept the fact that I am only human and being realistic about what is actually possible, secondly by trying to lift the limitations I impose on myself with a positive mental attitude. Thirdly by resolving to do the very best I can and to be satisfied with that effort no matter what the outcome.


8. What do you feel are your greatest achievements and why?
There have been occasions when I have made women feel good about them selves and improved their self-esteem. These occasions are my greatest achievements. This is because I know how important and how fragile self-esteem can be and how much finding it can enhance your life. I like the thought that I have enhanced women’s lives :-)


9. Tell us what you think constitutes a "Super Woman" and list 3 key ingredients for success.
A Super Woman for me is someone independent, self sufficient and positive. Someone who takes responsibility for her own choices for her own wellbeing and who always treats others the way she would like to be treated.

Peacock Dress, Bespoke Collection

A super woman is exceptional because she achieves things that many would dismiss as impossible through sheer hard work and determination.

• Be realistic but not pessimistic.
• Always do your best.
• Be good to yourself, look after yourself, respect yourself and believe in yourself.
• Can I add a 4th? Don’t let your back ground or where you’ve come from hold you back. The greatest achievers in the world are only people.

10. Final words of wisdom?
Don’t compare your self to other people too much. We are all very different. We have different backgrounds, different strengths, and different weaknesses.


All you need to be is the very best version of your self that you can be, in your own image.


Inner peace, contentment and true happiness are much cleverer aspirations than mansions and sports cars or perfect breasts and Louboutins.



You can find Gill over on her website, blog, Twitter and Facebook.


Do you know someone who fits the bill of Super Woman? Even yourself - don't be shy! If you would like to take part or recommend a friend, please send a message with the details to me at giveanearthly at gmail dot com.

Learning to Sew - the hard way!

Front view, after pulling in top of bust slightly

I am a complete novice when it comes to sewing. Indeed, I find myself wishing more and more that we had been taught some more traditional (hence, useful!) subjects at school, such as how to sew, knit and mend - like a lady used to in them good old days, yar!


But like everything I feel like trying, I just jump straight in and hope I figure it out as I go along. So here I find myself on a corset project - the most fitted garment you can imagine - and inventing some choice words and phrases as I go along.


You can read about the start of the project over in this blog, but basically I have hand drawn the pattern pieces from the scale drawing in The Little Corset Book and draughted them onto paper. I went with the basic size 12 (38-28-39") given as I wasn't sure where I'd need to take in the extra fabric on all those pieces! I reckoned I could work that out at first fit stage.

Front view: pieces cut out and hand basted with 1/2" seams

Back view: centre back gap (for lacing) temporarily fitted

So here I am, I've cut out the pieces needed and hand-basted them together with 1/2 inch seams. The front and back will both be fastened - front with busk clasps and back with laces - so these need to be fastened temporarily for fitting. I did the back first, pinning a straight length of scrap fabric to each side (again with 1/2 inch seams), ensuring that there is a 2 inch gap left in the middle - this is to allow for drawing the corset tight. Next I safety-pinned the front, with the seams facing outwards so I could get in and out fairly easily whilst fitting!


First fit doesn't seem too bad (and I feel quite chuffed to have made it so far!) but on closer inspection I see it needs taken in quite a lot in various places, and possibly let out at the back hip area. My guide to fitting correctly, The Basics of Corset Building, tells me that the top and bottom of the corset should be parallel to the ground and the front seam should be vertical, not tilted. I also see that the back is wrinkling a bit so probably needs taken in in some areas and let out in others. 

Side view: lots of baggy bits to deal with!

So there's lots to do! I start with pulling in the fabric at the top front of the bust as this is way too big (unusually!) and doing this helps the corset stay in the right place whilst I fix some other areas. Next I choose a hip seam and safety-pin the extra fabric there. It's not easy doing this on yourself! At this point, baby Earthly no. 2 is wailing herself silly so I wriggle out (undoing some front pins of course!) of the corset and hope she'll let me come back to it later... stay tuned!

Red Head, Green Goddess

The sun is out and with summer just round the corner it was obviously THE day to finally re-henna my hair! It's been a good, ooh, 2 or 3 months now I think. It's all been a blur with little or no me-time to be seen. But today I am at Granny's with Miss Molly fast asleep after a restless night so I took the chance and hopped into the kitchen quick-smart to get that henna brewing up. 


I went ONLY for the rouge today... normally I put a bit of marron in too. And I forgot that the rouge stains rather badly so parts of my hands and my hairline currently look a bit jaundiced, but hell it will wear off soon. 


To top off this spurt of productivity (I know it doesn't seem much but truly it is!) I've started making myself a corset! WOOP WOO! On Sunday night I got out my Little Corset Book and manually scaled up the tiny patterns in there to roughly my size (incidentally whilst Father Earthly spent hours making room for our new stove which is arriving today!).


Being of the impetuous kind, I also had to make my own 1-inch graph paper as all we had lying around was the A4 sheets of 20mm paper. So I crammed all of the pattern pieces onto the same 2 A4 sheets and today I plan to trace them onto my newly dyed denim fabric ->


Well what else are Father Earthly's old Levi's for? I can't wait to see the pieces cut out and even vaguely assembled... By the way I'd love to say I'd dyed the denim using nettles or something but in fact it's just olive green Dylon used sparingly. Sorry! And I plan to use the reverse side of the jeans as the colour and texture appeal to me more than the faded-dyed-worn-denim look of the front. The colour is a lovely pale sage which you can't quite make out from the pic. More to come!


Comments and suggestions? Feel free!