All Change Please

A little bit of exciting news... My blog is moving!

I finally did the logical thing and made all of my various blogs/emails/websites have the same name. Much less confusing!

Blogger has come up trumps and I was able to move all my posts and comments across to the new address. So if all of you lovely people following me (and those of you who aren't yet) would like to add...

pretty-green-blog.blogspot.com

to whatever blog following tool they use I will be a very happy bunny! Also those of you who are super amazing and have me in their links section, would you be able to change that too? I also have a little ad you can stick on the side of your blog if you fancy doing a swap...

I also have a new email...

pretty-green-message@hotmail.co.uk

What I'm Working On

More upcycled knickers for my custom order... 2 down 4 to go.

I invested in a beautiful padded coathanger to display my creations on. It's made my photographic life so much easier and I feel the photos do the knickers justice at last.

At Last! Something New...

It's been a while! I feel a bit like I'm wading through treacle at the moment. Everything seems so much more work than usual and I don't seem to be satisfied with anything. I have at last got a new pair of knickers ready for listing. I decided to make these knickers extra special so I have made a little matching pouch to keep them in...

The pouch's lining matches the knickers and the illustration is original and hand-drawn.

If you have suggestions for improvements for anything (photography, banners, products, names...) hit me with them, you will make me really very happy. I'm a bit lost at the moment so any guidance will help me get back on track.

Upcycled Purse

As seen in the last post, here is the purse I made for my friend Olly from Wollies.

It's made from plastic bags and vintage pillowcases. A nice bit of eco-friendly craft.

I'll be making some more of these purses soon. If you are interested in owning one let me know!

I'm off to Ireland for a few days and I'm fairly sure I won't have internet access. So have a good week and I will finally show you those new knickers when I'm back!

Let there be light (so you can see some things the postman brought me)

I woke up this morning to a day I had dedicated to photograph-taking, only to find that the week of lovely sun was over. Some lovely people on twitter (I really do have to eat my words, twitter is brilliant) pointed me in the right direction for creating a light-box. A Blue-Peter style hour later and I was the proud owner of a handmade mini-studio.


So here are the results... a few things I received in the post recently:

Some labels to make my Pretty Green items prettier and more professional.

A beautiful haircomb by Hopelessly Devoted. I've been wearing it everyday since!

And here you can see the fruits of my labour. I need to get a lamp which will stand a few more watts, but otherwise I'm very happy. You can also see a sneek-peek of my next post!

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!

Pan-teas

Sorry more puns! I couldn't resist, tea seems to lend itself quite nicely to cheesy wordplay. So the mystery is solved after my tea-ser the other day. I have made a teapot adorned pair of knickers!



I couldn't resist this print. It used to be a table cloth and now this beautiful vintage fabric has found a new home as a divine pair of pouffy panties. I am not normally one for full-on pink so I added this Tartan bow to add to the Britishness of teapots!

This is a one off design, but I think I will be experimenting more with this fabric. I love it!

You can buy this pair at my shops which can be found on the right of the screen (choose your currency). Or click here for a direct link to my favourite site.

Insert 'Time' Related Pun Here

Oh dear this blog is started to get as cluttered as my life... too many unfinished projects. I keep promising to show photos of something finished and then I get distracted and the next post is completely unrelated....

I'm afraid I haven't changed just yet and so here is another disorganised post. I am hoping my life and consequently my blogging will get itself in order soon.

I have just finished a nice little project which I have been mentally working on for a while. A while ago I found a lot of old French fashion magazines hiding in the back of a funny little antiques shop. They are absolutely fascinating and so inspiring. Some are in a beautiful condition and I just look at them in a caring, aren't I lucky to have such lovely things to look at kind of a way. However I'm not one to have much time to look at things properly so I have used some of the less pristine magazines to decorate items of furniture so that the images can be appreciated daily.

I covered a mirror and some shelves and was really pleased with the effect. As the paper is quite thin it decoupages really well. Here's that mirror...

This time round I worked on another antique shop purchase, a clock. This time I decided to go about things properly and plan everything before, finish off everything neatly etc... I am very pleased with the result. I have rather relunctantly decided to sell it as I think other people should be able to have a bit of twenties french chicness in their homes, but I do keep imagining it in my new dream kitchen... However I think I should focus on finding the new dream appartment first!

So here are the pictures....

An in progress shot (sorry no before pictures, that would have been far too organised... although look I put down floor protection like a sensible adult)

And here is the finished article...

Some of the magazine pages are so funny, I particularly enjoy the adverts... creams for a saggy chest (complete with pictures) and remedies for hairy lips. Nice to know that the lady of 1924 had the same beauty concerns as we do today. Here on the back of the mirror you can see an advert for a flatter stomach and clearer skin...

I'm actually really pleased with the back, I finished it off properly and it makes me feel a bit proud when I look at it. I think it's these little details that I want to work on with PrettyGreen, recycled (or upcycled sounds a bit nicer) doesn't have to look like a design compromise.

Well there we go a very rambly post, but more pictures than usual, so if you're anything like me you'll just have looked at them! Maybe next time I'll show you where I've got with my embroidery projects, but I'll have to finish them first...

Knickers!

I was in France last week and while I was there we visited a really interesting little shop. It collects left over items from factories and sells them on at ridiculously low prices. I want to find something like this in London! I bought all of this for less than €5...

I spent the day drafting a pattern and used my finds to make a pair of knickers. I have never made anything like this before and although there was lots of swearing and unpicking I enjoyed it a lot. The pair I made were a little small so I will be reworking the pattern and definitely trying it out again.

This (unworn!) pair can be bought in my etsy shop

Etsy Shop

I've been meaning to start selling stuff properly for quite some while. Last night a name for my 'shop' finally came to me and today I have made an etsy shop where I'll start selling stuff. I hoping to set up a stall in East London sometime soon, when I've made enough stock.

I wanted to sell stuff that had some sort of common link. I really enjoy working with found items or recycled materials and my inspiration comes from trying to make them usable again and also prettier. Hence the shop name...



Here's the link, I will hopefully be adding more items in the next few weeks: http://www.prettygreen.etsy.com/