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

A big post- with lots of cakes :oP

Hiiii,

Today, as mentioned in the title I bring you a rather large post!

 

The first thing I have to tell you about is my visit to the Fashion and textile museum in London :) I went there for a day course on couture sewing techniques, the price for which included a ticket to their current exhibition of Mexican Rebozos (Mexican rectangular shawl like garments).

 

The sewing room the course took place in was really nice, and I learnt a lot of cool tricks and tips too:



 

Then at the end of the day I had a wander around the exhibition, here is a really cool Rebozo knitted by Kaffe Fassett:

 

 

Here is a suit made from Rebozos- the cut is really sharp:

 

This dress is also made from a Rebozo- it is so wacky! :P:

 

Haha. This little dude was appliqued onto one of the shawls- I love him because he is wacky too!:

 

This painting is the last picture I have to show you from the exhibition, it was so cool, the canvas is cut away at the loom part so there is a real loom stocking out of the painting, it makes it 3D and makes the painting really come to life:

 

I really must learn more about weaving- the loom fascinated me, trying to work out how all the patterns in the cloth were being created :)

 

Now I am finished telling you about the Mexican shawls I shall move onto another culture- African culture, with a quick picture of the African dress I was helping Stephanie put little bits together of when I went to my Work experience on Monday:

 

The mannequin is slightly to small for this dress really so it doesn't quite show it off to it's full potential but it still does give you some idea of Stephanie's flair for design (and making!). The dress is so vibrant, I love helping Stephanie with her dresses as I love learning more about more traditional/popular African styles, they are so different to what I normally see/wear so they are really inspiring to me :-) My fascination with different cultures styles is also why I visit the Asian wedding fair as well as the UK wedding fair- that way I can see the different aspects specific to different cultures but also how on many levels they intertwine and mix and influence each other. I need there to be an African wedding fair too!

 

You are probably all thinking by now 'where's the cakes? the tile says there is lots of cake!', well don't fret as it is on it's way now :P

 

First up are these double chocolate chip peanut butter cookie cupcakes, I made them as dessert (as part of the American themed dinner party I cooked) for when my nan came round on Friday:

 



 

They were peanut butter choc chip sponge with cookie dough frosting and chocolate chips and a cookie to decorate :) They went down really well, my dad liked them especially!

 

After I made those and they went down so well I kind of had the cupcake bug (I've had it for a while now- after doing the TWO cupcake tours :-P). I decided to make some more today, these ones were even more decadent:

 

Peanut butter, choc chip cookie dough AND caramel cupcakes!: Peanut butter chocolate chip sponge and cookie dough frosting again but this time with a cookie baked at the bottom and a caramel filling too. I reallly liked these ones (though they are super sweet).

 

And because one variety is never enough is it? :P I also made these bounty ones:

 

Desiccated coconut and milk choc chip sponge, with half a bounty bar baked in the middle. Then coconut milk frosting, half a bounty and a sprinkling of desiccated coconut to top! I haven't tried one of these yet, that is on the menu for tomorrow. My mum said they were good though and my brothers eyes lit up when he was eating it so I should like them :0)

 

I may make making cup cakes my new hobby on the side as I enjoy it and people have expressed to me it is not healthy to think about/read about/practise/learn about sewing, costuming, pattern making etc... 24/7, lol. That will still of course take up most of my time as I couldn't bear to let it not!

 

For example, today I continued working on the dress I am making myself from the HUGE mens shirt I got from the costume store sale (remember? :). I unpicked it so I could basically just use it as fabric then drew up a pattern for a 60's inspired a line dress, here it is so far:

 

It is going to have some decorative pocket flaps and a collar in a matching colour scheme tartan style fabric from a skirt I got in the Costume sale- I will probably get those on it tomorrow- then It will be done. I did the bias binding on the armholes in the sink stitching method I got extra tips on at my couture course on Saturday :o) I have always found it tricky but now I have got techniques to make it not so hard and with practise I will get really neat at it! I want to have it done for Sunday when we are having family friends over for dinner.

 

Work has also started on my mums dress:

 

Quite a bit more hand sewing to go but I am getting there slowly. You have to do it a bit at a time though as I find I have to have the dress hung up as shown whilst sewing to check nothing pulls and that the edges of the panel are going on straight, but it makes your arm ache :0P

 

Phew, that was a long post! But hopefully an interesting one, or possibly just to much of me waffling :P

 

I will let you go now, but not before telling you to have a look at all the new headbands in my shop:  (with more coming soon!), for example, ice creamssss!!!:

 

 

They are inspired by my work experience at Queenie and Teds, the whole Idea of collage like, fun, applique/decoration :)

 

Hehe, now I will officially let you go!

 

Speak to you again soon, I hope you are all well,

 

Bye XxXxXxX

 

Fathers Day!

Hi everyone,

As the title of this post suggests, this post is mainly about Fathers day :P However I would like to begin by saying a big thanks to Steph (see her blog here!) who sent me this lovely bundle in the post:

 

 

 

They are the most awesome cross stitch charts ever and she even put in an adorable little Hamtaro charm she found for me! (for those of you that don't know I love Hamtaro and hamsters in general :-)

 

How kind and lovely Steph is, I can't wait to start on some of the charts! Thank you xxxx

 

Hehe, now onto fathers day :P

 

First up, I managed to finish the Paddington Biscornu I was making for my dad just in time:

 

My dad loves Football

 

And he does some primary school maths teaching (Just to explain why I chose those Paddingtons, in case I haven't already)

 

I stitched the words 'I love You Dad' and a little heart into the opposite corners:

And I added two little love heart charms to make it extra special:

 



 

My dad really liked it and said it would probably take him years to sew something that didn't look nearly as good, lol :P He also thought the shape was cool.

 

Making this Biscornu has reminded how much I love the shape of them too, an dhow fun they are to make. Maybe I will whip up another couple using the charts Steph sent me.... ooohh.... a Hamtaro Biscornu.... I am in heaven!!!

But before I drift off into Biscornu world, back to fathers day. As well as his other presents me, my mum and my brother all clubbed together to buy ingredients for a special Fathers day picnic. I then did some baking with it all (with a bit of help from my brother) and voila:

 

We had to have it indoors because it wasn't very sunny outdoors, but I think it still looked pretty and we still had fun. There were benefits also like not being bothered by any insects, lol!

 

The round bread loaf you can see in the picture is actually a giants sandwich (a hollowed out loaf that you fill with your sandwich filling them slice it and eat it). I filled it with green salad leaves, roasted tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil and some Quorn ham- we managed to finish it all, it was tasty, even if I do say so myself :P

 

In terms of baking, I made peanut butter cookies:

 

Cherry and Cinnamon cake (the recipe for which can be found here)- which went reallllyy well with custard!:

And finally some black bottom cupcakes (chocolate and a blob of cheesecake mix, with cream cheese frosting on top) from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook:

 



 

Everything went down well :) Pretty much everything I know about picnics, dinner parties, and cooking in general I have learnt from watching and helping my dad (and a little bit from GCSE food tech, lol) so it was nice to get to treat him by showing him all he has taught me, and by doing all the hard work he normally has to do to put everything together for him.

I LOVE YOU DAD! XXX

After the picnic we all watched a Paddington bear DVD (my present to my dad) and the Harry hill movie (one of my brothers presents to my dad), which was amusing- and one of the main characters was a hamster, lol!

 

I hope all of you had a good weekend/Fathers day too. I better go now though, I have got to get off to college in a moment to finish my jacket,

 

See you all soon,

 

Bye XxXxXxX

A huge post! (incl. cupcake walk #2 with my friend; stitch b*tch :)

Hello,



Today I bring you a very, very full post! Full of lots of lovely costumes and cakes, shall we begin....?

First up I thought I would show you all the most recent pictures of my Line and form project (collaboration with a designer :). Here is my finished toile- which basically means the mock up of the garment to get the fit perfect:

I have now started to make it up for final as I had my fittings this week and made the small alterations to the patterns needed. Now I have got to power on and get it finished perfectly! I am really enjoying this project though, as we are learning all the skills needed to interpret a designers sketch- something that really intrigues me as,  as well as bridal, couture fashion clothing making (being in an Atelier and interpreting fashion designers sketches) is something that I would really liked to be involved in in the future :)

Talking of bridal though- I did a bit more work experience on Saturday for Sharon, the lady who let me help out with the bridal fashion show. She has just opened a new bridal boutique. I was front of house in it on Saturday. I managed to make an appointment for a bride to come in to try dresses on so I was very happy! Hehe, here was my view from my mirrored desk (ooh fancy! :-):

On to more lovely things now....

....today I was walking around London for about 5 hours- no exaggeration as first I went to see the Graduate show for all the 3rd years at my college at the OXO Tower Bargehouse and then I went onto my 2nd cupcake walk of the year :P

The Graduate show was really good, lots of really high quality pieces :) And the setting of the Bargehouse was really cool and interesting- kind of like an old warehouse but nice and bright from all the windows:

The lovely pieces speak for themselves so I will just let you enjoy the photos- rather than natter on about my thoughts :P

As I was wandering round I couldn't help but think that that will be me in two years, presenting my work as a graduate! That made me feel really excited and inspired :)

Then after that, as I said, it was on to my 2nd cupcake walking tour of London of the year. I enjoyed the one I did with my mum soo much that I asked if my friend from Uni wanted to go with me on another one. She has just started her own blog recently and I highly recommend you check it out and drop her a comment or two :o) It is really interesting, and I am not just saying that because I am her friend: http://www.stitchbtch.blogspot.co.uk/. Her blog is titled stitch bt*ch, as believe it or not that is the often used nickname for members of wardrobe departments in theatre etc! :P

First up on the tour was the cupcake bakehouse- Owned and run by Lorraine Pascal:

I had a mini chocolate cupcake from there:

Then it was onto Laudree- their macarons I would say could not be improved, they are perfect:

Sweet couture had some new flavours for this walk so I was super excited, I had cookie dough, and Grace had oreo (a good choice! That's What I went for on my first walk):

Mmmmm... cookie dough was so nice!!!!!!!  I want another one!!!! (P.s. I think Sweet Couture is my fave cupcake place)

Then came hummingbird bakery:

And another delicious red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting:

Yauatcha is a place I am so happy I discovered form the walks- their macaron varietys are so cool!

I had another Jaffa cake one because I couldn't resist and I also tried caramel cashew and pistachio:

We got three choices there this time as Fortnum and masons was unavailable for a sample this time. I didn't mind though as I do love Yauatcha.

And finally onto Patisserie Valeire for a caramel truffle and chocolate macaron:

So lovely!

The tour went via Saville row which was cool as you could see the workrooms through the windows below the pavement level.

Hehe, you can go get a drink and have a relax now- I am finished.

I promise :P

I hope you all had a great weekend too. I am off now to watch TV with my mum and work more on my dads Paddington bear cross stitch fathers day present.

See you all soon,

Bye XxXxX