A little bling to sparkle in cold winter nights

As the nights are long right now there is nothing better than cuddling up on the sofa with the kitty and a hot chocolate. I had many of those evenings lately but at the same time I felt like doing something productive. evenings

I have never been into beading much or anything else that is very time consuming. I like it when I start a project and several hours later -boom- I have a new piece of clothing or a new accessory.

However when many evenings are spend on the sofa, a long lasting, fiddly project is just the right thing.fiddly

So I decided to spark up a headband just in time for the holiday season.

I have a ton of beads I got from my mother in law, cut offs and samples from the bridal shop I used to work at and all kinds of bits and bobs. It all went on there and et voila:

There is a tutorial on Kazz the Spazz for a similar project. She made a gorgeous necklace covered with buttons. In case you have a few too many hours to spare, have a go yourself. The results are amazing.

Winter walk along the coast

Merry Christmas

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas, eat lots and be merry.

Hopefully you have all been good this year and Santa brought you everything you wished for.

I am finally back to normal and connected to the virtual world.

Can't wait to share my creations and other bits and bobs worth with you again on a regular basis.

Again, many thanks for you patience.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

1960s crepe de chine dress with vintage lace applique

It’s been nearly 3 weeks since we’ve moved house and we are STILL waiting for our telephone and broadband to be set up. I don’t know how we managed  to live before all these means of communication were common in most households? It’s awful not being able to check emails, facebook, write blog posts and keep in touch with everyone?

Hopefully this situation will be sorted within the next few days. For now WiFi in local coffee shops and libraries will have to do.

Our new house is great. Too bad we won’t be here for long as we are going to move again in Jan/Feb time. That’s life being a soldier’s wife… I will miss the generous spare bedroom I am using as my work room. It’s about twice the size of my old work room, very bright and tons of storage space. I have about 3 build in wardrobes.  Anyways enough showing off for now. I will show pictures some time.

I have already “broken it in” and made myself a little 1960s crepe number with a little lace applique. I haven’t had much time sewing for myself so far but this little dress fit in easily and came together in just an afternoon. The pattern is one I made several times last year. It is Simplicity 9059.

I used some paisley print crepe de chine I had in my stash for ages and some vintage lace bits I appliqued around the sleeve openings and the bust seam. I think it turned out quite nicely and is a perfect little daytime/ casual going out addition for my wardrobe.

1940s blitz blouse and super high waisted trousers....a sewing/outfit post at last!!!!!!!!!

It's been ages since I have posted anything I have made and it's about time that I change that and start breaking the cycle of blogging laziness. I am trying to ease myself back into it. Not that easy but I remember how much I used to enjoy blogging and sharing my thoughts and creations with you guys.

This week I decided to start working on some of the vintage patterns I bought over the summer. I posted about a bunch of vintage blouse patterns in May and finally got around to making simplicity 4139. I got inspired after reading this post and remembered I had the pattern myself.

It was super easy to whip up. I used a very light cotton lawn in a pretty red floral print. I have the same material in green still waiting to be transformed. I think I might make another blouse from it. 

I combined the blouse with one of my Autumn/Winter collection staple pieces. Extreme high waisted wide legged trousers.

I think I am really getting into 1940s designs for the winter. I need more from that period.

 

 I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I did....It was the calm before the storm.We're moving next weekend. Boooooooooooo,not looking forward to the mess but I am looking forward to our new place. It'll only be for a few months until we'll be moving again but that's army lifer for you. Be prepared for possible house/moving posts coming up.

Nice people = lots of sewing patterns = super happy me

I have been on lots of business related courses lately to lean and improve my own business skills. It's very interesting and slightly overwhelming if you are doing everything yourself. But if you are in a similar situation like me and start up your own business, I highly recommend getting as much information as you can. Go to workshops and use every single opportunity to learn new things, find out the latest trends in business and most of all meet new and exiting people.

I have met business owners of all sectors new to business and some who have been trading for years. I have also made some great contacts that I will probably get back to in the near future.

On one of my last workshops I met a very wonderful lady who is running a very successful company specialising in fine dining in care homes.There is a business idea I haven't heard of before but they are doing very well and I think it's a great idea.

Anyways, after a brief conversation with Marguerite (the business owner) and exchanging what our businesses are, she remembered she still had a huge box of old sewing patterns that once belonged to her mother. She said she would post them to me if they would be of any use to me. Of course I couldn't say no to a kind offer like that. After the workshop we exchanged contact details and went our separate ways......

A week or so passed and I of course forgot......I have bad memory every now and then....

And then this huge package arrived:

I had no idea what it was as I had forgotten about the promise. Please excuse my awful scarf pattern and dress pattern combo but I was ill and not prepared for pictures that day.......

At this point I started to remember.........

And at this point I felt pretty overwhelmed by the amount of patterns Marguerite had send me. What a kind lady. It's a huge selection of 1960s, 70s and 80s patterns. A few are kids patterns which I passed on to my friend as she makes kids clothing. I haven't had time to check through the patterns thoroughly but once I have and know which ones I will use in the future, I will share some of them with you lovely readers. So stay tuned for a giveaway.

I feel like so much kindness must be shared.

I did send Marguerite a big bunch of flowers which hopefully made her just as happy as me. Christmas came early this year!!!

Have you ever met anyone who over showered you with kindness like that?

Awesome news

Again, it's been a while but a lot has happened since my last proper post.

I have been very busy working on my clothing label, letting out our house (still in the works) and preparing to move. I have been on endless business classes and workshops and learned a lot of new and useful things. I have also found a lot of support from all over the place for my business, reassuring me I am on the right track to success. What a blessing.

And now, the big and very exiting news...........drumroll..............

I have got a distribution deal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am dancing.......

I have created a mini collection available soon from these awesome guys:

www.tokoclothing.com

The website is still under construction, launching in Mid-November. For now you can follow them on Twitter for updates. Also join their mailing list for a 10% discount.

I am so exited for all of this happening. Keep your fingers crossed that this is just the beginning of many more amazing things.

I hope everyone is well.I have seen that my followers are still with me. Thank you very much for staying put.

XXX

Bea

I am still here....

It's been very quite here lately, apologies for that. I have once again been away with the husband. This time to Germany to see my family and to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. We got back over a week ago and I had to catch up on work and just general stuff. We have been away a lot this year........

I couldn't really come up with any good blog post ideas so I just took a little break. I thought I'd rather not write a lot of boring crap just for the sake of it. There will be more sewing, outfits and cycling adventures soon. I just need a little longer to come up with things worth blogging about.

One thing, that might be of interest to some of you readers is that I am selling off some crafty books on Ebay. My husband and I will be moving in February (the latest) and we decided to get rid of a lot of stuff we don't need or use. As much as I love books on arts and crafts, I have not done any of the projects and I don't think i will. Most of them are brand new, some are used vintage ones. Here are the listings in case you are interested. I am currently not offering international postage but email/message me and I can change that if you are interested in any particular items.

I will also add some clothing items and other random stuff within the next few days too.

"The dairy book of home management" for the vintage home goddess

The Stencil Book by Amelia St.George

The complete practical guide to stencilling and stamping

Yours: 50 Years of Every Day Fashion

Wicked Women of the Screen

Dressmaking by Design by Charmian Watkins this is for anyone who wants to learn a bit more on pattern cutting. The projects are very 80s though. I guess you could adapt them for a different look. I never got around to doing that.

Essential Guide to London's Retro Shops

 Alternation: Transform. Embellish. Customize full of projects, especially reconstructions.

 Handbook of crafts - 1960

Simple Glass Seed Beading: Bead Stitches, Tassels.....

50 Easy Home Projects by N. Martyn John (Hardback)

The Cheap Date Guide to Style

I am also working on building up my own business. Is any of you readers self employed or even running their own business in fashion? I could use advice wherever I can. Please get in touch!!!

Getting rid of STUFF is great. I love it!!! Not so long ago I was one of the worst hoarders ever (it's in the family....) but my husband is slowly turning that around. Being a soldier, living in a small space that gets inspected on a regular basis makes you good at being tidy and letting go of clutter.

Are you a hoarder or are you pretty good with keeping on top of what you need and what not?

New old patterns

This weekend was pretty lame as the weather was crap and we didn't do anything exciting. No cycling and therefore no new outfit shots. I have a couple of new dresses finished but no nice pictures yet so stay tuned.

I have been busy with customer orders last week and didn't really have anything exciting to blog about hence the lack of posting. I hope this will change again soon as I am working on a few cute new projects.

I bought a bunch of new vintage patterns that I am hoping to make up very soon. They are all shirt waist dresses which I am a bit addicted to as you know.

I am not too sure about the last one as it could turn out a bit too granny-ish, what do you think?

I hope you had a more exciting weekend and got some cute sewing done.

Wedding dress in action

Last weekend was finally THE DAY!!!! for Katja, who ordered a wedding dress from me last year. She got married at Lake Konstanz to her fiance Julian and looked absolutely gorgeous.

Doesn't she remind you Audrey Hepburn too?

Instant improvement...

I made this dress last weekend. It was an UFO I have had abandoned for a while. Since the hubby and I had planned another bike ride on Saturday  and I had worn the bombshell dress already the previous day, I went into panic mode and thought of the quickest way of making a new dress to go cycling in and take cute outfit shots of for you guys.

That quickest way was finishing off something and make space in my sewing room as extra bonus.

The dress is one I had started before our epic holiday but didn't finish in time so it got dumped on the UFO pile (there are a few)

The pattern I used is New Look 6557, which I bought a while back when New Look patterns were on sale here. I only buy current patterns in the sale.

It's such an easy pattern and comes together in no time...don't know why I never finished it. If you wake up in the morning and need a dress by the afternoon this is the one to make.

I made view B.

The colour is a similar shade of green as the bombshell dress.... I guess I have a thing for green at the moment...certainly this week huh? Must be a red head thing. I paired it with a purple belt and cardigan for a GOOD colour clash.

I didn't like the neckline of the dress very much as I felt a bit cut off with the big triangular bust pieces. My quick fix solution for that was cutting off a bit of the far too long halter strap made and tieing the strings around the top of the triangles. Et voila...two dresses in one. I prefer it like that (at least on me) what do you think?
And here comes the cycling shot:

Charis and Alice revisited

Remember the dresses I was working on over the last two weeks for Alice and Charis? The event was last weekend and they were so kind and shared some pictures with me to share with you.

Here they are both together looking gorgeous. Charis accessorised her dress with a red ribbon. A nice touch as it easily changes the look of her dress and ads a splash of colour.

Alice dress was a bright purple-ish blue satin with a very dark navy organza overlay. The colour effect it created was great. It really suits her.

I wish I had a picture of the back of Charis' dress as it was sheer lace and looked amazing.

Looks like they all had a great time. It was Alice's school leaver's ball. Congratulations Alice!!!