A pretty little find...

I have been recently searching for a new mannequin, as my poor little adjustable blue one (called suze) is falling apart beyond repair. :(

I came across these little beauties, and thought that they were too pretty not to share :) They are all covered in a range of vintage fabrics, from Cath Kidston to Laura Ashley!

All images from www.corsetlacedmannequins.co.uk



It makes them as much of a decoration as they are a tool for making clothes!



I love the lacing detail down the back!



and a lovely range of vintage mannequins too...








... I think some definite saving up is in order!



:)

DIY Lace Peter Pan Collar :)

Fat amounts of uni work has been preventing me from making things! :(
But, deadlines are nearly out of the way,
so here's my most recent sewing project...

I recently discovered LouLou Loves You,
and I wanted one of the pretty collars so badly! But unfortunately, £40 is slightly out of my 'poor student' budget, so I set about making my own :)

I drew my own pattern on a piece of white cotton, slightly based on the collar pattern I used for my peter pan collar on my recent DIY 60's dress.

I cut out 4 pieces of the white collar pieces and pinned them together in two pairs.
I used some lace trimming, thread and back ribbon as decoration:



After sewing the white collar pieces around the outside,
(leaving the thin end open, and pinning in about 30cm of black ribbon into the other end)
and turning it inside out, I got this!
I had to hand sew the open end up after turning it in the other way, and I then stitched them both together to get the collar shape...





I used this as the base for my collar.
I then hand sewed three rows (using about 2m) of this lace:



onto each side, spacing them equally.

After quite a long session of hand sewing, here is what I ended up with:
(Very pleased with the outcomee!!)

The front,



The back,






I've been trying it on with a few of my dresses, turns out it seems to go with most of them!
AND it cost about £3.

Happyhappyhappyyyyy!



:)!

What do you think?

Using my new flower loom :)

First of all,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hello 2010 :)


Amongst the other wonders that Santa left me in my stocking,
I received this lovely flower loom!


Photo source here

I have been experimenting with it a lot since Christmas, and I have finally produced something that I am quite pleased with!

You place the pegs on the loom wherever you wish, each different position will create a different size/style/shape of flower. You can also use any sort of yarn or thread!

I made this one out of light grey and pink embroidery thread:



After sewing the middle together and removing it from the loom, I added a pearly button in the middle to finish it off:



I then sewed a brooch pin to the back of the flower to that it could be worn as a corsage:



I then attached it to my coat!



My coat is lined with pink and is mottled grey on the outside, so I thought this colour combination would suit it :)



I plan to make many more!
:)

My latest makings - 60's Shift dress!

Whilst in my local vintage shop the other week, I found a lovely 'psychedelic' print dress-top,
which I then tried on, and noticed a rather large hole in the side! It was a bit too short, so I took it it to the lady who owned the shop to let her know, and she ended up giving it to me for free as a little sewing project!

This = Happy Sophie :)

This is what it looked like to start off with:



...and this was one of the many holes that was in it (although they were all mendable!)



After mending those, I went out and bought half a meter of dark brown fabric, and 3 of what I call Grandad buttons
(cause they're the weaved leather ones that you get on Grandad cardigans!)




So, to start off with, I cut into the roll neck to create a base for the peter pan collar that I was going to add.



I then pinned some calico around the collar and cut it to shape whilst it was on the mannequin - I always find it easier to do it this way,
because it can be taken off and used as a pattern piece, and it gets the collar to be the exact shape you want!



I then used this as a pattern piece and cut out 4 of the collar shapes,
front and back for each side, pinned together and leaving 1cm seam allowance:



I did the same for the cuffs, to make them longer, and also made a 10cm band to go at the bottom of the dress to lengthen it!

I then sewed on the collar, and added the 3 Grandad buttons down the center front of the dress:



... and here is the final outcome!



Here's a close-up of the bottom and cuffs:



From the back:





I'm quite pleased with it!

:)



I'm very happy, because it only cost me the £2.25 for the fabric and 30p or so for the buttons!


I hope you had a lovely Christmas!

:)

More of my makings are on the way...

Christmas Excitement!

I've been excitedly preparing for christmas!
As a little coming-home-from-university celebration, I got to decorate the tree myself :)

I love doing this, because all the old decorations come out, and everyone can get all nostalgic about all the old decorations that you've had for years, and also finding the decorations you made when you were about 3, from paper mache and glitter!

After watching Kirsty's Homemade Home on channel 4 the other week, it really made me want to try out some of the things she got to do (If you want to watch it, go to 4od here)

Here's my handy work...
(I'm not sure if these pictures show how wonderfully warming the tree makes the room feel!)







I tied lots of little gold wired bows onto the tree!



...and also put on all our old handmade christmas decorations, which haven't been used since I was very little!

It makes the room all cosy :)

So, whilst on the subject of christmas, here are my specially wrapped up presents...



I wanted to do 'Brown paper packages tied up with string'
but I thought red wool was a little more festive :)

One more thing,
IT IS SNOWING!! RIGHT NOWW!!
Ah this makes everything feel so much more christmassy :)
It started about 2 days ago, but I really hope we get a white christmas!



Night time snow...



The magical view in the daytime :)



Oh! So excited...
Also, the advent calender tells me it's 6 sleeps until christmas day!



:)

Terexov by Alexander Terekhov

I came across Terexov the other day, a collection by a Russian designer from Moscow,
called Alexander Terekhov...

Definitely like his collections :)

Fall/Winter 2009/10 New York Collection









Lovelylovely day & night dresses :)
Although the first one is my definite favourite...


These are from his Spring/Summer 2010 Collection:





Mmm, bow ties...






(All images from www.terexhov.com)

CSL Vintage Finds :)

These are my lovely little finds that I got at the Clothes Show :)

(as modelled by suze my falling-apart mannequin!)

Dress #1:



I had to shorten this one a bit, but it only cost me £5!
It feels so nice to wear, all airy and floaty! It is very well made as well, as were all the clothes that were made a while ago (compared to stuff in primark these days!)

Dress #2:





This one is equally lovely, and cost me £10!
I also had to shorten this one, and hand sew it, due to it being made from a stretchy fabric!

Dress #3:
(not one of the vintage ones, but it was so pretty I couldn't not buy it...)





This is my planned new years dress, and I am verrryy excited to wear it!
I'm thinking of attempting to use the pattern of this dress to make myself another similar in a nice fabric!

:)


I break up for christmas soon, so there will be more making projects on the way...