A spot of sewing

I had wanted to have a go at sewing some clothes for ages, literally years, and over the summer I finally took the plunge, spurred on by the purchase of this vintage fabric from a charity shop. I found a brilliant tutorial for a circle skirt here and have now made three! Two of which were made from fabric I bought two years ago, to make skirts with! Yes it has taken me that long!

I also had a go at making a top from this brilliant free tutorial and pattern . I know so many people who say they wish they could make their own clothes, and don't know where to start, being scared off by confusing looking patterns, and I was one of them. So I highly recommend these two projects to get you started! I have definitely caught the bug now! 

Shirt dress

I am trying to get a bit better at my seamstress skills (very slowly!). My sister in law, is an absolute whizz at it, and makes absolutely gorgeous outfits. My dreams are not quite that ambitious, so I am starting by customising and altering clothes.

I decided to have a go at making one of my husband's shirts, that was too big for him, into a dress. The pattern was just too cute to not have a go at doing something with it!

I cut off the sleeves, and nipped it in a little round the sleeve holes that were left. I considered having a go at putting some darts in it, but decided just sticking a belt round the middle of it was a much easier way of adding some shape (hehe big lazy cheat) ! I also added a couple of vintage buttons to the collar. It looks pretty sweet. Although, it is only just long enough to be a dress on me, and i'm a short arse!

Car Booty!

On Sunday, me and Joe had a proper urge to have a rummage around a car boot sale. We got up early and headed off to one in Derby, that we've been to on a few occasions, with varied success. We have never come away completely empty handed, but this Sunday we managed to gather a particularly exciting array of bits and pieces. 

All of the goodies above came to less than £20. They were:

A genuine black forest Cuckoo clock - though it does need a service

A vintage wind up watch

A 60's tin clock/plate

hmmm yes, I think I have a thing for time pieces- I was tempted by a couple more as well!

A vintage suitcase- in perfect condition, with a cute floral lining,

An old toy caravan- we have a collection of 4 now

A patterned tray

A miniature painting

A stool- which is painted a brilliant acid yellow, with a chintzy floral fabric on the cushion.

I doubt we'll manage a haul as good as this again. It's so much fun having a proper dig around some of the crates, to unearth a little beauty. Especially when you ask 'How much?' and the answer is often 50p!

I also love that nearly every time we have been, there seems to be at least one elderly person, who walks around with dog biscuits in their pockets and offers one to Winston.

Radio ga ga

Just a few images I did several weeks back. I love vintage and retro radios and felt they were crying out to be made into a pattern!

My first ever attempt at re-upholstery

We inherited this Ottoman from Joe's family recently. It was handmade by one of his relatives, so it was quite an honour to have it.

However, we weren't overly keen on the original fabric on it! So I popped on Ebay and searched for something that would suit our style a little better, and found this amazing Day of the Dead patterned fabric. We both love sugar skulls (Joe recently got a tattoo of one) and I loved the colours and style of illustration of this one. It didn't take long to agree on this one and I had soon clicked 'Buy it now'

When the fabric arrived it looked just as gorgeous as I had imagined, I was very excited to get to onto the Ottoman! Screwdriver and staple gun in hand I set to work, and within half an hour ta- dah! It was so simple, and now this lovely unique piece of furniture has a new lease of life.

Couldn't Resist

This dinner set had been in one of our local charity shops for months. The first time I saw it I adored the pattern, but restrained myself as we really didn't need a whole set. However, after admiring it for the 5th time I could resist no longer and took the plunge!
The set was made in Stoke-on-Trent like a lot of great ceramics, but I think it has a bit of a dutch feel.

Andrew Pavitt

When we were in London, I picked up a card designed by Andrew Pavitt. The one we bought was the squirrel one at the top. I love squirrels so I couldn't resist. It is now in a frame on our wall. I love the sense of pattern that comes across and the retro feel to them. Beautiful colours.

Spoonflower

Spoonflower had an offer on a few weeks back where you could order a free sample. I'd thought about using their services for a while, but with an offer like that how could I refuse. Here is what I got back.

A few of the details haven't come out, where the contrast was low, but overall it's looking pretty nice! :)

Just wish they had a UK base now!

New dress!

Another great charity shop find that was shouting at me between the rails and was luckily in my size! Completed by a belt I bought in London a few years ago (excuse the hair, I'm due for a hair cut!)

New patterns

Just a few new patterns I came up with the other month for a competition ran by Tiger Print. The prints are all designed to appeal to a male audience

More Charity shop goodies!

I think me and Joe have found a new past time- charity shop hunting! After our success the other day we came up trumps again!

Lovely glass bowls 99p!

Super cool Melamine set (13 pieces) in pristine condition for £8!

Beautifully illustrated Alice in Wonderland book, originally given as a present in 1951, then again in 1970, that lived on the same street I lived on till I was about 7!

Charity Shop shinys!

Me and Joe went hunting around charity shops yesterday to see what we could find, and while our original plan of buying lots of cool odd plates to replace our cheap white ones, we did find some bargains!

I spotted the pattern on this dress from a mile off, and luckily it was in my size! £4.99

Spotless Thermos flask, in a gorgeous colour! £2.50

As some of you may know I love paper craft and have been getting into origami, this fantastic '80's book  was just £1.50. I especially love the origami moustache!

We did manage to get our hands on a couple of plates though for 50p, and enjoyed eating cake off them last night!