Pink and Tartan

It's funny how everything is always extremes. Nothing to do or everything to do. At the moment I'm in everything to do mode. But this is good. I don't like being bored!
A lovely lady contacted me via Folksy to ask whether I could make some knickers for her to give to her flower girls as presents. The theme of the wedding is Pink and Tartan which she wanted me to incorporate into the designs.


It was fun finding materials for a brief. Normally I just go for anything that catches my eye or that has the right quality for a floaty pair of knickers. The restriction on colours and the necessity to include tartan actually made me feel more creative. It's a shame, but I think I thrive on boundaries!

These are the sketches and fabric samplings I sent to the bride-to-be to show her what I was planning. I'm a bit dissapointed with the scans of the fabric as I don't think they do the prints any favours, but it was nice to do a bit of drawing for a change.

I'm in France at the moment looking for some where to live, as I'm going to be moving here in August for a few months. We finally found a beautiful appartment and signed the extensive amounts of paperwork today. I'm already mentally decorating it. The 1900 architecture goes really well with my furniture and style. I'm back in England tomorrow and excited about getting sewing!

(also I'm very proud of myself, I actually made all my pictures the same size... sort of)

Custom Knicker Upcycling Service

Thanks to a lovely comment from Laura @ Glue & Glitter I was inspired to start my own

**Custom Knicker Upcycling Service**

Here's the idea...

If you have:

a favourite dress with a massive stain

a tshirt which doesn't fit anymore

a curtain which is missing it's pair

a charity shop bargain with an amazing print, but no idea what to do with it

or any other piece of much loved fabric lying aroung which no longer has a use... don't throw it away unnecessarily.

Send it to me and I'll give it a new life by transforming it into a custom-made pair of knickers!

Visit my folksy or etsy shops for more details!

Celia Birtwell Inspired Knickers

A friend of mine had a very sweet dress which was unfortunately very tight and falling apart. As I had been shamefully disorganised and forgotten her birthday I told her I'd make her a pair of knickers out of the dress as a belated present. Upcycling material which is no longer being used into something pretty at its best! When I showed my flatmate she said they reminded her of Celia Birtwell's style and now I can't look at them without thinking the same thing.

I want...

Isn't this Teacups print by fellow Londoner Hennie Haworth beautiful!? I've never really bought any serious artwork before so even though £90 is very reasonable I still need a bit of time to get used to the idea of spending that sort of money. I'm just going to have to stare at it longingly a little longer.

Glue and Glitter

I recently made my first proper etsy purchase. I had bought several supplies, but never something indulgent and beautiful for myself. This is the necklace that I bought. It made me giggle and I love the little chain for the receiver. I think I might have the etsy bug... I loved the personal touch to buying something which you knew someone had spent time over. It's like buying yourself a present!

It's made by the wonderful Laura @ Glue and Glitter. Laura also tagged me on her blog to answer some questions about myself. As I recently listed my favourite things for the Kreativ Blogger post I won't bore you with too much more information about myself, but thank you very much Laura for thinking of me! Instead I shall just give a 'Best Of' of the answers I would have given - you can guess the questions...

Cats

Neither tea or coffee... I'm not good with caffeine.

Big clumpy purple patent DocMartins

Bonfires

Biting my nails

German

The street cleaning machine

Home Sweet Home

I'm moving out of my lovely East London home at the end of the week so I'm in the process of packing everything up. As I was putting things in boxes I realised there are quite a few handmade things dotted around my room which I have never blogged about. It also occured to me that it would be a shame not to document my little home before it exists no more! I think I've mentioned before that I love interior design so here's a bit of mine...

A medicine cabinet I found in an antiques shop which was that horrible bathroom shade of pink. I sanded it down and gave it a distressed white finish. The little owls and their tree were made for me by a lovely Finnish lady.

A cake stand made from junk shop crockery. This is what it looked like after I had taken everything off it...

...and here's what it looks like normally.

I'm planning on making another cake stand soon, either for my new flat or to sell. Here are the pieces ready to be assembled on the left. On the right you can see my collection of broken china. I'm still a bit in denial that these beautiful plates and mugs are gone forever so I've kept the pieces in the hope of finding a project I can use them in. Any ideas?

You may have seen this is the edge of earlier pictures. I liked this french mackerel tin in an odd kind of way. As you can see from many of the photos I have a strange attraction to empty tins and bottles, they're really useful for putting flowers and candles in. I had a few rose candles I'd bought which were too pretty to burn, so I stuck the tin to the wall and used it as a little shelf!

At the bottom of my full cake stand you can see this collar. I crocheted it using this pattern. It's really useful for prettying up a boring top or dress.

My bed. I bought this bedspread at a market the other day for £4! I love the colours and mixture of prints. I also made the two floral cushions from ikea fabric. Next to them you can see nounou my boyfriend's bear (now everyone knows he's a little boy at heart! sorry Pierre if you're reading this). Also that is my signed Nouvelle Vague poster, a prized possession.

My blue themed bedside table. That alarm clock gives me a heart attack every morning!

Here's a close up of the little alcove shelves. The observant amongst you will have noticed that I had already started tidying this when I took the picture of my bed.

This has been the most useful and space-saving piece of furniture ever. Coat rack, shelving, cubby holes, jewellery holder... It's got it all! On the left is my Rob Ryan papercut. I've been following his work for years and when my boyfriend bought me this I was so happy.




On my grey blazer here you can just about see the little Russian doll brooch I bought from my friend Olly. Check out her Wollies here, they are beautiful labours of love.




My most recent find. A beautiful lamp for £2 from Deptford Market. Took a while to clean and I'm trying to decide on a lampshade, but I love it!

Well there we go, bye bye little home. It's been lovely living in such a vibrant area. I'm going to miss having so many amazing creative designers and vintage shops on my doorstop. Here are a few of my favourite neighbours should you ever be in Bethnal Green:

Shelf for work from inspiring designers : http://www.helpyourshelf.co.uk/

Beyond Retro for the best selection of vintage clothes: http://www.beyondretro.com/

Traditional and useful homewares, walking past this shop everyday makes me smile: http://www.labourandwait.co.uk/

Beautiful displayed jewellery from Comfort Station: http://www.comfortstation.co.uk/