Dinosaurs & DIY Disasters – Making A-do & A-mending By Way of Creative Alterations

Which bitch is which?

 I’ve been a charity shop shopper for donkeys – years, that is, not actually for donkeys, that would be a pretty niche market I reckon – and one thing I’ve gleaned from all this sorting and sifting is: you’re bound to find your ‘that’s-exactly-what-I-was-looking-for!’ dress, or coat or whatnot only to find it has shoulders an American football player would be proud of!  What to do?

In the past I would go for the get-it-and-leave-it-in-a-pile-of-‘Things to Adjust’-a-little-unsure-of-how-to-go-about-it-all option. And then, when I did have a go, I’d invariably be left with something kinda wonky and I’d look kinda wrong.

Mr Glittery commented earlier in the year, when observing my humungous scrap heap collection of car crash couture awaiting a nip and tuck, that all this potential to-do-ing must be adding to my general confusion. He was right. So

A match made at the Make Lounge

recently, Tuesday night for a couple of weeks was spent at the Make Lounge making do with and a-mending some of my finds at their Creative Alterations course.

I took along the remains of my once precipitous pile: an oversized dinosaur print sweatshirt I spied when I worked at Rokit, a shapeless Hawaiian print shift, and a but-it-looked-nice-on-the-hanger red silk dress I’d picked up in the £3 sale in TRAID.

The class was led by Nin Castle, founder of Goodone, who “…produce innovative, quality, one-off clothing which is made from hand-picked, locally-sourced, recycled fabrics.”  Having gone round the table and waxed lyrical about our visions for the stuff we’d brought Nin noshed a biscuit or two – biscuits abound at the Make Lounge – then urged us to get real.
Her top tips:

Needing something to be bigger is not better where adjusting clothes is concerned.  Making something smaller is far easier.

Which stitch is which?

However drastic a makeover you’re planning, just do one thing at a time and assess your progress – it may not need as much tinkering as you anticipate.

The Make Lounge has a relaxed vibe with just the right amount of focus to make sure you get what you came for.  We tried on, trimmed and tacked our pieces together with the aid of Nin, the overlocker and a glass of wine.  And if  Nin was otherwise engaged with a creative query, then Make Lounge owner, Jennifer Pirtle was always there to lend a helping hand.

When I asked Jennifer about the Make Lounge strapline ‘Meet People Make Stuff’ she said to her the meeting is just as important as the making. Traditional crafting courses on offer were either too long winded, or too long in the tooth (old fashioned) and held in drafty church halls said Jennifer.  And so, the concept of short, practical, yet fun courses – you can make anything from frilly
knickers to candles in a tea cup – hosted in a sociable and stylish environment – with biscuits – was born.

I went with a friend who was trying to rectify some DIY disasters and we met an eclectic gaggle – giggle? – of women ranging from a classic, sophisticated, business lady who’d lost weight, to a tall, arty type wanting to adjust and update a lacklustre family heirloom.  And we left with some craftily altered outfits.

So make lounge not war on your wardobe and get creative.  ‘Make lounge’, geddit? It’s funny right?  No?