Brides The Show + Bonobos fashion challenge!

Hello!,

 

I hope, as usual that you are all feeling happy and well :0)

 

Today I bring you a post with a lot of lovely pictures in it! This is because this weekend I went to Brides- The Show, a wedding fair organised by the publishers of Brides magazine. I went with a friend- Graceypaste from www.stitchbtch.blogspot.com :) I was super excited for the catwalk which we luckily managed to get on the front row for due to being there for the earliest catwalk of the day which was not as full as anticipated (there were TONS of people at the later ones so we were happy we did everything early). The catwalk was decorated really nicely with real flowers:

 

 

They really put on a show- there was about 60 dresses! All gorgeously beautiful and interesting may I add. It's a bit impossible to show you them all (we would be here forever!) but here are some of my highlights, as usual I will let the dresses speak for themselves- there is such a range, from vintage looking to very modern:

 

LoVe! Very Roccoco- French- Marie Antoinette!- sorry I said I would let the dresses speak for themselves :P

 

 

 

(50's/diors new look style!)

 

Again Love- so different!

 

Hehe, I mostly let the dresses speak for themselves but I burst with love for some of them so it is hard for me to keep hush! :P If you are getting married and liked the look of what you saw above go to the Show site and check out the exhibitors list and pick up the dress of your dreams!: http://bridestheshow.co.uk/

 

Not only were the dresses that went down the catwalk interesting, but the ones on the different stands were just as fascinatingly cool, I mean look at this one:

 

 

This dress was made by three sisters who have just set up a bridal business (Arga-Arga Bridal). It is hand embroidered by them- with precious stones (responsibly sourced :) sewn into the embroidery too. Me and my friend had a chat with one of the sisters who was Lovely and told us more about the dress- we told her we could appreciate the amount of work that must have gone into it being both from costume making/sewing backgrounds.

 

And- Stop the press! I think I found my future dress! This Ancient Egyptian inspired on I saw on one of the stands:

 

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! I Am very much bursting with love for this one! Ancient Egypt serves as a constant source of inspiration for me, I love the golds and the opulent blues and emerald greens. I have never seen historically inspired wedding dresses before so this brand; Zaeem Jamal http://zaeemjamal.com/index.html, really caught my eye. Look at  these other dresses they had on show:

 

None of them are too much- Just so different and really stunning and fascinating.

 

After me and my friend had looked at all the dresses it was physically possible to look at in one day, we headed to the 'imagination room' to take part in a free cake pop decorating workshop. That was pretty fun (even though I had already eaten tons of free cake as samples from the different exhibitors :P):

 

Hehe, It was the second bit of cake decorating I did that weekend as Saturday me and my mum went on a cupcake decorating course- my birthday gift from my nan :) I think I did OK, here they all are:

 

I am giving my nan some this weekend- so she can try the Swiss meringue buttercream on top. I like normal buttercream better but apparently some people really love SMB so I will see if she is one of those people- my mums work colleagues loved her cakes, so maybe it is just me :P

 

The last bit of news before I go (and you get to go and have a lie down after this super long post!)...

...

I was contacted by http://www.bonobos.com/ the American Menswear company, after they had seen my blog, asking me if I wanted to take part in their Fashion Challenge! I was super excited and said yes of course :P They have sent me some preview pictures of their new upcoming collection which I have to design some womens wear outfits to go with them and complement them. I have taken a good look at the pictures and have got some inspiration flowing- so expect my Bonobos Fashion challenge post soon! :D

 

Speak to you all again soon, I better go get a good nights sleep so I am ready to go fabric shopping in London  for my college waistcoat project tomorrow!

 

Bye XxXxXxX

My Jolly Jar

Hi everyone,

The time just seems to be flying by at the moment, probably because I am coming to the end of my first year at college- only 2 and a half weeks left! It doesn't seem that long ago that I was posting to you all about how excited I was to go off to uni and now soon I am going to be a 2nd year.

 

But anyway... before I start to get all emotional I will move on. Last week my family went on holiday to the IOW as it was half term. I was at college but my family were lovely to me and picked me up some special gifts, including some garlic fudge (I will  let you all know my verdict on that, lol!?)  and this cool jar filled with fabric and sewing bits and bobs:

 



 



 

 

My  mum said the Lady in the shop made them up her self- she definitely had good taste as all the fabrics were so cool and the buttons and ribbons are all really cute and quirky too. I have set myself  a challenge to take the jar on holiday with me during the summer and make something really cool using the bits inside :) So I look forward to what inspiration takes me....

 

Back to college news Now, pictures from my last project of the year (I will try to hold back the tears! :P). We are each collaborating with a theatre design student and creating one of the pieces from one of their costume designs for a character from the play Duchess of Malfi. My designer set the play in modern/contemporary style and so I am making the fitted tailored peplum jacket she designed for the Duchess' court dress.

 

Here is my little half scale tester- that I made to show my designer to check I was along the right lines with interpreting her design:

 

 

And now here is my work in progress toile, which hopefully I will be able to fit  on my model tomorrow :):

 

 

This project is really independent which is good as it is really pushing me. I am trying to draft the patterns with as little aid from pattern drafting books as I can in order to develop my understanding of the shape of the body and measurements and how they relate to the shape of pattern pieces as best as I can :-)

 

I better get off to bed now, speak to you all again soon and I hope you are all well!

 

Thank you for reading my blog my lovely friends,

 

Byeee XxXxXx

A non-chocolatey chocolate challenge!

Hi everyone,

About a week ago me and my family went into London for the day. We picked up lunch in Marks and Spencers where we found some walnut whips which we also got. I hadn't tried them before but they were actually very tasty. They are basically chocolate with a fluffy vanilla/marshmallowy type filling and a little walnut on top. A few days later I made some similar things of my own and they were quite tasty too.

 

I was talking to my friend Springmusician over at My life, my thoughts, my hobbies and she said she had been meaning to make a knitted version of the tasty treat for her mum. I thought a crafty version of the walnut whip was a super great idea so we decided to turn it into a non-chocolatey chocolate challenge and both create our own different versions and post them on our blogs today!

 

Here is a picture of the original walnut whip:

Image from: here

 

mmmm..... I really fancy one now :P

 

 

And here is my crocheted/knitted (I used a bit of both) version- my entry for our challenge :D:

 

 

It was super fun to create, I can't wait to  see Springmusician's creation

  

If anyone else would like to join in on our non- chocolately walnut whip chocolate challenge, just for fun, feel free- the more the merrier. Knitted, crocheted, sewn or even paper craft, all are welcome! Just leave a comment below with a link to your post or send a picture to me at iitki@hotmail.co.uk and I will share them on my blog :)

 

Funny enough I am going on a chocolate tasting tour around London today, hehehe, I wonder if any walnut whips will be included in that :0P

 

See you all soon,

 

Bye Bye XXOOXXOO