Whatever happened to......

[Feltwell]

No, not the Likely Lads - JoceandChris.

Our resident hilltop dwelling chicken enthusiast, chief purveyor of champagne tastes on a budget, has been very quiet of late. Not that we ever heard much from "andChris", but where are you Joce? :?:

 

[mims&pip]

Must be coincidence Feltwell, but I was thinking exactly the same thing earlier today and seriously considered starting a thread on the subject myself......but as I don't *know* Joce personally - although whilst *lurking* hereabouts pre joining the period throng I always enjoyed her posts immensely as we seem to share an interest in rather complex projects involving fabrics* :lol: - I thought it wasn't my place to do so :wink:

So thank you for raising the question(s) "where (and how) is Joce?"

Hopefully she will reappear with news of her latest project!

Mims x

*on the subject of which, my latest project has involved deconstructing some cushion covers I originally made about fifteen years ago and reinventing them by means of some vintage Art Nouveau fabric and rather lovely fringing.....the resulting pile of fabric on the floor of the snug this evening causing Pip to question whether we had a acquired a new pet or slumbering house guest, lol!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh how kind! I'm ok and everything is still just as you describe so accurately. :lol: I've been quite busy losing 3 very unwelcome stones over the last couple of years which has involved some many hundreds of hours spent learning tennis, which doesn't seem as quick to learn as anything else, especially if you've never hit a ball in your life! But I think thousands of hours is going to nail it! :lol: Currently just 11 chickens mainly of the Buff Orpington variety but I've got one sitting on mottled Pekin and White Leghorn eggs so fingers crossed.
And yes, waiting for the dosh for next curtain project but they're going to need 35 metres :shock: Will post pics when all finished.
I'd like to see your cushions Mims!
Hope everyone is ok? How you doing Feltwell?

 

[Feltwell]

Oh, I'm fine - just making sure you hadn't fallen off the hill! After all the trials, tribulations & sagas of life gazing down on Lincolnshire, it had gone suspiciously quiet!

I've been very slack on the house front. Moved 2 steps forward, slipped 3 back. After 8 years I think a break was needed, so I bought a motorhome and have spent all my free time either working on that or going away in it with the family - after all, the kids are growing up fast. However, I'm now back in house mode, and unusually for me have a tradesman booked to do some work on the place - a lead specialist, not something I can easily learn quickly how to do myself - who will be recovering my bay roof and (hopefully) doing some work which will sort the damp problem in my porch. Pictures in due course!

35m of curtain fabric? :shock: What are you doing, new stage curtains for the Albert Hall? :lol:

 

[mims&pip]

So pleased to hear all is well with you Joce and I look forward to seeing pics of your next curtain project When I was a mere lurker here I enjoyed reading all about your various projects at Beacon Cottage.....the tented ceiling was a particular favourite and I loved seeing glimpses of your print room hallway as we did this at a couple of our previous houses - one was a yellow hallway too, the other a burgundy bathroom

No pics of my cushions yet, but when I've completed them all I'll do my best to add some :wink:

The tennis sounds great fun too - table tennis is about my limit :lol: - although I can empathise on the weight-loss front, having lost slightly less via the alternate day fasting method last year!

Mims x

 

[Nigel Watts]

Some sewing is also about to start in darkest Islington following my recent installation of an industrial grade sewing machine in my dressing room. My forthcoming projects are period but not property related. I have acquired a 1920s book on tailoring and have an ambition to make a pair of tweed walking breeches (in spite of the fact that my wife has said she will not be seen outdoors with me if I ever wear them). In fact breeches strike me as a much more practical form of leg garment than trousers. I also intend to make myself some shirts. Being retired now I don't feel the need to conform any more to 21st century dress codes.

 

[88v8]

In the days before we had central heating, I once made my wife a pair of fur trousers for Xmas.
Hand-sewn, had to be a late-night job while she was asleep.
Never sewn anything more than a button before.
It got behind schedule. Of course.
Xmas eve, just the zip to do.
OMG the zip.
Can't remember what hour of the morning I finished, but if ever I had to make my own clothes, there would be no zips :shock:

Ivor

 

[Flyfisher]

Hello Joce, good to hear from you again - try not to be a stranger around these here parts.

As for breeches, I'm not entirely au fait with the differences between the various descriptors of breeches, breeks, plus twos, plus fours, but I have a pair of breeks that I find supremely convenient and comfortable when worn with Wellington boots as they eliminate the need to scrunch trouser legs inside the boots.

I'm not sure I'd be confident enough to stride out in them without boots, but as we're fast approaching the 'welly season' it's a good reminder to dig out the breeks from my winter wardrobe*. Alas, I have neither the talent or patience to fabricate a pair myself and I must confess to buying them off the peg.





* 'wardrobe' being a general term that may, and inevitably will, include old suitcases and cardboard boxes :wink:

 

[mims&pip]

Gosh guys......1920s breeches, fur trousers, breeks - how exciting I quite agree that menswear in the trouser department used to be far more *interesting*, although I'm not sure that Pip would agree, having once had a photograph of himself kitted out in extremely figure-hugging (not to say revealing!) medieval style tights and tunic* prominently displayed on the wall of our son's pre-prep school. It was a talking point amongst parents and staff for quite some time :lol:

I originally trained to be a fashion designer and used to have the requisite industrial machines (sewing, overlooking and knitting), but always detested constructing anything that required zips or worse still multiple button fastenings :roll:

Mims x

* Don't ask for pics - Pip would never forgive me!

 

[Nigel Watts]

The challenge, as with all tailoring and garment making for those who don't have perfect figures, is to reconcile utility with trying to look good. Leg wear, especially for men with prominent bellies, is particularly problematic.

The first question is the rise. The modern fashion is for a low rise with the waistband below the bulge but this only serves to create overhang, thus drawing attention to the surplus blubber. The more old-fashioned way is to have the waistband at the true waist, i.e. an inch or so below the navel - so that the protuberance is disguised. This immediately creates an engineering problem - how to hold them up. Belts are ineffective because, being at the point of greatest circumference, they will tend to slip down. The only solution, short having the belt above the bulge (which would look ridiculous), is braces, and braces work best with high backs. All of this was understood and allowed for in mens trouser designs of the first half of the 20th century.

The next question is what to do with all that fabric hanging from the generous waist, in particular how to get it to hang well. This is where it can get tricky especially if, like me, you have an overly erect posture, a prominent seat and pronounced calves. My only solution so far (in the various prototypes I have been experimenting with) has been to go for a baggy look - not quite as extreme as Oxford bags, but along those lines. All this surplus material flapping around does not strike me as very practical, which is where breeches come in.

There are many form of breeches. The smartest, and least comfortable, are known as livery breeches. These are the sort of thing you might expect a footman to wear. The most comfortable are riding breaches, of which Jodhpurs are probably the most extreme form. The purpose of riding breeches (so I am told, as I don't ride myself) is to allow for the extremes of movement you might need when mounting and riding a horse. In between is a variety of breeches, including what used to be called knicker breeches, or just plain knickers, which seek to balance form and function. This is where I think the solution lies: knickers with a high waist, braces back and long buttoned fly.

 

[Flyfisher]

You certainly seem to have found yourself an immersive project for your retirement Nigel. You realise, of course, that we cannot possibly let you continue without photos :wink:

 

[Feltwell]

I'm glad you replied then Nigel, I was just going to say you've been very quiet of late!

It's funny how these forums wax and wane, all of us tend to have quiet periods. Whatever happened to some of the other frequent posters then eh? Where are you, can we flush you out? :wink:

FamilyWobbs? (Maybe Robin leaned so far to the right he finally fell off that mountain!)

BiffVernon (As above but to the left, bit harder to fall off Lincolnshire though......)

MdB?

Robgil?

Gervase?

Middi? Hope the recovery is making progress.

Schoolmarm?

Jon Maine?

And many others

I've just checked and our second most prolific poster is still Evelyn (Nemesis), despite the fact that it must be a few years now since she was removed from the forum! The most prolific poster by a country mile is still Penners though, he retains his crown.

 

[Lime]

I think it is more than just a few years since Nemesis was allowed to post.
At that time she was head and shoulders above everyone in her post numbers.
Sadly I think the forum is not complete without her.
Her informative contributions (not the arguments) added status.
Nearly all her posts were specifically "Period Property" even in disagreement and few were chat or deviation from topic.
Admittedly she called a spade a spade and persisted in argument until her adversary (or prey ) was exhausted but her heart was in the right place.
Period properties, their structural and decorative preservation and their history came first with her and she had little tolerance of the common wish to bring them up to date by making them little different, particularly in their form internally, from modern housing.

 

[Nigel Watts]

and Brunhilde... what happened to her?

As for my absence, I have been unwell and fighting my former employer (I lost a recent employment tribunal case in which I represented myself), but I have now decided to retire and am much recovered.

 

[Feltwell]

Glad to hear you're better Nigel, sounds like a stressful time.

 

[LadyArowana]

Family Wiggs and Schoolmarm are alive and well in "the other place". She who must not be named was blogging and twittering and feuding :lol:

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Family Wiggs and Schoolmarm are alive and well in "the other place".

as are Gervase (now back in London though) and Biff

 

[Keithj]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the "other place?"

I know of a forum sometimes called that, but I don't think it's the one.

 

[Feltwell]

I believe it's some new-fangled thing called Facebook. Not used it myself but Mrs F is quite familiar with it. I can't see it catching on personally :wink:

 

[Keithj]

Oh, that!
The place that decides which of your posts it will show to which of your contacts.
Very hard to find the people you're looking for in among the sixteen billion others on there.

I thought there was another Period Property forum. I'll stay here.