Half scale progress :)

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well- time has really been flying and it's been quite while since I last posted. I have been working in my half scale :p which is now almost done (which Is a very good thing as my next show I am working on started today at uni so now I've got to get in with that!)

Here are the latest pictures:

It's just the buttons and buttonholes down the front of the jacket left really :)

I'm quite proud of it though at times when you are hand sewing a hem for hours it can get a bit tedious :p

I will return soon with a post about my upcoming uni show work and also about a wedding fair catwalk I am working on on Sunday :D I'm very excited!

Speak to you all soon, 

Bye xoxoxo

Victorian Dress half scale

Hello everyone,

It has been too long since my last post- time has been flying now I'm back at college! Especially since I have been so focused on making progress in our latest on going project making one of the dresses from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion Books. I chose to make a Victorian promenade ensemble (from book 2). I scaled up my patterns from the tiny ones in the book and then went fabric shopping to try and find materials close to the original materials used. After that I did a bit of toiling and have now begun making up. I have finished my sleeves completely- they took 3 days by themselves- so much hand sewing due to pieces being so small you cant really do them under the machine practically.

Here is the original Victorian dress, the image is from the V and A website where the garment is held in the archives:

 

And here are my kind of replica half scale sleeves:

 

I am quite proud of them :) Now I just need to get on and make the rest of the ensemble... in between starting on my first make for a show production which starts next week! :D Ahhh, Yayaya I'm very excited about that!!! (can you tell!? haha)

 

Also soon I will be bringing you all a mini fascinator tutorial upon suggestion by one of my lovely readers Mel makes! So look out for that :)

 

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

 

Bye XxXxXxX

 

A WIP for my mum and it's Circus time...!

Hello,

I hope everyones week is going well so far!

 

This week I started a new knitting project, something for my mum actually- a Kindle fire case :-) She got a kindle Fire HD from my dad for Christmas and a hard case to protect it, but I thought I would knit her a pretty case to slip it into when she takes it on holiday etc...

 

I came up with a style and colour in my head, then looked through my knitting stitch calendar from a couple of years ago to find the kind of stitch I wanted. Here is it so far: 

 

 

It will have the cables running all the way up and then ribbing at the top, and to add the final finishing touch I am going to sew this little hedgehog cross stitch that I am working on too:

 

It is another mouseloft kit- just in case anyone thinks he is cute and wants to start stitching him for themselves :P

 

This week for me is installation week at college- all the people on technical courses (like me :) have to work in groups to make a little exhibition piece thing and this years theme for the installations is fairgrounds/carnivals etc... so me and my group decided to make ours about a circus. Our piece gets a bit dark in places and we have lights and sound etc.. to convey our story but today we got our torn poster wall we planned up- it looks pretty good, I helped out with editing some of the old style posters we found and then distressing them with teabags and stuff- it was fun! Here it is:

 

 

Hehehe- still more to do for our piece, including putting out and focusing the lights onto the jars with little circus scenes in that me and a girl from theatre design put together. We will get there ready for showing them on Thursday and Friday though!

 

See you all again soon and I hope you are all well,

 

Byeeeeeeeee xxx

A festive dinner party!

Hi,

 

Last night we had some family friends over for a festive dinner party :) I worked hard on the table runner I mentioned that me and my family were making in my last post and managed to get that all together ready for the occasion and I also managed to finish making the 8 mini Christmas yule log (on my free patterns page :D) place settings that I wanted to give to everyone too.

 

It all looked nice on the table I think, I was really pleased with the pattern I made for the table runner, It was perfect size (I took measurements :) for our table and the pointed edges hung over the ends of the table nicely:

 

 

Now I will show you a close up of each of the rectangles that me and my family decorated individually.....

 

This is my brothers:

 

He wanted to go for a rustic look and I think he did a really good job :-)

 

 

This is my mums:

 

It really makes me smile when I look at it because it is so much my mums style- it reminds me of her and Christmas- two things I love! :P

 

My dads rectangle now:

 

This one is very much my dads style so I really like it :) The house underneath the big star is meant to be our house and the little car coming towards it is the 'Amazon' van delivering all our prezzies we ordered online :P Hehehe :)

 

And last (but hopefully not least :0P) is my rectangle:

 

 

I did some decorated baulbaules, which I stuffed to make them rounded and stand away from the fabric like real baulbaules :) I didn't even realise it but when I looked at my finished rectangle again I realised I had basically done a baulbaule style for each of my family members, lol! The pink beaded one for my mum, the green one for my dad, the yellow chain stitch star one for my brother and the pink girly heart gem one for me! Hehe, it shows I am always thinking about them- even subconsciously :P

 

I really enjoyed making the table runner with my parents and brothers designs included, I love sewing (can you tell? :)- seen as it is what I am studying at uni :P) so it was really lovely to have them join in and share my passion with them. I am hoping maybe next year we can do another family project, maybe something out of my comfort zone even- like some woodwork, then my dad can share the tips and tricks instead of me :)

 

My little yule logs were received really well so that made me super happy as I did work hard when making the pattern to make them as cool and realistic as possible. I added little labels for each person and of course popped a choccy inside:

 

 

I am actually going to try and make a real, edible, version of my winter wonderland mini knitted yule log! I don't think the recipe for it actually exists- it just looked nice in knitted version :P

I got a big vanilla and strawberry Swiss roll, which I am then going to coat in white chocolate and after that add a final coating of vanilla buttercream, before decorating with a bit of holly and a dusting of icing sugar (rather than glitter, lol!).

 

I am hoping it will be delicious, my nan and mum and granddad don't really like chocolate cake so when I looked at my winter wonderland mini roll I thought why not make it in real life- it will hopefully be a non-chocolate cake lovers perfect Christmas yule log :-D

 

I will put up pictures and let you know what it tastes like- just in case any of you decide you may want to whip up my random creation :oP

 

I am off now to get ready to go out to the Olympia horse show which my parents booked for us all for some Christmas family fun. I am excited!

 

I hope you are all well :)

 

See you soon,

 

Bye XxXxXxXxXxX

Slightly less busy than an elf... for now...

Hello,

 

I hope everyones Mondays were not too bad :)

 

My making and crafting craziness has slowed down slightly now, my elf boots are all done:

 

 

And the Christmassy biscuit village I decided to make for when my friends came round on Friday didn't go to badly either :):

 

 

I think they enjoyed it, I thought it was quite tasty!

 

Hehehe, Lalaloopsy had her eye on it before my friends came round, bu I told her she'd have to wait :P

 

 

Saturday morning I managed to get all the headbands I wanted to make for my little cousins, all ready for Christmas eve! I am really thrilled with how they came out- I hope they love them:

 

They are modified version of the gnome hat pattern I made for the innocent smoothie, I added a gem, ribbon and a pom pom to make them super girly and kawaii! :3

 

Hehehe, they barely fit into the bags (Which I popped a chocolate freddo in too :P)

 

 

Just as I started to finish all my Christmas crafting projects, I and my family(!) have managed to start another- a Christmas table runner! We were watching the Christmas episode of the great British sewing bee and they did this group table runner project where each of them decorated their own square on the table runner and then they all got sewn together. It was lovely and we thought it would be nice to do the same :0)

 

I took some measurements of our table and came up with a design:

 

The middle panel and two end triangles are in red Santa fabric, all of the borders and dividers in a gold Christmas fabric and the four rectangles (with a cross in them in my sketch :P) are the rectangles me, my mum, dad and brother are going to decorate one of each!

 

This morning I drafted up the pattern, cut out all the fabric pieces and started sewing, here is one of the triangular end pieces so far, just to give you an idea of the fabrics:

 

Hehehe, now I just have to come up with a design for my square.... I have a couple of ideas so far.

 I will keep you updated on my family project! :D

 

Speak to you again soon,

 

Byeeeeeeeeeeee XxXxXxXxX Tis the season to be jolly, falalalala la la la la! xxx

 

P.s. My shop will be closing on the 18th of December for Christmas, so get in quick if you have any last minute shopping to do :P But it will be opening again shortly after Christmas day, with new stock coming for the new year! :)

 

Bye OXOXO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little bits and bobs :)

Hello everyone,

 

Today I just had a couple of little mini projects to show you. First is this little felt pasty:

 

 

I made it for my mum as she had to go to the hospital (nothing serious) and I wanted to make her a little mascot to let her know I was thinking of here. She really liked it and my dad thought she should be called Patsy pasty so that is her name now! :)

 

My other little project has been these little crochet keys:

 

 

I haven't quite perfected the pattern yet but when I do I may put it up. I think I might make a few and turn them into some crochet jewellery which will hopefully look cool!

 

I'm off now to finish of another of my projects which I have been working on which I will be making into a tutorial soon....

 

... I will leave you on that cliffhanger :P hehehe!

 

See you all soon,

 

Bye XxXxXxXx

 

Ooops, I forgot!

Hi everyone,

I hope you all are well and having a lovely week :) I was looking through the pictures on my camera the other day and found a picture of a mini project I forgot to blog about, so I thought I would share it with you now (better late than never, lol :P).

For Christmas I got my nan this build a bear teddy:

 

I bought the cooking apron and glove outfit but to give it a bit more of a personal touch I stitched the bow and knitted the little cookie too :) My nan liked it so I was pleased!

 

I also realised I have not yet put up the picture of what was in this years crafty advent calendar so I will try to find the pictures I took and get them to you soon :P Only a month late but just in case some of you were curious :)

 

See you all soon,

 

Byeeeee xxxx

 

Recycled quilt

Hi everyone,

The other day I was sifting through my sewing box and found the beginnings of this quilt I started making out of old t-shirts and fabric:

I completely forgot about it but was happy to have stumbled across it as I was looking for my next project :) It might take me a long while because I want it to be realllllly big and snuggly! I have lots of old t-shirt and bed-spread fabric, I think it will look really cool and colourful when it is done as all the fabric is of different textures and patterns.

I think I'll go sew on the next hexagon now :D

I hope you all have a lovely weekend,

See you all soon xxx

Summer bolero - finished!

Hello everyone,

I finished my bolero!!! :D I was so happy that it came out how I wanted that, despite the weather not being that great today, I donned my new bolero anyway (with a long sleeved top underneath though - it was much to cold for the vest top and shorts I planned to wear it with!) and set off on the canal boat trip, which was very fun (but rainy!)

Hehehe, here is me modelling it......

I am hoping it will get lots of wear over the summer :)

In other news I made one of my crochet crisp packet coasters for my driving instructor :-) Last lesson we were having a chat about recycling and my crafting and when I was saying about bags I have seen made from recycled packets and my crocheted crisp packet coasters and my instructor was intrigued on how textiles/crochet could be mixed with food wrappers, So I made her this one:

I hope she likes it, I get to give it to her tomorrow :0)

I hope you all had a nice weekend/bank holiday!

See you all soon,

Bye xxxXxxx

Almost finished!

Hi guys :)

I have been working really hard on my mini bolero... and.... It works, all my finger crossing worked, It fits and looks how I wanted it to look :D:

I am almost finished, which is good because I want to wear it on Monday when me and my family and some of our friends go on our canal boat trip!

I'm off to keep working on it......

See you all super soon (with the finished product)!

Bye XxXx

Project update!

Hi guys :)

I thought I would do a bit of a mini crafting update. First up I finished my dice scarf!!! Hehehe :D It has taken a long time but I have finally finished!

Here's a pic :) :

I am soo happy with it, I wore it to 6th form today :0)

 The thing that took the longest was sewing on all the dots! 

And secondly, I am getting there with quirky now :-) Bit by bit he is starting to take shape. I have finished his body, his head and neck, his wings and half of his tail. So now all that is left is his feet, hat, beak and the other half of his tail. I will post a picture of him soon once I have sewn all the the bits together and he isn't so much of a deconstructed turkey! Lol!

See you all again soon,

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xxx



I'm a girl on a mission...

... a turkey mission! :D

Hi guys,

A while ago some of you may remember me posting about making Alan Darts Tipsy Turkey for me and my families Christmas dinner table as we are vegetarians so don't have a real one. Long story short I didn't manage to finish him as all my time was taken up by making Christmas presents for people, but this year I am determined to finish Quirky (that is what I am going to call him! :-)

I did manage to finish quite a lot last year, I pretty much just have the tail and all the sewing together and extra details left (which take all the time really!)

Well, i'm off to knit a few more rows to get me closer to having my finished turkey :0)

See you all soon,

Bye! xxxx

Where are they now? : 2011 knitting and crochet blog week! (Day 4)

Yo! :D

Today the post is about the fates of past projects, basically where all the yarny items live now, enjoy....

Rice ball!!!! and Tiny the little circus elephant live on my special shelf with my collection of brooches and other handmade bits and bobs.They like it there as they have lots of friends to talk to :)

My mum has both her kindle cases in her room and uses them regulary to keep her kindle nice and snug!

My dad keeps the little halloween pumpkin I made him on his baking shelf in the kitchen. The kitchen is where keeps lots of the little items I make him as he spends alot of his time there each day ( making cakes, breakfast and dinners etc..) so he gets to enjoy them :D

The bunting I made him ages ago is also up on the wall in the kitchen:



I regularly use the slippers I made with the Hello kitty buttons and they are on the end of my bed with my pyjamas :0)

And finally the new home of my Red Nose Day monster is tucked up nice and tightly in my bed,

Hes just so lovely to hug!

Ill see you all tommorrow for a very special experimental post as part of the 2nd K&CBW,

Cioa!

Project special slippers: Complete!

Hello!

Ever since I recieved the really cool hello kitty buttons from my swap partner I was determined to use them in a special project. When I found the pattern for the slipper socks I knew the butttons would look great on them and now I have finished them I think I was right! :)

Im really pleased with them!

Instead of a white border I just went with the blue to blend in but added one of my white heart appliques to the front of each foot for decoration intead.

At first the straps were a bit too big but I stitched a bit of them in a loop inside and now they fit perfectly :D

And they are all ready for me to wear on my holiday in Ipswich ( I leave tomorrow! :) Now my feet will be nice and snug as I relax and watch telly :3

Another project I finished recently (well actually started and finished in one night) was this little apple cozy:

The pattern was in this months Issue of Knit Today magazine and I couldnt resist casting on when I saw it!

I bought a pack of the sunflower buttons when I was in Japan which Im really pleased about now as it was the perfect finishing touch. I love it when you've got just the perfect button for the job :) I also added a stalk (by casting on 2sts and knitting a few rows in Gst) to make it look just that bit more realistic.

See you later, au revoir!

P.s I am nearly finished making the finishing touches to the second free pattern so it will be up soon!

P.p.s Dont forgt to enter the giveaway for the little heart appliques!!!