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!!