Printing, breaking down and dyeing

Hi guys,

The title of this post pretty much tells you what I have been doing all this week :p Yes, I have just finished the second week of the skills carousel I am currently completing at uni.

We started the week by learning about dying. This was pretty interesting as it is something I have never really done before properly (just with kool aid on some wool! :p). We learnt how to colour match- to dye fabrics to be the same colour as seen in a picture or painting etc. Then we practised some different dying techniques such as ombre (a gradual colour change from light to dark up/down the fabric) and patch dying (different colours of dyes applied/layered onto the fabric in a blotchy way).

Here is my ombre sample:

And here is my patch dying sample:

patch dying is a good method to use when breaking down as it can make things look old and distressed  depending on the colours you use.

Talking about breaking down, that is what we moved onto next. We all had to pick an image of a character wearing a broken down costume from a film or play. I chose my image from the original piranha movie as I love that film :D

Here was my shirt before it was met by sandpaper, fabric paint,  a Stanley knife etc.:

And here is it after:

I am really proud with how it came out as breaking down was something I found quite challenging at times. You have to try and be realistic and make things like the blood look realistic and build it up in layers- I am not great at art/painting so it was quite hard to get something that didn't just  look like a halloween costume I made in 5 mins! Even the stages you have to curve at the ends and fray slightly so they don't just look like you did then with a knife. I liked putting my shirt on once it had dried- I felt like an extra from the movie :p

And now last but not least printing. Again something I had never done properly before but and it was a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting experience.  Cutting out my stencils were a bit fiddly but in the end I was happy with the effect/pattern I achieved, and it was cool to play around with the metallic paints, foil and puff paints.

Here are my finished samples and printed tshirt:

Next week I have a reading week so I can prepare more work and research but then after that is wigs... so that should be interesting to tell you about :p

I hope you all had a lovely weekend,  talk to you again soon!

Bye xxx

2014 Advent giveaway winner!!!!

Hi,

The entries are now closed for the 2014 crafty advent calendar giveaway are now closed. Thank you to all those who entered :)

Now, Drumroll please! The winner as chosen by random number generator is....

LINDACEE! 

Congratulations :D

I have contacted you via ravelry to help me get your prize on its way to you ASAP ready for December 1st!

Once again, thank you to all those who entered and as always more giveaways are not far around the corner! 

Speak to you again soon,

Bye xoxoxo

Millinery meanderings

Hi everyone,

At college at the moment we are on our carousel of different costume techniques that don't feature as part of the day to day of our course :) We get to do one week of millinery, dance ear , dying and breaking down and also a week of wig dressing. 

The week of millinery has just gone and it was such an interesting and enjoyable week. As some of you may remember I did a millinery course at the London college of fashion last summer. That course mainly focused on blocking techniques, whereas the week just gone at college we looked at cutting and shaping buckram to make hats- something much more achieve able at home without too much special equipment. I was so pleased with the result. We had to focus on the period of the 19th century to base out hat designs on. Here is the reference image I chose as a starting point for my hat, I found it in a book in the library: 

I didn't make my hat from straw however as I wanted to try fabric covering it so I went with a kind of golden straw coloured velvet instead.

Here is my final hat, I was really proud of it. Everyone else's was amazing too- it was amazing to see all thst had been produced in just a week!:

It is pretty big- you would need a lot if hairpins through the loops I sewed in to hold it down!

As this post was millinery themed, I thought it would be a good time to show you the fascinator I was making outside college that I just finished :-) It was from a kit from Hats on Heads (a millinery company- I bought two more of their kits from create and craft as well). It was pretty fun to make and not too much of it was given to you pre - done so I did actually lean quite a few skills.  Here it is:

Now I just need an occasion to wear it to! :p

Hehe,  I better be off to bed now, I hope you enjoyed my millinery meanderings.  Please do leave any comments below or ask any questions if you have them xxxx

Also don't forget tommorow the advent calendar giveaway ends do if you have entered already go do so now before it is too late! Good luck :-)

Speak to you all soon, 

Bye xoxoxo

Royal school of needlework class!

Hi everyone,

Today was the day of my Royal School of needlework class that I was the lucky winner of from the hobbycraft and creative stitches show a while back now. I had a lovely day- stitching away on the classroom at the amazing Hampton Court palace!

The tutor was Becky Hogg, she was really nice (and has her own etsy shop if you want to try some cool embroidery!: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BeckyHoggEmbroidery

We were embroidering some 17th century inspired  button badges today. Here was the kit we got given:

 

The buttons involved using different metalwork embroidery techniques such as cutwork, couching and sewing on spangles- things I have never done before so they were good to learn! Here is my first finished brooch:

I am very proud of it, even if it is not exactly as prefect as the tutors one. The metal cutwork threads (purl threads) were so fragile which made it quite challenging at times- I will have to practice!

And here is my 2nd one so far (once I have finished it properly I will put up a picture also :):

I hope you are all having a good weekend and hello to all the new followers! Also I am do happy with all the entries for my advent giveaway- I am so glad everyone is excited about it!

See you all soon,

Bye xxxxx

***Advent Calendar Gifts Giveaway-2014!!!***

Hello everyone!

The time has come for the return of the Crafty Advent Calendar Giveaway!!!...

I am once again giving away to one person 24 festive crafty gifts to countdown to Christmas- a crafty advent calendar! :0D

Here are the 24 parcels:

I felt like one of Santa's elves wrapping all of them :P

Image from: here

I had fun finding all the different little festive themed gifts that could be added to/used in Christmas craft projects over the whole of December :) 

If you win you can put them all in a fancy bowl, or a fill-it-yourself decorative calendar (those felt/stitched ones with pockets :) and then open the right one each day from the 1st to the 24th of December (like the choccy calendars) to get your little surprise!

Here is what was in the last crafty advent just to give you some idea (though I have got some different stuff for this year of course :-)......

-*-*-*-

Giveaway entries are open until the 16th of November 2014 and the winner will be randomly selected and announced on the same day!

The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere! :)

HERE IS HOW TO ENTER:

To be entered you must:

> Be a follower

> And leave a comment below with some way to contact you in case you win! :)
(e.g ravelry name, blog or email address etc...)

ALSO---- If you buy anything in my shop from now until the closing date of the giveaway, and/or link to this giveaway on your blog or social media (leave me a link!) you will automatically receive an extra entry :)

-*-*-*-

I hope you all like the giveaway, and I hope you had a great Halloween too- I will bring you updates on mine soon :)

Talk to you later,

Bye xXxX