Summer Ball - a pretty dress and a night to remember........

Just about a week and a half after moving house my husband and I went to our first event, the summer ball, here. Although the theme was some US-Midwest/Kentucky Derby/Cowboy type theme, the dress code was formal-below the knee for spouses/mess dress for the soldiers. 

I didn't have much notice and time to come up with an outfit so I made a dress similar to this one for the event and paired it with a knitted/crochet (??) bolero, me-made hairflowers and some pretty heels. It felt formal enough, was very much me and somewhat even suited the theme, I guess.

the official photo

There was a shooting booth, a bucking bronco and a Kentucky Derby booth as entertainment as well as a live country band and DJ plus some gorgeous food. 

I didn't even do too bad

Hubby riding the bull

And after the bull ride the night took a rather unfortunate turn. My husband hurt his arm so bad we ended it up in A&E to get it checked out. 

Luckily nothing was broken and he had only pulled a muscle. 

Machine embroider a textile necklace and win a sewing machine worth GB£300!

Remember the vintage inspired hair styling class I took with The Amazings a few weeks back? 

Well, they have just released a brand new fun class on how to machine embroider a textile necklace and make yourself a unique fashion accessory. And the best part is, not only do you get to make a statement piece of jewellery (or two or 20?.....) you can also win a sewing machine worth £300.

 So go and head over to their page and check out this amazing new class here. And then visit their blogpost including all the details on how to enter and win this amazing and very generous prize. The competion startes today, 13th August 2013 and closes at 11:59 on Sunday 15th September, 2013. Also, the competition is open worldwide, not just the UK. 

Good luck everyone. 

Life lately....I have moved to paradise............

Hello from the beach

I am back after a few weeks of silence here on the blog. My husband and I have been busy moving house from Berkshire to North Devon. We initially were hoping to be moving back to Germany for a few years but my husband got posted to Devon instead. I was a bit miffed at first because a lot of our plans fell through but now we are here I could not be happier. It's one of the most beautiful areas in the UK I have been to and I still can not believe I get to live here for the next three years. 

I'm going to leave you with a few impressions of our first few outing here, exploring the local area.

Saunton sands, this is the closest beach to us and I love how endlessly long it is. 

We haven't filled up our car since we left Reading two weeks ago as you can cycle everywhere around here. I love it!

View of Appledore from Instow across the river Torridge. So pretty!

So soooooo happy!

The view of the cliffs in Lee

Have you ever been to Devon? If yes, what are your favourite places to visit/things to do and see? Please share as I don't want to miss out on anything while we are here. If you have never been, I highly recommend a visit. It's just so, so beautiful. 

Beach Boys at Number 10 Downing Street

well..............almost.

A little over a week ago one of my husbands colleagues asked us if we would fancy joining him for a day in London to the British Summer Time concert series in Hyde Park. It sounded like a good idea especially since the tickets were free to us from Ticket for Troops. 

On the way to Hyde park, we passed Downing Street and our friend Lewis suggested we see if we can get in for a picture. Perk number two, soldiers and police get through the gate to the front door. So we got our picture. Mr. Cameron was out watching Murray win Wimbledon. I guess that's OK on a Sunday ;-) especially considering the outcome.

After that we made our way to Hyde Park. I hadn't checked the line up as I was told the Saturdays and JLS were playing amongst others, which I am not at all interested in seeing ever but as I said, the tickets were free, the company was fun and we didn't have anything better to do. Once we got there I found out that the Beach Boys, or who's left of them, were playing, too. That of course got me interested and I made my way to the main stage to see some legends perform. They played all the classics and a few new songs. Amazing!

 I spend the rest of the time enjoying Pimms for the first time ever. It was love at first sip. It's a bit sad that it took me 6 years in the UK to finally try it.

Is there anything typically British I might have not tried yet? I would hate to miss out on something yummy.

Life lately....

I have been swamped with work last week (read: sewing for other people last week- no complaints!!!) and with my husband off work, moving house in about 2 weeks from now and the most glorious weather sewing for myself was abandoned for the last week or so. I have a few projects line up though. 

The free time I had was mainly spend outside topping of those Vitamin B deposits.

Last weekend:

wearing this dress

this weekend

Yes I wear hiking shoes with my dresses when walking. Not fancy but my feet are grateful for it at the end of the day, we usually cover quite some distances...

I hope you are all enjoying the sunshine!

Gerties blouse and capris aka Butterick 5895

butterick 5895

After seeing Rochelle's version of this pattern I knew I had to get it and have a go myself. I was in need of some capris for the summer as I only own a pair of boring black ones. I found a dusky pink stretch denim at my local fabric shop and decided to make up my first pair of capris in that fabric and the blouse in a red gingham. 

There isn't too much to say about the pattern. The capris are super easy and quick to whip up. If you are scared of making trousers/pants, try these first. They are only front and back piece plus waistband, so even if you have fitting issues for some reason there are only very few pieces to wrestle with. As Rochelle mentioned in her blog post about this pattern, sizing comes up huge due to too much ease so be aware of that. I cut a smaller size against the sizing chart and went with the finished measurements on the pattern pieces instead to avoid having to fit MC Hammer pants to capri size. Worked a treat, no adjustments were necessary. 

The top is relatively straight forward, too. Some might find the collar a little fiddly but once you have figured that out you'll be knocking load of them up as it's such a nice little cropped top. I don't usually go for cropped anything but with high waisted trousers, skirts or of course on the beach this isn't too belly bearing. 

matchy matchy details

silly pose, had to be done....

I will be making more tops from this pattern, probably in more gingham. I need more gingham in my life. I think it will be super cute with shorts to make a little playsuit, don't you think?

another good hair day, adorned with handmade hair flowers and handmade headband

Tutorial: make your own hair flowers

I love hair flowers, especially in the summer. They instantly make me happy as they add another splash of colour to an outfit and glamourise any hairstyle in an instant. So I decided to make myself a whole bunch of them in different colours to go with some of my dresses. Its a fun, quick and easy projects and also makes great gifts. Since the UK summer is a total hit and miss, I would recommend this as a rainy day project. If you live in the UK you should have about 9465723920 by the end of this summer.

What you need:  

As a selection of fake flowers of your choice. I got most of mine from Wilkinsons. They were between £1.50 and £2.50 a bunch.

pin curl clips (preferably the ones with little holes in them), plain hair combs I got both at Wilkinsons as well but I'm sure any drugstore or beauty supply place will stock them.

and some matching thread.

How to: Dahlia haircomb

Take three flowers and the leaves of the bunch and take out the plastic pollen center that holds the flower together, also take out the plastic from the leaves so you are left with the softer pedals and leaves.

Arrange them to your liking and carefully stitch them together using matching threads

Attach to the comb and you are done.

I was wearing this flower piece on Saturday's charity shopping adventure.

How to: Chrysanthemum clip

I used three flowers for this and some of the leaves and removed all plastic centers.

Layer all pedals on top of another for a nice full blossom and stitch in place

and add the green underneath. I placed the leaves a little towards one side so the would peak out a little.
sew onto the clip

And you have a pretty, full blossom hair clip

I was wearing that with a low bun on Sunday to go with my Betty Draper tulip dress.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. If you give it a try, please let me know and show me a picture of your new hair accessory. Happy flowermaking!!

Saturday fun

Lately I have been looking forward to the weekends even more than usual, mainly because it means outdoor fun with the husband preferably on a bicycle. We decided to cycle to Fleet today and go on a charity shop tour. There are loads of charity shops in Fleet and it's a somewhat decent cycling distance away. I took the Schwinn cruiser which meant I got to dress nicely.

dress is my garden party dress in sky blue, cardi is from New Look a few years back, ballerina pumps from Primark and the hair flowers are made by me

I came home with relatively few items. Only found a bag and two necklaces :-( but better than nothing. Plus we had a little Marks and Spencer's picnic and some amazing cake!!!

Bestestest pecan pie!! That's the kind of treat I pedal for. 

Happy weekend everyone!!!