Learn how to darn and mend your clothes like in the Edwardian era! 50+ tips on how to darn, mend, patch and refashion your clothes. In the Edwardian era, clothing and household items were repaired, mended, patched, darned or refashioned into something useful rather than being thrown away as is often done today. There were tutorials on how to fix everything: Learn how to fix a ripped seam, how to mend a tear and how to sew on a patch, how to darn a hole in sweaters and socks, how to reinforce areas of stress before you even wear your new clothes, and how to upcycle and refashion your torn and ..read more

‘In July, when all the world and his wife are supposed to be on holiday, there must always be a certain proportion of people who have to stay at home. When others are holidaying in quiet country lanes, taking part in the crowded life of the beach, or touring through the quaint old towns of Normandy, there are many hundreds of working men and women who see no prospect of going away from home.’ (Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910-2) Related: Keep Your Home Cool In The Summer Heat – Edwardian Decor Ideas ‘Perhaps family arrangements make it impossible to get away for any time. Pressure of work ..read more

‘This season’s auto girl is a bewitching creature. She has discarded the clumsy leather coat and disfiguring face mask and in their place for short rides she wears a fetching silken wrap and a filmy veil of shaded chiffon. […] she nowadays spends quite as much time selecting her motor headgear as she does her garden party hat. […] If she is a very fashionable young person, her motor wardrobe is a large one. She has costumes for long tours, raincoats and dust coats, silken motor wraps to slip over fluffy organdie frocks, to say nothing of hats and caps and veils in great variety.’ (Los Angeles ..read more

I love braided jackets! A couple of years ago I made an Edwardian braided cycling jacket with DIY black fabric soutache. And now I’ve made another Edwardian braided jacket – this time with gold soutache! Related: Edwardian Braided Cycling Jacket Instead of new fabric, I cut up a modern wool coat and used this to make my Edwardian braided jacket. And for the faux fur collar & cuffs, I used leftover pieces of a vintage faux fur bolero from my grandma. Edwardian Military Braided Jacket In the Edwardian era, women’s fashion inspired by men’s fashion was very popular, such as Norfolk coats ..read more

My Edwardian wool coat aka the never-ending coat is finally, finally finished! I call it the never-ending coat because everything went wrong with this coat what could possibly go wrong! That’s why it took me almost 10 years from the planning stages to drafting the pattern to actually finishing the coat. The Never-Ending Coat! About 10 years ago I made my Victorian paletot coat which was the first tailored coat I ever made. Since it was my first coat, it wasn’t easy but okay-ish. I even drafted my own pattern. Related: Victorian Paletot Coat So after finishing my Victorian coat I thought I ..read more

Because I had various fabric scraps left over from other sewing projects, I made some Edwardian winter accessories. I made an Edwardian muff and Edwardian faux fur winter hat with various faux fur and cotton velvet fabric scraps. And I also made an Edwardian imitation ostrich crochet boa – something I’ve been wanting to try for a long time! I wanted to use up all the little leftover fabric scraps, but I didn’t have high hopes that the stash busting sewing projects would look good in the end. But I’m so happy with how my Edwardian winter accessories turned out! ‘The Winter Girl of today doe ..read more

Make elegant thread crochet fuchsia flowers by following an original tutorial from the Edwardian era (1910)! Metallic thread crochet ornaments ‘are distinctly attractive and artistic, and can be accomplished easily by the home worker, at a very moderate cost.’ (Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910-2) Edwardian Hoarfrost Ornaments – Metallic Thread Crochet ‘Charming and novel effects can be obtained in “hoar frost” embroidery, a work that will appeal very strongly to all lovers of the dainty and delicate.’ (Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910-2) In the Edwardian era, ornaments made of gold, si ..read more

Learn how to make cute & comfy espadrilles with DIY jute crochet soles & vegetable-tanned leather soles from scratch! All you need for these DIY espadrille shoes are natural materials: You don’t need glue or plastic! These DIY espadrille shoes are quick and easy to make! And they’re so comfy to wear! And what’s best, the DIY espadrilles don’t take long to make: You can make these cute DIY rope soled espadrilles in a couple of hours. Related: How To Make DIY Huarache Sandals With Leather Soles DIY Shoes Made With Natural Materials – No Glue & No Plastic! All you need to make you ..read more

This is my free crochet sole pattern for DIY shoes from scratch like DIY espadrilles and DIY sandals. The DIY crochet sole pattern is adult size and easily adjustable to other sizes. I made a video tutorial, crochet chart and written instructions to make it easy for you to follow the steps. Make you own DIY shoe soles with natural materials for your DIY summer shoes. These DIY crochet soles are easy and quick to make – even for a crochet beginner. DIY crochet soles are perfect to make comfy, flexible, lightweight and durable soles for DIY summer shoes. DIY Crochet Soles Vs. Traditional Rope ..read more

If you read my blog regularly, you know that this is already my third hand-painted 1920s dress! I made my 1920s dress inspired by an antique 1920s floral chiffon dress. And I also made the DIY tape lace yoke with cotton Valenciennes lace scraps from my stash. Related: 1920s Mint Green Hand Painted Polka Dot Dress Antique 1920s Dress Inspirations My hand-painted 1920s floral dress is mainly inspired by this beautiful antique 1920s blue & green floral chiffon dress and this 1920s photograph of a floral painted silk dress. And the main inspiration for my DIY tape lace yoke came from this ..read more