Vintage Pattern Vintage Fabrics - Heaven!

I had a treat of a job when Hollie from Broken Girls Club asked me to make her a collection of vintage dresses. Out of the pile of patterns I had recently been given she choose one she liked and brought me a big bag of beautiful vintage curtains, bed linen, fabrics and lacy trims to make them out of.

There were some absolutely stunning fabrics in the pile she gave me so I hope I've done them justice! These first 3 are a size 16 on the vintage pattern but nowadays sizes I'd say more like a small 14. They were all curtain fabrics so have quite a nice weight to them, like the original one I'd made.

The next 2 dresses are about a size 12. These were made out of much lighter weight fabrics and give the dress quite a different look. I think they seem a bit more casual but still sweet and would look great with a netted petticoat. The yellow and white one had to be the prettiest bed sheet I've seen in a long time.

Love the patchwork print of this duvet cover, translates really well into dress fabric. I've also made the next 2 out of the same duvet but using the contrasting fabric from each side. the pinker one is a size 12 and the white is the first of the size 10s.

Such a cute ditsy style print. The last two dresses are also a lighter weight fabric bit they were actually fabric lengths rather than duvets or curtains. The blue with double white heart repeat print is delish I really wanted to keep this one for myself. The skirt is super full, the most gather out of all of them; because of all the different types of things being used it was difficult to regiment the fullness of the skirts. The pink dress is a lovely brushed cotton with a small amount of stretch to it. I found some old turquoise rickrack in a suitcase so popped that on too.

Phew... so that's been my busy week! Pretty epic but I cant wait to go and see them in the shop in Morgans Arcade in Cardiff. Hollie's dropped off another bag of fabric and some vintage dresses with broken zips and sleeves to repair so she's keeping me super busy at the mo! all good x

Quicky Pin Cushion.

Today in my little craft class I showed the ladies how to make simple pin cushions. Here's mine, I just wanted to share. We used this tutorial although didn't add the lengths of yarn round the sides and used felt on the top rather than a button.

Screen Printing on Recycled Fabrics

Today I have spent the day down the PrintHaus with Becca who runs Green City, a company which promotes sustainability and green living through interactive public events. I'm running a work shop at the next event which is on the 30th July called Cardiff One Planet Festival - check out the Fbook event for more details. In prep for the day we've been making some big flags, so I thought I'd share a sneaky preview before they're finished.

We've used all recycled fabrics, mainly old curtains which I always love using!! I've also got some bamboo poles that I scavenged from a uni friend about 7 years ago. My Dad I'm sure is grateful he's gaining some more garage space back!

I can't wait to get some pics of them all up and blowing in the wind!!

I also spent Saturday at the PrintHaus doing some of my own work. It was good fun and I'll get the final project up here shortly but for now a sneaky peak at a few of the prints and one finished article!!

Dresses to spin round in...

I've made a few rockabilly dresses for a tattooist in Penarth. I met the lovely Justin and Chrissy from Alley Cat Ink a few months ago when a friend of mine went to work with them. Such lovely and genuine people and the shop is stunning with lots of fun clothes and jewellery from a mix of local makers to big brands like iron fist. They were finding that the larger curvier customer wasn't necessarily being catered for so I've made them a selection of dresses ranging from size 12 - 20 with the idea that we can make custom dresses for ppl. I've used mostly fabrics from the crazy stash and coupled them up with some vintage trims. Hope you likey :)

I also dropped off a few play suits that I made aaaaaages ago. They're one size and are a bloomer/halter neck combo -tre sweet!

Last night I went on a mad felt badge making frenzy too! Why have I not been doing this before, very calming and satisfying too. My hayfever has been terrible and shows no signs of letting up so I am resigned to stay inside and make stuff!!