100 years of East London style

[J H]

I received this in an email and thought you all might find it interesting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JxfgId3XTs

I thought it was very well done

[Magot]

Fab Jill! I have to watch it several times - once for the girl, once for the bloke and then again for the dance styles....

[lendube]

Very, very cool. What an immense amount of planning went into that! Thanks, Jill.

[bridesmom]

I enjoyed that. That's a whole lot of costume changes!

[Magot]

Which was your favourite clothes - I loved my 70's hippy gear - my bum bag from the 80's and the HAIR!!

[DorothyL]

My favorites are pre-me -- 20s, 30s, 40s but the 80s were the most fun to sew for I think.

[LeapFrog Libby]

50's for me were the hardest to sew, because everything was so fitted. If you got a dart point wrong , then the whole dress was tacky and 'homemade' looking. That is when I started going to the lady who was my Mom's friend and was a pure genius with a machine for advice. She would laugh and since my Dad was a Master Mechanic and he called amatuers 'shade tree mechanics' she would call me a 'shade tree seamstress' and then give me the advice I needed. I remember because I was a young bride, I took a piece of black wool and a piece of red wool and drew on a piece of paper the dresses I wanted, and she took that poor drawing and my measurements and made me 2 dresses that fitted to a t, and lasted more than 8 years of being my 2 'best ' dresses. She always made little tiny strips on the shoulder seams and fastened one end with a snap, so that you snapped your slip and bra straps in place and never would they peek out of a neckline. I think that is why today's world of deliberately showing straps bothers me soooooo much! I finally got more confidenceafter 1st DS was born and I started making him play clothes and went on from there.

[Shellymoon]

Libby, what a precious gift your mom's friend gave you!
I had a neighbor named Ollie who helped me sew when I was a newlywed. She had her own sewing room and she and her husband, Doyle, took the neighborhood newlyweds under her wing. I learned a lot from her. This would make a good thread topic--who was your sewing mentor.