Psychedelia In Surburbia

Liz had the day off work yesterday so she supervised me through the making of this bell-bottom pants suit.

Before you remind me that I can already sew, I still get a bit jittery about putting the scissors to vintage fabric this fabulous, so it's good to have some moral support.

I wasn't sure whether it was the model's hair or the outfit I loved most on the sleeve of this 1969 Simplicity pattern, so I copied both.

Whaddya mean? Not seasonally appropriate? Bugger the date, it's 23 degrees out and the sun's shining. We'll be condemned to months of long sleeves, bulky layers and closed-in footwear before we know it, it would be a crime to cover up unnecessarily.

Anyway, look at the garden - if neon orange, buttercup yellow, lime green and hot pink aren't the colours of Autumn I don't know what are.

I considered using buttons that matched, but soon came to my senses and used these marvellous Bakelite beauties (rescued from a moth-eaten 1940s day dress) instead.

No Barry M lippie today, I got this 1960s Boots No 7 matt orange lipstick as part of a job lot of vintage make-up from a car boot sale last year. 

If you're not on Facebook you'll have missed me banging on for the last month about a stray cat regularly calling for food and love. We think she's a Norwegian Forest cat and, despite her scrawniness, she's an absolute beauty and ridiculously fussy. She's spending longer and longer here every day and the other two don't seem too rattled. Could she be a new member of the household? Watch this space.

Unlike Stephen Squirrel and Polly Piglet, this little girl seems to adore me more than Jon. We longhairs stick together.

Bell-bottom pants suit made with 1960s acetate fabric (£4, Acorns Hospice) using Simplicity pattern no. 8146 (£2.99, St Giles Hospice) worn with 1960s vinyl holdall (£1, charity market stall), candy suedette platforms (£5, local retail), 1960s velvet & rhinestone choker (£3, vintage fair)

Wednesday night is special, it means rum, coke and Whitechapel.

See you soon!