Monday 30 September 2013

Bedroom Snaps




I love my little room, the colours in it are great and I always have lots of things around to inspire me. However, storage is always a problem so I'm constantly trying to clear out things so I can have more space for the things I love. Does anyone have great ideas for making more room in small spaces? I always end up covering all the surfaces with stuff and then have no room to work!

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Fashion Patterns





A wonderful machine knitting pattern booklet I found recently... The image of the lady with high platform boots and amazing wrap-around coat have been up as inspiration in my room, so perfect! The kid in his football outfit is so cute and cosy and silly!

Monday 23 September 2013

Pinky


I took some really nice photos of this above arrangement, but unfortunately try as I might I can't upload the photos here :( I was just playing around with some things I found at a bootfair yesterday, but they looked great, will upload to tumblr instead if you want to have a peek!

What's the best thing you've found at a bootfair? It's very exciting finding things for 20p and grabbing them quick when you see them! I think I'm going to try to do a bootfair in a week or so, have a lot to get rid of and I want it all gone! Ahh freedom and space shall be mine at last!

I'm selling things on ebay at the moment as well as my etsy if anyone's interested! Lots of bargains, the ebay stuff is from my own wardrobe!

Friday 20 September 2013

Red baby outfit

What I wore yesterday...


Double prints and double red hues makes me feel very joyful.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Back to School Princess

Currently launching new autumn clothing stock in my etsy shop. This range I've called 'Back to School Princess' because I'm wearing a little princess crown/tiara and looking moody because I've got to go back to school (thank goodness this is not true!) I've been trying to get to grips with self-timer and how to pose and how to not sink in the muddy pit of my garden, it's difficult but I think I'm getting somewhere...

This is a self timer practice shot - very frowny, cute coat though right?





It's quite fun and relaxing after a while just taking loads of pictures of yourself. Let's hope the sunshine continues and the rain stays away a bit longer so I can get some more done!

Pinterest, lace and paisley love

Hi guys, I have a Pinterest now which I'm really enjoying using so why don't you follow me on there? Follow me here

I went to my lace-making group that meets once a month last night. Haven't been there since May perhaps, but the group are so welcoming and lovely and are very happy to teach me as a complete beginner! My work looks so odd besides their delicate closely patterned work, but I'm very excited to keep learning and apparently in 5/6 weeks of learning I'll be at the stage to make a fine bookmark! Here's what I produced last night...

Yes yes mine is the top one, cloth stitch and half-stitch I think! And the bottom is a found piece which I brought along to show them what I eventually wanted to achieve! The background is a vintage paisley wool Liberties scarf, which brings me onto wearing paisley scarves recently, we all love them right?
The red one is a really old silk one which I absolutely adore. Soft and big and cheaply bought and it has a B initial cross-stitched into the corner which makes it really special for me, B didn't want to lose her scarf!

It has a couple of holes near the corners now, but I'm going to make sure it lasts forever! My Liberties scarf has mainly been worn like a shawl by me recently since its been so chilly, and I like feeling like a granny wearing it this way!

Monday 16 September 2013

Autumn brew

 Beautiful tiny squashes coming out of the darkness to greet you.
So it seems that autumn is upon us. I like this. Lots of my favourite things are out now: blackberries, a multitude of squash and acorns especially. The acorns bring me onto the little things me and Rosie made when she was staying last week...
Rosie made the little wrench and I made the vaguely acorn-shaped thing.
They were really quick and fun to make, just using scraps of velvet and chiffon/crepe fabric I had lying around. These little creations really inspired me and I made this after my acorn...
I love making tassels, so fun! And the arrow symbol seems to be becoming a bit of a thing for me now...
I embroidered these arrows onto a vintage shirt I got for my friend Philippa's birthday and also made her some lavender and camomile tea from my new love of foraging.
I found a tiny old horseshoe when I went foraging this weekend and I think it's a really lovely symbol for good luck which I'm going to treasure.

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Scan of the week

This looks as good scanned as in real life, uh! My wonderful goldfish top is out again now the weather's turning colder. Along with this little number...

 My favourite 70s stretchy poloneck my mum found for me a couple of years ago. I love to wear this with a short suede skirt and over-the-knee suede boots mmm...

My friend Rosie came to stay for a few days, so I've been busy fooling around with her. We spent time in local museums, old houses and antique shops and watched horror films and cooked in the evenings, very nice! We also played around with making little things out of scraps which got me really inspired and I've continued making little things after she left, but I think this will have to be another post!

I'll leave you with a scan of some things I'm really inspired by at the moment...


Wednesday 4 September 2013

Scan of the week

Beautiful chain-stitch embroidery on a flared wool skirt. I'm going to be wearing this lots this winter, it's been in storage since last year but I've just got it out in anticipation! It has a moth-hole/burn-hole on the front of it which is a shame, but I think I'll sew something pretty over it instead of just mending it.

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Jewellery scan

One of my most treasured pieces given to me by my mum when I was a young teenager. It's a 1920s Egyptian Revival costume piece, and golly gosh is the metal fringing fun to play with! I always loved this piece of jewellery and in fact never saw her wear it, but it was in an old faded green card jewellery box which was covered in green flowers and plants and had a goose/duck on the front of it?! This piece was given to my mum when she was a child along with many other beautiful treasures by a neighbour of my mum's huge family (she's 1 of 9 children!). My mum and maybe one other of her siblings used to go round and visit this neighbour, an old gentleman, and he would very kindly give them some of his beautiful things for coming to visit him.
This piece of jewellery is so special and loved by me, that it's something I need to use to remember when tempted to buy other pieces - I just don't need anything more than this beautiful object! All that happens is I buy things that get stored in increasing jewellery boxes and these things don't get worn hardly as much. But I'll always come back to this necklace and will continue to wear it and love it for the rest of my life so I need to keep it in mind when seeing other things!

Monday 2 September 2013

Little embroidery

Starting to work on a new little embroidery for fun. The fabric is wonderful because both sides of it are different. I wanted to use the silver side, but then decided to use the back of the fabric instead, I like the muted bluey-grey tone. I haven't planned the design out at all, I just sew free-hand and whatever I feel like! I've been very inspired by medieval paintings and tapestries though and I keep coming back to the image of the garden and especially the walled garden in these works.

Here are some scans of a book on Medieval tapestries I've being inspired by recently: