Tuesday 24 July 2012

Meet Martha!

For a while now I've been desiring a tailor's dummy!  Trying to alter my clothes while they are still on me is tricky (and painful when I get stuck with pins!).

Also, I'm asked more and more for dressmaking classes (which I will be providing with a friend in the Autumn) so I thought it was time I started brushing up my skills.

Well, a dear family member in England just happened to have one in her loft and gifted it to me!

This is 'Martha'!
Now Martha has a wee problem in that she is slightly legless!  No not in the drinking sense!!  She has 2 of her required 3 legs, so I will need to make her an orthopeadic wooden leg to help her stand up!  Bless!

I'm not sure which sounds better, 'Legless Martha' or 'Peg Leg Martha'!

And this wasn't the only treasure my relative had squirreled away!  Just look at this little lot!

A tin of vintage lace & trims!

Hand dyed curtains and fabric (great for handbags!)


Retro print cotton - I would so love to make a skirt or dress out of this!

Grey corduroy and lemon linen - yum!

A sample of what I managed to bring home!

13 Patterns!!!  How cool is that!
I have been wonderfully blessed by this legacy of dressmaking and sewing, and I am delighted and privileged to be able to receive these and hopefully turn them into loveable items once more.

Thank you 'G' for your kindness and generosity!

20 comments:

  1. Wow, that was quite the haul! I have a Diana (she has a sticker on her chest that says so) but thankfully she doesn't seem to take a drink...

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  2. lovely loot!I was given a tailors dumy, (hermione) about 20 years ago, but it was too big, so I passed it on to someone bigger than me! Now I regret that, as it would have been ok for my girls- but I didn't know that then!

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  3. Wow Martha is a pretty girl! Love her colouring!

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  4. I used to have a Diana, and a professional Kenman too, sadly they have been re-homed, but I still have 2 boxes of patterns which I go browsing through thinking 'i could just ...'. and then reality hits and they stay where they are for now. Fabulous haul of fabrics too! Glad to see you filled every inch of the car going home :)

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  5. How very splendid, lovely fabrics, I look forward to seeing them made up!

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  6. what an awesome amount of goodies to return home with! I love Martha! She will be returned to full health with your magic touch Jude! Can't wait to see your dress making skills! xxxxx

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  7. Good haul and I think Legless Martha sounds just right ;-)

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  8. Lol, legless martha! The patterns look so great! I didnt know you made clothes too; a woman of many talents!

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  9. Would you at all think of just changing her name to Peggy?

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  10. I`m very envious of Martha and know how difficult it is fitting soemthing yourself! Love the look of those vintage patterns!

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  11. what a wonderful treasure trove you now have

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  12. Fantastic treasure. I'm sure that the previous owner would be pleased to know that they are being used. As for Martha - definitely peg leg Martha! Di x

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  13. Wow, which child did you leave behind to get all that in the car?!!! Great booty :-)

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  14. What a great haul. I dread to think which of the children you made sit on the roof rack in order to get this lot in the car. Although because I'm out of sorts I had to keep re-reading the bit about legs thinking is the three legs a typo because we only have two legs. Duh!

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  15. Did you have to swap out a daughter to get that lot home?

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  16. wow, what an amazing stash of goodies to bring home: just as well you were driving!

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  17. lots of potential there ... and a nice pink lady to try them outon xx

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  18. What gorgeous goodies, esp the vintage lace and trims! You will have loads of fun deciding what to make from all those fabrics and patterns too, with Martha's help of course.

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  19. Martha looks in the pink and I bet she is glad to be out of the attic!

    Can't wait to see what you make from those fabrics with Martha's help!

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  20. All together now 'I'm Jake the peg diddle diddle diddle le' ;o) (I'm like Jan and got confused by the mention of a missing third leg - I don't think I'm fit to be online without supervision at the moment!!) I love all the fabrics and patterns you brought back with you, especially that grey cord and all those vintage trimmings!! Have fun playing with them...I mean, finding somewhere to keep them!

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