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Fabric-covered button badges, shiny clutches with giant studs, blue check denim clutches...

More stock arriving early next week!

Working on new stock!

 

 

 

I've been rather busy lately! Preparing all new stock, from badges to leather clutches! More will be uploaded onto the website this weekend. I'm in a preppy mood, so expect more checks and stripes!

Bust Craftacular!!!

 

Hooray! Craftacular returns on Saturday 12 December! Only three weeks to go!

Not to be missed! 

York Hall

5 - 15 Old Ford Road

London E2 9PJ

Nearest tube: Bethal Green (just under 1 min walk)

Gold & massive shoulders!

 

What a combo: gold and massive shoulders! But it works! No party in sight for me, but I'm really loving this dress by Moonsoon. I've actually never been into one of their stores, but it does look great. The sleeves are great too, very sculptural. The cluch, on the other hand, looks a bit cheap, and one can easily find a vintage one in a similar style.

Travelling yesterday & Kristie and Coralie's Christmas Cooler

I was travelling back to London yesterday evening and this great picture by Eggleston, one of my favourites, spells travel for me! I took the Eurostar and was not having any cocktail tough...

It's all back to business today, shipping orders and making plans for the next coming months. An exciting opportunity is the Kristie and Coralie's Christmas Cooler: a "drink, shop and do" venue in an art space near King's Cross opening for three weeks in December! Great designers, lots of cake and mulled wine and plenty of events with the like of Stitch and Bitch, Make.Do.Mend and Smack My Stitch Up...

Teaching at the Make Lounge

Last Monday evening, I taught another group to make small snap purses. I found starting with 6" frames easier, as the frame is not too big nor too small, so probably easier to start with...
Below are the lovely purses we all made:

I love the tatoo print, so maybe I'll be using it for my next demo! It is always nice to see how the purses come out, and how they all look so unique in these different fabrics. My own demo is the dictionary print with the red spotty lining at the bottom of the picture.

Love necklace

How amazing is this necklace! Really one-of-a- kind, a real showpiece! The picture is from Bluebird but unfortunately I have no idea who is the designer/ maker...

I am so tempted to give crochet another go! (if that's the technique used!).

My picture of the day: Patty Boyd drawing

Another Karen Kilimnik picture, but this time a drawing. I won't be doing any drawings myslef today, but I needed something to inspire me today!

On Saturday, I taught my first class ever! I was exhausted afterwards, talking for three  hours or so is not easy! It was nice to see the little clutches the students made with me at the Make Lounge. Helping to attach nine purse frames at the same time was a bit of a challenge, but the students seemed to have enjoyed themselves!

And on Sunday, I was finishing my red checks shirt - only the pearl snap buttons to fix! Maybe I'll post of picure of it when it is finished.

Autumn red

I love this picture! No idea who the photographer was, or who designed the clothes, only that it dates from 1944. I love the contrast between the dark suit, the cream overcoat and the red gloves and tights. I had this picture in my diary for a while, and finally bought some red tights last Saturday... from the children section of John Lewis. The tights are of much better quality than I thought, and at £5 for two pairs, a real bargain!

When my copy of Vogue arrived earlier this week, I was pleased that I was not the only one who fell for red:

The dresses at the front are from Jill Sander. The cut is based on a magyar/ kimono sleeve, and really looks fantastic, just as the colour, a deep garnet red.

Lumberjack-style red checks shirt...

 

I love All That Heaven allows, especially the clothes worn by Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson! Hudson is a free-thinking gardener and is often seen wearing a lumberjack-style flannel shirt; she is the ultimate 1950s housewife, always impeccably chic. He is the archetype of cool, so that is no surprise that Jane Wyman fell for him!
I had wanted a similar red checks shirt for a while and intended to buy a vintage one. Last Saturday I found by chance some great (and cheap) cotton fabric at John Lewis. It is not flannel, but at£5 per meter, it was too reasonable to resit! The colouring is really good, the perfect red, with quite a bit of white and some thin stripes of yellow and navy blue. It will also save me hours of shopping in thrift stores and the like! And I needed a distraction from sewing clutch, so this is a new project. I am hoping to wear it next Saturday!
So far, most of the body is done, but I have yet to place the pocket and insert the sleeves. I  have never used press-stud buttons, so there's going to be a bit of hammering in my flat soon!

 

New suede mini clutch with handmade felt flowers

  

I love working with felt; the colour and texture of this material are so playful; and I do not use it as much as I would like. So this is one of my first attempt to include felt in my clutch bags. This clutch is made of black goat suede on the front and dark grey wool at the back. I have decorated the front with flowers and leaves in a variety of greys and burnt orange felts for the flowers, and dark and medium greens for the leaves. I am quite fond of the pearl button buds!

- Outer: Black soft goat suede at the front, pure grey wool fabric at the back
- felt fowers and leaves with pearl buttons
- black nickel frame
- Lining: beige 100% cotton with an handy inside pocket
- All seams are double stitched

Approximate dimensions at widest points: 7” x 5” (18 x 13cm). The frame is 4.5" long (12 cm).

The clutch feels quite luxurious, I am rather pleased with it!