Simply Marvellous for second hand clothes and fabrics
A Most Marvellous Place To Shop.
IT is quite strange seeing the old kitchen blinds from your childhood reformed into a dress, especially a very stylish dress, but this is what I encountered when I visited A Most Marvellous Place to Shop this week.
Although many High Street sales are still selling off the dregs of last season, for those short of cash who still want to look on trend, there could be another option.
In recent tough times there has been a growing trend to recycle old clothes and fabrics to create new ones, and at A Most Marvellous Place to Shop, in 22-36 Kettering Road, Northampton, there are both courses to help you do this, and innovative designs from designers merging old and new.
“One of the main courses for making clothes is pattern cutting, because once people learn to fit something to themselves or their child, they can buy any fabric and do it for themselves,” said Gilliy Burgess, co-owner of the vintage, antique and retro centre.
“It is best to get a machine if you are going to make your own clothes, doing hand-stitching can be quite time consuming, but you can hand stitch any fabrics that don’t fray.
“You can get a basic sewing machine second hand for £30 to £35. You only need a basic one as you won’t use all the settings.
But sometimes you don’t even need to make a whole new outfit, adapting something you have can also be effective.
“You can do a lot with small alterations,” said Gilliy.
“Sometimes it can take just a small alteration to make something completely up-to-date, like a trim or a dart, or changing the buttons.
“People often take the buttons off clothes and then will buy vintage buttons instead and it can make a big difference.
“We sell lots of different buttons and trimmings.
“We have people here who will help if you have bought a vintage dress and it doesn’t quite fit. The thing to remember is that vintage sizes are different; a size 12 in the 60s was a lot smaller than it is now.
“People don’t always want new clothes now, they like their clothes to have a history and like to think they are not using up any more resources.
“It is a fun to remake things, and with a little bit of imagination it doesn’t have to look handmade and can look professional, much more unique, and much more your own.”
AS well as a chance to make your own A Most Marvellous Place to Shop features a range of designers who have re-used fabric to create one-off designs, such as: Gone Retro, Leather & Linen by Aysha Warrak, Abi Jackson, Grace Face, Olive May and Contraband Boutique.
“We have a trader called Gone Retro, that has vintage and recycled clothing,” said Gilliy.
“This features a lot of recycled clothes, like skirts which have been made from old jumpers and then put an elastic band around the waist, which is very fashionable at the moment.
“The other thing is reworking trousers into shorts, this range has used leather trousers.
“They also have used blouses from the 80s and done rushing around the bottom with a thin elastic and reworked the seams for a modern shape, and used a skirt to make a boob tube dress by putting elastic under the bust.
“A lot of our traders use vintage fabrics in new designs like Abi Jackson, from the Stitch and Make Studio, will use all types of vintage fabrics and trimmings, and create one-off designs.
“We also sell a collection from Olive May and she has used curtain fabrics and vintage towels to make bags and all sorts and a line called Grace Face which is 100 per cent handmade and Contraband Boutique will take a lot of vintage wear and do something modern with it.
“We have a lady who will unravel and reuse wool and one who buys things from charity shops and then makes them into hats.
“With a bit of imagination there is so much you can do.”
Courses available at the Most Marvellous Place to Shop include the following:
Silkscreen Printing: Learning to put your own artistic design on silk
Alteration/ customisation courses
Pattern Cutting
Knitting
Illustration to silk printing
For further information on prices, times and courses available drop into the shop or visit: www.mostmarvellous.com
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