Arga Arga Bridal Fashion Show

Hello everyone! 

I'm baacck after too long a time really! It's just the last uni shoes are keeping me very busy- I'm working 10am till 8pm every day at the moment :p

But today I bring you some pictures of the bridal fashion show I helped dress on a couple of weeks ago.

The company I was getting experience with was called 'Arga Arga Bridal' (they have a website so definitely give them a Google!)- I met the designers at Brides the show last year and amazingly they kept me in mind and got in contact with me to help out at one of their line launch bridal fashion shows!

It was very exciting as there were hair and makeup people behind the scenes too and the dresses are so beautiful (why they caught my eye at Brides the show!!!). They are different to the traditional white wedding dress as the cuts are often so interesting and Arga Arga are known for incorporating beautiful hand worked embroidery into their dresses also.

Now enough of my waffle here are a couple of shots from the day :) :

It was so great to get the experience I'm very grateful and will definitely be keeping in contact with the designers- hopefully they will have more events I can help out at In  the future!

My next post will be about the dress I have just finished for my recent uni show :)

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

Bye xxxXxxx

Women Fashion power exhibition!

Hi,

I hope you are all doing fabulously :) 

A week or so ago me and my friend Grace from college went to see the Women, Fashion, Power exhibition at the Design Museum in London. It was a really cool exhibition- looking a the the clothing of some very influential women in the world throughout history and now in the modern day. And there were lo just examples of interesting womenwearclothing and shoes too.

From visiting I did manage to tick one thing off my bucket list!!- to see a garment worn by Lady Gaga with my own eyes in person!! Look, I saw this black plastic bag dress worn by Miss Gaga herself!:

One of my other favourite pieces was this strappy black bolero type piece with these amazing metallic/almost holographic plastic pieces protruding from the sleeves:

Isn't it really intriguing? I mean you would definitely make an entrance in that!

And next up in my photo highlights tour- shoes! Here were my two favourite pairs. Wearing with attitude is a must :p they are pretty fierce. But what do you expect from an exhibition entitled women  fashion power...

And lastly these brilliant hats- by the one and only Phillip Tracey of course :) The one comes across as like transforming you into a mystical bird but I might have to go with the one in the middle if I could only have one as that looks soo warm and it is still very cold! :p

I would recommend a visit if you are near the design museum. There is tons more cool items to see that I couldn't possibly cover them all in this post :p

see you all again soon- with news of my show makes for college!  Yes I am now on my first show- which is why I have been so busy these last few weeks.  And I will also be bringing photos and news from Vodafone Fashion Weekend at Somerset House in london (as I visited in September) as I am heading there on Saturday!  :D

Bye till then! Xxxxx

Waistcoat all done!

Hi,

I hope you are all having a good week :)

My waistcoat that I was making in college is now all complete! As I mentioned a post or so ago, for our first project we had to make a men's waistcoat in any style we wanted, it also had to be decorated in some way.

Here was my design, which was inspired by comic book villains and gangsters:

The front sections interlock.

And then here is the back, my decoration was inspired by the glamorous girlfriends gangsters and villains often seem to have in the movies :p:

And now, after a few weeks work, here is my finished waistcoat, front and back:

   

Then here are some close ups/different angles:

 My machine and hand appliquéd hand motifs (the little xxx are hand embroidered):

Satin stitch hand embroidered kiss :):

It was hard to get the lapels so sharp (and the pocket flap points too!):

It was a fun and challenging project. I learnt so much as this was my first ever piece of menswear.  I am really proud of the result though :-) please do leave me any comments below- I would love to know what you think.

See you all again soon, when I will be announcing a special giveaway........!

Bye xxx

P.s. All images in this post are copyright to me (Jordan Norrington)

Bonobos Fashion Challenge!

Hi,

As I mentioned in a previous post I was selected to take part in a Fashion challenge organised by the Menswear brand Bonobos. They sent me a few exclusive pictures from one of their latest collections (which you can view/buy: Here! ) and my challenge was to create a complimentary womenswear look. I spent quite a while looking at the different images and in the end there were two that particularly stood out to me- I loved the way that the men seemed to be looking at someone entering the room. I decided that the men were looking at my beautiful, complementary dressed, woman making her grand entrance. I imagined what she would be wearing to make them the perfect power couple (and to be making him stare so intensely)!

I will now present my designs. Here was the first image I chose to design for:

I loved how smart this suit looked whilst still being quite playful. Here is my complementary womens look:

The fabric darker fabric which makes up on side of the dress is supposed to be the same fabric that the men's suit is made from- I loved the idea of using the same fabric but in a way that it is not too obviously matchy-matchy with the suit. The diamonds on the cuff of the sleeve and in a pattern on the bottom of the dress add a bit of sparkle. The belt is attached into the front and back seam and s inches in the slightly flowier white portion of the dress. The fastening would be an invisible zip on the back down the seam which would end under the collar part (so but of the collar that tails off would be peppered etc.. down so it could be folded back to access the zip). You can see the dart placement on the white side of the dress. On the checked portion there would be a double pointed  dart which runs vertical between the bust and the hip, and similar in the back but between the shoulder blade and a dart running from the shoulder to the shoulder blade (as on white side also) the checked side needs more shaping as it doesn't have the little belt piece to sinch it in. Sorry for anyone who didn't want so much construction detail- just as a maker I think about all these things and it is nice to let you all know that my design is possible in real life seeing as I have only sketched it.

Here is the 2nd image from Bonobos that I chose:

This suit is razor sharp!  I was definitely drawn to the more formal looks- probably because the drama of them. The little pattern on the fabric and the velvet shawl collar are the accents I like the most- I tried to feature the velvet and patterned fabric in my womens wear design as I again liked the matching, but not in too-obvious-a-way look:

The draped strappy straps at the top I envisage being velvet roleau, as I mentioned above to compliment the velvet shawl collar (these fasten into either side of the CB seam- lining up perfectly of course! And into the top of the back of the dress). The fishtail part of the dress made from similar fabric to the diamond patterned suit fabric. The hanging ruby and gold coloured jewel piece adds some extra glamour and also I like the idea of its movement as it hangs- rather than being stitched down.The seam lines a fairly clear in the sketch if this dress and again I imagine there being a CB invisible zip.

I hope you like my designs, please do comment below to tell me what you think- honesty is fine! :)

And I would also like to Thank Bonobos for contacting me about taking part in this challenge as It has been really exciting and fun challenging myself to come up with new designs.

Speak to you all again soon,

Bye xoxoxo

Feeling all bridal part 2

Hilooo, 

last week I finished my two week Bridalwear course at the London college of fashion that I mentioned and showed pictures from in another post. Today I bring you the rest of my snaps!

Here are some different pictures of my finished bodice which I designed and made :):

(It doesn't quite fit the stand as I made it to fit myself, but you get the idea)

Here is the internal corset which is inside the bodice (under the CB):

Neck strap and gem detail:

And then here are all the buttons and roleau loops down the CB:

And here a pictures of my fishtail skirt design toile:

There are a few ways you can create a fishtail shape but my design incorporated godets at the sides and a central shaped flared pointed panels CB and CF:

We also learnt about bias cutting, veils, draping and twisting and bridal wear business tips so it was a really comprehensive course!

I absolutely loved it- I Wish I could do it all over again :D All the ladies on the course (Including me :) do get to visit the tutor Christina Sesays Bridal boutique as long as we bring treats to share :p so I am excited for that day!

I am off to get ready for bed as I have a big day tomorrow-  me and my mum are going to Vodafone London Fashion Weekend!!!! :D I GET TO SEE FASHION CATWALKS!!!! I am sooo excited. I will of course do a post of all my london fashion week and VLFWeekend news!

Speak to you again soon, hope you are well! 

Bye xxxxoooxxx

Feeling all bridal...

Hi,

I hope you are all happy and well! Today I bring news on my bridalwear course I am taking art the London College of fashion.

I am absolutely loving the course, it is absolutely brilliant- I have learnt so much from the lovely tutor- Christina Sesay, who has her own bespoke bridal business (like what I hope to have one day :)

I have not quite finished my bodice yet (I will be done by friday) but here is what I have so far on the stand. It is boned, fully lined and lo has an internal corset to pull the bride in that extra bit more if she wishes. The design is all mine and it was lovely to see something I had imagined coming to life in front of me through all the new skills and techniques I had learned:

As well as bodices, we have also been working on some skirts, just as toiles. I will have a fishtail style one to show you all soon, but for now here is the draped front skirt with integral train:

This one is so interesting. I am enjoying working on skirts as these are something I have experimented less with compared to bodices and tops.

I better go now though as I have to go there now for day 3 of week 2! :-)

Speak to you all again soon,

Bye xoxoxo

I am very happy!

Hi everyone,

I am very happy for many reasons :) Firstly because of the wonderful surprise I got yesterday! I was 'sneak attacked' on etsy (which is actually a good thing) my shop was chosen and promoted on the sneak attack blog by the wonderful sneak attack etsy team (as my shop is fairly undiscovered by most)- and guess what- because of this promotion I made my first sale!!! I also found out about the whole scheme and joined the team do I can find out about other cool small shops and help get them noticed like they helped me :) here is the blog: http://handmademovement.blogspot.co.uk they were promoting lots of good shops so check it out for some good etsy gift ideas!

Secondly I got my papers yesterday to confirm that I definitely passed my first year of uni. Both my friends got into uni too! So good news all round and a huge congrats to my friends :-)

Thirdly I have made more progress on the red dress 1/2 scale I have had as a long term project at home.  Here is how the gathering of the skirt is going, it was kind up a made up process of pinching and twisting the larger petticoat to gather it up to be the same size as the lining :) It is just like I wanted though and I think it is quite effective:

Fourthly (if fourthly is even a thing you can say? :p)  I am enjoying spending lots of time with my lovely family! We walked over the 02 the other day. That was a cool experience.  Here are some of the shots of the view. Walking up was actually quite hard it was quite steep (the walkway):

And I am off with my family to Lyme Regis tomorrow so that should be fun to explore together! :) 

I hope you are all happy as well :-)

I will be back to chat with Al of you my lovely readers super soon,

Byeee xxx

Soutache style jewellery tutorial

Hellooo,

As I mentioned in my last post I have been putting together a special tutorial for you all :0) And the tutorial is for some Soutache style jewellery:

Soutache is a really interesting craft that I learnt about when watching Create and Craft one morning :) It is essentially a craft which uses braid and beads/gems which are all sewn in pretty, often swirled patterns to create beautiful jewellery and decorations- used to decorate military uniforms in the past. There is tons more information and soutache inspiration on This! website. When watching create and craft I really wanted to try making soutache items but... I didn't have any special soutache cord, backing material etc... However, after a bit of experimentation I found you could create soutache style pieces (see picture above) using items that most crafters will have in their stashes (+ a bit of imagination of course :)

The piece I made above is just to give you an idea of the kind of thing you can make- I encourage you to go with the flow really, I just 'free styled it really'- coming up with the design as I sewed, and just swirling the cords and adding beads however looked good.

To begin you will need:

• Some shiny/slightly silky fabric (remnants will do)
• Felt
• Flat back stones/gems or larger flat beads
• seed beads (optional)
• A pen/pencil
• A hot glue gun/craft glue (not needed if you are not incorporating flat backs)
• A roleau turner (optional- but it does make things easier)
• Needles and Matching colour threads.
• Scissors
• And as I said before a bit of imagination! :)

Now onto how to do it:

I mentioned that instead of using braid I came up with and alternative and that alternative is lengths of roleau (a cord made using long thin strip of fabric cut on the bias which is stitched and then turned through). There is quite an informative tutorial for how to make roleau cords Here! That page also shows you how to turn through your roleau using the needle and thread method. Whereas in my quick roleau tutorial below I just use a roleau turner. 

Right so ad I mentioned to make your roleau cord take your chosen fabric and cut some bias (45 to the selvedge or straight of grain this gives the fabric more movement and stretch so helps when bending the roleau and turning it through) strips (make them about half the width of a standard ruler and just as long as you can get from your remnants :)

Fold each strip right side to right side and sew down the strip about 3 - 4 mm in from the fold. Then trim down your seam allowances to a few mm:

Turn through:

You now have your mock - soutache cord and can begin creating you design...

... Cut a square of felt big enough for your design and take the flat back or bead you want in the centre of your design/to start with and glue or sew it down in position on the felt:

Now, as I said before I didn't want to create a tutorial for the exact piece I made as it is often nice for people to explore their own ideas so I am not going to go through the exact positioning for my roleau but I will go though the special way of sewing them in so you can hide all your stitches- then you can just go with it and sew them in it whatever positions you like. Also just as a note you can sew two cords on together at the same time (just follow the stitch below but go through two cords at the same time).

Firstly put a no knot in your thread and come up from the back near your gem. Take the piece of roleau you want and pass the needle and thread through it from the folded edge to the front seam:

Then go back through, slightly further along, through the front seam to the folded edge and back down into the felt, again slightly further along than where you came up out from:

This is the stitch you use to sew on your roleau. Just keep going all the way around etc.. doing this until your cord is fixed down how you want it. You are effectively hiding your stitches in the roleau seam :)

If you want to secure two ends of a roleau together just go backwards and forwards through each end a few times (again hiding your stitches in the seams) before passing your needle to the back and knotting off:

You can play around and sew the ends how you want:

TO finish off the raw cut ends just glue them slightly to prevent fraying and over sew them down (or pass them through the back of the felt using a large needle).

Keep adding more roleau cords to your design- you can even get little Catherine wheel type swirls by rolling up the roleau and passing your needle and thread back and forth a few times through the wheel and down into the felt to secure:

Add more gems/beads by glueing or sewing :) sewing seed beads in between the roleau can look good (I deliberately spaced about my roleau when sewing it so I could do this more easily):

I sewed them on on bunches of three with a running type stitch:

Here is a close up of how I finished my ends (you could do this for each end individually if you didn't want to overlap them):

Thu back doesn't have to be too neat :p when you are happy cut around it- be careful not to cut any of your stitching though! :

Trace around your piece onto another piece of felt and cut the shape out:

Glue or sew this 2nd piece onto the back of your soutache style creation, add a brooch pin or whatever you want and you are good to go:

Look, all done! :-):

He he he, I hope you like the tutorial. If anyone makes any soutache style jewellery using my tutorial I would love to see pics so please do post a link or send me a picture (iitki@hotmail.co.uk)

Also if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask and I will try to explain things better :p

See you all soon, I hope you are having a lovely weekend,

bye xxxxx