Honestly, why do I put myself up for these things??
For those of you who don’t live in Wales, we have just celebrated St David’s Day. If, like me you work in a primary school, that means Welsh Dragon pictures everywhere, leeks, cawl (lamb & vegetable soup) for dinner, Eisteddfods (song, poetry & dance competitions) and, most importantly, little girls dressed in Welsh costumes.
Chloe in Welsh Costume around 2002
A few of the teachers mentioned that they’d like to dress up on the day too but adult costumes can’t be bought “off the peg” and cost upwards of £150 to have made specially. So of course I said “I’ll make some ready for next year for you”. Nice idea but where on earth am I going to get a pattern???
After a lot of fruitless searching of pattern catalogues I decided to get some proper advice. I emailed St Fagins, National Museum of Welsh Life who suggested I contact The National Wool Museum in Drefach-Felindre. Apparently they make the traditional fabric there and also “made to order” costumes so they may be able to help with a pattern.
I also emailed “Sewing World” magazine. Julie Bonnar, the Assistant Editor, got straight back to me with suggestions of patterns I could adapt. Many thanks Julie! And of course Babs, my lovely tutor, had lots of good ideas too – she suggested using a simple kimono pattern and adapting that to suit.
I’ve now got about 11 months to work on this project ~ I’ll keep you posted.
